Centurions and Bunnies

Another Dream:  For context, we have a house full of relatives, and Pamela let me sleep in this morning.  This dream was a late morning, need to wake up dream:

A newly revitalized Roman Empire has conquered the United States, and the US is currently being overseen by a Centurion.  As a part of being conquered, I've got a job to go around outstate Minnesota to "spread the word".  I'm in a middle school building in St Cloud, and I have my "celebrate victory" stuff to put up:  I'm in the main auditorium, and need to string up the "HAIL CENTURION" banner across the proscenium.

Of course, people aren't terribly happy about having been conquered, but aren't so much actively resisting as just NOT being helpful.  So I'm all alone in the auditorium, and I can see annoyed staff peeking through the windows, shaking their heads.

I'm wildly unprepared for this task - I don't have a ladder (they didn't give me one), nor do I have a hammer or nails, so I'm trying to work out how to string this banner.  I have scaled the ornate woodwork up about 10 feet, and have one end of the banner stuffed into my pocket.  I'm checking to see if there's any way to wedge one end of the banner into a crack in the woodwork, and an realizing that the banner is actually just crappy crepe paper printed with "HAIL CENTURION" over and over - much like you might have a cheap party store "Happy Birthday" banner...   Man, Centurions sure is cheap.

At this point in the dream, I realize I'm having a dream, so I need to wake up.  So I wake up, grab my bathrobe, and come downstairs.  Walking into the dining room, the whole family (with house guests) is sitting having breakfast and they turn to face me in unison:

They're all wearing handmade silk bunny rabbit outfits, with drawn on whiskers.

At this point, I realize I am still dreaming.... and then I REALLY woke up.  I think.

Jim's Crazy Dreams - Collected

For my dream connoisseurs:  here are the links for my insane dream posts:

The Playpus Dream
The Batman Dream
Duran Duran Barbershop Quartet Dream
Apartment Rental Dream
Botswana Abduction Dream (Scroll to 3rd section)
Strange Biography Dream
British Prison Break Dream
Sailing the Skies Dream
And the newest:  Strip Club Dream

Enjoy!

The Strip Club Dream

I had this dream last night, woke up and remembered the details...  and I share it with you now.

I am walking up Hennepin Ave in Minneapolis on the seedy block with the strip clubs on it - the 90's, Brass Rail, and Augies.  I am walking behind a strange man who I remember from downtown in the 80's - a mentally disabled man we called Jer-Bear...  who I hadn't seen for years.

He turns into Augies - it's 11 in the morning, and I'm seized with curiosity - just what the heck could be going on on a strip club at 11am?  Truth be told I've never been in a strip club (true), so I was maybe a little curious about what they're like inside.

I walk in, and it's a pretty average bar, no dancers anywhere, and at the back of the bar is a maitre d' podium and a velvet rope, with two bouncer types standing there.  I walk up and ask if I can see what's back there.

They ask if I've ever been there before.  I say no, and they say "why don't you take a look around?  You can have nine minutes for free".  They hand me a large wall clock so I can keep track of the time.  I walk past the rope and look to the right.

There is a large open area with a clump of sectional couch pieces.  There are about 6 people stretched out on the couches, cuddled up with person sized teddy bears.  They're all napping.

Immediately to the right there's a stairway down.  I go down to find a big open space with about 15 circular couch setups - it's run down and a bit dirty, but well lit with high ceilings.  In each of the couch areas, there's a different "thing" going on.

Right by the stairs are a group of people dressed as cats playing with large balls of string.  Off to the left is a group of people laughing and playing with balls or balloons - they're batting them back and forth.  I can't recall all of the other things I saw, but they're similarly innocent.

I walk a ways in, and find a group of overweight computer-guys with short sleeve oxfords and beards, and they're on their hands and knees with blissful looks on their faces.  In the middle of them is a huge mess of cell phones, power adaptors, and computer cables, and they're trying to find the matches for each.    I watch as one grabs a phone, finds the right adaptor, plugs it in, unplugs it, then tossed it back on the pile with a laugh.

