Ah McKellan... How I love thee

Upon arrival at church around 1:30 for 2 PM services...

Nick: Daddy, where is everybody?

Me: Nick, everyone's not here yet. We're early. People will get here soon.

Nick: Wow! We've NEVER been early before!

Anderson folks will appreciate that one.

NBA action is fantastic

The NBA playoffs have been absolutely amazing. All of the big guns for the playoff teams have performed as expected, and in some cases, beyond what was expected, even for superstars. Dwayne Wade of the Miami Heat is shooting near 70% from the field against one the defending Eastern Conference champions, whose trademark is (was?) defense. Shaquille O'Neal, also of the Heat, has forgotten that he's supposed to be on the downside of his career. Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks has crossed the threshold of mere very-goodness to great with one play against the San Antonio Spurs; likewise, Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns has shown that maybe he did indeed deserve that MVP trophy. Detroit, the team with no superstars, the team that epitomizes the word TEAM, teeters of the verge of elimination, while their first-year coach is hearing the ghosts of playoff failures past. The games have been exciting and hotly contested. As my squad (the 76ers) didn't even make the playoffs, I've adopted the Miami Heat as my favorite to win it all. That way Shaq gets a championship without Kobe. Yes, I know that's petty. Here's to 3 more weeks of give-and-goes, pick-and-rolls, and alley-oops!

Quickie

A quick blurb before I run to meet the bus. The church picnic in Charlotte was fun - they learned not to have it in August, for one. Guess who pitched for the first time ever? My line: 1 IP, 9 runs, 28 hits, 6/7 errors, 5 ER. Of course when I came up to bat it was time for the blessing of the food, and the game never resumed. I think we only had one casualty - let's just say that time is catching up to Mr. Lyons' ankle. Nick and Noah had a blast; Noah fell asleep in his seat before we could even make it out of the parking lot. The trip to my folk's place was pretty uneventful and quite hot. I must get the A/C fixed this week. That is #1 on the to-do list (not counting my meeting with my attorney tomorrow to set up legal visitation). I'm definitely asking for the Feast - wait, it's 8:16 and the bus comes in 4 minutes. Bye!

Edit: I hurry to the bus stop to find out that the schedule is different in the summer... The next bus doesn't arrive until 8:50.

Checking in

Check out our new kitchen with the avocado green countertops. It definitely has a 70s feel to it.


The living room before the boxes.



Future $20,000,000 man




Nick has oficially been turned on to Spaceballs. Today he's being indoctrinated into the adoration of all things Godzilla. I've gotta run now; we've got some shopping to do before sundown. Maybe we can finish unpacking over the course of the weekend. Oh wait, we're going to Charlotte Sunday, and probably on to Clio Sunday night/Monday. Dad's all giddy b/c he finally has a computer. It's full of architectural drawings and software, but at least it's a functioning computer. It's much better than the Commodore 64 he bought 10 years after they became obsolete.

Withdrawal

Post(s) forthcoming. No internet access at the new crib.

Fool me once...

...shame on me. Fool me twice, shame on you - and I guess that means I'm stoopid.

Noah tends to get up in the middle of the night and makes his way to our bed to feed nurse. I always wake up on the edge of the bed with his feet in my back, our bodies forming the letter 'H'. Yesterday, I wake up to find a nice, cold, wet spot in the center of the bed where his diaper overflowed. Too much H₂O the night before, I guess. OK. This morning I wake up to find another wet spot in between us; this time with lumpy white particles on the sheet and pillow. Let's just say that I think Noah OD'd on milk and poppy seed rolls last night. I think it's time he learns to sleep in his own bed.

Oh yeah - FYI: Young kids and venetian blinds don't mix.

Biblios

Some books I loved as a kid/young buck. Some I need to re-read, as my memory of them is somewhat sketchy. These will be in the kids' library. Definitely.

• A Wrinkle in Time, The Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet - Madeleine L'Engle
  
• Robinson Crusoe - Daniel Defoe
  
• Hunchback of Notre Dame - Victor Hugo
  
• The 21 Balloons - William Pene du Bois
  
• The Martian Chronicles/The Illustrated Man - Ray Bradbury
  
• Island of the Blue Dolphins - Scott O'Dell
  
• Julie of the Wolves - Jean Craighead George
  
• Journey to the Center of the Earth - Jules Verne
  
• The Chronicles of Prydain - Lloyd Alexander (The Book of 3, The Black Cauldron, The Castle of Llyr, Taran Wanderer, The High King)
  
• Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH - Robert C. O'Brien
  
• Sounder - William H. Armstrong
  
• To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
  
• Animal Farm - George Orwell
  
• The Cricket in Times Square - George Selden/Thompson
  
• Old Yeller - Fred Gipson
  
• The Mouse and the Motorcycle - Beverly Cleary
  
• Where the Wild Things Are - Max Sendak
  

Thank you, English teachers, Mrs. Powell (4th-grade Gifted and Talented Teacher), Childcraft/World Book Encyclopedia, and the Troll book order program for introducing me to the wonderful world of lit. Oh yeah, and my favorite children's Bible. There's nothing quite like losing yourself in a fascinating world that someone created in their head and captured on paper. Too bad journal articles don't excite me the same way.

