Gardening Season has begun!

If you've been paying attention, you know Smiley is obsessed with plants, flowers, trees, gardening, and anything involving seeds and dirt. To satisfy this itch we planted a small garden last year, but the soil in my yard is so poor it yielded next to nothing. After some consideration I we decided to follow the "Square Foot Gardening" method of author Mel Bartholomew this year, and establish raised garden beds that don't depend on the native soil.

My mother-in-law, Smiley and I made the trip to Home Depot Saturday morning for the supplies, then enlisted the help of YaYa and a lil' red wagon to unload the van.







For each of the two boxes, I used 2x6 boards in four foot lengths and fastened them with deck screws to form the frame.





The sound of the drill drew the other kids outside to 'help'.











By the time frame one was done it was time for the kids' swim classes, and a cold, sporadic sprinkle of rain had started. I finshed the first frame and filled it with topsoil, peat moss, and some compost, butunderestimated the amount I needed and didn't have enough to fill the second box. I concentrated on finishing the first one before any serious rain began.

As part of the 'square foot' method, the 4x4 foot box is divided into 16 seperate growing areas, laid out by a simple grid of lathe that 'floats' above the box. Because I know my kids, I figured it would 'float' its way to pieces on the trampoline. So I secured it on two sides. Aside from one piece I forgot to pre-drill (which promptly split), it was pretty easy to rig together.



Come to think of it, the whole project was easy-peezy. Now I just have to fill the second box, grid it out, and get to a'plantin'. Here's hoping we get a better crop this season!

Quote

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

The only thing that writers write for themselves are shopping lists

"I do not belong to that gang of bad writers who say that they only write for themselves. The only thing that writers write for themselves are shopping lists . . . All the rest, including laundry lists, are messages addressed to somebody else. They are not monologues; they are dialogues." - Umberto Eco, Confessions of a Young Novelist. (emphasis mine) 

When I first read those words they spoke to my heart; it so aptly describes me that I'm surprised I didn't write it myself. I certainly wish I had. I can say with absolute certainty that I have never strung together more than a dozen words without first considering an audience. Never mind that my 'audience' was usually composed of exactly no one, and the words were destined for the trashbin. They were 'important'. 

This practice even predates my ability to print letters. I still have a copy of a story I dictated to my Grandparents when I was four years old. It always irks me when I stumble across someone who professes to be a 'writer', yet refuses to submit their work. At four I knew the only point to spewing words on paper is to share the noise in your head. Why don't they? Of course, that opens the door to the question of personal and artistic integrity. If I'm sitting here typing my "deepest darkest emotions" with one eye on a Grandma in Budapest who might someday buy a copy of the text, I can't in all honesty claim my words will reveal, well, all honesty. Consciously or not I will edit it to the liking of my Unseen Reader. My most glaring example of this trait: a diary I kept in 1994. In those pages I glossed over some embarrassing tidbits, eliminated a few anecdotes, and most telling, actually made sure to include some (true) dirt to spice it up for the reader. It was so nauseatingly forced I couldn't bear to keep the diary going. It lasted all of a week. That's a good sign tho', no? If I had the self awareness *then* to recognize and fight the need to tidy up the world, I think I'm pretty safe in saying there's a raw honesty running through whatever I write now. So, Unseen Reader, I thank you. I thank you for keeping the fires of my imagination burning, for forcing me to always improve my work, and for - every once in a while - actually being a real, live reader who enjoys my work. See you soon. Dan

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 . . .

Smiley becomes a Tiger Cub Scout!

This Monday (May 2nd) me and Smiley attended his first ever Tiger Cub Scout meeting!



He'll be going into 1st grade next year, making him eligible for the Scouts, so when a flyer came home encouraging us to join up we jumped at the chance. Truth be know, I've tried to get him enrolled for a few months, even emailing the local council office.

At any rate, he was quickly absorbed in the activity of the night, while I sat through an orientation section. I filled out the application with pride. Lisa has been heavily vested in Girl Scouting with our girls; now it was the boys turn to shine! I intend to be involved in the Pack right along with Smiley.



We'll be attending a few events over the summer, but by and large his Scouting experience will begin in the Fall. We'll be breaking new ground together. While I was a Cub, Webelos, Boy Scout and Explorer, Tiger Cubs are a program that begin a few years into my Scouting years.

Smiley made and decorated a pair of spinning wood tops, got a welcome folder with a hologram, bookmarks, and baseball cards, and went home with a balloon and a cookie in his belly (and on his face!).



Congrats Smiley! I'm so happy for you!

just saw a Nook Color commercial on AI

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)

Some long overdue reviews from 2009

Back in '09 I read Robert B. Parker's Chasing the Bear, a young adult novel featuring a teenage Spenser.