I look at my clock and realize my 9 minutes are getting close to up, so I wander back upstairs and hand the guys the clock back.

"Did you see anything you like?"

"Yes, but I just don't have the time" is my reply.

And then I woke up.

Isaac and Pork

Driving home with Isaac:
"What's for dinner Dad?"
Pork tenderloin.
"I don't like Pork."
You do like Pork.  You like Bacon and Ham, it's the same thing.
"No, Pork comes from a different part of the pig, and pigs roll around in mud".
They clean the pig before...
"Before they stick the pig?  Before they kill it?"
Um.. yes....
"We shouldn't do that to animals, do you understand?"
I hear you...
"But I asked do you UNDERSTAND?"
Yes, I understand.
"Dad, Pork is OFF THE MENU.   FOREVER!"  (with a dramatic wave of his hands)
Ok...
"Pigs.... they just need to SURVIVE".

45 minutes later, Isaac was happily munching on a big strip of bacon.

The Mode - Part 1

Depeche Mode Albums and my strongest memory of each, first in a series...

First a full confession, it took me until 1983 until I started getting into synth pop at all...  

Speak and Spell (their first album, 1981)
Sitting at camp in Colorado in summer 1983.  A kid from LA was telling me all about "synth pop", and let me hear a tape on my walkman...  side 1 was Depeche Mode Speak and Spell, side 2 was something by OMD.  To my virgin ears (and the low quality tape player) it sounded too tinny and awful.  It wasn't until 1985 that I truly revisited that album.

A Broken Frame (their second album, 1982):
It took until 1987 - second half of freshman year, at a party.  The record was on, and I barely recognized it - I had leapfrogged over that album back in the early 1980s, since I started with Construction Time Again.    I remember telling the host that it was "cool that he was into Depeche, but man this is their worst album, isn't it?"  The host took it as a bit of an insult, and was right to.  In the months that followed, I finally went back and listened to the album, and realized that while not perfect, it really had some great tunes.  

Construction time Again (their third album, 1983):  

Sitting in my living room, perhaps in 1983, listening to a documentary on public radio about the new "electronic sound" - Depeche Mode and Kraftwerk were featured.  My friend Jeannine and I each vowed to buy one album from each artist - she picked Kraftwerk, I picked Depeche, and bought Construction Time Again...   and truth be told I didn't actually LIKE it at first, and was very jealous at Jeaner's Kraftwerk.  It wasn't until a year later that I gave it another listen....  and finally got it.

Moments in IL

We're relaxing at last down in Palatine - it's been a long few days of travel and family excitement, and we're finally on a "down day".  The dogs have been doing well on their visit too, adjusting well to apartment living.

Isaac and I took off for a quick runabout earlier today - all of the holiday mayhem had us both needing a break, but also stewing a bit in our juices.  So we went off to Pinstripes for a little bowling action:  Of course being the day after Christmas, it was PACKED.  But the hostess offered up a lane for 25 minutes...     which was exactly enough time for one game of speed bowling. 

Isaac has been playing a fair amount of Wii:  He loves Super Mario of course...   but there's a little limitation:  When playing one player, you can only be Mario, but if you play two player, the second player can be the other characters.  Isaac has decided he only likes playing if he gets to be the Blue Mushroom guy...  which is ok if I'm playing with him...   but when I am busy, he has a "method" to play the blue guy that sort of disturbs me:

Basically he plays as two player, and lets Mario die over and over.   It disturbs me.  But then I'm probably reading too much into it.  I did make a comment about it, and now he's having the blue guy carry Mario along with him.

Bella has been spending most of her time with Papa working on art:  She got a book on how to draw dragons, and has been drawing drawing drawing.  Her cousin Lilli gave her a crazy wolf hat that she's been wearing non-stop, and her other cousins have her a hot pink snuggie blanket.  Also, Isaac gave her a pair of ladybug head hugger headphones.  I just caught her hunched over a drafting table tracing dragons, listening to reggae on the headphones.  It's pretty amazing.

