I have a confession

As I wait for Heroes to start, I feel I must make a confession. I am not who I say I am. I've been hiding something both great and terrible and have yet to share my secret with anyone but my wife.

And after coming to terms with the crimes we have committed, I feel I need to come clean. I need to purge my soul from the bad karma. That's right, Yvonne and I have both killed. Our latest victims were killed just a few days ago. We felt no remorse as we ended their lives. In fact, we were rather eager to repeat the process.

In the past weeks, we've killed over twenty unwitting souls. They came into our house alive and left as withered husks in the trash. I loved killing them, but I hated them. I hated their small, tiny bodies. Their eyes. Their legs. Their wings.

I would have taken pictures, but the horror would have been too much for some of you. Instead, I'll leave you with the fact that I have not seen anymore flies buzzing around recently.

Guess word got out.

A Meeting At Corvallis

Finally. I finished. So here's a quasi-review of the book, the series, and S. M. Stirling.

The Book

The book is slow to start. Very slow. In fact, I had to force myself through parts of it to make my way through. But at the end, it sped along nicely. Lots of plot movement. Almost enough to make up for the first half of the book.

Anyway, we see some major developments with Rudi, Mike Havel, and Tiphaine. Juniper stumbles along so-so as do Astrid and others.

In the end, Mike and Norman die. I guess it balances out, but I was upset to see Mike die as well as how. Stirling didn't do the fight justice by dragging it out. It was more like pulling a band-aide off real fast.

Bottom line - Where else can you read about lesbians, witches (not the magic kind), swords, and a world with no electronics or gunpowder?

The Series

The trilogy, Dies The Fire, was pretty good. First two books were good, third was just okay. The trilogy ties in nicely with the Island in the Sea of Time trilogy (Island in the Sea of Time, Against the Tide of Years, and On the Oceans of Eternity). I now want to go back and re-read this trilogy to see how well it fits in. And I want to read the next series, Sunrise Lands, that delves into the rest of America and the world.

Bottom line - Lesbians again, but with fewer Gaelic speaking Wiccans and more super-evil bad guys.

S. M. Stirling

Aside from his plethora of lesbians (and Wiccans in the second series), he has quite an imagination. The Changed World line I'm familiar with (7 books published and 3 to go) is essentially about a world that experiences a change that splits time. A small enclave in New England gets sent back to ancient times (like the Bronze Age) where guns and electricity works (for those that have it). Meanwhile, the rest of the world is plunged into a world where physics are altered and guns and electricity don't work. What caused the change? Who knows. But I'm partial to the Alien Space Bats theory.

I've only read one other book by Stirling, Conquistador, and was not very pleased. It was a slightly below average read and just didn't really do anything for me.

Go here to see more about the book, series, and author. But fair warning, there are some spoilers there. And don't forget the cool cover art. That's what got me hooked.

Thanksgiving on the brain

So I have a really depressing post that I'll sit on for the moment so I can talk about Thanksgiving. I started blogging in June of 2005 and had my first Thanksgiving related post a few months later. A year later, I talked about who I'd invite to Thanksgiving dinner.

And to continue with the major holiday theme, this year I'm bouncing some ideas around for themes. But I'm also looking for ideas from you, the reader.

In the meantime, I'll be going to lunch shortly. I skipped my walk yesterday since I felt slightly ill from my walk the day before. And since my nose and throat are getting scratchy again today, I think I'll be skipping my walk again. I thought about lifting some weights, but I think I'll try to make more headway on Meeting at Corvallis. I'd really like to finish it this week.

Get ready for the Cute!

So, the other day, I was doing something like taking a shower or going to the bathroom when I come out to hear Elizabeth running around. She tends to make some rapid trips up and down the hallway between our room and the living room or William's room and the living room. So when I come out, she's rolling around on the bed with this big grin on her face like she's up to something. On the floor is her little magna-doodle book.

What trickery was she up to? She drew a picture of me. That's right, a picture of Dad. I was very impressed with her artistic skills and she only needed my help to draw the arms.

So here's the final result.

Mmpmph.....sleeeeeep

Long night last night. Steeler game went to about midnight or so. But we won. Big Ben looks like he's hurt, so we'll see how that turns out.

I did manage to vote this morning. Nearly a straight Democratic ballot with the exception of the School Board candidates (they're required to run as Independents by state law). So I picked who I thought would be best there. And, just like the last Presidential election, I am likely the only person to use the computer to cast my ballot. We have a fancy electronic ballot machine that nobody seems to be comfortable with running. Mrs. Ashton, my high school government and history teacher, was again a bit flubber-whoomped by the thing. But, with some help, it all worked out. And I was nice enough to warn her I'd be using it again for the next election.

And I completely forgot to tell my story about this weekend. Yvonne's sister Nicole and her husband Justin came to visit. They arrived Saturday morning and left Sunday morning. While not the nicest way to put it, you know it was a good visit when Elizabeth cried when they left. And Nicole and Justin seemed to have a good time with William too. Me? Well, I spent most of Saturday holed up in the room writing a school paper. Yuck.

And Sunday we went shopping after they left. We wanted to get some ideas for Elizabeth for Christmas. We'd still like everyone to put some money into both her college fund and William's (which we have yet to setup). They have plenty of toys and clothes. Not that you can't get them toys, we'd just like to see some of the money spent on their educations.

And the most interesting story from Sunday? The story which I completely forgot about until now? For the first time ever, I was asked by a police officer for my gun permit. Such a pleasant surprise. We went to Panera for lunch and I was wearing my gun under my jacket. I picked a seat (a cold one mind you, right by the door) and there was a state trooper in the next booth. Funniest part was he asked "What agency?" and Yvonne thought he asked "What age?" Anyway, he was very professional and, as expected, talked guns after making sure I was legit. Such excitement in such a boring life.

Here's a picture of the rig. Mind you, it's black. And I was NOT wearing a tie. That would be worse than writing a school paper.

Kvothe - Chapter 11

Chapter 11 – The Binding of Iron

Now we begin to learn sympathy. Simply put, you can control one item by binding it to another. The more similar the items, the easier it is to control and the less energy it takes. So a branch broken in half would be more similar (and easier) than a piece of glass and a branch. Sympathy also requires energy. So by binding two items together and lifting one, the other will also rise. You will feel the weight of not only the item you’re lifting, but the item it’s bound to being lifted; and you will also feel the weight of using sympathy to do the binding. The easiest example to understand was when Kvothe linked a piece of chalk to a piece of glass. Being very dissimilar, lifting the two pounds of glass and chalk felt like lifting sixty pounds.

We also learn that while Kvothe’s time with Ben appears to be the only thing he did, it wasn’t. He still had his chores and other duties to perform with the troupe and spent his free time with Ben. But it’s clear that his time with Ben was important and exciting enough to be the center of his life at this point.

--Read more about the detailed analysis here--

Your Dental Health

Like many people, I don't enjoy going to see the dentist. As a kid, I suffered through many extractions, braces, and various other scenarios of oral torture. And compared to Yvonne, I had it easy.

So in the interest of your dental health and reduced discomfort during your next visit, I'll be giving you two toothy topics to think about today.

