My Baby is Sucking up All of my Internet Time (new look and update) September 3, 2009

I really am going to try and start posting on this blog again.  I haven’t abandon it.  It’s just that Kenley (my lovely daughter) has been keeping me crazy busy.  Since her birth, I have finished my summer quarter teaching (though I still have my online classes) and I am home.

That’s right!  I’m being Mr. Mom.  My goal was to start posting everyday of the break (which really started yesterday since I had finals week and grading).

Yesterday, as some of my Twitter readers know, Gizmo (our once fuzzy cat), Kenley, and I headed over to the West side (Edmonds, WA) so that the boys could get hair cuts.  Gizmo gets his hair cut at the amazing City Kitty.  In Illinois, Gizmo would get so crazy that the cat groomers would want to put him to sleep just so they wouldn’t have to deal with him.  Adrianne is so good with him and actually thinks he is a really sweet cat (which is complete news to us.  He is usually a stinker).

Kenley was wonderful.  After we dropped Gizmo off, we went down to the Edmonds Waterfront.  I fed her lunch looking out over the sound.  I can’t wait to take her down there when she’s old enough to play in the sand and water.  As I said in my Twitter, I was 23 when I first saw the ocean (a story I should relate sometime), so I was pretty happy to have her there and so thankful that we live in this beautiful place.  I miss my friends and family from IL, but I will never miss IL.  I know Kenley wont remember our time at the beach, but I will.

Yesterday was also Shannon and my two-year anniversary.  Who would have thought that our whirlwind romance and marriage would take us all the places we’ve been.  I am so happy to have such a strong and amazing (not to mention – drop dead gorgeous) woman with me.  I am truly blessed.  We’re celebrating our anniversary tomorrow, so I will have more to update about later.

Estate Sale – EEEWWW!! April 19, 2009

After the book sale we felt so adventurous we decided to hit some garage sales on the way home.

Now, I have a long love of garage sales, and, though Shannon has a less enjoyable history, I won her over back in Illinois to the ways of the treasure hunter.

However, we haven’t really had any luck since moving out here.  There are constant garage sales going on all around us, but we have been so busy that we miss them.  The ones near our house that we have ventured out to have been full of $30 coffee tables that look like someone soaked them them in water and used it as an ashtray or $7 baby clothes that come pre-soiled.

Garage sale people (come near the screen, please, I have some sage advice for you).  If you were stupid enough to buy the $50 baby outfit, from Ralph or Tommy or whoever, that your baby crapped in once and then outgrew, that is your idiot move.  If you put it in a garage sale, it should be 50 cents to a $1.  (okay, you can back off now).

So, I saw a sign for an Estate sale on the way home and quickly turned off in the residential hell of Lake City. We drove by the place a few times.  There were people standing out front, but the house looked like a double-wide from some slasher movie.  You know, the one where the family has a kid who like to bite the necks off chickens and is ready to move up to teenagers.

Finally, we decided to move in.  Estate sales freak me out from the get-go.  You’re walking around someone’s house and there is stuff sitting and hanging everywhere.  Price tags on everything.  We walked through the front door and I really did feel like I was in the house of Trailer Face (slasher film pending).  The place was dimly lit as we walked into the kitchen/dining room.  There was piles of stuff stacked all around with just enough room to walk through.  People were walking around picking through stuff with two fingers.

Nobody was buying anything.  They were too amazed that anyone would think this stuff could be sold.  Sitting among the $1 nick knacks was a gaudy tea set with a $600 price tag.  I looked up at a shelf on the wall to see a ceramic cat with the body and breasts of a woman.  She was standing in a slinky evening dress.  I was tempted, but I decided my collection of big breasted cat people was already complete enough.

By the time I moved to the front-room, Shannon was more then ready to go.  We got out of there quickly before any deformed kids to come up from the floor and pull us down.

Birthing Class – Week 2 (Baby Boogaloo) March 24, 2009

Well, overall the class was a little more tame.  If you discount the fact that every few minutes the instructor is simulating putting something into an orifice or something coming out an orifice.

When we first got there, our instructor raised her hands and told everyone, “Tonight we’re going to get you down on the floor and work you hard.”  Maybe it’s just me that takes everything she says in a weird sexual way (nope, it’s not – everybody laughs nervously).

Then, she introduced a young woman who was going into the business of teaching baby classes.  The woman said she was moving to Alabama for her job.

“Oh,” our instructor replied.  “You’re gonna have your work cut out for you there.  Out here we’re so much more enlightened.”  We had to hide our laughter.  Sure, people in Montgomery live in the stone-ages.

It is really hard to describe how wonderfully strange this woman is.  She had a laptop and projector out.  She sat the projector so close to the screen that we couldn’t really read what was on it.  I was a little worried, but her Powerpoint was exactly one slide long.

A little later she turned it on again, for one more slide from a different file.

She also has a way with words.  She says things like “Diarrh-ear”and “Women’s Tuition.”

Biggest hint of the night – Eat spinach and oranges together,  it will help your body take in the iron.  She learned this, “Back when I worked in the Blood Bank business!”

Near the end she brought up the birth orgasm.  She asked if anyone had heard of it, but I kept my hand down.  When no one said yes, she yelled out, “It was a movie.  It played in our theatres!”  (And it is a movie.  My fellow blogger, I Can Grow People talks about it).

Then, right before we dropped to the floor to practice breathing and massage, our instructor told us all about how back rubs and nipple stimulation can help relax the wife during the first stage of labor (all while doing the nipple stimulating motions with her hands) .

Five more Mondays to go.  (We actually did learn a few things).

Alien VS Predator Love March 19, 2009

Most people who know me know that I’m a huge bad movie fan or, at least, that my taste in movies is wide and sometimes differs from most critics.  If I get around to posting my favorites from last year, we will see this first hand.  So, I had to smile when I saw these posters for Aliens VS Predator up on Ain’t It Cool News this morning.

