Regular Life

(Note: Those following “The Keys Are In It” may continue with Part Three at my story blog.)

Somehow my wife didn’t fully appreciate my taking my DSLR camera into the restaurant Tuesday on date night. I got my shots quickly and stopped — well, except for one right there at the end, but that was [...]

I have heard it said that one should avoid relying on a single source for news.
You mean, like, even if that source is Jon Stewart? No. Way.
As a matter of fact, way.
In 2004 The Associated Press reported that, “21 percent of people aged 18 to 29 cited ‘The Daily Show’ and ‘Saturday Night Live’ [...]

In the past week we painted several walls in our house without calling 911.
That’s more than my wife can say about the last time she undertook a major painting project.
You see, Shannon and her mother were painting Benjamin’s nursery prior to his birth. Colors carefully chosen to match the Whirlygigs theme, they masked the [...]

Click to enlarge.
What lurks inside?
See other Project Blue participants at Anna Carson Photography

Besmirch not my mommy’s name.
(click to enlarge, or walk the plank)
In Tulsa last weekend, my favorite time was one cool morning playing with Benjamin in the front yard. He picked up a couple black plastic stakes advertising the lawn service Shannon’s uncle uses, and following his lead we pretended they were swords. We [...]

Trying to keep the 18-month old from splashing into the pond and the two pre-schoolers from walking into the black snake’s lair, I flipped open my mobile phone and called up to the house.
I had the wrong lens for the picture I was going to take, and the kids were bound to scare away my [...]

(click to enlarge and sharpen)
Four-year-old Benjamin hangs on atop a mass of various cousins on Thanksgiving.
See if you can follow this. The one completely face-down with gray pants is Benjamin’s first cousin, only son of the Charles who comments here. He’s five weeks younger than Benjamin. The kid on the bottom, second son of my [...]

NOTE: All readers of “Off Planet,” please report to Part 5. All those who are not reading it yet, please start at the beginning.

My lovely wife on our 15th Anniversary “trip.”
(click any photo to enlarge and sharpen)
Rather than perform a time-consuming feat of photo resizing and clever textual depictions of the weekend’s events, I’ll just [...]

An image from Saturday night’s show (cropped)
(click any image to enlarge and improve)
The next several entries here might be brief (but might not) while my writing time is diverted to my latest short story (it’s been a while, I know). To continue reading “Off Planet,” please click here. Anybody fairly new to this space, please [...]

Ben and I enjoy an observation tower’s view at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge
(Readers of “Apartment Life” may click here to read Part Nine)
I forgot to mention something in my last few posts.
Ben peed standing up for the first time. Then for the second time. For both, he took aim and peed right in the [...]