Congrats to Ichiro on his career-best 5 RBIs in 10-4 win over the Blue Jays!

The Milwaukee Summer Rec Program

For six weeks this summer my kids attended an all day (8AM to 4PM) program offered at a nearby school through the Milwaukee Recreation Department.



 I acknowledged that it was a safe and convenient way to juggle both the demands of summer babysitting and the kids constant need to be doing *something*, but honestly? I thought the kids would hate it, and that every morning would require an argument before they walked out the door.

Not so.

They LOVED IT. The few times we picked them up late, they were angry that we didn't pick 'em up later.

Whodathunkit? Other than Lisa that is.



The kids took field trips to pools and a waterpark. The zoo. A Brewers game  (see the Facebook post below). They spent a day at Silverbrook Girl Scout Camp. Another day at Indian Mound Reservation Boy Scout camp. They had 4H meetings. They did projects. They made friends. For the first time ever they walked to and from school by their lonesome.

The two oldest even joined a softball team that went undefeated. Near the end of the session they got to play a game at Helafear Field, the little league park at the Brewers Miller Park, and while Lisa and I were both working my Dad made the early morning trip to watch them in action! Thanks Pop!

Here's their coach:

August 1st: The three oldest kids attended their first Brewers game of the year today with their Rec Division classes and were treated to a 13-4 win over the Astros. They enjoyed it and commented that there were " a lot" of home runs (4), plus they got

 to see a future HOF'er in Ryan Braun. Lauren was a little hurt she couldn't go w/out parental supervision, but there's always next year. Oh, and on Monday the Rec class had a Brewers day where the kids met Larry Hisle. 

So will we do it again next year? Well, it wasn't cheap -for four kids, and compared to any other program it was, but I'm talking soley in the context of our finances. Still, for the amount of fun they had, and all those experiences, it was certainly worth it. I'd be more than happy to have them enrolled again next summer :)

My Idiot Brother

Lisa and I watched "My Idiot Brother" starring Paul Rudd. I rented it because Lisa was down and asked for a comedy to lighten her mood, but this didn't fit the bill. It was a nice movie, and there were a few laughs, but all in all this as dry as the Mojave. Grade: B

Shawn Spencer: Good morning detectives, collecting money for the Policeman's ball? 

Carlton Lassiter: We don't have balls. 

Shawn Spencer: I honestly have no response to that.

Mind Altering Murder by William Rabkin

I finished reading "Mind Altering Murder" a Psych tie-in novel by William Rabkin. This was easily the weakest of the bunch. It was poorly constructed and relied on wild happenstance to link the plot. 

Blech. The only plus was that he captures the Gus' voice to a T. Grade: C  (book #65 of the year)

Melissa and Joey

I'm watching "Melissa and Joey" on Netflix and they showed a building exterior as an establishing shot for a scene set in modeling agency - only thing is, I'd stake $ on the building being the Texas School Book Depository. If so - eww

Marvin Hamlish

RIP composer Marvin Hamlisch

Deep Down - a story by Lee Child

I finished reading "Deep Down" a Jack Reacher story by Lee Child. It was written exclusively for the Kindle, but I Calibre'd it and read it on my Nook. Good story, nothing jaw dropping. Grade: B

:(

The Dodgers have designated Tony Gwynn Jr. for assignment

Stargate SG1: Trial by Fire by Sabine C Bauer

I've finished reading "Stargate SG1: Trial by Fire" by Sabine C. Bauer, a readable but forgettable tie-in novel from the TV series. Grade: C (book #64 of 2012)

The oldest (and once troubled) son of Eagles coach Andy Reid has been found dead at 29. RIP.

Doctor Who Quotes

Amy Pond: You do have a plan, don't you? 

The Doctor: No, I have a thing. It's like a plan, but with more greatness.

Greatest Doctor Who quote Ever, although I admit it loses a bit of pizazz in print: 

 Amy: So you were right. . . We didn't make a difference at all.

The Doctor: I wouldn't say that. The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things. The good things don't always soften the bad things, but vice versa, the bad things don't necessarily spoil the good things or make them unimportant - and we definitely added to his pile of good things.

Last Sunday the kids sat down with us and watched a 60 Minutes segment on Van Gogh, followed (through a quirk of programming) by "Vincent and the Doctor", an episode of Doctor Who featuring a trip back in time to visit the great painter in the year of his death. It was a great one-two punch, and I was very proud of the kids for knowing the names of several of his paintings before they were said - apparently art class at STAA does more than just macaroni necklaces :)

And before I head off to work - ty to Lu for going to the tennis courts with me this morning, and RIP Marilyn, 50 years ago today.

Yes! Ben Bowder, aka John Crichton from Farscape, will appear in A Town Called Mercy, the 3rd episode of the this season of Doctor Who!

2 Quarry Novels by Max Allan Collins

I finished reading both 'The First Quarry' and "Quarry' by Max Allan Collins. They're both hard boiled novels featuring a contract killer. As usual, Collins delivers. Grade for each: B+ 62 and 63

Wisest Words I Ever Thunk

There's waaayyyyy more to fear than just fear itself

Life rewards action

My Day

A good day at work, followed by a nice dinner with the kids, then played catch with LuLu in the alley before winding down for the night.

The Olympics

Every four years I claim not to be interested in the Olympics, and what do I do? I  wind up watching hours of it a night. It's always the old standbys for me: gymnastics, swimming, volleyball. :)

Gore Vidal

RIP writer Gore Vidal

Or - why not both?

".....do not prepare the road for your children. Prepare your children for the road."

Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse

Today I finished reading "Siddhartha: An Indian Poem" by Hermann Hesse [translation by Susan Bernofsky, The Modern Library]. I think if you were going to read one "finding yourself" narrative from the first half of the last century, I'd skip this and read The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham. (great book, great Tyrone Power movie).With that being said, I thought this short novel was engaging and, at times, enlightening. Grade: B #61

“Siddhartha began to understand that it was not happiness and peace that had come to him with his son but, rather, sorrow and worry. But he loved him and preferred the sorrow and worry of love to the happiness and peace he had known without the boy.” - "Siddhartha: An Indian Poem" by Hermann Hesse

"[rejecting the philosophical concept that all is meaningless and illusory] Blue was blue, river was river, and even if the One, the Divine, lay hidden in the blue and the river . . .it was still the nature and the intention of the Divine to be yellow here, blue here, sky over there, forest here, and here Siddhartha. Meaning and being did not lie somewhere behind things; they lay within them, within everything . . . When a person reads something and wishes to grasp its meaning, he does not scorn the characters and letters and call them illusory, random, and worthless husks; he reads them, studies them, and loves them, letter for letter. But I - I who set out to read the book of the world and the book of my own being - I scorned the characters and letters in deference to a meaning I assumed in advance." - "Siddhartha: An Indian Poem" by Hermann Hesse

“To see through the world, to explain it, to scorn it - this may be the business of great thinkers. But what interests me is being able to love the world, not scorn it, not to hate it and hate myself but to look at it and myself and all beings with love and admiration and reverence.” - Siddhartha, Herman Hesse

The Case of the Caretaker's Cat by Erle Stanley Gardner

I just finished reading a Perry Mason novel by  Erle Stanley Gardner called  "The Case of the Caretaker's Cat". I've read Gardner before and enjoyed him, but this one, eh, not so much. The first third moved well, but the theatrics and the extended 'reveal' at the end were too much for my taste. I'd grade this a C #60

Congrats to Yankee Ichiro Suzuki on his 100th career home run.