I'm not sure how canonical the book is, as it moves Spenser's birth forward by several decades and eliminates some long-established facets of his life. It was nice to finally glimpse the all-male family dynamic that created the character, but I was visibly jarred when 'Spenser' was mentioned as a family name. To my recollection, the adult series has always been coy about never mentioning if it was his first or last name.

I liked the book a lot, and thought it was a great way to introduce Spenser to a future generation of buyers. What bothered me, however, was that the teenage Spenser kills a man. In defence of another, certainly, but even so, was it appropriate given the age of the character and of the intended reader? I don't think so.

At around the same time I rented the movie Mirrors, starring Kiefer Sutherland.



I remember I was alone in not liking it, but pbbbtttt. My opinion is the one that counts - it's my blog ain't it? So I stand my assesment: predictable, not frightening and average at best.

In '09 I also read Stephen King's Firestarter



It was written for a younger audience, and it shows. It's one of his weakest efforts, and it reveals the egotistical biases of King's generation. To overthrow the status quo and reveal the 'truth', they go to the only source that is independent and bold - Rolling Stone magazine. I didn't know whether to laugh out loud or gag.

That bit of hee-hee aside, it was an OK book, just nowhere near the level of King's usual standards.

I know folks love Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series, but I have to admit the one and only book I've read (Storm Front, the first in the series) fell flat.



I could tell Butcher was a good writer, and I enjoyed his style. I just find it hard to get into witches/warlocks/fairies, etc, and I found some of the plot paint-by-numbers.

I'm sure the rest of the series is great, but with all the books on my "To Be Read" pile, do I want to devote the time to giving him a second chance? At this time, the answer is 'no'.

Sinatra, Jr.

Let me start out by saying that Lump, now 3 1/2, is a darling. She's really captured a place in my heart. She's very independent (we joke that she's a feral child), talkative and just plain adorable. I love her to pieces.



She can thank me for those eyelashes, thank you very much:





But those eyes, oh, you'll have to credit them to her Mom, who I nicknamed Sinatra not long after we met:





Beautiful, no? Just stunning (at least to this proud Papa)!

More of my blue eyed girl

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 clap . . . shoot me now

Little Orphan Annie and the Gila Monster Game

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.

Rot in Hell: the tale of May 1st, 2011 and the death of Osama Bin Laden

By now it is old news. Osama Bin Laden, the most hated enemy of America for ten years, a man three administrations have tried to locate and eliminate, was killed Sunday by a Special Forces operation in Pakistan.

What a great, great day for anyone who values freedom and justice.

The emotions and rapid flurry of events of that evening are best relayed as they were that night, as they happened, on Facebook.

9:43 pm Obama will interrupt programming shortly for 'important' announcement. If he's going to mess w/ my TV time it better mean we've made First Contact.

At the time I had no inkling of what this was about, but duly (and suspiciously) noted that the announcement would pre-empt rival candidate Donald Trump's television show. Then, on FB, a flurry of leaks about the news.

9:51 pm Osama Bin Laden is dead! Whoo-hoo! Rot in Hell asshole.



10 pm Richard Engel of NBC is waxing poetic about how this is the end of the War on Terror. No. It is a great moment, a proud moment, a vengeful moment, but it is not the end . . .

10:07 pm Spontaneous chants of "USA! USA!" have broken out at the Mets-Phillies game . . .

10:11 pm the local Fox affiliate reciting parts of Bush's speech from 9/11 . . . powerful stuff. Speculation Dubya will not comment on camera because of his respectful hands-off stance towards Obama

By now, the news was known to every American who was still awake, and we were still waiting for Obama to verify what we already knew.

10:21 pm His remarks will make the news either way, but this extended delay is allowing networks, the web, and local affiliates to not only scoop Obama on the news but also take the first wave of joy and relief upon their shoulders. A wasted opportunity for the White House.

10:23 pm Fox and NBC are reporting he was killed by a missle strike and that it took some time for 'boots on the ground' to recover the body.

To this, someone replied that Obama's speech was timed to knock the beautification of Pope John Paul II off the front page, and rhetorically asked why they couldn't have waited another day. To which I replied. speaking as a pretty adamant Catholic - because it was more important news???

10:30 pm Snippets of Obama's script are leaking. "not a moment of celebration, but of justice", etc. I, personally, would appreciate a bit of patriotic vitriol in the speech, but talking heads on TV are already downplaying that, claiming Obama is too 'international' to make those statements. If so, that tells you something.