This movie rocked my world.  The sequel was weak, but I still enjoyed it.

On top of that, AvP holds a sacred place in my heart and marriage.

One day I was over at my wife’s, then girlfriend’s house when AvP came on the tv.  She snuggled in beside me and said, “I love this movie.”

That’s when I knew it was forever.  I pulled back, looked her in the eyes and said, “I love you.”

She smiled and replied, “Are you sure you want this to be the first time you say that?”

You bet I did!  AVP ROCKS!

Podcasts March 18, 2009

As I was completing a Facebook meme about albums that influenced my life I started thinking about the fact that I hardly ever  listen to music anymore.  I’m too into my podcasts or audiobooks.  It’s not that I don’t still have my favorite music, I just don’t have that much time during the day and I have podcasts that post new episodes weekly.

So, what are these podcasts? There are few that I can’t go a week without.

1. Horroretc. – These Canadians won me over with their discussion of the original Universal Frankenstein movies and they keep impressing me every week.  The just finished a two episode discussion of the amazing show Dexter (one of my wife and I’s favorite shows) and a three episode discussion of the Nightmare on Elm Street movies.  These lined up perfectly with me checking out the first film from our local library and giving it a new watch.  Wes Craven Rocks!

2. The Triple Feature – A movie podcast by three guys that all write and draw webcomics about movies.  I agree with these guys a lot, especially when they loved Speed Racer (and one admitted it late after renting it on dvd – Check it out).  I am a huge movie guy, so this one is great for me.

3. TWIT (This Week in Tech) – This one is my latest obsession.  I have been listening to a ton of shows from their archives as well as their new stuff.  I was pointed to it from Corey Doctorow’s blog Craphound (where you can find his podcast as well).  Leo Laporte always has a great group of guests, though some can be a little grumpy.  They talk about the latest tech news, which lately is Twitter this, I-Phone that, and Facebook blah, blah, blah.  Of course, I love this stuff and eat it up.

4. Xbox Live’s Major Nelson Radio – Talking about the X-box always makes me happy.

5. The Thomas Jefferson Hour – Humanities scholar and author, Clay S. Jenkinson, adopts the persona of Jeffersonand kills me every week with his insightful commentary.  I might not always agree with President Jefferson, but Dr. Jenkinson nails his wit and his ideals very well.

There are many more that make it onto my Zune, but these are my major ones.  Check them out if you have the time.

Top Five Things We Did This Weekend March 16, 2009

1. Played Settlers of Catan on X-Box Live

2. Went IKEA and bought new Nursery stuff (pictures soon)

3. Ate Mexican at Axteca (I had the Pepe Platter)

4. Laid around, watched it snow, watched it rain, watched it melt, and did nothing.

5. Graded papers for my Axia Classes (blah).

Christmas Goodies December 29, 2008

We made the traditional Tofurkey for Christmas, but I also made a few goodies that we took over to our friend’s Christmas Dinner.

My First Apple Pie

My apple pie turned out well, though I used a store bought crust.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I’ve made these a million times, but I was glad to see them work out.  My last 3 or 4 attempts at baking have been woefully problematic, usually because I try to substitute a vegan ingredient or get by without something that I don’t have close at hand.

Our First Seattle Thanksgiving & Weekend December 1, 2008

Well, Thanksgiving came and went.  We had a nice time.  We stayed home, made our own dinner of Tofurky, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes (My mom taught me how to rock them!), yams, apple salad (my pregnant girl’s must have), and two store bought pies (I should be baking) that sucked!

Only the pies sucked, everything else was delish!  I did mention to Shannon that it felt like my first adult T-day.  No family to make the food while we sit around, play cards or music.

I did miss my family a lot.  A few people sent me text messages asking if I was in B-port for the holiday and I sadly had to tell them no.  That’s the biggest problem.  I have a huge extended family/best friends who need to be convinced they should move out to the coast.

After dinner and some rest, we headed down to the local K-Mart for their T-day sale.  Shannon had something that she wanted to buy me, but it wasn’t on sale until Black Friday.  I bought some gummy bears since we had been watching how they were made on the Food Network the night before.  We ended up playing Wii the rest of the night–Boom Blox is kick ass!  Come play with us!

That was about it.  Black Friday we hit the mall and bought a bunch of x-mas stuff.  I also bought some X-box games and clothes for myself and Shannon.  We ate dinner at this place called Claim Jumpers (the most mid-western place on the West Coast).

Saturday we put up the Christmas tree (I’ll post pictures soon).  Shannon has the tradition of watching Home Alone every year while she puts up the tree.  I always scoff and then find myself laughing my head off.  I love that gangster movie so much…Keep the change ya filthy animal!

We then watched my favorite Christmas movie of all time…DIE HARD!  Shannon asked me to name my favorites and I said, Die Hard, Die Harder (II), and A Long Kiss Goodnight (she showed her Gena Davis hatred, but I love any movie with Samuel L. Jackson and The Zombies [the band, not the creatures]).

Sunday we went to church and I graded papers all day (fun times).  The quarter ends this week and then I’m concentrating on my diss. for a few weeks (besides painting the baby’s room and a million other projects).

Home Town Friends and Family November 26, 2008

Actual email I just sent to my hometown paper:

Hey Scott,

Can you direct me to or put the police beat from The Bridgeport Leader in the online edition? It is the best way for me to keep track of my friends and family (I’m laughing, but I’m not really kidding.)

Thanks,

Buck

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! October 31, 2008

I’m sure some of you remember attending our Zombie Wedding!

Eric over at Thuderpanda gave us this amazing photo of Shannon and I as Zombie Bride and Groom.  The perfect Halloween present!!