Monday

About a year ago, I posted something of an autobiographical sketch which covered my early years. (It was May 6, '05 if you're interested.) I was sitting here reading old posts when I realized I'm glad I started this blog. Reading the archives brought up memories and feelings that had been buried since I initially captured them on "paper". I'm looking forward to reading them again a few years from now, and see how I've changed over time.

We went by the Brooks' after services this week for one last hang-out with Ashley before the move to Ohio. We had a great time as usual, and finished off the night with an airing of "War of the Worlds". It was... interesting. I didn't like many of the characters in the movie, though Tom Cruise's character becomes tolerable by the end of the movie. The ending, while true to the H.G. Wells story, seems sorta rushed and the movie seems to end as if the studio just ran out of money and decided to wrap it up wherever they were. The Martians were pretty cool, although they appeared to me to be the same aliens from "Independence Day". I wonder how they rigged up those death rays to not damage clothing at all.

Luckily for Charlotte, the softball game this Sunday was rained out. Now the offensive juggernaut that is Anderson will have the opportunity to practice once or twice before we head up to make up the game. Maybe that rainout wasn't so lucky for Charlotte after all. Especially with our dead-eye pitcher having another few weeks to prepare.

I do not like green eggs and ham.

Warning: Title of post has nothing to do with the actual post.

It's been some week. I've started the Couch-to-5K program again, and I'm trying to drag the M.r.S. along. We both made it through day one with a little residual soreness. We're going out this afternoon for day two. Hopefully Nick can keep Noah occupied by pushing him around in his stroller; if not, well, we'll figure something out. The prospect of jogging while carrying 25 lbs. of jiggling boy around on my shoulders is not appealing.

We're supposed to be moving in 10 days. I guess we should start packing. Perhaps we can have a big get-together at the crib 2 days before we move again. In reality, everything will probably just get tossed into boxes on Mother's Day. Hopefully this is our last move before I graduate and purchase our first home. I'm really looking forward to having grass to mow, a garden to plant, gutters to clean, etc... I think I'll start looking now for some garish oil paintings for the walls. Something that has dogs playing poker or something like that.

Well, I've got to run and take my daily dose of The Cream and The Clear, and my daily injection of human growth hormone - after all, I've got a softball game to prepare for. Have a wonderful Sabbath, dear reader.

Edit: It's 7:34 and the M.R.S. is in Wal-Mart. Looks like Couch-to-5K is out for today.

Busted!

I went to Jalen's school for lunch today. He was quite surprised to see me - especially since he happened to be sitting at the "lunch detention" table for talking in class. I talked with the teacher who sent him to detention while I was there, and she assured me he wasn't usually a problem. Of course, by the time I see him again, I'll probably have forgotten this transgression.

I just met with a faculty member to pick her brain about a direction for my project. She gave me a couple of ideas which I'm about to read up on; hopefully, I'll still be able to get out of here next year. Now it's off to read some microsatellite papers. Ciao!

Feelin' old

My body shouldn't feel this bad after 3 games of basketball. I don't know what kind of shape I'll be in after this Sunday's softball game in Charlotte. Some practice beforehand would be nice, seeing as how I haven't played competitive softball since I was 18. (Well, there was one failed attempt to play intramurals in 2000, but I'd rather not talk about that.)

Today I became the father of a teen-ager. *sigh* Where has the time gone? I now know why parents make videos of their kids doing random things like playing in the living room. We watched a video last night of Nick playing in his walker and taking a bath in the kitchen sink when he was a baby. Again, where has the time gone? And man, could you ever see the resemblance between him and Noah!

Oh, and for you Anderson folx, this week's sermonette will either be about sin, God, or some combination thereof.

My education

Things I learned from my grandparents:

• No matter how sweet and docile they may appear, every old person in my family at one time was a hellion. Every one. Especially my two grandfathers.
  
