Saturday, August 30, 2008

Happy Birthday

Happy birthday to my big sis. She's 37 now and olddddd!

J/k hon. Congratulations on all the great achievements you've made over the past few years. Well, over your whole life really. Who would've thought you'd go so far.

Love to you and the family,

Me

Friday, August 29, 2008

Either/Or

Click here for link

If you're too lazy to click it, it's a link to a story today on YahooNews.com

Headline reads:

Little-Known Palin May Be Benefit or Bust for McCain's Campaign


Good to know they have their bases covered.

DNC

I enjoyed watching the Democratic National Convention this past week. I wasn't actually hovering around the t.v. watching it all, but managed to watch a few speeches here and there. I guess I always thought there was more going on at these conventions. I assumed that during the day everyone gathered around and had symposiums on what the strategy should be, etc, rather than just having a big four day party, but whatever...

Obama's speech last night was great. I say this from the perspective of an ordinary, run-of-the-mill citizen. Someone mentioned that they felt like they were being an activist just by listening to him speak, and I echo this sentiment. I don't think he's perfect by any means, and his ideas and promises seem maybe a smidgen too far-reaching, but I think that's the point, that someone actually has ideas of changing the dank political scene that we've been miring in for years and years.

I've been cynical about politics since I was a kid. I did a report on Nixon as a kid, not knowing anything about him, and learning about how he was booted out of office. I figured he didn't do anything worse than any other president, he just happened to get caught. And this opinion has never changed.

But it's nice to see someone come along and offer up some hope. Some hope that things can change, and though it will not likely be a rosy walk in the park, at least we can get back on the right path towards being a great nation. It's been a long time since I was proud of my country. I know that usually when people say this they get lambasted for it by the right wingers, but it's true. Nobody can be proud of a being a nation of fat-assed blowhards being led by a nincompoop. And if you can then I feel sorry for you.

And this year I'm actually excited to vote. The last time I was excited to vote was in 1992 when I was 19 and voted for my first president. I'm a little ashamed to say that I voted for Perot, even after he had dropped out of the race then re-entered, but I've always been a little out there. I just felt like the traditional two party candidates weren't heading the right way either. I've voted a few times since then, but never with any degree of excitement that I could get behind one candidate or the other.

I don't think McCain would be the worst president either. I don't think he has much vision for changing things though. I think it will be politics as usual with him. Not necessarily as bad as it's been under Bush, but I don't feel any excitement from him. I do worry that he's too old to actually feel any excitement anymore. I'm 35 and I rarely feel any vim and vigor, he's twice my age and must just be happy to get some coffee and be alive each day, let alone try to change the course of a stagnant nation.

I do worry about his vp pick too. I mean, what a strange choice. Have you ever heard of this lady? I don't much follow politics, but at least I had heard of Joe Biden. I've heard of Alaska, but not this Palin lady. C'mon McCain, do you think everybody's stupid enough to suddenly vote for you because you chose a woman? There weren't any other women that people had heard of that you could have chosen? WTF?

Oh well, we shall see. I'm nervous about the election. I think the Democrats are like your hometown team, they can always mess it up. They may get overconfident and fall apart. I think everybody that supports Obama has to feel this way right now. He's managed to pull through to this point, but you can always mess things up. Maybe that's the true American way.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Random Stuff

-From a web report about Michael Phelps : "Phelps’ seventh world record in his personal Great Haul of China."

Ha ha, Great Haul of China. Those sportswriters can be hilarious.

-Watched Batman - Dark Knight last week. Not hilarious. Too long. Too much action moving too fast for this old geezer. Maybe a 7 out of 10. I remember liking the first one quite a bit.

Had a funny moment while watching it though. We went to the 5.30 showing, so it was pretty empty, out in Clio, Michigan. Probably 10 people in the theatre overall. Just before the movie starts, two older guys, probably 50's or slightly older, come up and sit in the aisle and seats right behind us. Right behind us. Then they talk. They talk through the last preview and on into the opening of the movie. Not talking the whole time, just random, inane statements. Like when they're talking about Harvey Dent, one of the guys says, "Oh that's Aaron Eckhart, he's a good actor".