10:31 pm Obama said to be 90 seconds away from speaking [actually, it was 3 or 4 minutes. I went and tried to wake up YaYa to watch the speech, but she was too tired and shrugged me off]

10:39pm started off poorly, stiff delivery, stumble on 'flight 93'. C'mon, pick it up we deserve your best

10:40 pm [reacting to Obama's announcement it was a ground strike conducted that day]today? On the ground?? Kudos to the WH for the misleading leaks earlier, preserving the scoop. Well done!

10:41 pm appreciate the nod to Bush.

10:43 pm he's picked up steam.much more natural now

10:45 pm I'm reminded of a comment about the British Empire; if u crossed them they would repay the debt, even if it took 20 yrs

10:50 pm ‎9 minutes, 27 seconds of speech that will read powerfully on paper but was sadly hit and miss live - for once I really hoped Obama would nail a speech, but the weight of the moment seemed to impact his first few minutes on screen. No doubt there are individual lines that will work well in news reports.

10:51 pm Crowd outside the White House cheering and screaming in happiness. Nice to see.

11:02 pm STATEMENT BY GEORGE W. BUSH

Earlier this evening, President Obama called to inform me that American forces killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of the al Qaeda network that attacked America on September 11, 2001. I congratulated him and the men and women of our military and intelligence communities who devoted their lives to this mission. They have our everlasting gratitude. This momentous achievement marks a victory for America, for people who seek peace around the world, and for all those who lost loved ones on September 11, 2001. The fight against terror goes on, but tonight America has sent an unmistakable message: No matter how long it takes, justice will be done.

11:07 STATEMENT BY MITT ROMNEY

This is a great victory for lovers of freedom and justice everywhere.
Congratulations to our intelligence community, our military and the
president. My thoughts are with the families of Osama bin Laden's many
thousands of victims, and the brave servicemen and women who have laid
down their lives in pursuit of this murderous terrorist.




11:11pm For the record: I don't believe this was anything but the result of persistent American effort over the course of ten years and two Administrations. But, sometimes history falls in your lap so - pay attention, because it'll probably be the last time I ever say it - well done Mr. President. Good job.

11:14pm Whoever the American soldier is who fired that fatal shot - thank you! I can't imagine how proud and happy you are at this moment!

~ around this time I spoke to a friend of mine who had wept with pride and happiness at the news ~

12:40 am The State Department has issued a worldwide travel/foreign residency alert for US citizens in light of "enhanced potential for anti-American violence given [Osama's death]". Stay safe out there people.

Drudge [Drudgereport.com] is reporting Osama resisted and that 3 others, including one of his sons, were killed. One was a woman Osama's group used as a human shield. Unsuccessfully, it would seem.

~ a brief break away from the euphoria and stress of that night: Criminy, just finished Torchwood: Children of the Earth. If there is a more morbid, hopeless, self-loathing sci-fi miniseries out there I'll need zanax just to open the DVD case. Sadly, I fear the depiction of the human soul is probably spot on. It's a great end to the show, and very well done.

3:40 am Wait a minute -Obama ordered that Bin Laden be buried within a time frame mandated by Islam, so his body was dumped at sea? What?????? A) IF TRUE, welcome to conspiracy theory 101 B) he isn't deserving of any respect or consideration in death, regardless of his religion. In fact, I could give a sh*t about respecting his religion, be it Mormon, Islam or Lutheran. As for the idea it was done to pacify his followers, anyone who cares about how his remains were disposed is someone that will eventually end up on the wrong end of a SEAL bullet anyhow.

7:45 am Buried at sea. No body. A bow to Islam that makes no sense given we don't accord the same treatment to the thousands of other Muslims we've killed this decade. Welcome to Conspiracy Theory 101. My satisfaction with Obama's tactical brilliance lasted all of . . . 10 hours.

NOTE: By this point people on both sides of the political aisle were doubting the story of the death, and stating so on FB. Said one FB friend, who has certianly leaned Left in local politics: "It's a very nice story, but I believe very little of what the government says. It seems to come from the Department of Convenient Re-Election Strategy."

I didn't doubt he was dead, as it would be too easy for him to make a public announcement to the contrary and scrap Washington's credibility, but I was incensed at the disposal of the body.

~ 9 am. I guess I'm as fickle as the rest of the MTV generation. I woke up this morning and realized nothing changed - gas is still $4.19! a gallon, a $ is worth nothing, our debt is crippling, we're still ignoring revolutions in one country while inexplicitly bombing in support of another, and the wrong movie won Best Picture. Ugh.

The Bin Laden announcement actually pre-empted a post I was going to do here, questioning the reasoning and value of our recent involvement in Libya and elsewhere. In light of Obama's sucess, I felt it would read like sour grapes and scraped it.