First up, grinding. I've been a tooth grinder for as long as I can remember (I'm sure Mom can attest to that). Well, about a year ago, the dentist broke the bad news that my years of grinding were taking their toll on my teeth. They were starting to gather minute cracks from the intense pressure. So they recommended I get a night guard. I said no. Six months later, same story. So I finally said yes. After nearly choking to death while they made the molds of my teeth, I nearly choked to death on the cost. Over $500. And the best part? Insurance didn't cover it. So I wore it a few nights, got tired of the pain from wearing it, cleaning it, and simply remembering to put it in. Well, after grinding some more and waking up in worse pain than from wearing the guard, I decided to take the lesser of the two evils and wear the night guard.

Second, brushing, flossing, and the impact of chewing gum. Like many kids, I loved to chew gum. I'd rip open my Topps baseball cards and chew on the crummy piece of gum that was tucked inside. I'd chew all sorts of gum. Flavored gum. Gum with juice stuff in the middle. Gum in the shape of cigarettes. Gum in a big long roll. Gum that was shredded like chewing tobacco. But I never liked the Trident my Dad chewed. Just wasn't sweet enough and the stuff lasted forever. Good gum is supposed to lose it's flavor after half an hour, right? So anyway, as I got older, I began to chew more Trident. The plain kind. The sugarless plain kind.

Well, to make this long story short, I now chew between 2 and 5 pieces of Trident a day. After every meal, snack, and drink, I chew a piece. Well, the results are astounding. The dentist thinks I not only brush 3 times a day (I don't), they think I floss everyday (I don't). So, save your teeth, and chew some Trident.

Now if Trident would only pay me for this endorsement.

Knock knock, anyone home?

Yeah, I'm home, just running late. Okay, running very late. I've been meaning to post all day and never seem to get a free minute to do what I want to do at work. Guess that's why they call it work and not fun.

Anyways, aside from work being busy, I've been trying to keep in the habit of walking. Until Wednesday. I think I'm literally off my stride because my left knee started hurting after my walk Wednesday. Then my heel starting hurting. Turns out I got a blister on my heel. So I'll be switching shoes to take care of that. As for the knee, it's still a little sore, but I did okay with a slow, normal walk today. Maybe I need to slow down.

And in other news....I'm still progressing nicely with Innocent Mage and Meeting At Corvallis but have yet to get back to Name Of The Wind. One thing at a time I guess. And school take priority.

I think I had some contaminated food today. After lunch I developed a headache and slightly upset stomach. Motrin took care of most of the headache, but it still twinges. So I'm wondering now if my roast beef panini touched some turkey. I can still breath, so I'm still alive.

And, it's the beginning of a new month, which means I get to look at a new picture of Colonial Williamsburg. Sadly I'll need a new calendar soon and have no idea what I want. Time to shop for something different I think.

And that's about it. My sister-in-law and her husband are coming tomorrow to visit. They leave Sunday so it'll be short. But Elizabeth will enjoy the company and I'm sure they will too.

Laters!

Hallween photos

Check out the photos from Halloween here:

From Halloween 2007

Enjoy!

My scary story

This morning I was listening to T-Bone and Heather as I usually do and T-Bone told a story about a blue light from his childhood that was kind of scary/spooky/unexplained. Well, the story made me think of my own scary story from childhood.

This is a true story, not something I drummed up for Halloween promotions. I have not talked about this with anyone since it happened. I'm not asking you to draw any conclusions from the story, just take it as I tell it.

My grandmother (my dad's mom) died in April of 1987. Which made me all of 11 years old. The summer after she died, my dad and his brothers (three of them) all spent some time at her house going through her estate and distributing things, cleaning up, etc. It was a small house, just 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, kitchen, living room, and utility room. She had one of those old, 60s era couches that was kind of pale green and slippery. Like it was made from polyester or something.

So during one of these cleaning and sorting sessions, I was playing in the hall or the bedroom or something in the back of the house. My dad and his youngest brother were in the kitchen eating or talking or sorting or something. I was suddenly unable to walk. I don't know how, I don't know why, but for some reason I couldn't feel anything below my waist. I couldn't walk, I couldn't even crawl. I couldn't move my legs. I couldn't even move my waist to twist around.

I may have already been on the floor, I'm not sure, but that's where I remember being when I was terrified that I wouldn't be able to walk anymore. I pulled myself into the living room (about 10 or 15 feet away) and tried to climb onto the couch using just my arms. I wasn't strong enough to pull myself up, so I yelled to my dad for help.

He and my uncle came running out to see why I screamed. Dad lifted me onto the couch and my uncle called for the rescue squad. I got even more scared as I realized this was serious enough to call for help and was terrified I'd never walk or run or play outside again.

Somehow, someway, I was able to regain control of my legs while my uncle was still on the phone. I distinctly remember him calling, asking for help, my dad seeing I could move my legs, and my uncle telling them never mind, everything was fine.

I don't know why I couldn't use my legs or why I was able to again. I don't know if my dad or uncle remember this, I've never talked to them about it. Sometimes I think this was all a dream. Everything happened quickly. But everything was very vivid. If it was a dream, it's one I remember better than any other I've had. And I do remember some of those weird ones more than others, but I think this is an actual memory.

So, that's my scary story. With a little insight into my childhood.

Pre-Halloween 2007

Some new photos are up!

From Pre-Halloween...

William has the hiccups-edited-

Well, he had the hiccups when his Aunt Monica came to visit (she's the one that took the video).



On a side note, if you want to feel stupid in a few seconds (or minutes if you read slow), read this:

"Center for Biologically Inspired Materials and Materials Systems, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science"

Umm, yeah. I know what those words mean, just not when you put them together.

In other news, I've accomplished the following recently:
1. -edited-
2. I have consumed 6 salads in the last 3 days. Sunday's dinner was taco salad. Monday's lunch was taco salad and regular salad. Monday's dinner was taco salad. Today's lunch was taco salad and regular salad. I think that's enough salad for a bit. Give my tummy a rest.
3. I've exercised 5 times in the past 9 days. Nothing too extreme, but enough to work up a mild sweat. Last week I walked 3 days. The last day of walking was too cold to go outside in shorts, so I walked on the treadmill and lifted a few weights. Yesterday and today I've repeated the process of walking and a little weightlifting. Too bad Yvonne is too congested to smell my new body spray, "sweaty old man."
4. I've paid the bills for this month. Oh, crap. Next month starts in 2 days. Oh well. Sounded good, didn't it?
5. I'm really enjoying The Innocent Mage by Karen Miller. It's good enough to entertain me while I'm walking on the treadmill. I have high hopes for the rest of the series. I know, that really wasn't an accomplishment, but 5 is such a nice, round number.

Finally, I'm working on my Christmas list (Yvonne's working on hers too). So far the only thing on mine is The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie. I might add The Sunrise Lands by S. M. Stirling, but I'm trying to avoid hardback books (thus my not buying the most recent Star Wars book - gasp! - I know, what a shocker!).

Homemade Salsa

The long awaited homemade salsa post has arrived!

So, here's a little back story behind the recipe. My mother-in-law made some wonderful salsa and I enjoyed it nearly every night I was there during our last visit. She got the recipe from the neighbor across the street (who's daughter was our maid of honor). Well, it's not a precise recipe, but I'll give you the low-down on what you need.

Ingredients

10 to 12 beef steak tomatoes
5 to 7 garlic cloves
1 medium onion
1 green bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
1 pablano pepper
5 to 7 jalapeno peppers
5 sprigs parsley
6 leaves cilantro
1 sprig oregano
1/4 cup salt
1/4 cup sugar

Utensils and Tools

1 sharp knife
1 large mixing bowl
1 cutting board
1 food processor
1 large spoon

Now, a few disclaimers up front.

