Regular Life

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On the way back from the mechanic just this morning:

Ben: Things that don’t talk don’t have names.
Me: Really? Cassie doesn’t talk, but she has a name.

(Pause)

Ben: Some things that have a mouth don’t talk.
Me: That’s true.
Ben: (Points to a Walgreen’s) See that building? It doesn’t talk.

This is another of those forays into logic that has me at once proud and a little bewildered. I just love that he thinks so much.

Now, if we could just get him to understand when it is and is not okay to ask, “Why?” I’m all for questions, but after only a week, it’s starting to get old. We’re finding ourselves saying, “Because I said so,” and we wince every time.

Cleek for beeg peek.

Please contribute your own caption in a comment — before you read anybody else’s!

After you’ve played (if you’re going to), get the details by clicking the black thumbnail picture below (no, it’s not a picture of a black thumbnail). Then use the back button to return here.

(Don’t click this until you are ready to read the details.)

“Where’s my echo?” Ben asks as he stops on our front porch and turns to look up at me.

“Walk back this way a little bit,” I say.

He lets out a test shout. It comes back at us from the neighbor’s house across the street.

“Oh, there’s my echo. It was just waiting out there for me.”

Recent heavy rains sogged our back yard and forced us onto the front porch and the driveway. This made for a great alternative to my pushing Ben in his backyard swing. (when do most kids learn to do that for themselves, anyway?).

Ben had played with sidewalk chalks at friends’ houses, but this was his first time wielding the compressed sticks of colored powder at home. Yeah, I know, that description was kind of lame. I’ve leaving it.

“Daddy, can you draw a hopscotch?”

(Click any image for larger and sharper version.)

continue reading…

Click for biggering and sharpering.

(cropped)

See other Wordless Wednesday participants at:
http://www.wordlesswednesday.com/

Give it just a moment to start playing after you click the “play” button.

This is just the beginning of adventure for these guys.

If the above player either isn’t there or doesn’t work for you, then you may download the video here (I suggest saving it and then playing it):

• Windows Media Format
• Quicktime format (still trying to get a decent output for this one)

For those already up-to-date on their story…

The local street department forwarded my e-mails to a Texas Department of Transportation official, who summarily ignored my calls and e-mails regarding the persistent trash.

Everyone else…

For the full story, with more pictures, video, and reader commentary, see:
http://blog.markwill.com/blue-straw/

Music
“Sophisticated Maybe”
by beatbox flutist Tim Barsky. Other free downloads are available at his site.

Equipment
Sony DCR-HC30 miniDV Camcorder
Olympus D-20 Digital Voice Recorder
Core Sound Low Cost Binaural Microphones
Homebrewed Computer

To see the whole story up to this point, click here.

Subtitle: I’m Fixin’ to Fix That for You

This week’s photo shows that my tomboy cousins knew how to build a snowman, but our grandfather didn’t always empty his camera in a timely manner.

After his death, his old cameras just sat collecting dust. After my grandmother passed away (Thanksgiving Day a few years ago), all us kids had a chance to walk through the house marking items we’d like to keep. The selfish side of me was a little worried my dad would want the cameras, but it was unfounded. One of them, an old Argus rangefinder, still had film in it.

Film that was at least 20 years old.

I had it developed and found a few gems. Thus was born my first major photo retouching project.

(as usual, if you know you’re never going to use this tip, then you still may enjoy the pictures)

continue reading…

I first saw this late one night, and my brain refused to accept it. I was just driving into work for a planned hardware upgrade, not expecting earth-shattering kabooms. The next morning I captured the image above, where a truck had barely beat me to the first spot at the red light.

It just couldn’t be. The light turned green and I followed the truck toward the intersection.

continue reading…

Want bigger and sharper? Just click the pic.

Then go see other Wordless Wednesday participants.

I saw a truck bearing a sticker that caught my attention:

Eating Fords.
Shitting Chevys.

Can you guess what brand of truck it was? Do you know anybody who would put such a phrase on their truck? (Lemme guess: See Calvin Peeing post, right?)

——-

When I open a new loaf of bread, I ignore the heel. I do this each time I pull out more bread, until finally the package is left with only two heels, and then throw what’s left in the trash.

What do you do with the heels? Crumble them and feed them to indigent birds?

——-

We have a plastic thingamajig (yeah, I said it) that we push over the end of our toothpaste tube. As we use the toothpaste, we keep sliding the device up to ensure none of it gets squeezed back down to the bottom of the tube.

Do you squeeze the toothpaste wherever you happen to grab the tube, roll it up from the bottom, or go super-obsessive like we do and slip a thingamajig over the end? (No, this is not a “dental dam.”)

——-

We pour newly bought cereal into a plastic container with a pour top, and then discard the box. Does anyone else reading do this?

We started this back when we lived in a place with mice. When you’re near broke and only the bag comes with you when you try to retrieve your flour, you completely change the way you store food.

——-

When co-workers get in a heated political discussion, do you wish they would shut up, or become intrigued and find it difficult to concentrate on anything else?

Do you take it one step further and lob issues out there during lulls?

Okay, so usually it’s, “Daddy.” (click for big and sharp)

Above, Ben plays during a friends’ birthday party a couple weeks ago. I cropped it to get rid of the annoying glare from the flash (because I didn’t have an hour to fix that before posting this).

So far, it’s a great Father’s Day. Shannon got up with Benjamin (usually my gig on weekends) and I later awoke at 8:50 to my son saying, “Surprise! Happy Father’s Day!”

Then he ran back to his room and started hailing his mother. “Come on, Mommy, come play with me.”

Fast forward to breakfast. I scarfed a bowl of Kellog’s Organic Frosted Mini Wheats (it honestly just tastes better, but the organic part is fine, too). Ben ate a whole-grain toaster waffle (it honestly just tastes better, but… ah, nevermind — it’s whole-grain, so it must be good).

Ben chomped some grapes while I looked up Shrek the Third playing times at our local cheapie first-run theater. We’re going to see it as a family.

Then with the cards and gifts.

Great Father’s Day so far.

Update:

It was a great day. After Shrek the Third (it was just okay) we spent part of the rainy afternoon inside playing with Ben’s cars. During a lull in the downpour, all four of us (that includes Cassie the dog) took a neighborhood walk together. I had a blast pushing Ben around on his Rock, Roll, ‘n’ Ride XL, and Shannon kept Cassie from doing her business on neighbors’ yards.

Then it was off to On the Border for dinner. I must recommend their Southwest Chicken Soft Tacos — fajita chicken, fried onions, and creamy jalapeño lime sauce.