Into the attic

Last evening I was rummaging in my attic for a few bags of old kid clothes for "E". She was collecting stuff for the Helping Hand Mission which donates all their children stuff to foster families in the area. Anyway, while up there I noticed a few small boxes in the corner of the attic. Well, considering we don't use the attic for anything other than to store old clothing I went over to investigate.

And it turns out there are a bunch of old first edition collector edition Barbie dolls, three of them as Marilyn Monroe. None of them have been opened, and while the boxes have seen better days, the dolls inside look like they are in perfect condition.

Does anyone know anything about Barbie dolls? Are these worth anything? Or should I just give them to DQ?

Wear the Fox Hat!

Please send drugs

Or earplugs.

In the span of 4 days DQ has joined the orchestra and GB has joined band. And they've made their choice of instruments. Beginning tomorrow GB will be playing the baritone horn, and DQ will be playing the viola.





Now let me repeat that for any of you who didn't quite grasp what this means. I will be living with two kids playing instruments, neither of which have played an instrument before, neither of which can read music, and neither of which have any pity for me. Oh the sounds and shattered glass that will be emanating from my home. I bet the cats ask to be let out and never come back.

I swear you will know the moment I hit my breaking point because the following morning will be the day I decide to place this Baritone Horn by GB's head and proceed to use it as a fog-horn to wake him up. Then I will have to come up with something just as diabolical to wake up DQ. Right now I can't come up with anything, but frayed nerves have a way of getting my brain thinking.

My new car

It's the new Mercedes Maybach, and I'll be picking it up first thing tomorrow after I win the lottery tonight. Notice the recliner rear seats, and the electrostatic sunroof which turns from opaque to crystal clear depending on the passengers preference.

The birth of a sibling rivalry, in pictures

Two blog posts in one!

OK, after reading the unanimous opinions in the comments of my post on Saturday, I took all of your advice and after responding to M's latest e-mail this morning I included this final paragraph.

"Finally in the interest of full disclosure, while I'm happy to continue to talk and chat with you I need you to know that I can't pursue a further relationship with you. I think you're a great person, a great mom, and you have the world ahead of you. But I simply don't feel any chemistry. And I need to feel that before I move forward in a relationship. If I don't hear back from you, I'll understand and I wish you the nothing but the best of luck. The right guy is out there for you, I hope you find him real soon."

That was a horrible thing to write. And how do you make it sound good? I think I re-wrote it 5 times before it didn't sound like "I don't like you, quit writing to me!" Anyway, it's over with. And I haven't heard back from her.

But moving on to the second half of my post. The other big reason I moved my blog is so I could write a bit more about my social life in pseudo-anonymity. Writing about getting my life back on track is what this entire blog is about. And in the past month and a half or so it's been looking up. After the kids got home from San Francisco and I became a full-time single dad through Christmas, I had pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I wouldn't be dating anyone until 2008. I think that lasted about a week. Because that weekend I took the kids ice skating, and there was a woman - let's call her "E" - whom I had dated once before at the rink. For whatever reason it had ended back then. But now here we both were, with our kids there with us, and so we began talking. And I don't know if it was because the kids were there, but it's like we never stopped dating. All the pressure I felt about letting someone meet my kids was gone. And I think it was the same for her.

Since then we've been hanging out pretty regularly. We're both full-time single parents which means more often than not we have to do things as a huge group with the kids, but we do try to grab small amounts of alone time whenever we can. (Anyone wanna babysit 5 kids?)

So, with that said... meet "E":













Look for a lot more about "E" in upcoming posts.

(See mom? I'm not gay!)

Go Illini!

As an Illini fan, it's been a long time since I've felt optimistic about our football team. But I think we've turned that proverbial corner. We beat Indiana today on the road to win our first Big Ten opener since 1993. That makes us 3-1 this year. And those three wins equal our victory total for the past two years combined.

What's even more exciting is that we've looked good in these games. This victory over Indiana was convincing. We trounced Syracuse last week, and the week before was just as solid over Western Illinois, even though Western is one of those "directional" schools that everyone schedules early in the season to pad their totals. Our only loss was a great, close game to undefeated #25 Missouri - one of the Big 12 favorites this year, in St. Louis.

Now I'm not saying we're bowl bound, nor am I even thinking we would end up with a .500 record. We still have games against Ohio State, Penn State, and Wisconsin, all ranked in the top 10. But we have a very young team and our recruiting has been vastly improved since Ron Zook showed up. So things look bright for the foreseeable future.

