My Car-mic Duty

You may remember this story where I accidentally hijacked a car in Paris. The other day the FP Gal and I were talking about it and again I said that if I ever had a traveler here that needed a ride I'd be obligated to help out. She agreed.
Well, we must have somehow put that out into the universe. Today I picked up the kids from daycare and was strapping them into the car. A small Chinese woman came up to us and asked if she could please have a ride to Richfield.
Never in my life have I picked up a hitchhiker. I had two small kids with me. Still . . . well, I was much bigger than her. And we were kind of heading that way anyway. So I let her in to the car.
She introduced herself (Sue) and started talking with us. Relia immediately told her about a) our Apple TV, b) what street Nana lived down and c) her brother. When Sue mentioned that she was from China, Relia quickly told her that we were going there to see the big wall.
The ride was quick and uneventful. We got her to the right spot and let her out. She thanked us about three dozen times and left.

Now, does that fulfill my karmic duty? Probably not. There are doubtlessly more acts of kindness ahead.

The Names Post

I mentioned that with our final kid on the way it seems like there is more pressure on getting the name right than before. (Actually, this is probably just me. I don't know that the FP Gal is feeling this pressure at all.) We are very happy with the names that we've already picked and want to keep that up. So we're knocking names back and forth. Some of the rules that I'm following, first the big ones:

• I don't want any Biblical names. Nothing against them, especially since we both have them but I want to go a different way. [Note: I'd make a possible exception for Samson. Maybe]
• No names that are a profession. So Mason, Hunter, Taylor and so on are out. Again, these can be perfectly fine names but not what I'm looking for.
• It should be something that is an actual name. Not some kind of made up sound or an acronym or something like that. Also not some word that is simply spelled backwards.
  
• If we're targeting a certain nickname then we go with the full one. If you want a Bob you should start with Robert. Gives the child some options as they get older.

And the smaller rules:

• We like uncommon names, something with a little strike in it. But not too much. ("Agamemnon!" "Way too special!")
• Both of our first two have common Roman names. We don't have to follow this but it would kind of work better if we did. Not crucial but something to pay attention to.
  
• Nothing that is too fashionable right now. Isabella is a wonderful name but the 'Twilight' books have killed it for now.
  

Guidelines:

• Both kids have easily translated meanings to their names (Golden and Lucky). I'd love to be able to keep that up for number three.
• Strong names for boys and beautiful names for girls. If that makes me sexist, then so be it. (Actually, a strong name for a girl can work too so maybe this doesn't mean that much.)
• Gods, goddesses, fates, furies and muses are all fair game.
  
• If not Roman, than possibly French as it would go very well with the last name.

The FP Gal is on board with about half of these, she can clarify which half.

Happy Monday

Sorry

No time for a new post. Go the FP Gal's blog for our trip to the fair and my new favorite picture of DF and I.

Pick a Little/Talk a Little

About a month ago 'The Music Man' was on TCM. I have this (somewhere) on VHS but haven't been able to find it. Anyway, I DVR'd it and occasionally I'd take up some of my TV time to put it on when the kids were around. And sing along with it, of course.
Last week Relia surprised me while we were out by asking me to sing the 'pick a little' song. So I did. And then I had her sing that part while I did the 'goodnight ladies' bit. She loved this and has taken to requesting it.
This is something of a milestone as 'Music Man' is the first non-animated/non-PBS show that she wants to watch. She still likes 'pick a little' song but she also likes 'Marian the Librarian' and when I say something about the Wells Fargo wagon she quickly sings that it's 'comin' down the street'. All very cute.

One weird thing. There is a scene where Marian and her mother are making fudge in their kitchen. Relia watched this and asked the FP Gal if it was . . . poop. Man, that would just change the whole movie, wouldn't it?

The Cackle

DF has started laughing. Or at least his laugh is becoming more prominent. And it isn't a quiet little titter, oh no. He has a full on madman's cackle. Seriously, tonight he was splashing in his bathtub and I fully expected him to say, "it's all coming together!" or some such.
But don't get the wrong impression, it isn't sinister. Frankly, you can't be sinister at this age. If anything, it's infectious.