  
• Every grandmother, no matter how sweet and docile they are now, at one time pulled a gun or a brick on a grandfather to help him reign in his stay-out-all-night tendencies.
  
  
• Clouds are to be feared.
  
  
• Clouds does not mean "clouds", but actually means "thunderstorms". All electrical items are to be turned off AND unplugged. No sitting on the floor is allowed. No loud talking or boisterous playing is allowed - for "The LORD is doing His work." (Does that mean he's vacationing when it's sunny out?)
  
  
• Jooging (stabbing) people and chunking (throwing) rocks are bad things.
  
  
• Sugar (diabetes) is prevalent in my family.
  
  
• The size of one's feet is directly proportional to the amount of time spent running around barefoot.
  
  
• Throwing bones into the slop bucket is a no-no. As an aside, I learned that it costs 25 cents to get your little brother to remove said bones from the slop bucket.
  
  
• Snuff is the nectar of the gods.
  
  
• Every part (and I do mean every) of a hog is edible.
  
  
• If it can be shot, it can be cleaned and cooked.
  
  
• All hand-held fans must have either a picture of MLK, JFK, or "Jesus" on the front, and an ad for the local mortuary on the back.
  
  
• No home is complete without a picture of the "Lord's Supper" on the living room wall. In the 70s, it was preferable that said picture have lights around the frame.
  
  
• Jimmy Carter was a good president; Ronald Reagan was the devil incarnate.
  
  
• Goody's powder cures anything.
  
  
• Addendum: Cornbread, rice, and fish scraps provide all the nutrients a family of cats needs. Old hubcaps are their favorite dishes from which to eat.
  

I think I'll go visit the family next week. It's been far too long.

I think the boys are excited by my musings. Agree?

Philadelphia

Kids = Crumbs

And I haven't even started on the truck yet.

Slurp

Caught him as he was working a popsicle to death. The look says it all.

As the M.R.S. has posted, we've settled on Daytona. Choosing this site eliminated the need to buy plane tickets or passports or the need for a rental car. That means mo' money, mo' money, mo' money! (Don't get excited - I'm a struggling graduate student, remember?) Anyway, it looks to be an 8-hour drive, which is not too bad. I'm strongly thinking of spending a night in Savannah on the way down and taking the fam to Paula Deen's restaurant. I wonder if her hoe-cakes have lard or bacon fat in them? It's a question that didn't come to mind until after I left her restaurant last time.

We found a place we liked, also reported by the M.R.S. Nick was all excited about the split-level floor plan. I was smitten by the thought of having a kitchen in which I could actually move around in again. The fact that I'll be able to open the fridge door without hitting the kitchen table is just an added plus.

I hate it when I let myself get caught out there starving! I just called China Wok and ordered a large chicken fried rice, fried chicken wings, and an order of sesame chicken. As I typed that last sentence, I realized I was perpetuating a stereotype again. I guess I'll dance my way to the restaurant, pick up my dinner, and chase it with the seedless watermelon I bought Friday. Oh yeah, and lust after a white woman. *sigh*

For the uninitiated

Jheri curl info from http://memorylab.deanlabs.com/FashionDetails.aspx?ID=221:

Once the natural (unprocessed) afro lost favor, the wet-look jheri-curl took over. Popularized by Michael Jackson, the jheri-curl is a chemical perm process that relaxes the natural kinky curl of black hair, leaving loose curls in its place.

Hair care product manufacturer Jheri Redding created the process and a series of gels and conditioners to help maintain the distinctive wet-look. Having a jheri-curl required constant care and upkeep, as well as a hearty heap of oil activator conditioner to keep the hair soft and shiny.

Unfortunately for bus seats and car headrests, the jheri-curls oil activator left behind an unpleasant greasy residue. But such is the price of looking good.



S-curl info is from Wikipedia:

S-Curl is a trademark for a line of hair products designed to slightly straighten the natural hair texture of a man of African descent, so that natural wave and curl patterns are looser and more prominent. The term "s-curl" soon came to describe the hairstyle that resulted from the use of the S-Curl line products and the products of competitors.

Depending upon the strength of the application, an "S-curl" hairstyle has hair texture either only slightly less kinky than natural African hair, or more closely approaching the curly hair texture of a mixed or Latino person. Similar to a woman's permanent, an S-curl is applied using relaxers containing lye, and, like a jheri curl, requires continued use of specialized shampoos and conditioners to keep the chemically altered hair from becoming dry, hard, and brittle.

See what you're missing, Desiree?

Yesterday as we cruised through neighborhoods looking for "For Rent" signs, I guess Nick had had enough. Blue was still hanging in there though.