And with that, Oskee Wow Wow. Go Illini!

The other reason I moved my blog...

I think I'm being stalked. And it's a really interesting experience since there is a definite cross between being flattered and being annoyed. Now the back story, this is a woman who I went out with twice and then decided there just wasn't any chemistry. She was certainly nice enough, but no sparks - at least on my part.

So, what happened from then was I simply never asked her out again and kept turning down her offers as well. Furthermore I have never even called her. I haven't spoken to her on the phone in about 3 months. I hoped she would simply take the hint that I would be happy to be a friend and talk, but there wasn't going to be anything more.

Now I can fully accept my responsibility here. I never flat out told her I wasn't interested. That's very hard for me since I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. I was hoping that she would catch on when there wasn't any "next date". But it's been months now, and she still sends me e-mails on almost a daily basis. And these are not just quick notes, they are extended letters.

I'll respond to them about once a week since I didn't want to be totally rude. I would answer her direct questions, avoid any further discussion about getting together, and ask very little about her in return. Again, I was hoping that I would eventually bore her, or that she would give up. She just hasn't.

And the final straw came when she found my old blog a few weeks ago. Combine that with the fact that I wanted to use my blog to talk about work and eventually my social life, and it became obvioust that it was time to move and alias myself. It may not have been the best idea I've ever had to blog under my real name.

To give you a better idea of what I'm talking about, here was the e-mail from earlier this month when she said she found my old site:

Hi Handsome! :D

So, how was the weekend? Good, I hope. Mine was kinda quiet...at least as quiet as it can be with a teenaged daughter :D

We didn't have a home game this weekend, at least not for varsity...we did go to the home JV game on Thursday night against....that right...you guessed it...You guys!! Which means we played at CHS for varsity on Friday night. And I have no idea who won, but I'm sure I'll hear all about this afternoon, if not from Brandy, then from John, the varsity football player that seems to have his eye on my daughter...I am soooo not ready for THAT! Anyway, it's amazing how much of an expert my daughter is about stuff she knows nothing about :D She will come home and tell me all about the game, even though she wasnt' there and she doesn't know a thing about football. She doesn't know a first down from a field goal! (Just you wait...the fun is only starting for you.)

So, in the interest of full disclosure, I was considering whether or not I was willing to invite you to my house for dinner one evening, and decided to do a bit of research....just to be sure you weren't like an ax murderer or child molester...or married, you know the prudent stuff when you start dating a guy and have a teenaged daughter. I Googled your name and I came across this really interesting site that I didn't realize was yours, at least until I saw your picture, although in retrospect, I should probably have been able to figure it out by the Gizmo comment...:D

Please don't think I am stalking you or any such thing...I promise, I am completely normal...well almost...there was that time...never mind. But seriously, since I felt like I had, I don't know, eavesdropped on a private conversation or something, I felt like the only fair thing to do was tell you, even if it is really really awkward...and it is really really awkward! (I even tried to call you on your cell phone last night, I felt so guilty...although I have absolutely NO idea what I would have said had you answered the phone...)

SO....I really hope you don't think I'm some kind of seriously derranged nutcase...for stalking your or for sounding like a total moron for possibly make a big deal out of something minor, which a girlfriend said I was doing. (I will say I really like the webpage you built!)

And if you are still interested in trying to get together for a couple of hours in the next couple of weeks...I'm sure you could use a break, just like I could...just let me know.

Happy Monday!!!
M

Anyway, I did not post this for anyone to be judged here. She is a nice enough person, and I'm sure I haven't helped matters by not being direct with her. Instead, I wanted to lay the groundwork about an upcoming post I want to talk about later this week.

The Jena 6 - An alternative point of view

Many of us have been discussing this issue on various blogs for a few days now, and I believe it's time for me to join the group and start talking about this as well. I realize that I am in the minority, but it seems that I have been unable to get my position across accurately. In no way am I claiming there isn't a significant problem with racism in Jena. That is truly sad in today's America that racism still exists and even thrives in so many small towns across our nation.

But keeping the focus on Jena, the entire issue boiled over last year when two black high school students sat under the "whites only" tree on the Jena High School campus. White students responded by hanging nooses from the tree. When black students held a silent "sit in" protest, the District Attorney was called in to directly address black students at the school and told them all he could "end their life with a stroke of the pen." This resulted in several cases of racial violence and threats against black students. In the days that followed, when a white student was beaten unconcious for allegedly calling several black students racial slurs, the six black students were charged with attempted murder.