He has also started dancing. Relia has been taking ballet classes and you can see it in her dance moves. The grace and the types of movements. Yesterday we were on the porch and she was dancing to a Fisher Price version of 'Humpty Dumpty' (and yes, this is true). She started doing pirouettes and DF decided to join in. He simply spun (well, shuffled) in a circle with his hands up, big grin the whole time. Relia wanted to tell him that he was doing it wrong but I assured her he was doing the best he could.

Have a Great Friday

The Yiddish Policeman's Union - Chabon

This was the Hugo winner for 2007.

All great books stem from one great central idea, which the writer then polishes until it gleams.

The central idea behind 'The Yiddish Policeman's Union' is based on an alternate history. In this timeline, the Jews were soundly kicked out of Israel in 1948 and were then offered a 60 year settlement in Sitka Alaska. They became known as the 'frozen chosen'. The story takes place a few weeks before the 60 year agreement is over and no one in Sikta knows what the future is going to hold.

The story centers on a police detective named Meyer Landsmen. In great police-story tradition, the man is incredibly talented even though his life is a shambles. He suffers from great guilt, alcoholism and the fact that his ex-wife has become his boss.

The story opens as he's woken from his flophouse apartment by his landlord asking him to look at a freshly killed renter. Landsmen is offended that a murder would take place in his building while he is there and begins to investigate. Little does he know how important this case will end up being. It takes him all through this newly imagined territory and into very surprising places.

This is an incredibly well told story. The writing is hard boiled in the best Raymond Chandler tradition. It crackles and catches at you. There is insight in every paragraph. It's a great book. The only flaw is a somewhat cliched ending.

But (and this is kind of an important question, giving that it won the Hugo award) is it a 'science fiction' novel? It's clearly an alternate history novel, and I'm sure that's the hook that brought it under the sci-fi label but I don't think it fits well. There isn't any real science or even fantasy to be found here. I'm surprised that it was honored this way. It also won the Nebula Award (another big sci-fi prize) so the Hugo voters didn't really go out on a limb by themselves.

It's a great book.

Hugo Reading

Let me first mention that they awarded the 2011 Hugo Awards this past weekend. The winner for Best Novel was 'Blackout/All Clear' by Connie Willis. Which suited me fine, since I enjoyed it.

My book reviews have gotten quite a bit off track. The reason is simple, I ran into a stretch of books that I didn't care for. Oh, they may not have been bad books. More than likely I just hit them at the wrong time. In any case, I got stuck.
I've been reading the Hugos in chronological order and it suddenly occurred to me that I don't need to. When I did the Great American books list I jumped around and read whatever seemed best, whenever I felt ready. There were books that I still didn't care for but at least I didn't get stuck.
So I'm going to follow the same course here. Or, to be more candid, I already have done so. Which means I'll have some reviews coming soon.

This may not mean much to anyone else but it makes me feel better.

Twitter

I've been on Twitter for a while now. You can 'follow' me at @pdefor if you're inclined to do such a thing. I'm enjoying it for many reasons but among them because it is funny! Here are some samples from my Twitter feed this afternoon as people responded to the earthquake (various authors):

Whole block in DC standing outside, asking each other what the hell just happened

My mother in law in West Virginia needs sedated when it rains heavy, so I think I'll avoid calling her in light of this quake.

Oh, now the East Coast is doing earthquakes too? New York Times trend piece in 3...2...1...

Not to panic anyone in NYC, but a screaming John Cusack just drove by in a limo that was missing a door.

BREAKING: Excitement over reports of a Pataki presidential run trigger earthquake on east coast.

I ALSO FELT THE EARTHQUAKE!!!!! I'M PART OF THIS MOMENT!!!

To comfort a jittery nation, the White House should release another photo of Obama looking concerned and holding a phone.

If they're evacuating the Pentagon, should I evacuate my hundred-year-old house?

Obama convention idea: promise to keep the earth from moving in 2nd term.

There was a 5.8 earthquake in Washington. Obama wanted it to be 3.4, but the Republicans wanted 5.8, so he compromised.

In retrospect, I resorted to cannibalism rather fast after the earthquake.

On the plus side, rebuilding D.C. after earthquake devastation could stimulate the economy.

OBAMA: Clearly, the earth acted stupidly.

Obama extends hand of partnership to earthquake, calls for Palestinian state.

