FB April 25th to May 10th

April 25th

the new Nook update is out! Apps increase from a handful to 139! Now it not only wups the Kindle, it makes it put on makeup and call Barnes and Noble "big daddy"

April 26th

13:01 Since I worked all weekend and Lisa was up north on Saturday, our Easter is *today*. Took the kids to Mass at 8:15, big dinner at 4:30. Ham is in the oven, kielbasa in the slow cooker, potatoes peeled and cut, hard boiled eggs peeled and ready for . . er, deviling. Desperately hoping for a nap b4 the final push . .

19:28 outside Stonefire Pizza waiting to conduct a Craigslist purchase of kids clothing. Big scary man alone outside kids play area = not most well thought out meeting place

I love playing "Old Cannon" a simple little 'physics' game where you attempt to knock down castles using only 3 shots from an old cannon. Smiley, oddly, aced every level while I struggled with a few :)


22:34 chilling w/ my friend erv, who just got out of the hospital (complications of diabetes)

RIP Poly Styrene (born Marianne Elliot), who has died of breast cancer at age 53.

April 27th

On a lark I watched "GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra". For a big budget popcorn flick, it was fine. Better than I expected really, tho' the Flash Gordon technology was tiresome. So was the acting. Channing Tatum seemed to think he was hired to imitate Mark Wahlberg's worst traits, while Marlon Wayan's signed on for a degrading minstrel show performance.

April 30th

Today marks 36 years since the Fall of Saigon.

Watching the Channel 10 Auction with Lisa and LOL at all the crappy artwork and tschotcke's (sic) they're peddling.

May 1st

After a miserable day at work yest I finished CJ Sansom's "Dissolution", a Tudor era mystery featuring King's Commisioner Matthew Shardlake. I liked it quite a bit, but admit to becoming irrationally angry at some of the Reformist actions/thoughts expressed through the character. Also, I guessed the murderer's identity - but not until about 20 pgs before it was revealed. A good read and recommended.

Pope John Paul II was named 'Blessed' today, a step below Sainthood. God bless him, what grand news! I love John Paul, and look upon CNN's reporting of protests as nothing more than anti-Catholic bigotry in action.

May 2nd

Just back from Parker's 1st ever Tiger Cub Scout meeting!

<---- perhaps the only man to ever complain to a Scout leader that his son's meetings conflict with watching Dancing With the Stars

May 3rd

For $3 I bought an old hardcover copy of "Little Orpan Annie and the Gila Monster Gang" (Harold Gray, published 1944) and loaned it to YaYa at 5 o'clock. She just came downstairs to return it, having finished the 248 pg bk. Just in case she was full of it, I skimmed the last two chapters and quizzed her, & she aced it. Well done, Danny Jr.

Seriously, how many times does this have to happen to me before I take the hint? Do NOT handle jalepeno peppers and then use the restroom *unless* you wash your hands first. I tell you this to spare you pain greater than any other . . . shoot me now.

May 4th

So, the Prez is cool with lifting the ban on photos of American KIA's, and w/ releasing photos of alleged abuse by our military - but he won't release a photo of OBL because he's afraid of offending our enemy. [crickets chirp] Wouldn't that be the same enemy that drags bodies through the street and beheads reporters on camera?

Gas in Chicago inching towards $5 a gallon. (I've seen $4.44 confirmed in print)

[gas prices peaked that day or the next before moving downward]

May 5th

Something's gone goofy here. I woke up with shooting pain from my wrists up to my elbows, and I barely had the strength in my hands to take apart the bikes this morning & replace their inner tubes. It's prob this flu that's been making the rounds, but I feel like an old man, and I still have a workday ahead of me . . .

[oh man, did I feel awful. Just awful, for about 48 hours. But I made it work both days]

May 7th

Don't linger on moments of no consequence, and don't rush over moments worth examining

RIP Sada Thompson, 83, actress best known from "Family"

Now that Obama has essentially sanctified Bush era polices by keeping Gitmo, using info obtained by EIT, and pre-emeptively attacking targets wherever they appear, I expect it will be harder for the Left to attack him on those points without looking like a complete hypocrite.

RIP, Claude Choules, the last known WWI combatant, age 110 - and thank you.

May 8th

Today was a perfect day, just the kind of day you'll jump to relive when your life flashes before your eyes. Just perfect :)

May 9th

Whaaaa??? Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife of 25 years, Maria Shriver, have separated

I just finished 'Last Men Out: The True Story of America's Heroic Final Hours in Vietnam" by Bob Drury and Tom Clavin. The book focuses on the Marine detatchment at the Saigon embassy, the last group of American's to exit Vietnam. Very compelling, and written in an easy and entertaining manner. Recommended.

May 10th

10:20 am - ok, about to exit the car and walk into an interview. Wish me luck

Interview went well (I think) lasting for 45 minutes and eventually involving the owner himself. Nice to wear a shirt and tie again, if only for a morning.

Lump passed her in-school eye test today, scoring a 20/50 in each eye. That's normal for a three year old. By 4-5 years old it should be 20/40, then 20/32 by age six.

Goodbye Columbo

RIP Peter Falk. You'll be missed. 

The Artiste Gene

This drawing of two dancers hangs outside YaYa's classroom and bears her signature. At a recent conference with her teacher, we asked if she traced it. Nope, her teacher replied (well, she didn't say 'nope', as that term is reserved for obnoxious bloggers). But she did say that it wasn't traced, simply eye-balled by YaYa from a picture she provided.

I'm impressed. While I can't deny a way with words and thus The Power to Move Masses, I've always envied those people who can take the pictures in their head and sketch them on paper. If I had that gift, and I could purge some of the ingenious ideas floating in my noggin, life would grand for all.