In my traditional role as tech support, I have helped the in-laws with their technology.  This trip, it involved helping them buy a new TV and Blu-Ray player, upgrading their cable internet to a faster speed model, redoing their wireless network, adding  a DVR and upgrading the cable to HD...   Well that was fun!  Also, they got a new iPad too, and I got that hooked up too.  Earning my keep!

Oh, and here are some pictures

Three Isaac Quotes

Three quotes from Isaac in the past 2 weeks:

Quote 1:  With Mom at Breakfast (Reprinted from Pamela's Facebook Post)
Breakfast at Perkins with Isaac before school this week.
His order came. Pancakes with whipped cream and sprinkles and a side of bacon. His "usual".
He looked down and asked "Mom, who chased down this pig?"
"What Isaac?".
"Mom, I'm serious. Who in here chased down this pig. Was it hard to catch him? Was it HER? (points to waitress) Was it hard to get it in here? Who killed it?


Quote 2:  In the Car with Dad
I was driving with Isaac the other day and he announced "Dad, I know of a way to take off a penis"
WHAT?
"Actually I know of TWO WAYS to take off a penis".
Ok, what are they?
"Scissors, or a sharp knife"
ISAAC, WE WILL NEVER TALK OF THIS AGAIN.


Quote 3:  in Bed
Isaac has been great about his potty training, and the one time he still wears pull-ups is at night.  He has been asking about when he can stop wearing them.  Our agreement is that if he goes 3 nights with a dry pull-up, he can go commando.  


So when we were in bed on night 3 after 2 dry nights, he said "ok, tonight, no peeing.  Keep it all in until I wake up and go to the toilet".
I replied "yes, that's right"
"Dad, I wasn't talking to you.  I was talking to my penis".

And now some education

From: Breay, Jim
Sent: Tuesday, December 06, 2011 2:58 PM
To: imfo@edina.ci.mn.us
Subject: Street Naming Question

Hello!

We live on Scott Terrace in Edina, and our 5 year old son was wondering if it would be possible to change the name of our street from “Scott Terrace” to “Super Mario Galaxy Street”.  I told him I would ask the city whether that might be possible, and what the process would be to move forward.

For my own part, I’d suggest we change the name to “Megalodon Shark Terrace”.  I think that really either one would really provide some additional “curb appeal” to the coveted 5-7 year old boy demographic.

Thank you!

Jim B-Reay

---------------------

From: Steve Kirchman
Date: Wed, 7 Dec 2011 15:42:16 -0600
To: Jim Balabuszko-Reay
Subject: RE: Street Naming Question

Jim:

City ordinances contain no provisions for renaming streets. If all homeowners on Scott Terrace submit a request to have the name changed to another specific name, staff will prepare a report and recommendations to forward to City Council.

Steve Kirchman, Chief Building Official 9www.CityofEdina.com ...For Living, Learning, Raising Families & Doing Business

Another day of learning

As you all probably know, I'm happiest on a project when I'm learning something new.  Today I spent time learning about a new thing:  Laboratory Services.  This is where they send the blood and samples, and they run the tests and grow the cultures and press the slides and look through the microscopes.  But here's what I didn't know:

It is a magic land of robots.

Practically every test involves spinning something, or raising or lowering the temperature, or adding a precise amount of some agent, and then spinning it again, and then adding another re-agent.  Over and over.  And they have built very interesting machines that do all of this for us.  The human measures the sample into a tube and places it into a machine.  The machine moves the tube around, spins it, then a needle attached to the end of a robot arm squirts something in there, and then the tube moves some more...  And the human watches a screen and notes the numbers that are shown.

I don't know how much fun the actual people are having, but I bet would be LESS fun to be doing all of the repetitive tasks that the machines are doing.  And I was hypnotized watching these machines.  I was on a simple introductory tour and kept finding myself lagging behind the group because I had become transfixed by yet another robot.  I was imagining manic xylophone music, too.