Krugman says it wasn't big enough.

Philly fans think it was the greatest earthquake ever. Feel disrespected by Californians who won't acknowledge it.

This is why you have to keep the Keymaster and the GateKeeper apart.

Everyone in quake area: go to an open area and "Stop, Drop, and Roll." Not for safety, it's just funny to watch.

You're not allowed to take the grail past the seal, you guys. I'm not sure how we could've been any clearer about this.

Was all set to loot in Dupont circle, then realized all we have are taco and cupcake stores.

I hope we're all asking ourselves what we can do to help the victims of this tragedy rebuild. bit.ly/pNevem

If the capitol's a-rockin', don't come a-knockin'

if i were in NY today i would have wanted to be at the Target on Atlantic cause there's no inventory to fall off the shelves. SAFE AS CAN BE

Graphic photo showing earthquake aftermath: pic.twitter.com/JDn4TGB

The latest headwind to the economy is the millions of man-hours now diverted to straightening tilted wall frames.

Well, it made me smile at least!

Learning from Kids

The past month or so has brought about big development with both kids and I should probably mark that down. Relia already has a big vocabulary but something has changed in the way she plays around with language and the way she understands things. She's asking bigger questions and you can see her mentally work things out. She still comes up with gems like this today:

Relia: We learned about birds that can swim. Like ducks. And swans.
Me: When I think of swimming birds I think of penguins.
Relia: But they can't fly!
Me: True. What other birds can't fly?
Relia: Um, really big birds.
Me: Like what.
Relia: Like . . . a giant sparrow.

She also told me that a 'bold' eagle ('with white on the head') is our state bird. I said that it is actually our country's bird but I don't think she believed me.

Meanwhile DF is just starting to really hit the language barrier. He can say about a dozen different things, most recently 'get down'. (Which he hears constantly. This boy is a climber! I'm always taking him down from chairs and whatnot that he has climbed onto.) The neat thing is that he understands a much larger group of words. Including names of the immediate family and some portion of the extended one. He knows the cats and back yard and so forth. His favorite is probably 'shoes' because he lights up and runs to get his little sandals.
We thought that he might hold off on the verbal stuff since Relia is such a chatterbox but that hasn't been the case. I greatly look forward to having actual talks with him and finding out what he thinks about stuff. I'm sure it will be special.

Yep, We're Pregnant!

Ok, so the cat is out of the bag. If you read me on Facebook then you knew that already. But I should probably jot down some stuff here if only for posterity sake, right? And while we're here, let us break out the bullet points:

• The due date is April 7th. Or April 12th. Or anywhere within a range stretching from about March 15th to May 1st. We'll see.


• We aren't going to find out the gender ahead of time. We didn't with Relia and did with DF and after he was born we both kinda wished we hadn't peeked. So it's back to the drama for us!


• We're not telling Relia for another month or so. We're afraid that if something bad happened it would be hard to explain it to her. So we'll wait a bit on that. In the meantime we've been softening her up with 'hypotheticals' about another brother or sister. She wants a sister but would 'deal with' a brother.


• Boy or girl is fine for me. One of the things that you really only learn after you become a parent is that the boy/girl stuff isn't that important. Individual traits completely overwhelm gender traits at the young ages.


• This is probably it for us. That's the feeling right now anyway. If any of you large family types want to weight in and try to argue us into more, the time is now. As it is, we kind of like the idea of being able to place the end of diapers on a calendar.


• Which means that the process of choosing a name is more important somehow. We've been batting names around for the past few months and I think I can safely say that we have no real front runners at this point. (I may put a up a post on names later in the week.)


• We think the timing with DF is a little tight but not too bad. By the time the next baby will need the crib he'll be close to two and a half. So we're probably ok. Overall I'm pretty happy with this age spread.


• Speaking of which, we're looking at high school graduations in 2025, 2028 and 2030. Those aren't real years, are they? That looks like something out of a sci-fi novel!


• We have some of the normal fears but overall we're both very happy!

Music of the Forests

(Via Vodkapundit.) This is pretty amazing.

Birthday party

We had Relia's fourth birthday party today. The FP Gal put up pictures here. Lots of good pictures (natch!) but please do pay special attention to the last two.