We both shush them a time or two, but they're still at it. Finally we both turn around, but the wife starts pounding the back of her seat, and goes, "Guys, do you mind! Stop talking". They're both like, "Oh." and didn't make a peep after. Way to go wife.

You never know what's gonna happen in that situation. Like are they gonna be assholes and keep talking just to bug you? Apparently they just figured talking during a movie was ok and this was the first they heard that it is not.

After the movie I heard them in the restroom near me and I was expecting them to be talking about 'that bitch in front of us'. Instead they just sounded like a couple of old movie nerds, talking about how much the movie offers up to think about. One guy gave it about a 7/10, same as me!

-One of the favorite things Lexi says right now is amn't. I'll say she's a little joker or something and she'll say, "No I amn't". Maybe this is common for kids, but it gets me every time.

-I've been digging the Olympics lately. Not actually watching them, though I had it on for a couple hours this morning and was watching some on the plane last night. I don't get caught up in the whole Olympic fever and patriotism and medal count, but I think they're cool. It's nice to see people who do get caught up in something big like that.

I'm amazed at some of the structures that get built for Olympics. That Swim Cube is cool. I went the Olympic Stadium in Munich back when I was a kid and that was cool too. Just some nice architecture, lots of cool design rather than just a slab of concrete. I don't even think it's bad for them to be in China. I mean, they aren't the politically correct games. Maybe the Chinese are pretty much assholes in the whole 'freedom' concept, but they're just the Olympics. If they start vying to give out the Nobel Peace Prizes in Beijing, then I'll riot.

-Michigan is lovely this time of year. We had a great trip. The kids loved loved loved seeing their Grandma and Grandpa. We saw lots of relatives in the Dinsmore family, maybe a few more than is wise, as there is no way I can remember who's who now.

Grandpa D built a swing/playset in the backyard just for Lexi and Noah and they loved it and abused it to no end. Not sure how much sand ended up staying in the sand box and how much ended up on the lawn. They took tractor rides on in the backyard on the riding lawnmower, and Daddy loved Grandpa's massage chair. Used it so much my spine was actually tender the next day.

The kids' Great Grandma Peg turned 90 this year and there was a big shindig for her. That was nice. Uncle Jeff and Aunt Sarah were there from California, which made it just that much nicer as well. The four of us took a little trip up to Frankfort/Elberta, which is on northern Lake Michigan, along with a couple of other cousins. Just went overnight, but we went on one of those alpine slides at a place called Crystal Mountain, then went to Sleeping Bear Dunes. It was beautiful weather and beautiful country.

I ended up getting a little flu bug for a couple of days. Not sure exactly what it was, but was laid up in bed off and on for a day or two. Had a pounding head the whole time. Luckily it was nearer the end of the trip after most the action had taken place, but I still felt bad for ruining the good time. Luckily it was mostly better in time for the trip home, as we had to drive to Detroit, take a bus to the airport, take two planes, then another shuttle to the car. The kids were mostly good on the plane, but it's not easy traveling with kids. Thank goodness all the passengers around us were good humored. Thank you fellow travelers!!!

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Taking a Break

It's been too tough posting as much as I do, so I'm gonna slow it down a bit.

Heading to Michigan for a week, so you're gonna have to get along without me for a short while.

I'll return to my regular updates when I get back.

Saturday, July 19, 2008

My dilemma...

So I'm home alone with the kids, and M went to work at 11, so the kids were still in their pajamas. It's 3.30 and they're still in their pajamas. The wife's not home until after their bedtime. So, isn't it in everybody's best interest to just keep them in their pajamas all day? I mean, there is an energy crisis going on and we don't want to waste valuable resources right now. Am I right? If I'm wrong you may be a terrorist or oil company owner.

Dead Cat

No, cat's not dead.

Yet.

Lexi's going crazy jumping on the bed beside me. I told her not to get too crazy and jump on the cat. She said, "Yeah cause we don't want a dead cat".

Hmm, I'm getting an idea.

The cat was sick last week. It was strange, he all of a sudden started limping one night, and it seemed to be getting worse, so M took him to the vet. They charged us $350.00 to take x-rays and do blood work, only to tell us that he had a fever but nothing was physically wrong otherwise.