On the tour was a visit to the blood bank:  They had a retina scanner for entry (I did try, and the prim british voice said "pull back, come forward, forward, back a little, back a little, ACCESS DENIED").  They had "plasma shakers" - things that looked like glass doored refrigerators, but that had racks and racks of milky plasma in bags, and the racks moved back and forth constantly, shaking the plasma so it wouldn't gel or something.  The red blood, that just sat in fridges.  But plasma is ALWAYS ON THE MOVE.

I put on a disposable lab coat and went through the virology lab:  I saw a clean room where a man was inspecting samples that had been deep frozen and had a thick layer of frost over the labels.  I was hopeful that no alien spores were in there... though to be fair, if they were spores, that would be the mycobiology lab, not virology.  I passed several robots that were not moving and dark, with sleek glass enclosures and giant monitors next to them indicating that their DECONTAMINATION CYCLE had 3 hours remaining of the 8 required.  8 hours to clean a robot at high heat.

I had to take a call and missed the genetic testing, stem cell, and pathology lab walkthroughs, but I'll have another chance next week.

The system I'll be helping them pick is not robotic, nor does it shake anything.  It's the computer system that sits behind it all, tracking the orders for who gets what test, keeps track of who belongs to what sample, and what their results are, and then forwards that info along to their medical record.  The organization behind the robots.

And so it was a fun day.

The Reformed Addict...

I must confess that my lack of blogging is working hand in hand with my lack of motivation on language learning and a general fallow spell on writing music as well.  The past year has been one of recovery and reconnection from my extended time on the road, and I think I've been trying to do a couple of things a little better than before:

When I'm home, I try to really be home and present for the family.  Isaac needs to be played with.  Bella needs to be read with.  But more importantly, Pamela needs to have time with me in the room (and I need to be with her too) to decompress at the end of the day.  It just doesn't seem right or fair for me to disappear upstairs to be working on my Japanese pronunciation or tweaking a bass drum track.

Which isn't to say I'm not pursuing geeky pursuits - I'm reading a lot and still getting caught up on old Doctor Who episodes... but these are things I can do with some earbuds in, sitting and looking at Pamela as she does whatever she's doing (recently it's been research on the 1990s for a set of posters for a Girl Scout sleepover.  These girls have no idea what Color Me Badd have in store for them).

I have been spending a fair amount of time at the Gym...  but there's a good reason:  Isaac LOVES the kids club at the Gym, and asks to go EVERY SINGLE DAY.   I try to go every other day.  Knowing that he WANTS to play for 90 minutes keeps me on my toes and encourages me to really get a good workout in - I'm running around 4 miles a session now.

Sometimes I bring Bella, but she's much more interested in reading and drawing than dodgeball.  Pamela's also in the mix, coming along 3 times a week for her group fitness team...  we're all working on health, here.  It's good.  I'm starting to recognize the crazy guy who used to teach fitness classes...  and I think I may actually be in slightly better shape now than I was back then.

So that's what I've been up to:  I'm just not quite in a writing state of mind.  I'm spending a lot more family time, and more free time is taken up with exercise these days.  I'll get there again, don't worry.

Time warp

A good day in Philly, but had a very odd thing happen.  I was here 2 years ago, and I had produced a set of recommendations that I have figured out they really haven't acted upon.  When I got re-engaged, I was reviewing my emails, and found one status report from 11.19.09 that I had sent to my immediate boss, but that may not have reached the rest of the team.  So I forwarded it along.

Today I had a full hour meeting to discuss what I had put into that email two years ago, and what we should do about it.  We went point by point through the email and they explained how this one thing wasn't an issue any more, and how this point was still a problem, and what should we do?

But the strangest thing was that really for most of the document, my recommendations were still valid - they just hadn't gone and done it yet.  The whole place was more or less in the SAME PLACE I left them back then.

So I'm actually now looking at the potential for getting a resource engaged with this client to actually go ahead and do the things that I specifically told them to do over 24 months ago, only this time, really make sure they DO it.

Walking out of that meeting, I ran into my old boss from the earlier time who has moved to a different area.  Ken was a research librarian who had been put in charge of a cardiac center with lots of opinionated physicians.  He always seemed happiest in his office with a whiteboard full of concepts about standardizing diagnosis codes or categorizing procedures - he remained a librarian at heart.  Well his new job is doing JUST THAT - standardizing codes and things.  And he seems happier.