1. This is a rough guess at the ingredient amounts. I didn't measure much of anything, just used what I had on hand.
2. This makes a HUGE amount of salsa. Expect to freeze a portion or feed a crowd.
3. This is geared for those with weaker tongues like me. It isn't very hot.

On with the mixing! I took the above ingredients and cut them as small as I could. The cilantro was minced pretty good. Everything else was cut into small pieces. The tomatoes were hard to cut small, so I left them in slightly larger chunks.

As the disclaimer said, this makes a lot of salsa. I used a large mixing bowl to dump my cuttings into. A quart is too small, so think 3 or 4 quarts. All of the ingredients are fresh, so expect to get a little messy. I used our large cutting board and had plenty of room.

So, the garlic gets pressed. The onion gets peeled and cut. The bell peppers (you can use any variety, green, red, yellow, your choice) were sliced, but I removed all the seeds and white innards first. For the jalapeno, I just cut it up and didn't bother trying to de-seed it. Parsley, oregano, and cilantro were coarsely to finely minced. Careful with the cilantro, it'll kill your salsa if you put too much in (like I did with my first batch). Salt and sugar just get dumped in.

Now, the tomatoes. I used romas in my first batch (that was so bad I couldn't eat it). They were not as watery inside and much firmer to use. But they're smaller. Like half to a quarter the size of a beef steak tomato. The beef steaks worked fine, but there's a catch when you cut them up. The first two, I just diced into large chunks, seeds, juice, and all. Well, I noticed how much water was going into the salsa, so I changed technique for the rest. I sliced the top and bottom off. Then I stuck my finger inside the little hole-area (where you see the seeds) and squeezed everything out. But be careful. It's easy to created a positive pressure zone inside the tomato. In other words, it'll squirt all over you and the counter if you're not careful.

Once I cut everything up as much as I could, I used the mixing bowl to toss the ingredients. This helps mix it up a bit. Then I scooped portions into the food processor. This will need to be done in stages as there is so much to process. I used the lowest Low setting (I think it was Grind or something) to cut everything up. I would spin it a few seconds and stop to push it back down then spin again. Then I'd empty it out into my dish.

In all, I made about a quart or two of salsa. I eased off the cilantro this time and had a lot more tomatoes. So batch #2 (this batch) was actually edible. You can use different peppers or add more if you want. It's up to you how hot you want it. I froze about a quart and still have plenty in the fridge to enjoy.

Oh, and don't forget to empty the trash when you're done. Don't want the house to smell like peppers all week!

What a weekend

Oh, I don't know where to start with this past weekend. I guess this morning (I know, not technically part of the weekend, but I still hadn't made it to work, so that's close enough for me). What happened? Two things. First, we had frost. Which means winter is knocking on our front door. Literally. And second, Yvonne gave me a shower this morning as I was buckling Elizabeth into her seat. Gotta love those early morning spritzes from the window washers!

Moving on to last night, Yvonne and I were watching Cars around 10 when I heard this weird sound in the hallway. At first it sounded like Henry scratching at the carpet or a mouse scratching at the wall. I turned and looked down the hallway and what do I see? Elizabeth laying on the floor. Watching the movie. I do have to give her credit, she was there and I didn't know it. And she comes by her sneakiness honestly (or genetically at least) as Yvonne and I have been known to sneak around a bit ourselves as kids. I used to stuff t-shirts under my door so the light wouldn't show as I stayed up way later than my bedtime to read books. I can't say what Yvonne did as her parents still don't know.

And we heard some sort of creak or pop last night just as we got into bed. Yvonne wanted me to check it out but I said it was just the house making noise. And she was better equipped to investigate a potential intruder. All she would need to do is give them a hug and the Vicks on her chest would knock him out. Don't you want to get with this?

And what else happened. I took Elizabeth to swim class while Yvonne went to the doctor for some meds. Then we all went home, ate lunch, and went to town to shop. Got some groceries, some books (Elizabeth had somehow saved $14 and bought 3 books - and still had money left over), and a few other goodies. Sunday was spent doing laundry and watching the Steelers beat the Bengals. I only watched the first quarter of the Redskins game and got too depressed that the Patriots were winning again.

And I made some home-made salsa (I'll post that later today) and generally tried to keep the house running as Yvonne tried to rest. I did take apart the kitchen faucet last night. It looks like it might be a bad sprayer connection (under the main faucet) so I'll see what I can find at Lowes.

Chocolate making went well Friday night. Again I impressed Yvonne's lady-friends. For those that are not familiar with our particular arrangement at home, I'm usually the one that does the dishes and we both share laundry duty. So when I asked Yvonne if she wanted me to do the dishes or a load of laundry Friday night, there was a bit of ohhing and ahhing. It's nothing special to me. I grew up helping Dad do dishes and laundry (see, only children aren't spoiled). And honestly, I can do dishes faster than Yvonne. But she can cook a hell of a lot better than I can. So I have dinner waiting for me when I get home and I clean up afterwords. It's a good deal in my book. So all you single guys out there looking for a nice lady, make sure you offer to do the dishes on occasion. You might make some brownie points.

But don't offer to do the laundry just yet. She might not want you to see her dirty underwear.

Blah, well that was longer than intended. So stay tuned for my salsa story later today. It's pretty hot!

Mt. Rushmore

It's Friday and I don't have much to say. Yvonne's been sick for the past few days, which means I'm trying to pick up some of the slack when I can. We've had rain and rain and more rain. I know we need it, but I still hate it.

Anyways, here's another photo from the family archives. It's Mt. Rushmore, circa 1937-1939.

And here's a close-up of the heads to give you an idea of what's been done.

And on a side note, I read more of Karen Miller's The Innocent Mage and so far, I've been enjoying it.

Programming line-up

Not to worry, there's a photo at the end of this rant.

So, here's the general list of programs I watch at any given time and how I feel about them.

Monday

Chuck

Chuck is a good action comedy. Nearly as good as Psyche or NCIS, but not quite there yet.

Heroes

Heroes is awesome. Well, last year was, this year is still working up to that status. I'm sure it will be good, but I still hate that damn kid that can fly (not Nathan, the teenager with Claire).

CSI: Miami

Horatio has a son. A bastard son. Whoopee. Let's work in a serial killer or something. And why can't we have more Speadle?

Tuesday

NCIS

Still a solid show, but needs a meta plot to mix it up a bit. Haven't seen one of those in awhile.

The Unit

A surprise addition to this year's line-up. Good enough to keep me watching. The only thing I would change is the wives. Ditch them until they start carrying guns and getting in on the missions.

Wednesday

Mythbusters

Out of season right now but still a great show.

CSI: New York

Another break-out surprise for this year. There's now an assassin on the loose and the mysterious "333" caller. Are they the same person?

Thursday

CSI

CSI is still the top show, but it's going to lose Gil's girl soon and might not be as exciting. And how can you top the miniature killer from last year?

Friday

Monk

Psyche

Both are off the air until January and both are hilariously funny. Monk is very much like me (or vice versa) and Psyche has one of the best casts I've seen in ages. Like M*A*S*H in its later years, but not as many people.

Stargate Atlantis

Another show that's still in my line-up and still plugging along, but it may not survive. Right now I have no other sci-fi show to replace it with so it stays.