I'm not up for a full running tally of what happened today but it was a busy one. We were lucky to have two of the Norfolk cousins here and the three of them were very busy in our backyard. I so wish that we all lived closer together so they could know each other better, but what can you do? Anyway, they all seemed to have fun.
Relia got two pretty dresses, one that looks like a purple formal and a genuine Cinderella type dress. She got a train with wooden tracks. She got her own laptop style computer thingie. (I think it is more of a design deal and it doesn't plug into the internet but it has a QWERTY keyboard and everything.)
It was a very lovely day and we're all now a little bit ready for naps!

Have a Great Friday

Underwater Hotels

I love this list of hotels, each one having something to do with water. I think it would be fascinating to sleep down on the ocean floor. Especially if the morning light would somehow penetrate all the day down and wake you up. That would be very, very cool.
Doesn't the one in Stockholm look like a future pit stop for Amazing Race?

Football Pools

I've set up the football pools again. Yahoo let me simply renew the ones from last year. I think Yahoo has sent emails out to whatever addresses you registered with before. In any case, I think this info will get you in:
The first pool is a simple pick 'em league. Simply go here and choose to join a group. The group ID number is 24806 and the password is 'finally'. Each week you'll pick the winner of each game and assign confidence points. (The most confident pick gets the most points.)
Also doing a survival pool again. For that you go here and join a group. The group ID for this one is 9892 and the password is 'football!'. Survival football is played by choosing one team each week. If your team loses you are eliminated. You can only pick a team once per season. This can be a lot of fun if you can make it into midseason or further.
Remember, there is no charge.

(Let me know if any of this doesn't work and I'll try to fix it.)

Update: I've fixed the ID numbers for both pools. Sorry!

Night Owls

Last night I finished work and came down about 145a. I was bleary and ready to climb into bed but my brain said something looked wrong in our darkened upper hallway. I stopped, looked around and noticed that Relia's door was open. She sometimes likes it open so this isn't necessarily a big deal. So I peeked in. Not in bed.
I then crept quietly into our bedroom and carefully felt my side of the bed. Nope, no one there. Curiouser and curiouser. Went downstairs thinking maybe she crept down to the couch. Nope. Not on the couch.
Instead she was at my desk on the computer. I asked her how long she'd been down and she said, 'not long'. I shook my head and told her that she simply had to go to bed. She told me she wasn't tired. Great. Nearly two in the morning and she's wide awake.
This called for evasive maneuvers. I told her that we'd have a little treat. Then I made her be very quiet, turned off the alarm and we went out on the front step to look at the stars. She's been very curious about them ever since she got an astronomy book but she is almost never up late enough to actually see them.
It was a very sweet moment. She was amazed that the brightest one out there was blue. She told me that means it's a very hot star. Isn't it amazing the things they pick up? She delighted that one of the stars was twinkling, just like the song. I told her to make a wish on it and she did.
Then the skeeters got too bad and I brought us in. Took her upstairs and read a book to her, rubbed her back for a moment and told her goodnight. Crept quietly into bed and prepared to go to sleep.
Experienced parents know what's next. Ten minutes later she was back up. I took her back in and this time left the light on so she could 'read' herself to sleep. Then I forced myself to stay up for about ten minutes to make sure she didn't get back up. Finally I drifted off.

The rest of the night is kind of a fog. I think the FP Gal was up with her about 330a. I vaguely remember her telling me that she found Relia in the bathroom standing in the sink but that can't have been real, can't it? There were dreams where I was half awake and tensing for Relia to come out of her room. All in all, the sleeping sucked.
Dear children, dear, dear children. Please, for the love of all that is holy and good, sleep your normal hours tonight. Thank you.

Overheard

Today Relia and DF went back to daycare/preschool. Which meant that I got to pick them up in the car again and I got my Relia discussion period back.

Me: So what did you learn today?
Relia: We sure didn't learn about animals.
Me: Oh. What did you learn about?
Relia: we learned about words and letters.
Me: And you already know all of your letters.
Relia: Yeah, but I didn't tell them that.

I missed this.

Happy Monday

Overheard

FP Gal to Relia: I would appreciate it if you didn't put any banana on the back of his neck, please.

Largest Cities in History

Very interesting article here. This is based on some exhaustive research into the largest cities in the world at various points in history. Any guesses on the first city to top a million? It wasn't the one I thought it was . . .