And though he didn't actually do anything with my previous recommendations and that frustrated me a little, I was happy that he was doing what he wanted to be doing in life.

Fascinating stuff.

These things happen

I'm back in Philly at the Children's Hospital again.  I still have my full time job in Minneapolis, don't get me wrong, but there's something about Philly that keeps drawing me back.  It takes me from my home, makes me miss my kids, my wife, my dogs.  I should be happy in Minneapolis, but I keep getting drawn back.  I have tried to figure it out...  and today I got the flash:

I go there because I think they're doing good work for the world, and I think I can help them.

At one meeting today, I had my agenda, the person showed up, we talked, and within 5 minutes, we had figured out that my questions had been answered.  This area will not be impacted by my project (which incidentally is to select a patient monitoring system for the pediatric cardiac cath lab - where they fix kids' hearts).  I should have stopped the meeting, but the person said something about their plans for 2012, and I just sat forward in my chair:  I think I can help her.  I had seen that very thing attempted at my previous client and I just wanted to share some insight.  We talked for another 15 minutes pinging around ideas that had nothing to do with my project, but that will hopefully help her deliver HERS more successfully.

Later in the day, we were sitting in a final meeting to determine if our company will help them select a new laboratory and pathology system:  The project manager and the lab guy from my team were there - I was there for continuity only - I won't be doing the work.  But halfway into the meeting, I felt myself leaning forward in my chair.  I couldn't help it.  I THINK I CAN HELP THEM.  I raised a few questions and found myself wanting to help them solve this problem.

I think there's something about this client that really triggers some sort of endorphin reward for me.  I'm not sure it's entirely healthy, but I will say the client seems to really appreciate it.  Fear not, I'm not hitting the road here - I have forcibly limited my involvement to every other week, just a few days here and there.    But I wanted to share this.

Related topic:  In the last 2 years, I have been called upon as an expert in the following subject areas:  Digital radiology image storage and review, speech recognition, inpatient electronic medical records, patient registration and billing systems, web-based personal health records, rehab documentation systems, echocardiography review systems, cath lab procedure recording and reporting, long term non-radiology medical image storage, and clinical and financial analytics.  And i'm about to learn more about anatomic pathology, pathology slide scanning and retrieval, bedside barcode systems for lab specimen collection, and much more.

I think that these opportunities are amazing, and I'm grateful every day that I'm "allowed" to learn things like this, and become an "expert" as needed.  I think I have some pretty unique wiring, and am lucky to have a life that indulges that.  Every opportunity to learn and share gives me a boost...  and that's probably why Philly is so rewarding.

I've got a meeting with a gang of Cath Lab nurses at 7:30am tomorrow, so it's off to bed.

Entertainment

Bella and I have started a new book: The Princess Bride by William Goldman. This was a read-aloud book in my home growing up - the four of us would sit by the fire and read the story aloud, with great drama and flair: As we kids got older we would take turns reading a few pages too. I don't know if we did it twice or five times, but certain things just became part of our language growing up - "Inconceivable!!!" "I am not left handed either!" "As you wish!" "My name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to DIE!"

Right now I'm doing the reading, and it has been fun for me to act out the parts - I've got my spanish accent for Inigo, my Wally Shawn nasal voice for Vizzini, my big Andre voice for Fezzik. Now in our house, we pretty much stopped the story every time right after the Man in Black defeats Vizzini. Part of the reason I think was that even after the rescue, Westley is none too kind to Buttercup, and there's a lengthy Morgenstern interlude in there too... sort of grinds to a halt. But we powered through the other night and we're right in the middle of the Fire Swamp now.

Bella LOVES this book, and she is guffawing at the funny bits - Bella has developed a hearty laugh that I go out of my way to provoke - it just fills my heart with happiness to hear it.

