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!