And there it is in a nutshell. People from all over the country have filled the streets of Jena in Louisiana demanding "justice" for the Jena 6 and that they be released. And this is what I have a problem with. Was what happened in Jena a racist issue? Yes, of course it was. Hanging the nooses from that tree was a horrible racist prank that went overboard. Yet that blatant display of racism does not excuse the actions of these six students who beat this other student unconscious.

I simply do not buy into the claims that these black students are saying that the noose meant “We’re going to kill you, you're going to die.” Instead, I believe the white students intended to send the racist message “This is not the place for you to sit. This is not your damn tree. Do not sit here."

Getting back to my point, these protests and rallys calling for justice for the "Jena 6" are misguided. Justice for the Jena 6 would land these kids in jail for assault, battery, and possibly attempted murder. There is no debate on whether they beat this kid or not. On the other hand, if these protesters wanted real justice they would instead be demanding an investigation into whether or not the white students also committed any crimes, and for their prosecution if they had. There is a story circulating that in the days before the beating that a white student pulled a gun on a group of black students at a gas station. The black students wrestled the gun away and reported the incident to police. Yet they were charged with assault and robbery of the gun. If that is true, then this white student should be prosecuted just as fiercely as the Jena 6 and the charges against these particular black kids dropped. But in court documents in the pre-trial hearings for one of the Jena 6 the testimony of this event reads like this "I drove up to the Gotta Go and started to walk in the store and saw three black males and one hollered 'we've got action'. I saw them running after me so I turned and sprinted to my truck and then got my gun out. RB, RS, and TS were wrestling for the gun. After wrestling the gun away, hitting me in the face, they ran behind the store. AC & the Gotta Go owners saw." It would be interesting if security cameras would support one side or the other.

In conclusion, does Jena have a problem with racism? Of course it does. A bad one. But the best way to fight racism is to prosecute all crimes fairly and evenly. Justice should be blind to all color and ethnicity. However in this case with the evidence I have seen, so far I believe it has been. The prosecutor said Wednesday that race had nothing to do with the charges. He said he didn’t charge the white students accused of hanging the nooses because he could find no Louisiana law under which they could be charged. (If there was a law then by all means prosecute those kids.) Yet in the beating case, he said, four of the defendants were of adult age under Louisiana law and the only juvenile charged as an adult, Mychal Bell, had a prior criminal record.

“It is not and never has been about race,” the prosecutor said. “It is about finding justice for an innocent victim and holding people accountable for their actions.”

The sad truth is the white students broke no law that they could be prosecuted for when they hung the nooses from that tree in their school colors. It was clearly wrong to do so - but it wasn't criminal. On the other hand, what the Jena 6 did was. They should be punished for their crimes with no regard to race or ethnicity. And I'm not the only one who believes so. Martin Luther King III, son of the slain civil rights leader said punishment of some sort may be in order for the six defendants. He, like his father, is a great man and a leader of civil rights. And he realizes that the likes of Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, while fighting the good fight on racism are choosing losing battles. A perfect example of this is how Jesse Jackson paid the college tuition of the false accuser in the Duke Lacrosse scandal.

The bottom line is that racism remains a serious issue in this country. One that many of us are afraid to talk about or face. And we need to do something about it. But granting amnesty for brutal crimes isn't the answer. We need to learn tolerance. At the same time we need to fix the laws if they are broken while shying away from labeling them "hate crimes" laws. We need to prosecute crimes fairly, but we must prosecute. Assault is assault. Battery is battery. And that doesn't change no matter the skin color.

I get the coolest spam

I want to thank beej personally for this latest treasure!

Sorry for the lack of updates yesterday

My cat was hogging the computer.

Joey Fatone???

I was at the park yesterday and one of the moms there with her kids came up and told me I looked like Joey Fatone. I had no idea who he was and told her so. So she updated me on the fact that he was the host of a TV show on NBC called "The Singing Bee" and used to be in 'N Sync or however you spell it.

That still meant nothing to me (other than I was glad I didn't recognize the name as someone who dated Brittney Spears or something) so last night I looked him up. Now I don't know whether Joey should be insulted by being compared to me who is probably 10 years older than him and 50 pounds heavier. Or if I should, for being associated with 'N Sync in any fashion!