They've obviously inherited an artistic gene from Lisa, who should be -given the right breaks - Martha Stewart version 2.



Here's a giraffe Smiley drew too:



Here's some great work by LuLu





and by the Lump



Great, huh?

A Foul Mood Indeed

Holy sh-t I'm in a foul mood. Dark, angry, and looking for a fight. Not a good day to be in my company.

OMG stop with the interruptions!

Leave it to Obama to interrupt prime time on a day when I'm in a foul, dark mood, now ratcheted up a notch by the Prez. It's old news Mr. President. It leaked all over the net. You're pulling combat troops from Afghanistan by next year, against the wishes of your generals and some of your staff. Well done. It's certainly not a ploy to seek re-election at the expense of our anti-terror policy. No sirree.

Discovery World

@discovery world, where not only have i mooned a nun, i am the most despised father among other visitors after forcing park to climb a ladder.

If I hadn't been given 6 free passes for Christmas, Discovery World would have cost me $86 today, not inc. $10 for parking. That place is NOT $96 worth of fun. It is not $50 worth of fun. Yet another way to economically segregate Milwaukee.

there is no fu^^ing reason to interrupt tv AGAIN for a thunderstorm warning. Rain. Thunder. Wow. Scary. Not.

Wipeout

Watching Wipeout and luuuvving it!

Hallowe'en Party by Agatha Christie

I started Agatha Christie's "Hallowe'en Party", but I'm woefully unimpressed with the first two chapters. I may abandon it. Any yes, the odd apostrophe is in the title.

PBS'ing

LuLu and Smiley are watching Julia Child and Jaqcques Pepin (sic) with Lisa and asking 1000 pertinent questions.

The Doorbell Rang

If you want an example of smooth, flawless writing that drops you into the story with panache, look no further than Rex Stout. I loved the opening of 'The DoorBell Rang', a Nero Wolfe mystery from late in Stout's career, when he went all lefty-loosy. Here he paints the FBI as a group of murdering fascist thugs. IIRC the book cost Stout many fans, inc. John Wayne. Not a great bk, but not a bad read, ideology aside.

Home cooking!

<p><span style="font-size: large;">For the warmup to the kid's dinner: a salad made of greens picked fresh from our garden!

Father's Day 2011

Best part of Fathers's Day 2011: watching Terminator with YaYa and LuLu after a taco dinner. They seemed to enjoy it as much as I did back in the day, and I couldn't have been happier!

A Yucky Day

Got home from wrk near midnight, went to bed close to 230. Dumb. Lisa got me up @ 6. Tried going back to bed @ 745 but was invited to Godson's 1st haircut. Didn't go, had to deal w/ near disaster @ Noah's Ark (girls are there on scout trip). Gave up on sleep. Sharpened/oiled mower, cut & trimmed lawn. Going to garden w/ Park, then make lunch, clean a bit, then hopefully nap b4 returning to work. Day sux.

Buried Prey

I finished "Buried Prey", the latest Lucas Davenport book by John Sandford. Very well done. Part of it is set in the distant past when Davenport's career began, but unlike the use of this technique in the latest Scudder novel (where it seemed a sign the character was too old to matter in the present), Sandford makes it work and work well. I enjoyed it a lot.

A Chance Encounter

just ran into Dave Shore @ the Botanical Gardens. I rarely forget faces, and in fact we both recognized each other @ the same time. It was a friendly reunion. He thanked me for advice back in the day, commented on the lovely paint job of the hi, and mentioned the economy is tough.

Anyway. 

There was a concert there that evening (the music of John Williams) and that allowed me to get in free with the kids. We didn't stay for the music. I had 3 kids under 8 with me, all of whom have a 7 pm bedtime. Had I stayed everyone else would have missed hearing a good show. 

Smiley's Roller skates

Technically, aren't they called Heeley's?

Wish Me Luck

I should mention that I tossed my hat into the ring for a writing job of some significance. While it's a long shot of a long shot, I was happy to see that not only wasn't I rejected out of hand, the editor passed news of my interest up the ladder. So say a prayer, offer to fund a bribe, or just send good thoughts my way - whatever your preference, I'm grateful for the help.

Rain Rain Go Away

Tonight's rain reminded me of something Junie did a few wks ago. It was raining very hard, and she was reciting the "rain rain go away" ditty over & over. That's unremarkable - except for the increasing panic and frustration in her voice. To her it was a legtimate spell against the rain, & her tone revealed an absolute sense of betrayal that her magic had gone unanswered by the "powers that be".

My Thoughts - Anthony Weiner

On Weiner: I consider sex scandals to be largely "other people's marital problems". Whether it's Waren Harding, Arnold, or Norquist, it's their spouses business, not mine. I'll worry about my marriage & leave them to worry about theirs. But I'm not keen on lying to the press after the jig is up, & his decision to post pics via Twitter shows he has disturbingly poor judgement. Stay or go? Up to his constiuents, IMO.

A Reunion

Today I ran into grade school classmate Lisa Mattice for the first time since 1985. It was great to catch up for a few minutes. On the flip side, I fell asleep on the couch during The Voice and ruined the planned night w/ (my) Lisa. Even worse, I am now forced to listen to Jay Leno until I can locate the TV remote. *shiver*

Getting Ready to Rollerskate!

Our Sentry Store is Closing

I know of two Sentry stores that were around until this year - 50th and Oklahoma by Serb Hall, and in Bay View in the old Cub Foods/Jewel building on Howell and Oklahoma. The 50th St locale closed this past winter. The pic is of the Bay View Sentry.

YaYa and Gizmo

Dropping off YaYa at camp