I'm glad M was the one with him, because I don't know that I would have paid that much. I mean, the cat only cost us about $30.00 initially, and there are a LOT of cats out there that don't have fevers and limps. Really though, couldn't the vet have maybe mentioned waiting a day to see what happened before jumping into all the lab work and x-rays?

This cat is getting more and more precious to me each and every day that we sink money into him. Pretty soon he's gonna poop gold for us I'm sure.

The worst part is that now I'm afraid to even touch him when he's scratching and clawing my hands at night, because I don't want to have to take him back for more x-rays.

Monday, July 07, 2008

Had brunch with Ed Begley Jr. yesterday...

Well, I had brunch near Ed Begley Jr. yesterday. Went to the Old Wives' Tales restaurant for brunch to meet up with some old acquaintances who were visiting from Seattle. While waiting for them, we were playing in a little playroom set aside for kids, and this older gentleman was playing with another little boy. I was thinking he had a familiar look to him, but I'm the type of person that would never recognize a celebrity if they were standing right next to me (which he was).

It wasn't until we were seated at the table with our friends, when one of them wrote 'Ed Begley' on a napkin and showed it to us. I thought he was just saying that the guy looked like E.B.

Nope, it was the real deal. He's looking a little older these days. Not surprising, of course. I guess he'll just always be John 'Stumpy' Pepys to me, the original drummer for Spinal Tap.

Saturday, July 05, 2008

Probably forgot most of 'em...

1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you intend to read
3) Underline the books you LOVE.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare (not every single word, but close)
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot (only read half, only bolded half)
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving (this is a must read book if you have never read it.)
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’ Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce (who knows what it's actually about though)
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl

I'm not sure where the list comes from...I got it from my Wayne.

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Sorry I didn't learn how to embed those previous videos. I'm now an old hand at it.

edit: Now I did.

Funny stuff



See more funny videos at CollegeHumor

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Ow!



Noah hurt his leg on the slide the other day. Foot got caught on the side of it and bent backwards a little, causing a slight hairline fracture on his tibia.

Did my usual daddy doctor routine. Poked here and there and surmised it's 'just bruised'. Of course the real doctor once again had a different opinion and put a cast on, 'just in case' my own opinion was wrong.

This is the temporary cast...today he got the real thing. In red...his choice. He's doing well though. All cash donations can be sent to me...I'll make sure he gets them. After the doctor takes his cut, of course.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Bacon Weave, part II
















As you can see, it's prettier pre-cooking. One advantage to the bacon weave is that you can cook an entire package of bacon at one time. Normally you'd have to cook them in 2-3 shifts, depending on teh size of your frying pan.

If you look closely in teh first picture, you'll see there is a container of bacon salt near the bacon weave. The world came close to ending on the day the bacon salt was spread over the bacon weave. Luckily Jeff and Sarah were there to help us eat the whole thing.

After cooking, as in the second photo, you'll see that the bacon weave fell apart a bit. That's because of my first attempt at turning it over. Tried the dual-spatula method. Didn't work so well. Finally tried sliding it on a plate, putting another plate over that plate, then flipping the two plates over. The slide the bacon weave from te second plate back into the pan.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

One Seater

Went to a restaurant called Wildwood on Saturday night. The Missus and me, her brother and his wife. It was good, little overpriced, but we were having a good time.

Near the end of our evening, I got up to use the restroom. As I entered the men's room, I looked around and realized it's just a single person restroom. Just the room, a toilet and a sink. As I was closing the door, a guy came in behind me, and must not have instantly realized it was only a single restroom. He looks around and says, "Oh, it's only a one seater eh?". "Yep", I replied, as he continued in and locked the door. "You can go first", he said to me.

Erm, what? Now, if you read the story about drinking from the stranger girl's beer can on the bike path in Seattle, you know odd things sometimes happen to me. And while I wasn't really perturbed by this guy's behavior, I just found it pretty odd to be certain. But he went to the sink and busied himself while I did my duty, then we switched and I washed my hands while he did his. I figured since he was such a friendly sort the least I could do was engage him in a little friendly banter.