In other MEDIA news: I finally got caught up on my Marvel movies: Thor and Captain America. I loved both movies - very different movies to be sure, but very enjoyable. Neither were encouraging deep deep thought, and both were refreshingly light. There wasn't a moment of either one that I would have been upset if the kids had walked in during. Not something I'd say about Dark Knight.

And that's about it for the media update! More postings as they happen.

Conversations before sleep

Isaac: 98...99...100... want to know what comes after 100? One hundred and ONE! 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109... what comes after 109?
Me: One hundred TEN.
Isaac: ONE HUNDRED TEN! Then what?
Me: What comes after Ten? Eleven. So after One hundred TEN, come One Hundred ELEVEN.
Isaac: NO WAY!!!! THAT IS CRAZY! I'm going spend ALL DAY tomorrow counting. I'm going to count to ONE HUNDRED ELEVEN tomorrow. Should I start NOW?
Me: No, let's get our rest. Time to go to sleep now, Isaac.

2 minutes of silence.

Isaac: Daddy? How many babies can be in a mommy's tummy?
Me: Usually 1, sometimes 2, and very rarely 3 or more, up to 6 or 8. But that's very rare.
Isaac: It would be pretty bad for a mom to have too many babies right? You know how many would be REALLY bad for a mommy? A MILLION. They would bury her. They would reach all the way up into space, and the ones at the top would say "mommy mommy!" and then they'd die because you can't breathe in space. You can breathe on earth, though.
Me: Yes. A million would be too many for one mommy. Go to sleep now Isaac.

5 minutes of silence.

Isaac: DADDY: Want me to tell you about all the scariest types of bats there are in the world?

TIME TO GO TO SLEEP ISAAC!!!!!

Generally - Utter Madness

Hola amigos, been a long time since I rapped at ya.  Here's the short version - work is rewarding but not particularly hectic.  Home life is good.

The evenings have been stretching longer for the past month - from longer reading sessions at night with Bella, to Isaac demanding later bedtimes, to a lot more homework coming home with Bella.  By the time all is settled, I'm looking at the clock and realizing it's already TEN.  What?  WHAT?

Fortunately, work is very achievable right now - for the past 4 weeks I've only had one client, and that client won't pay for more than 40 hours a week, and I'm not working more than that.  So it's been good.  Starting next week, I add a Philly client back into the mix - I'm helping them pick a system for Cardiac Cath Lab, and there will be 5-6 trips in the next few months, but only 1-2 nights at a shot.  Plus, I do love Philly.

With a little extra time on my hands, I've been trying to use up my bank of sessions with personal trainers I bought last year, but never used (thank you Cleveland).  I am feeling strong these days, able to lift furniture without stress.  Which will come in handy as we attempt to nuke our basement this weekend.  The combination of poor potty training for both a puppy and a little boy across the past 6 months has rendered our basement approximately 50% dried pee.  A few weeks back we had a scotch tasting down there, and "mildly like pee" was a prominent tasting note.

So I pulled the TV out, set up the living room for living, and we're going to yank out EVERYTHING down there, and do a s**t-canning to beat all.  This is what I've been training for, people.  It's going to HAPPEN.

Bella is loving her guitar lessons, and her teacher took me aside and said "this is an instrument that really speaks to her".  I pulled up a fake piano on my iPad during her practice two nights back and we played a two part round of twinkle twinkle little star - it was her idea to do the round... and she just BEAMED.  It made me want to move the keyboard downstairs and play duets with her every night.  I might just have to do that.

We finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows this week, and she was just over the moon.  She loved the denouement at the end, and wanted to memorize the kids names.  She thought "Scorpius" was the best name EVER.

Saturday is circus day, and Isaac is so excited about going to class... and I'm so excited about the possibility of finally going to Cecil's deli for an Attazoy afterwards - this year his class is from 10-11, and so it's perfect for post-lesson lunch.  Attazoy.  ATTAZOY!!!  (it's a roast beef sammich on a kaiser.  No biggie, people).