Do I look ANYTHING like this guy???

Minor update

Since I now have had two people tell me that I am too creative to call my daughter DAUGHTER and my son SON, I have decided to give them new aliases. From this point forward my daughter will be DQ, which is short for "Drama Queen" and my son will be GB, short for "Game Boy."

Let it be said, let it be done.

BugFest 2007

When DQ's soccer game was canceled on Saturday as a result of the field being underwater from the storms/tornadoes we had Friday night (I'll post some pictures later) we needed something else to do for the day.

After a quick check of the "What's happening" folder in my e-mail I stumbled across something called BugFest which was being held at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. At the time I thought it was just going to be a few small exhibits, but as it turns out it is actually the nation's largest single-day bug event. We got there with about 3 hours to kill and in that time we made it through about half of the outdoor stuff and never even made it inside the building.

Walking from the parking lot to the museum there was a decent collection of vintage Volkswagen Beetles, including Herbie. (I think he's hiding from Lindsey Lohan, personally.)



From there we saw a bunch of artists covering the sidewalk in bug-art, followed by a station with guys making bug-shaped sand castles.





Once in courtyard, there were lots of different stations, all about bugs. There was a beekeeper station with a bunch of hives inside glass containers. The queen bees were marked with yellow dots so you could find them. Also at the beekeeper station was a large screened in phone-booth contraption that a beekeeper did regular bee-beard demonstrations like most of you have seen on TV. Unfortunately, I didn't think to take a picture. (Duh!) There were also flea-circuses, cockroach races, and butterfly exhibits, and lots of others including the kids favorite: The Cafe Insecta.



This was a lunch buffet where all the food was made with some sort of bugs. On the menu were such delicacies as "Hoppin’ Hunan Stir-fry Grasshoppers over Rice", "Mealworms Marinara", and "Waxworm and Watercress Salad".







And much to my amazement, the kids tried lots of it. They thought I did too, but I faked it. They ate Hush Grubbies, Mealworm Marinara, Ants in Amber (Orange Jello), as well as Bug Bite Cookies.









Once we (I mean they) got done eating, we went and placed our bets on the cockroach races. No matter which one I bet on, I think it died on the spot. They all raced, mine would roll over with it's feet in the air.



On the other hand, DQ got to personally congratulate her winner.



After that we were bugged out, so the kids spent the rest of the time making crafts and pins.







Anyway, it wasn't soccer. But it was still a nice way to spend an afternoon, and we ended up with some great pictures.

Panthers vs. Texans Tailgate Party

Just a quick post since I'm busy at work this morning. Yesterday I drove to Charlotte to hang out with some friends for the Panthers game vs. the Houston Texans. We won't discuss how the game turned out, but the pre-game party was great.

We were visited by Jerry Richardson, owner of the Panthers, and then a group of Miller Lite girls. Here are a couple of pictures, and if you want to see more, click the link at the bottom.


(Jerry Richardson and part of our group)


Emily and myself. Emily is one of those rare women who happens to be a diehard Panthers fan who's husband has no interest in football and doesn't come hang with us. (He must be gay...)

More Tailgate photos.

Last Night

I got home from work last night after a long day and just felt like crashing on the couch for a bit with my feet up. It was one of those days where I didn't get up from my desk at all, yet it felt like I was running all over the place. So when I put my feet up and took my shoes off, I could feel them throbbing.

DQ had a something on the TV from the Discovery Health Channel and they were talking about therapeautic massage. And that gave me a really good idea...

"DQ, come here!"

"What dad? I'm doing my homework."

"Forget your homework. This is important!"

"OK, fine. What is it?"

"Give me a foot massage!"

"Ewww. Gross..."

"What do you mean, gross?"

"You've got that gross white spot on your toenail!"

"OK, so you don't have to do that part."

"Five bucks!"

"Deal!" (I was willing to go up to ten!)

So, I sat there and got the worst foot massage ever. She poked her finger into my arch. She twisted my little toe. She grabbed the tendon on the back of my heels. And three minutes later she declared herself done.

"Pay me!"

"Pay you? For that??"

"A deal is a deal. And if you don't pay me, I'm going tell mom you told me not to do my homework!"

Now since Barbie already has it down that I am not capable of doing anything right, this would be guaranteed to cause a fight. DQ has mastered the art of blackmail...