Survivorman

Off air at the moment, but by far the best non-fiction show out there. Even better than Mythbusters.

Saturday

Cops

Off air until the World Series is over but I'll watch it if I think about it or if there's nothing else on.

Sunday

Steelers Football

After last week's loss, I'm not to happy. Hopeful we'll win the game against the Bengals.

And as a reward for hanging in there, here's another photo from the family archives. This is Arthur and Loyd Piester in 1916, standing in front of their parent's new car. Can anyone identify the item on the left? And what's on the right?

Kvothe - Chapter 10

Chapter 10 – Alar and Several Stones

Another very short chapter, this one showing Kvothe learning the mental skill of Alar. Essentially this is a way to make yourself split your thoughts into two different areas of your brain so you can concentrate on two different ideas at the same time. Sounds simple enough, but it appears to be a bit more complicated.

--Read more about the detailed analysis here--

Today's Deep Thought-edited-

Today's deep thought?

When deaf people speak, they use their hands. So when they go to the dentist, can they speak more clearly when asked a question?

This is what went through my head today as I sat in the dentist chair for my 6 month check-up. Everything went fine, no cavities, just plenty of clean teeth. Well, not plenty, I think I actually have 2 fewer than the average person because my teeth are so large and my jaw is so small.

-edited-

Rambling on, after the dentist this morning, I browsed through the newest Target in the area, just a few lights from work. And what do I see on the shelf? These:

I couldn't believe it. All those memories of cutting the backs off to save the files, playing with (and losing) the weapons, and making all my own sound effects came rushing back. I'm sure Mom remembers those sounds.....

Rambling on, William got up at 0430 this morning. I wasn't too happy, but, he had a full 6 ounces and didn't scream his bloody head off when I tried to burp him. He also seems to be burping less, which I'm taking as a sign he's growing. And from what we've seen, he'll be rolling over soon. And yes Mom, I can actually see that he's grown.

I'm reading three books right now. Well, technically I'm re-reading one (The Name Of The Wind), but two new books is still a chore for me. I'm just getting to the good part in Meeting At Corvallis. The big battle is brewing and I can't wait to see what happens (even though I know a main character is going to die - ruined that my own dumb self). The other book is The Innocent Mage. It's a bit different in writing style than I'm used to (like spelling, grammar, dialect, etc.), but I'm getting used to it. Not as bad as Shakespeare, but not as easy as P.D. Eastman (kudos if you remember him).


And my final ramble, I can't really think of one right now. So here's the closest thing I could find for a ramble.

New Photos and Video Posted

There are a few new photos posted. Mainly Elizabeth's new playhouse, but there's also one of Aunt Monica and one of my newly signed copy of The Name Of The Wind by Patrick Rothfuss.

From Play House

And here's the latest video of Elizabeth reading a spooky, scary Halloween story.

Wow, a late night post!

And during Heroes too (sacrilege I know!).

Weekend Report
Anyway, here's the weekend report. I didn't get to accomplish everything on my list (which consisted of emptying the gas can into my car and raking leaves). But I did get the leaves raked. Well, some for them anyway. There's a statewide burn ban, so I couldn't do anything with them except put them in a box and leave in the back by the shed. Elizabeth also got a surprise from one of Yvonne's friends. A new playhouse! She was so excited when we got home from getting groceries, she made me run outside and put it together. What a nut.

And of course there was the standard grocery run to Wal-Mart. Yuck. But I did pick up a new Fiskars rake at Lowe's. It has a small head to get in between plants in the flower bed. Works great.

And the Steelers lost Sunday night. El Sucko. And we discovered that something is leaking under the sink. Major El Sucko. And a good friend found out he may be out of a job in two weeks. Colonel El Sucko.

But, the good news on my end....Saturday evening. It was one of those things that you experience that is so hard to describe. I was actually nearly brought to tears. The sky was clear except for a few puffy, white clouds. It was such a vibrant blue it almost hurt to look at. The leaves on the trees were turning shades of brown and orange and red. Some were lightly falling in the breeze like snowflakes. The breeze was gently blowing making those leaves still holding on rustle about.

Anyway, it was nice. I just wish I could bottle it up and keep it like that so I could sit on the porch everyday and read.

Heroes
So what the heck does Parkman's dad know? Oh, he's evil. Locking them in the dream room. And what's up with the new girl chasing Peter? And I do like the new girl who learns things from TV. She's much better than the teenage boy who flys. Not very original there. And I miss DL. Can't beat walking through walls!

Everything Else
School is progressing along at the moment. Chuck is still a good show, I just wish I could watch it more. CSI is going south. Miami is boring watching Horatio's son. Vegas is boring with Sara on swing shift. Only New York is interesting with the 333 caller. NCIS started good, but I'm not sure where it will end up. I tried to make some salsa (with the help of my mother-in-law's recipe) and ended up making something with way too much cilantro and way too little tomatoes. Hopefully the next batch will be better. I'd really like to buy a pick-up or SUV. I've decided (awhile ago) that any car we buy will be used. After two sets of brand new cars, I've learned that they do nothing but lose value. Not a good use of your money when you're still paying for it. I'd like to get something that takes E85, despite the fact that there are no E85 stations around here.

Well, that's all for now. I still have Heroes and CSI Miami to watch and some more of A Meeting at Corvallis to read.

Uncle Red

Uncle Red passed away yesterday (Red was his nickname). He was a great-uncle (or grand-uncle depending on how you want to look at it) to me. My grandmother's brother-in-law on my dad's side.

It's always a sad day when news like this arrives, but I never really knew Uncle Red. I knew OF him, but didn't really KNOW him. In fact, I can only remember meeting him once, and that was last year at Uncle Denny's funeral.

Well, I wish I could share more about him and his life, but I really don't know that much. So I'll share what few photos I have of him.

Here he is with his wife (Aunt Blondie).

And here he is (holding the cake) with Uncle Danny.

Here he is with the "in-laws" (my grandfather is in the back row, far right - Uncle Red is in the front on the far left).

Friday Double Feature

So I was pondering which one of these to post and decided, what the heck. It's Friday, I'll just post both. So here we have my namesakes, Aunt Wilma and Uncle George circa 1940s (I was named after his first name and her middle name):



Then we have one of my English class journal entries from April 2, 1993 (that would be my junior year in High School):



Don't laugh too much, there's much worse in my collection.

Up, Down, and All Around

Ricky Gautier died yesterday. No, he wasn't a close friend or anything like that, but I did know him and his family. Back when I was a kid, my Dad took me to Antigua twice. During one of those trips, Ricky and his family came along. He was a few years younger than me so I never knew him in school, but I remember him from the trip. His dad ran an auto-body shop in the area where Dad bought the Mustang.

In more positive, local news, Colonial Beach has a candidate for office that's 18 years old. I wish I lived there just so I could vote for her. Her competition is 54, 54, and 53.

And in personal news, I was able to accomplish a bit more than expected yesterday. I got my haircut before meeting Dad for breakfast. And I was able to pickup Elizabeth and William and go to the local McDonald's for dinner without a major disaster (and considering I didn't have a diaper bag with spare diapers, that's pretty risky). And William was able to sleep until 0330 this morning. I changed him but did not feed him and actually got him to go back to sleep. He woke up again at 0430, but I again got him to go back to sleep. When he woke up at 0530, I gave up and fed him. It was time to get up anyway.