~ another brief respite from the news ~ Since I'm 'on call' today I rented 'Black Swan'. It was good, and Natalie Portman deserved the Oscar for her emotional portrayal of Nutty Nutterson. No way it deserved Best Picture tho', so I'm glad it was skipped over - albeit for the wrong film.

This was my final political status update of the day:

By ordering the disposal of Bin Laden's body Obama has planted a perpetual crop of conspiracy theories.This should have been a unifying, patriotic victory, and was - for 12 hours. Now we are already dissolving into different factions. He dropped the ball big time, and it angers me. What a wasted opportunity.

So what would I have done differently? If I wasn't allowed to post his head at Ground Zero, ol' London style, I'd have immediately released video and stills of the corpse, then had it buried at Gitmo. That location would kill any opportunity for a 'shrine' while also preserving the corpse as a counter to any conspiracy nuts.

Later in the day the family sat down and watched extended coverage of the killing on ABC, and we answered some questions from the kids. YaYa, in particular, seemed bothered by the idea of the death, asking if we ever approached him for a 'peace treaty'. It was sweet. Naive, of course, but sweet and it warmed my heart. I am glad she is not as cynical and matter-of-fact as an adult (yet).

I remain bothered by the apparent lack of any teaching about 9/11 or the war in school. It is ten years old, and even if it was not, isn't it important enough to address often enough where I don't have to explain it all from scratch?

So there it is. Euphoria, then anger, then resignation, then back to a calm but certain pride.



Bin Laden is dead. Justice has been served.

May God Bless America.

Tiger Scouts

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

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

Black Swan

Since I'm 'on call' today I rented 'Black Swan'. It was good, and Natalie Portman deserved the Oscar for her emotional portrayal of Nutty Nutterson. No way it deserved Best Picture tho', so I'm glad it was skipped over - albeit for the wrong film.

I guess I'm as fickle as the rest of the MTV generation. I woke up this morning and realized nothing changed - gas is still $4.19! a gallon, a $ is worth nothing, our debt is crippling, we're still ignoring revolutions in one country while inexplicitly bombing in support of another, and the wrong movie won Best Picture. Ugh.

The Royal Wedding

This Friday morning, to the surprise of all, we actually managed to get up at 4am to watch the Royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.

4:15 a.m. (FB) watching the Royal wedding w/ Lisa, YaYa, Lu and Smiley [we did not want to wake Lump]


I'm hardly a "Royal watcher" but I do have an affinity for the UK, and even if I didn't I'm a historian by training if not by practice, and this was something I felt the kids would regret missing. I do wish the networks had mentioned (and perhaps they had) that the wedding itself would not begin until 5 my time. I would have had the kids sleep in longer.

5:05 am (FB). lovely dress - and the choir just began. Here we go!

5:09 am (FB) they look very happy, whispering and smiling to each other at the altar

And they did, didn't they? Oh sure, things can still go sour. They are human. But the 'haters' out there who wish them ill or prophesize their divorce should take a flying leap.

5:27 am (FB) beautiful reading and well done

The reading was Romans 12: 1-2, 9-18.

* * *

Let love be sincere;

hate what is evil,

hold on to what is good;

love one another with mutual affection;

anticipate one another in showing honor.

Do not grow slack in zeal,

be fervent in spirit,

serve the Lord.

Rejoice in hope,

endure in affliction,

persevere in prayer.

Contribute to the needs of the holy ones,

exercise hospitality.

Bless those who persecute you,

bless and do not curse them.

Rejoice with those who rejoice,

weep with those who weep.

Have the same regard for one another;

do not be haughty but associate with the lowly;

do not be wise in your own estimation.

Do not repay anyone evil for evil;

be concerned for what is noble in the sight of all.

If possible, on your part, live at peace with all.

* * *

What a powerful passage!

It was a beautiful wedding for a very happy couple. And oh yes - the dress was wonderful!

Lastly, a bit of fun: My "Royal Wedding Name", according to the FB challenge making the rounds [grandparent's name/1st pet/street you grew up on]: Lord Michael Prudence Arthur. Not bad eh?

Torchwood: Children of the Earth

Criminy, just finished Torchwood: Children of the Earth. If there is a more morbid, hopeless, self-loathing sci-fi miniseries out there I'll need zanax just to open the DVD case. Sadly, I fear the depiction of the human soul is probably spot on. It's a great end to the show, and very well done.

Dissolution by CJ Sansom

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.

Phone Photo Dump - My Darling LuLu

There's a few pictures with Junie, and a couple of Smiley in his dance costume, but on the whole these are pics from LuLu's 1st Commmunion Trip to Fort Atkinson. Enjoy!