Duluth

Went road tripping today up to Duluth (and beyond). While there I wish I could have live blogged it. Lots of fun and strange moments. I'll explain. No, is too much, I'll sum up:

• We got on the road about 8a. I'm not sure how this happened and frankly I doubt it ever will again. The biggest jot of credit goes to the FP Gal.
• While driving I got a call from Heidi. She started with 'Is there something you'd like to tell me?' and then proceeded to ask me if I'd won the Powerball. Nope. Someone else.
• Ten minutes later Mom called to ask if I'd won the Powerball. I had to tell her no too. Both of them heard of a Powerball win and immediately thought of me. This sounds like the prelude to an intervention.
• Right around 50% of the road from here to Duluth is under construction. Roughly 80% of the roads in Duluth are under construction. (This is only a slight exaggeration.)
• We made plans to meet Carrie at a park in the city. Neither of us really know Duluth well so we decided to find it first and then pick up some picnic food for lunch. After picking up some subs, Relia quickly announced that she needed to go potty so we made another quick stop. DF thought this was wildly unacceptable. He needed out, out, out of his chair!
• Back to the park and child emancipation. Chester Park (named for someone Mr Chester) had both a very tall slide and a real live working merry-go-round. Later we took our eyes off of DF for a moment and he quickly climbed half way up the slide ladder. He has no fear.
• Relia made a true friend there named Ellen. They seemed like soul mates and it hurt to break them up and say goodbye. Ellen informed me that 'her mom is named Leah, her dad is named Jason stinks-a-lot because he farts long into the bedroom'. She is the only girl that I've ever met who was as stranger friendly as Relia.
• After we parted with Carrie and her kids we went to the French River to throw rocks in the lake. This is an FP Gal holy spot and the rest of us enjoy it too. I skipped a few stones but Relia showed me satisfying it can be to cannonball one of the big uns. Guh-Loosh! DF loved being able to throw rocks but has a maximum distance of about eight inches. The lake was pretty safe from him.
• Next to the Scenic Cafe. There was a short wait for a table so DF got his first M&M. He didn't know what to do with it at first and kept handing it back to me. Finally I popped it in his mouth. He decided it was pretty good. I think he just might be willing to try some more.
• The pies were good but the kids were pretty restless. We traded off chasing DF around the restaurant. He stole hearts everywhere we went. Relia made more friends with a family that had finished eating and were playing catch. She doesn't have an ounce of shyness.
• Back to Duluth proper and Canal park. We threw more rocks in the lake. Relia discovered that throwing handfulls is more satisfying than one at a time. We walked down to the lighthouse and back. Also wandered through the museum. Tried to feed the seagulls but a couple of other kids were too busy chasing them away.
• On the road again. We planned to stop somewhere for dinner and then make our way back home. Road construction limited our options and before we knew it we were done near Sandstone. Took a chance that they'd have something and ended up at a small town restaurant. Which was good!
  
• DF wandered all over the place. The waitresses loved him and the other customers didn't seem to mind too much. By this time we were all exhausted. We expected the kids to drop off pretty quickly.
• Which didn't happen. Lucky for us there were no meltdowns. Relia told us a ghost story about a kid who opens his door on Halloween and lets in a skeleton. At the end she said, 'And it turned out to be . . . cousin Will!'. Funniest thing I'd heard in a long time.
• Finally home and kids to bed. The trip to Duluth is always a long day. And always worth it.

Reviewing

From Lileks, today's Bleat:

. . . So I popped Megamind in the machine and made a bowl of popcorn and said: enjoy. We watched it together, which put me deep in the hole for the evening’s work, but who cares. All the things that slightly annoyed me about it the first time disappeared, and I enjoyed it without reservation. Sometimes the self-imposed need to have a critical opinion is like a Berlin Wall between yourself and enjoyment.

(Bolding mine.) That is so, so true. And it probably goes a long way towards explaining why we enjoy watching movies again and again. Even when we know where it's going we still enjoy the journey.

Light Posting

It will be light posting this week. We're having a 'staycation' and I'm just going to let the blog idle a bit as well. The FP Gal blogged about our trip to the Mower County Fair if you want to read about that (and see some pictures).