And in the spirit of sharing and the upcoming holiday, check out Paul's comic today for some interesting decorations.

And I'll look for an interesting photo or newspaper article to post later today.

Random Newspaper Article

So in my scanning of more family history today I came across this advertisement:

It appears my grandmother won a diamond pendant.

Source: Custer County Chief, March 12, 1964

In other news, I went to bed early last night in an attempt to catch up on some sleep. In fact, I think Yvonne and I were both asleep before Elizabeth. That little turkey has a tendency to lay in bed and play and talk and bounce around.

And I'll be leaving work early today (in about an hour) to pick up Elizabeth and William while Yvonne does her work thing tonight. I think we'll be dining out at McDonalds to keep things easy.

Random Family Photo

Just a random family photo I have. Not sure why I felt like putting it up here, but it sure beats a heated argument about illegal immigration.

This is George Edward Phillips (1878-1951) and Jessie Irene Piester (1879-1960) after (or for) their wedding in 1900. They are my grandmother's parents. George would later kill one of his daughters and spend the rest of his life in prison.

Today's Interesting Find

So I've been taking some family history stuff to work for scanning over the past year or so. It's easy to just pile a stack of papers into the sheet feeder and let the machine do all the work.

Well, in my most recent stack, I found a handwritten copy of The Death of Floyd Collins. Having never heard of Floyd Collins or his death, I assumed he was a relative. After a little research, I don't think he is. Here's his Wiki page. And here's a sample MP3 of the song (which is what I found). Not sure why there's a copy of the lyrics.

I also have some newspaper clippings that aren't too exciting. The second-most interesting find in this stack was the collection of articles from 1938 that talk about each state. And each article has a pattern that can be used for embroidery. Makes me think of my grandmother's hand sewn dish towels for every day of the week.

Aunt Monica

Yvonne's sister came to visit last weekend and had a fun time playing with William and Elizabeth. They spent many hours playing and playing and playing (well, William just ate and slept, but he's still a baby).

So, here's a picture I couldn't resist posting. It gives just a hint of how much fun they had together.

Heroes and Lyle Lovett

Such diversity in topics, I know. Let's start with Heroes....

Last week we saw Micah's family now includes Ohura. And Sulu was killed. Is this show turning out to be a Star Trek reunion? Will Spock be next to show or Kirk? Too bad it won't be Scotty. But I like his cousin, the girl that learns things from TV.

The flying kid, not too hot about him.

The Spanish brother and sister, I'm actually kind of glad they picked up Sylar (or is it Gabriel now?). I'm hoping he kills them. Just not too interested in them. But what's up with the roaches?

Parkman and the Nathan? Now that's an interesting story. Who is the mother protecting? Will Parkman's dad really be evil? What about Bob? Haha, I made a joke and didn't even realize it.

And this has to be one of the weirdest comics from them yet.

Now, on to Lyle Lovett. Today's paper had an article about him buying back his family's farm. Lyle, if you're out there, I'd like to buy my family's farm before it's sold. If you can cover $250,000 (half of the farm's value), I'm sure I can squeeze the rest out of the family.

A Full Rich Day

To steal an episode title from M*A*S*H, I had a "Full Rich Day" on Saturday. I got up fairly early and was outside right around sunrise. It's pretty chilly outside now (especially at that time of day) so I put my thick overalls to good use. I emptied out the gutters on the shed and started a fire (which helped cut the chill).

We have a lot of pine needles in the back yard and they're a pain to gather up. The leaf blower doesn't do well blowing them or sucking them, so I used old-fashioned elbow grease and a rake. In all I burned up quite a bit of scrap wood (only a few 2x4 scraps left), logs, and brush. We have several stacks of each around the back yard, so I was happy to make a few of them smaller.


From May 2007

I also got the yard tools ready for winter. That means the shovels, rakes, and hoes got cleaned and oiled. The axes (all four) and the ditch axe got cleaned, sharpened, and oiled. The weed eater and leaf blower were cleaned. About the only I didn't clean was the deck of the mower.

And I raked the leaves from the front yard and sucked them up with the leaf blower. And I trim and cut the grass. And I cleaned up where we poured our small pad by the shed. And I put all of Elizabeth's toys in the totes and more stuff from the porches in the small shed.

All in all, pretty busy. And that was BEFORE my shower.

After my shower, we ate dinner (Yvonne, Elizabeth, Monica, and myself). Then Monica was nice enough to babysit William and Elizabeth while Yvonne and I went on a "date."

So we drove to one of the local farms and walked around. I had not been there since I was a kid and it has grown immensely. From a rope swing in the barn to a maize maze and pedal tractors. We walked the maize maze (in the dark) and had fun. It was easier than we thought once we got out, but we got lost pretty quickly.

Then we headed to Applebees for dessert which turned out to be a bit of a downer. The service was slow and 3 of the 5 desserts had nuts. So I had nachos instead.

Video and an Update

So, for those 8 billion people out there that DON'T read my blog, I just wanted to let you know that I've changed that little side bar over there on the left today. I've added and removed a few links and page elements. For those that DO read my blog, feel free to comment on how you like or dislike the changes.

In other news, I'm thinking of (and have already started) reducing my internet footprint. It's hard and time consuming to keep traveling back and forth across the inter-web to make my presence known. And clearly my presence isn't that well known, so it shouldn't affect that many people.

I've been pondering this for some time and even tried to move my site to Google's Page Create system, but alas, it couldn't handle the sheer magnitude of my crap. So I gave up. Well, Paul said he deleted his MySpace page and I was a copy-cat and did the same thing (I never used it anyway). And I deleted one of my defunct blogs (about the Virginia SOL) that nobody has viewed in months.

And now I'm starting to think Blogger is the place to be. Thus the new links and page elements on the side.

<------------ Over there.

And the video? How about some bagpipes to wake you up on a Friday afternoon.

Friday Friday

Old World meets New

Saw this via Virtual Globetrotting:

This Weekend

The local high school plays a rival tonight. Our home team has actually been doing well this year (scored over 60 points last week). Dallas plays New England Sunday. Both are undefeated, but I'm rooting for Dallas (because I hate New England, I hate cheaters, and I hate the Redskins).

I also have a decent amount of chores on my To Do List. Hopefully I'll get through everything I'd like to get done. And, if my sister-in-law is willing, Yvonne and I might even get to go out on a date. Haven't done that in awhile.

Today

I need to hit the post office to mail some packages. The first is to get a replacement DVD from HBO. One of my Deadwood discs is cracked and chipped in the middle. Luckily I've already watched it. My second package, and more important one, is sending my copy of The Name Of The Wind off to Patrick Rothfuss to get signed. I'm enclosing some goodies (per his requirements). And I feel like a kid trading baseball cards. "I'll trade you these two autographs for yours." Hope he's okay with that.

How about just one big post for today?

Since I was so wordy yesterday with my multiple posts, I'll just be wordy in one post today.

Soda

It's been nearly 2 months since I've had a soda. I quit cold turkey when I was feeling under the weather and never went back. Well, my hope was I would feel refreshed, lighter on my feet, less like I'm high on something, and maybe lose some weight. Out of all my hopes, the only thing I've seen an improvement in is that I don't feel like I'm high on caffeine. The rest of life sucks because I can't seem to wake up. So, I don't know if my addiction is psychological, pharmacological, or biological, but I'm thinking about going back to drinking. Over the past few days, I've been sorely tempted to get something, but have pushed back and said no. I'm just not sure how long that will last.