A short while later, I told the kids I would be right back, I needed to run to the store. DQ asked to go.

"Why do you want to go?" I asked.

"I want to spend my five dollars."

"First of all I'm just going to the grocery store, and secondly why don't you save that money? You can't get much with five dollars."

"I don't want to save this money. I didn't have it ten minutes ago. Besides, can't you go to Wal-Mart instead?"

"I don't want to go to Wal-Mart. I just need chicken, paper towels, and some milk."

"You can get that stuff at Wal-Mart. And I can go spend my money."

"No. I don't need to go to Wal-Mart. Save your money."

------

So, we're at Wal-Mart...

We walk in the door and DQ disappears off to the toy section and I head over to get my stuff. The problem with Wal-Mart is you can't go there and not buy stuff that wasn't on your list. So after I got the groceries, I'm walking over to the Toy department and pass a display with a good sale on Soda. And into the cart went two 12-packs of Coke Zero. Then I walked past Automotive. Which reminded me that I need washer fluid for the car. And into the cart went a gallon of that.

I find DQ in the toy section and she tells me she has her choices narrowed down to two. In one hand she has a stuffed Pokemon, and in the other is a pack of Candy Pop Girls. Neither were five dollars...

The first thing I said to DQ is that if I tossed the Pokemon doll onto the pile of stuffed animals in her room, she would never find it again.

"Good Point." And she put it away.

That left her with the Candy Pop Girls, which was about nine bucks.

"You don't have enough for that."

"Awww..."

"I told you that you should save your money for something you wanted."

"But I want this."

"So, save up for it."

"But I want this now."

"You don't have enough for this now."

"Can I earn some more money when I get home?"

"What do you have in mind."

"I'll give you a backrub."

"I don't know if I want a backrub from you. Your footrub kinda sucked."

"That's because you have a gross white spot on your toe. I'll do a much better job."

"Sold. Put it in the cart."

(I love backrubs.)

Anyway, we're on our way over to the register and we pass an aisle already filled with halloween costumes. Halloween is six weeks away! It's becoming as bad as Christmas! But still, it reminded me that I had a brilliant idea for a halloween this year. Does anyone know where I can find a Sleestak costume?

Rosh Hashanah

In Hebrew, Rosh Hashanah means “First of the year”, (but you’re probably more familiar with the biblical term, ראש השנה.) Rosh Hashanah is observed the first and second day of the seventh month of the Jewish calendar. And by Jewish calendar I don't mean this:



But, rather, this:



The holiday has four different meanings: it is the Jewish New Year, the Day of Judgment, the Day of Remembrance, and the Day of the Sounding of the Shofar. (And the unofficial start of the NFL season makes five.)

No work is permitted on Rosh Hashanah. (Unless you work for the federal government, local unions, most school districts, major hospitals, accounting firms, county libraries, banks, architecture firms, retail stores, law practices, engineering companies, hotel chains, municipal service industries, major league sports teams, computer software designers, public transportation systems, or the federal post office. Or my company.)

Rosh Hashanah marks the day when Jewish people head to synagogue to examine their past deeds, ask for forgiveness, pray for Israel, and blow on the Shofar. Like this:



The Shofar is a ram’s horn that is blown like a trumpet during the synagogue service, symbolically and figuratively awakening the congregation and warning them of their coming judgment. There are four different Shofar notes of various tones and suspension: the tekiah, the shevarim, the teruah, and the tekia gedolah. I can't really tell the difference though, and basically only can make out the "who-stepped-on-a-duck?" note.

The Mahzor is a special prayer book used for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, which includes the prayer, “Who is like unto you, O God... And You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.” Followed by the prayer, “Who, like, wrote this book, O God… And can You make the next edition in English. Or at least read left to right?”



On the first night of the two-day celebration, the Rosh Hashanah meal features apples and carrots dipped in honey to symbolize the sweetness of the coming year. Round challah bread is served to symbolize the cyclical nature of the year. And Tongue or other meats from the head of a cow are often served to symbolize the start of the new year. Similarly Round steak or other meats from the butt can be served to symbolize the shitty year you’ve left behind.



Finally, on the second night of the celebration the family goes bowling and my sister orders a ham sandwich from a kosher deli. There you have it. Rosh Hashanah in a nutshell.

(See mom? I didn't forget! And I didn't use Wikipedia at all either...)