Take care!

Harry Potter, Backstage

I found this gallery of behind the scenes stuff very interesting. The FP Gal and I were talking about this last night. They really did an amazing job with the Harry Potter movies. Taking a long book series and making it into movies is seldom done well and this time they really did. A casual fan could watch all of the movies without reading the books and still have a full and understandable story.

Important Home Update

DF has suddenly learned how to kiss. Or something like that. He is walking around making kissy noises and offering his face to everyone.

Watch out ladies!

Overheard

Yesterday we found that one of the kid's movies had been put into the wrong DVD container . . .

Me: I think we should check to see if it's in the Electric Company case.
FP Gal: Ok.
Me: Yep, here it is. (pause) Not sure why I thought to look in there. I hate it when they're in the wrong cases.
Relia: Maybe [DF] put it in there. He's always doing the wrong thing.

After this I told her that she was excellent blog fodder. She seemed very upset and told me in no uncertain terms that she is not a blog-father. It took some time to explain all of that.

Have a Great Friday

Move

I like this one almost as much as the 'Where the Hell is Matt' video:

MOVE from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

Here is the Matt video for comparison:



(Man, I need to go on a trip somewhere...)

Best Picture Noms on Netflix

We've fallen in love with Netflix streaming. The size of the library is enormous and it keeps growing bigger and bigger. I keep being amazed at the quality they have. Not surprisingly, I'm focusing on the Best Picture nominees. This is what they have since 2001 (as of August 3rd, 2011).

2010
Winter's Bone
The Fighter
Toy Story 3
2009
Precious
2008
nothing
2007
nothing
2006
Letters from Iwo Jima
2005
Brokeback Mountain
2004
nothing
2003
nothing
2002
Chicago
Gangs of New York
2001
Gosford Park
Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
Moulin Rouge

Some pretty good movies there. I'll go and look further back at some other time.

Happy Birthday Mom!

I hope the next year is another good one for you!

Football

Should probably write something about football now that they've cleared up the contract unpleasantness. No, I have no insights on the deal. Don't know whether it is good for the players or the owners. I do know that it is for the next ten years and that means we should have labor peace and full schedules for some time now.
Anyway, the calendar has turned to August and that means my mind has turned to football. Training camps are open and soon I'll set up the football picks game you all know and love so much. But that isn't what I'm going to talk about tonight.
Way back in the fall and winter of '77, it was our last football season in Illinois before we moved to Austin. Those are my earliest memories of watching it. Oh, I'm sure I didn't settle down and really watch. And the fine points and subtleties surely alluded me for some time, but that is how far back I can remember.
My favorite team at the time was the Miami Dolphins. I'm certain this was solely because I liked dolphins but there you have it. There must have been lots of questions from me as to which team was which and I can picture my parents patiently answering.
At the time I was roughly the same age that Relia is now. Can you see where this is going? She asks about who is playing and I tell her. It's all 'who is that in green/red/black/purple'? I not only tell her their nickname but I also mention what city they come from. We have a map right in the living room so I can actually point to it. (This is all doubling as a geography lesson.)
Anyway, I'm looking to see if a little magic can happen this year. She won't understand it all, though I'll spend as much time as she wants explaining. But if she can get the hang of what a touchdown and a field goal is then I'll have succeeded. And maybe, just maybe, this will be a special family thing like I've always wanted.
One of my past favorite baseball writers wrote something back in the early 80's about how he was sure his kids would have no interest in baseball. It had something to do with cosmic justice and how these things just happen to work out. I've got a small fear (not a large one) that I'll screw this up and drive the kids away from watching football with their old man. My current plan is to simply try and be easy about it and see what happens. Oh, and to badmouth the Packers at every turn, but you probably already figured that out.
Anyway, we're only about five weeks from real live football games. Yes I'm excited!

Overheard

Relia had a summer class today at one of the area parks. It was a Space and Planets themed affair. The FP Gal picked her up and brought her home where I tried to figure out what she learned.

Me: So did you have fun at Space Camp?
Relia: It was a work camp!
Me: (blinks) Like a . . . labor camp?
Relia: A work camp!
FP Gal: And what did you do there?
Relia: We played.

I still haven't figured out what she actually learned.

Happy Monday