Where will you be.....

....when your driver's license expires? Mine expires in 2011 and I have no idea where I will be. I know I'll be 35, Elizabeth will be 7, and William will be 4. Maybe I'll get lucky and win the lottery by then so I can retire.

Bare feet

Where do you go bare feet? I saw a lady yesterday walking her child to the bus stop in her bare feet. No big deal, but her driveway was dusty, rocky, and certainly not clean. And from the looks of her house and clothing, it looked like she was going back inside without cleaning her feet (she looked like she rarely took showers in general). Myself, I like showers. The bathroom is even my favorite room in the house. And I like clean feet. But I'm not a big fan of being barefoot. Even in the house I usually wear socks. I used to go barefoot as a life guard and as a kid, but not often.

Genealogy Update

I've scanned some more documents and filed them away in the closet. And I pulled more out to scan. Work is kind enough to provide me with a copier that doubles as a scanner. It just scans in B&W. Better than nothing and it works for documents as I can feed them in easily. I think what I'll need to do soon (maybe I'll start today) is to sort through the photos I have and remove any duplicates and try to cross-match the similar ones to get names of the unidentified people.

And that's it folks. But before you leave, let me take you back a few years and introduce you to a cute kid I used to know and his grandmother.

Triple post day

You should feel special.

I just feel wordy.

So, we have some new photos from our trip to Edinboro this past weekend. And, as a bonus, we have three new videos from the trip as well.

And all I have left is to simply say that my wife is the best wife out there. I'm glad she agreed to marry me despite all my faults.

Kvothe - Chapter 9

Chapter 9 – Riding in the Wagon with Ben

Kvothe and Abenthy, or Ben for short, quickly become friends. Kvothe is the student of sorts while Ben is the master (minor Star Wars reference for those that missed it). Ben begins to tell Kvothe stories and at the same time prepares him, indirectly, for the University. Not to sorry, Kvothe will get to the University eventually, just be patient. Ben also explains a bit about sympathy, essentially that it would be the “magic” that arcanists perform.

--Read more about the detailed analysis here--

Eddie Murphy, Angela Landsbury, and my grandmother

What do these three people have in common? They were all in my dream last night. Ever have one of those nights where your dreams are completely vivid and bizarre? Well, I did last night.

We (I'm using that term loosely as I don't remember who was with me) were riding motorcycles and stopped for a break at a gas station. We saw Eddie Murphy in the crowd and I approached him and asked if he would meet my grandmother (my mom's mom, Grandma Dorothy). I started to cry as I introduced them, trying to explain how important she was to me. Then he started to cry.

Then somehow we jumped to a murder-mystery movie. One that we were in. Not acting in, but living in I guess. Well, we discovered the culprit was none other than Angela Landsbury who was hiding in the bottom of the closet in a secret room behind a special mirror.

As for the rest of my dream, well, I'm not sharing that. Just call me selfish.

Weekend Report

If you're looking for photos, you can stop reading now. I haven't had the time to upload them yet.

If you're not looking for photos, or still want to know what I did this weekend, then READ ON!!!

Friday we (meaning Yvonne, Elizabeth, William, Henry, and I) got loaded into Dad's new Suburban (or "burban" as Elizabeth calls it) and headed north. Everyone traveled well in the car. We stopped to feed William once and of course took several bathroom breaks. We arrived in Pittsburgh (have you noticed that I love Google?) around 3 in the afternoon and unloaded. And unloaded. And unloaded. I never thought a Suburban could hold that much. I gave up and told Yvonne she had to finish the rest of it since she loaded it the night before and I was dripping in sweat (temps were in the 90s the whole weekend).

Once the magical bag of holding was emptied, we relaxed and had dinner. Saturday was another early day out the door as we loaded up (not as much this time) for the short trip to Edinboro. We met Dave (my old roommate), Jenn (a good friend), her sister Heather, and Jeff and Lindsay (both friends) and their two kids. In all we had 7 EUP graduates. Not too shabby. After parking and visiting, we headed out to find a spot to watch the parade. We got a good spot in the shade and even had some chairs provided. The parade was shorter and later in the day than we remember, but it was still fun.

From there we stopped at the campus bookstore, bought some goodies, picked up lunch, and headed to the lake for a picnic. After enjoying our food (and seeing an alarming number of naked toddlers playing in the water and sand), we took the kids to the playground (which I remember playing on when I was a kid. Well, when I was in college acting like a kid.

Then we stopped at my mom's house for dinner. Elizabeth got to see some cows and play the piano. Mom was also nice enough to pass along a rare family heirloom. Volume 5 of John Newton's Letters and Sermons, with a Review of Ecclesiastical History and Hymns (circa 1796). Turns out this guy wrote Amazing Grace. It's missing the front and back cover, but is in great shape considering its age.

Then we headed back to Yvonne's parent's place. Sunday was an easy day with no traveling. Yvonne's cousins, aunts, and neighbors came to visit and to see William. Easy enough for me as I got to say hi and be left alone. And I got to watch the Steelers beat the Seahawks on a huge flat screen.

Monday we loaded up again (gotta love that magical bag of holding) and headed south to our place. Got in around 3 or 4 safe and sound. Overall, not a bad trip, just a ton of laundry to do and chores to catch up on. And it was reasonably cheap as there was a gas station in Pittsburgh that had E-85 gas for about $2.39 a gallon. Which means I could fill up a rather large SUV for under $50. So stick that in your pipe and smoke it.

So, what did you do this weekend?

Buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz

Thank GOD for Mocha Java Coolers from Daily Grind!!!!!!!!

I have now been thoroughly infused with caffeine!!!!!

Rainbow Fish

I ran across this interesting series of photos. Amazing how some people think three dimensionally .

And of course, here's Elizabeth telling you the story about the Rainbow Fish. Enjoy!

Kvothe - Chapter 8

Chapter 8 – Thieves, Heretics, and Whores

While Rothfuss starts writing in the first person in the previous chapter, he continues full-bore in this one. Many have said how hard it is to write from this perspective and how nobody can get away with writing anything worthwhile with this method. Rothfuss proves them wrong in this chapter as he flings “I,” “our,” and “my” as if Kvothe is talking to you. And that’s the greatest thing Rothfuss does; he invites the reader into the Waystone Inn with Kvothe’s story as if you belong there, inside the story. It goes from writing to artwork.

As to the story being told, we learn Kvothe is of the Edema Ruh. The Edema Ruh are akin to gypsies that travel around in their fancy wagons and entertain people. Kvothe’s father runs the troupe and we learn where Kvothe learned to use words as weapons, though subtle ones. Much like today’s gypsies, the Ruh are not well-liked and are seen as, well, the chapter’s title gives you an idea. This particular troupe is under the sponsorship, protection, and direction (of a sort) by a Baron Greyfallow.

Besides Kvothe’s father, we also meet Trip (a fellow Ruh and a juggler with a dry wit) and Abenthy (an arcanist who becomes a bigger character later). Arcanists in this world are like magicians; loved by some, hated by others, and tolerated by most. We see a tidbit of Abenthy’s power as he actually calls upon the power of the wind by speaking its “true” name; something we’ll learn more about later.

--Read more about the detailed analysis here--

New videos uploaded

I've got 4 new videos (and 1 old one that got stuck apparently) uploaded to Revver. 2 have already been approved and are live, the other 2 should be there later today. This one is funny because, well, it just is for some reason.