"Good dinner tonight, sir?", I queried. "Oh yes, I never have a bad meal here", he replied. Wait, he's been here before, and he didn't know it's a one seater? "Same here, very good". By now he was done so I didn't need to keep up much more of this conversation. I walked to the door and opened it up to allow him to exit.

"Have a great evening", I said to him. "Thanks, same to you", he throws back at me.

So strange, my life.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

A few things you might not know about me...

Got this from Wayne. I usually don't respond, which is embarrassing since there is usually one that says, "I think Mark will respond to this". It's not that I don't want to, I usually just forget about it. So if you thought I was going to respond to one of these and I never did, sorry to make you a liar.

This one is a bit different from others we’ve seen go around. Four things about me that you may or may not have known in no particular order.

Four jobs I have had in my life:

1. Dairy Queen
2. Dairy Queen (It went out of business after I worked there the first time. I re-applied under the new ownership) (It wasn't my fault)
3. Loaded trucks for RPS, a UPS clone. Only lasted one night.
4. Archaelogist (seriously)

Four movies I’ve watched more than once:

1. Bottlerocket
2. Spinal Tap
3. Shawshank Redemption
4. Aliens

Four places I have lived:

1. Aachen, Germany
2. Belmont, Mass
3. Seattle, WA
4. St. Louis, MO

Four T. V. Shows that I watch:

1. Battlestar Galactica
2. Hell's Kitchen
3. Judge Judy
4. Entourage

Four places I have been:

1. Las Vegas, NV
2. Vancouver, BC
3. New York City, NY
4. Tijuana, Mexico

People who e-mail me

1. Mom
2. Gary
3. Stephanie
4. Brett

Four of my favorite foods:

1. Fajitas
2. Beef Stroganoff
3. Chicken Parmesan
4. Hot Tamales (candy)

Four places I would rather be right now:

1. Seattle
2. Cannon Beach
3. Camping
4. In a time machine

Four friends I think will respond:

1. Um...
2.
3.
4.

Things I am looking forward to this year:

1. Summer finally starting in Portland
2. Family trip to Michigan this summer
3. Hopefully going camping with my family this fall
4. New television (hopefully soon)

Friday, June 06, 2008

A few things you, as a casual human being, might not know about kittens

Got a cat two days ago. Here's what I learned that I wish I had known before.

Kittens are expensive. Oh we talked them down to half-price, since they had a crapload of cats in a big cage, but ended up spending 3 times the purchase amount on kitty litter and cat food.

Kittens have sharp teeth that will fall out in 6 months. Our kitty, Lou Dobbs, hasn't had them fall out yet, but I'm not looking forward to this nastiness.

Kittens have to get fixed, and that's even more expensive. Like 200 dollars expensive to snip the kitty. C'mon, even back alley dentistry doesn't cost 200 dollars. Unless you do the platinum upgrade, but that's another story entirely.

Kittens turn into cats, and cats can live 15 to 20 years. I seriously thought I was in this for maybe 3-5 years, not 15-20.

I feel like I'm deep in the poo poo now. At least the kids are happy.

Sunday, June 01, 2008

Movie Madness

Gah, I hate it when I have a Netflix movie that's sat there, unwatched, for like 2 months. You finally psych yourself up to see it, you go to watch it, and it turns out to not be the movie you actually thought it was, but the movie before that one. Happened to me last week.

I wanted to see a movie called 30 days of night. Some vampire/horror flick. With the kids, we don't make much time for movie watching, which is why it's sat there for a few months now. I told everybody at work about it, and they all said I should watch it, great movie, you'll love it. So I got excited to see it. Waited another two weeks, finally went to grab it. It was Repo Man. That movie kinda sucks.

I'm not successful at movie watching. Almost an abject failure really.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Daddy...

"Daddy, did you call me a dickhead?"

"No hon, the lady in front of us is a dickhead"

"Oh, ok, Daddy"

Out of the mouths of 3 1/2 year old babes it shall be spoken. The wife then goes on to inform me that I need to filter my car language.

"But Sweetheart, dickhead is filtering!"