Noah, on the other hand, was a little perturbed at the M.R.S. for taking a picture of his brother without taking one of him. So, to insure peace and domestic tranquility:



OK, so I really just wanted to share pics of the boys. I like them almost as much as I like King Kong.

Feast possibilities

Ocho Rios, Jamaica, Daytona, or Oxnard.  I must have warm weather.

A wordsmith I'm not.

I usually type my posts out without thinking in advance what I'm going to post. When I read them later, I almost always hate them. I've thought of going back and editing them, but I'd end up editing them to the point that they would no longer reflect what I was thinking about when I typed the original post. I guess I'll leave them be, except for egregious flaws.

Great. [/sarcasm] The Lady Tar Heels have lost and Duke is winning. I guess I'll root for Maryland to win the Ladies' NCAA basketball championship, to go along with Florida for the men. I hope Aaron, Kristen, Zac, & Lindsay don't party too hard if the Gators win. Actually, I'd be amazed if anyone other than Kristen knew their school was playing for the national championship tomorrow night.

'Twas Beauty Killed the Beast.

And lo, the beast looked upon the face of beauty. And beauty stayed his hand. And from that day on, he was as one dead.

I fell in love with the big ape as a kid. At some point in my childhood, I saw the 1933 version of the movie; I don't remember how old I was when I saw it. I was fascinated by the idea of a giant ape who fought dinosaurs and pterodactyls. The whole "love story" aspect of the movie went way over my head at the time. I saw the 1976 remake around 1978 or '79 - whenever they started airing it on NBC as the movie of the week, or whatever they called it then. (That's what they did with theatrical releases before the advent of VHS and DVDs). I picked up on the love story this time, especially when Dwan (Jessica Lange) is begging Kong not to put her down because she knows the helicopters are going to shoot him down. I loved the mighty 8th wonder of the world, even though he was quite obviously a man in a suit. Lemme tell ya something: Peter Jackson's remake is BY FAR the best of the three. (The 1980s sequels to King Kong aren't even worth mentioning, btw.) I'd heard complaints that nothing happens in the the first hour of the movie. That's not true. Jackson introduces the main and supplementary characters, and fleshes out their backgrounds and personalities. This caused me to be emotionally vested in their predicaments once they reach Skull Island and all heck breaks loose. I really felt it when things happened to the characters. Usually only books draw me in like that - it's quite nice when a movie that's so visually stunning also packs an emotional wallop.

As for the aforementioned Skull Island, it's the creepiest place I've ever seen. I would've lasted about 3 minutes there - assuming my ship wasn't bashed to pieces on the rocks. That scene when the camera crew finds out that the island isn't uninhabited is priceless. You can feel the impending doom building, and there's nothing you can do about it. Incidentally, a dentist could make a fortune on that island.

And then there's Kong. No stop motion photography here. No man in a suit, walking and standing like a man. Nope. Kong is borne out in full fledged CGI a la Gollum for the LOTR flicks. This Kong is quick, agile, and STRONG. The fight with the 3 T-rexes is worth the price of admission. Did I mention that he's holding Ann Darrow almost the entire time he's fighting? One thing is certain: Kong ain't no punk! And then when he finally gets to fight without being encumbered by Miss Darrow, he handles his business. And this Kong has personality. At times he's a monster; at times, he's a big hairy kid. There is one scene that was unintentionally funny to me; Kong and Ann are sitting atop the Empire State Building enjoying a sunrise right before the biplanes arrive for the final showdown. Ann is sitting in his hand, and I kept expecting Kong to clutch Ann and say, Gollum style, "My precious!". Well, it was funny to me at the time.

The love story between Jack Driscoll (Adrian Brody) and Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts) is pretty understated, which was good. I think that subplot seriously weakened the '76 film. Here, it's shown just enough to make you understand why Brody goes to the lengths he does to save Ann. The eventual "relationhip" between Ann and Kong is also well played, and never strays into the realm of the unbelievable (assuming of course that you can believe in a 25-foot ape and an island full of dinosaurs to begin with). The genuineness of their relationship gives the denoument its power to punch you in the gut and bring you (not me, of course!) to tears.

The inclusion of the famous deleted scene involving giant insects and a ravine was a masterful stroke. Kudos, Mr. Jackson. I just wish you'd not felt the need to invoke God's name in the manner you did those two times.

A special thanks to Country Girl for hosting the viewing party and to Mr. Country Girl and Tman for feeding us. Daily Notion and Diamonds on the Inside rounded out our group. I hadn't done the group movie night thing in a while; I need to rectify that. Who's up for War of the Worlds?