New photos

I've uploaded plenty of new photos to view (2 new albums with another on its way). Enjoy!

http://picasaweb.google.com/tk42one

Weekend Report

So, what did you do this weekend? Here's my list of activities:

It is Sunday night and all is well. Not great, but pretty good. We got a lot accomplished this weekend, so I'll begin the run down.

Saturday Yvonne, Elizabeth, and William went to a plant sale at a local church then to swim class. Elizabeth had the pool to herself so she got some extra time to swim. Meanwhile, Dad and I worked on framing a pad for the small door to the shed. I had dug it out a week or so earlier, so it just needed framing. We leveled, squared, and sloped it how we wanted it and put some sand in the bottom.

In the evening (after cleaning up of course), we all went down to a different local church for their harvest festival. They had smoked a couple of pigs and had the usual fixin's (baked beans, cole slaw, rolls, cake, and lemonade). The music was a bit loud at times, but they stopped it often enough to play games that it wasn't an issue. And the food was good as was the company (rare is it that "church folk" are rude - can you tell we don't go to church?). The most interesting event of the evening was one of the ladies that played a game was born in Poland, raised in Russia, and walked 900 miles from a German concentration camp. Wow. Not what I expected to learn while at a church picnic.

Today was filled with more manual labor. Dad came back over and we finished the pad. Together, we hand mixed 10 and a half 80 pound bags of concrete. We poured it into the frame, mashed it down, tapped the sides, used a screed board, waited, troweled, waited more, cleaned the tools, waited more, tried to finish the edges, waited more, finished the edges, waited more, troweled one last time, and were done. Can you tell we had too much water in the mix?

But we finished that by about lunch time. Dad went home and I helped Yvonne and Elizabeth plant plants (from the plant sale yesterday). They had worked on it while Dad and I did the pad, so it was nearly done when I arrived. But we finished nearly all of the plants and still had time to make it inside to cleanup before the big Steeler game at 4.

And that's where things went sour. We lost. So much for being undefeated.

But, we got a lot done, so I guess I shouldn't complain. As Dad said, mark it on the calendar. We started and finished a project in 2 days. That's pretty amazing by itself.

Anywho, that's it for now. I should be back to normal blogging capacity next week.

Birthday Wishes

For those that don't know, my birthday is coming up shortly (as in next week). Normally, I'm not a very big birthday kind of person. After my 21st, it was all downhill for me as I felt that getting old was not fun.

Well, 10 years later and I still feel pretty much the same about getting older. But I'm hoping to use my blog as a medium to let everyone know what I want for my birthday. After all, it is all about me, isn't it?

Okay, maybe not, but at least give me one day a year. Sound like a deal?

So here's what I want (in no particular order):

1 - Go visit Paul's daily comic (technically it's Monday through Friday, but close enough). He's a decent artist and has a great sense of humor. And he's a fan and writer of speculative fiction (aka fantasy, sci-fi, etc.).

2 - Two books. Havoc by Jack DuBrul and Inferno by Troy Denning.

3 - Any amount of gift cards to Lowes. I have a feeling I'll be doing some home improvement shortly (broken porch steps, shed upgrades, etc.) and need all the help I can get.

4 - Any amount of gift cards to Kohls. I think I'll have to wait until Christmas to get them, but I may need to get some pajama pants this winter. I know, it's out of the norm for me, but I'm adjusting.

Everything else I'd ask for I doubt I'd get as it's a bit unreasonable and a little out of the price range of my readers (on the off chance you would like to invest a large sum of money in little-ol' me, you can read this post about buying the family farm).

Who would you call in an emergency?

This pretty much says it all and is completely in line with my thinking. I follow this site on a regular basis and was lucky enough to get a copy of Kate's book through the guys at Fantasy Book Spot. She was great to talk to and is always on top of any RDA news.

Oh, and my mom comes tomorrow. Yeah!

Great day ends poorly

Today started great. I was awake before everyone else and got my shower in. Yvonne, Elizabeth, and William all went to Elizabeth's swim class so I had some time to myself. I organized the family history so all the scanned items were together. i didn't have as much scanned as I wanted, but it fit nicely in our new waterproof/fire resistant lock box. The other two totes will hopefully be scanned over time.

Dad brought some electrical wire and tools around lunch time. We all (all 5 of us) had lunch and went our separate ways. The four of us (me, Yvonne, Elizabeth, and William) all went into town to do some shopping. We couldn't find the car seat at Target (our main reason for going) but got a rain check. We did pick up a costume for Elizabeth (a witch with a broom), a new ceiling fan for the living room, and baffles for the attic. We also stopped for a very filling dinner of steak and baked potato with Cesar salad.

And how did such a great day end so poorly? Well, I can't sleep right now (it's 2330) and I just checked Google Reader and saw that Colin McRae died in a helicopter crash. And to top it all off, Nebraska is loosing 42-10 against USC.

I can only hope tomorrow's Steeler game against Buffalo will go much better.

PS - We may be going to Edinboro for Homecoming this year. That should be fun!

Kvothe - Chapter 7

Chapter 7 – Of Beginnings and the Names of Things

We now see Kvothe and Chronicler working out the finer details of the story that’s about to be told. Also of note in this chapter is the use of a primitive short-hand. Chronicler uses it to write “faster than a man can talk.” Kvothe tests his system and even demands to learn it before he continues. We get an inkling of his intelligence as he learns it very quickly.

This is also where we can find the best part of the book, the part used on the dust cover. The part where we learn his name I pronounced “Quothe” and hoe names of things are important. In short, the cover art hooked me, these words reeled me in.

--Read more about the detailed analysis here--

The Family Treasure Hunt

So, this might be a meme floating out there somewhere, but I got the idea when I was checking out some family sites yesterday. Wouldn't it be neat to see how many people you could find from your own family? Guess my 8th place finish in the Virtual Globetrotting Scavenger Hunt went to my head.

So, here's the name of the game. Find as many photos of your family members out there as possible. Scoring and rules will be as follows:

- One (1) point for each family member photo.

- One (1) extra point for each photo with more than one family member. But you can't count the same person more than once.

- No sites can be used that are administered by yourself.

- Limit the photos to your parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, and first cousins (and try to avoid ancestors).

- All photos must have been taken after September 1, 2006 (just shy of a year ago).

The prize? Well, I don't have a prize. But let's see who can win.

My Family Treasure Hunt

Cousin Steve - 1 point

Cousin Glenn (Steve's brother) with unidentified woman - 1 point

Cousin Eric (playing guitar for his band) - 1 point

Aunt Marilyn with Cousin Cinda (her daughter) - 2 points + 1 extra point

Cousin Andy (second from left, Cinda's brother), Aunt Laurie (third from left), and Cousin Cinda (again) - 2 points + 1 extra point

Cousin Mark, Cousin Glenn (again), and Cousin Jeff (Jeff and Mark are brothers) - God, I hope I got those names right - 2 points + 1 extra point

Cousin Jared (and his wife Melissa) - 1 point

My mom (and Steve, her.....well, I'll let mom answer that one) - 1 point

The winner - Aunt Susie, Uncle Eric, Cousins Damon, Sunny, Jarod (again), Abram, and my mom (again) - 5 points + 1 extra point

Uncle Dan and Aunt Gail (far left, Cinda and Andy's father) and Uncle Gary (far right, mom's twin brother) - 3 points + 1 extra point

Total = 24 Points

Kvothe - Chapter 6

Chapter 6 – The Price for Remembering

This is one of the greatest chapters of the book. We learn a lot about Kvothe but not enough to know everything. A great tease of sorts. On top of this, we learn how well Kvothe can strong-arm someone by simply looking at them. We clearly see that Kvothe has lived a full life so far and is worthy of attention. Chronicler, the man that will be writing about him, also has a reputation of sorts as the premiere storyteller in the land. Watching them bandy words about like swords was fun.

Chronicler is on his way to meet an Earl but eventually gives in to Kvothe’s demands and requirements. While Kvothe was reluctant to tell his story, he exacted a price from Chronicler by telling him it would take three days to tell his story. Take note of this as this is directly related to this book is the first in a trilogy. Thus, this is the first “day” of the story. Yes, a few days have passed before, but this is the first day of storytelling.
--Read more about the detailed analysis here--

Weekend Report

Friday night was nothing exciting. At least nothing that I remember. I must be getting old.

Saturday morning I went over to Dad's to take a look at what goodies he brought back from his trip to Nebraska. Turns out he likely more than doubled the collection of family history we have. That was the good news. The bad news? There's even more that he left on the farm.

From there, Yvonne and I took Elizabeth to see Cinderella at the Riverside. They do a children's show on Saturdays and it was okay. A boxed lunch is okay for kids, but I was really hoping for more. And the performance was fine, just long. And not really my type of show. But Elizabeth had a good time and was conducting the music and trying to dance at times. Factor in the meltdown before leaving home (she didn't want anyone to take her picture) and the meltdown leaving the show (she wanted Cinderella to sign "Elizabeth" NOT "Cinderella") and it was about even on the fun scale.

Then I cut the grass (big surprise there). But it needed it and I wanted to cut it short in anticipation of the coming rains.

After that was dinner and a movie. The Last Mimzy was bizarre. Very bizarre. Like, more than THX-1138.

Sunday was shopping with Yvonne and William. He did pretty good but lets you know when he's hungry or messy. We're kind of in a routine, but nothing too set in stone. But I did get to take a good 2 hour nap. Couldn't get the Steeler game, but we won 34-7 over the Browns.

Anyways, that's about it. And in the spirit of Paul (but in reverse), what did you do this weekend?

Kvothe - Chapter 5

Chapter 5 – Notes

Kvothe returns to the inn with the injured and unconscious Chronicler. Bast is upset that Kvothe went alone but is kind enough to help Kvothe stitch his wounds. Another short chapter, something you the reader should get used to.

--Read more about the detailed analysis here--

Sleepy, so sleepy

With the exception of last night, I think I've had on average 3 hours of sleep a night. Not good for this old man.

And last night? I crashed on the couch around 9, went to bed around 9:30, and woke up at 6 this morning. But I'm still tired. I think I even fell asleep in the shower.

My goal for this weekend? To sleep more than 4 hours straight.

Maybe I'll go for a long drive...........

Norwegian to English translator needed

Please contact me (tk42one@gmail.com) if you can translate handwritten letters from Norwegian (Norsk) into English.

Or you can go to this album and pick something to translate on your own. All I ask is you send me the translated text so I can give you credit!

Kvothe - Chapter 3 and Chapter 4

Chapter 3 – Wood and Word

Here we see Kvothe (aka Kote) receive his long awaited plank of wood he uses to mount a sword called Folly. We also see a bit more of Kvothe’s side-kick Bast. Both are interrupted by a large party that arrives at the inn looking for lodging and refreshment. A party of travelers. Included in this party is a young man who seems to know Kvothe’s true identity. But alas, he’s a little intoxicated. And with the help of some subterfuge by Kvothe and Bast, the young man and everyone else are fooled into thinking Kvothe is Kote, a simple innkeeper.

But more interesting than this is that we see Kvothe’s ability to concoct a lie so detailed yet so simple, he can convey it to Bast in just a few words. And with a bit of foretelling, we see Kvothe buy a pair of smithy gloves and apron.

Chapter 4 – Halfway to Newarre

We come back to the Chronicler as he’s walking along alone at night. He approachs a fire and discovers Kvothe baiting his trap for the scrael. He defeats them, but Chronicler takes a beating and doesn’t help much.

--Read more about the detailed analysis here--

Birthdays - Yuck

I was a big fan of birthdays as a kid. When I turned seven, I still remember the chocolate chip cookie my Dad got with white and chocolate icing on it. It was so big we couldn't finish it. So we put it in the freezer in the garage. Where I repeatedly snuck to in order to take a bite before or after school. I think I also got a shirt with a big number 7 on it.

I know I got other neat and cool gifts, but for some reason that one sticks out.

And I remember my 18th birthday. Mostly because it was two days after I started dating Yvonne. I think the greatest gift she gave me then was the fact that she stuck around long enough to hold my hand (and no, she wasn't drunk). And there was my 21st birthday I was surprised by my Mom and Dad when I was in college. That was pretty neat (but I'm still not big on surprises).

But my birthdays have long since run together. There was even a period of a few years where I would have to stop and do the math to figure out how old I was. Is it 27 or 28? Well, thirty hit last year and I was not excited. Which means 31 is less than a month away and I'm still not excited. Hell, I'm more excited about the afore mentioned anniversary of dating Yvonne (it'll be 13 years on October 1st).

The idea of getting gifts at my age is, well, fun and sad at the same time. I love free stuff. But I hate asking for it.

Maybe this year I'll ask for $500,000 dollars. Yes, that's 5 zeroes after the 5. What would I do with it? Buy the family farm to ensure it would continue to stay in the family (123 years so far). But I would donate the house to the local museum or something so they can help me store and research family history, Nebraska history, pioneer history, and everything else under the sun that applies to the area.

I guess that's why I don't get big presents anymore. I tend to give them away.

Maybe I'll just ask for a Lowe's gift card instead.

Kvothe - Prologue, Chapter 1, and Chapter 2

Prologue – A Silence of Three Parts

I tried to read this to my wife one day as she waited on the hospital bed. She didn’t like it. And I can see how most would not as it’s a bit deep on the metaphorical scale

Chapter 1 – A Place for Demons

We are introduced to the main character Kote, the innkeeper of the Waystone Inn located in a small town. Right away we can sense a stereotypical fantasy element in the inn. The innkeeper is serving food and drink while the locals tell tall tales. In the middle of one of these another local arrives having just survived an attack by a creature called a scrael. Scrael are apparently a stone-like spider large enough to kill a man and his horse but mysterious enough to be killed by iron. Even the disposal of the body affords a special pit and a fire.

We are also introduced to Kote’s servant/lackey/sidekick/assistant, Bast. I’m sure his role will play out more in future books, but for now, he’s simply as mysterious as Kote with few answers forthcoming.

Chapter 2 – A Beautiful Day

There is a short interlude of sorts from the Waystone Inn as we meet the Chronicler. He is being robbed by some highwaymen but his cunning is amazing as he hides his coin in his shoe, clothing, loaf of bread, and his ink jar.

--Read more about the detailed analysis here--

Back in the saddle - after a fashion

I'm back at work today and will be the rest of the week. So please bear with me while I get things caught up and get back into the habit of blogging. Yes, I know you want more pictures, they're coming. Give me a day or two and I'll have them up.

In the meantime, I'll be posting more analysis momentarily.