Isaac is finding things HILARIOUS:  Pamela used the term "Ridonkulous" as an intensifier for "Ridiculous"and it had him in tears.  Also, somehow I was idly threatening the kids with "sending them to Juvie (aka Juvenile Detention)" and he was unable to speak for minutes as he pondered "Juvie".  Bella on the other hand wanted to know how on earth kids could do crimes requiring being sent to Juvie?  Being a kid is great, and you don't need anything because parents take care of you, so why would you steal or hurt people?  It was such an innocent moment.  I really didn't know how to answer.  I may have pointed at a dog on the sidewalk and shouted "LOOK!!!!".

I read a great book called "The Postmortal" - the concept is that the cure for aging is discovered in 2019.  It follows a guy who gets the cure at age 30, checks in every 20 years, and shows how the world is and how he's getting along.  I have to say that up to now, I'd always had this idea that sometime around 2050 I would upload my brain into some sort of matrix and continue to walk around either virtually or in an android body.  Reading that book made me want to just make the most of the time I have and not reach out for too much more.  And yes, I know it was fiction, but it made some great points.  I do recommend the book highly.

And finally, I sat down and watched Thor this week, and was so happy to have a great mindless superhero movie.  It just delivered and delivered and delivered.  I thought that the stylistic touches were very Jack Kirby, and the man playing Thor was simply incredible.  Happy media.

Ok, I'll do better about updating.  This every three weeks thing is just ridonkulous.

Isaac is Five

Isaac had a birthday party this afternoon at Foss Swim School, where he had 8 of his buddies and his big sister along too.  They played games in the pool for 45 minutes (led by some very patient and energetic swim instructors), and then it was time for cupcakes and presents.  What we saw were some of the most amazingly well behaved kids - they all are in school together and are very used to paying attention to teachers.

Isaac was also a very gracious host - after opening presents, he would say things like "what a wonderful gift" and give hugs to his friends.  I was pretty darn proud, and was just astonished at how nice they all were to each other - somehow this preschool stuff is working...?

Tonight, as we got ready for bed, Isaac told me "my butt hurts, it's tired of being in clothing".  After stripping down for PJs, he fled and dove into bed with an impish grin, and asked "can I just sleep like this?"   I replied "Sure, if you want to."

"But you're the boss of me, you could tell me to wear pajamas if you wanted to"

Dad:  "Yes, but you're really good at using the potty, and so I'm ok if you want to make this choice.  But you WILL be wearing clothes to school tomorrow".

Isaac:  "Well yeah, because who would want to look at my BUTT all day?" (prolonged laughter)

So he's sleeping in the buff tonight, ad he thinks it's pretty much the most grown up thing in the world.  I'm just banking on this not ending with a lot of laundry to do in the AM.

In other news:  Bella and I have passed the halfway mark in Harry Potter 7 (the book), and decided to reward our progress by watching Deathly Hallows Part 1...  and it was just amazing.  I had seen it earlier in the summer, and it was even better...  and to confess, I hadn't read Book 7 for a year or more before the movie, so some of this wasn't as fresh as it could have been.  But with the book fresh in mind, it was even stronger.

Of course I'm a big sissy and was crying within 5 minutes, with the scene of Hermione wiping herself out of her parents minds.  Bella and Pamela both rolled their eyes.  That's how I roll.

I'm pleased to report

The kids made their way through Jedi today - they have now seen the full original trilogy.  And they loved it.  Isaac was very happy that "Dark Fader" died, but respected that he sacrificed himself.  They LOVED the Ewoks - Isaac was marching around making Ewok noises all evening...  

I am willing to give George a pass on the Ewoks - they were cheesy, but the kids do love them.  And since the "Special Edition" did away with the YubYub song...

One thing I was a bit embarrassed about - I caught myself muttering every line the Emperor said, just as he was saying it.  Isaac noticed and asked politely "Dad, can you never ever do that again?".

Isaac has a terrible cold, so I've been loading up the videos and keeping him comfortable.  One thing I thought he'd like are the Clone Wars shows - they're 20 minute episodes of pure action set in the time between "Clones" and "Sith" in the Prequels.  They have a lot of Light Saber Yoda action in there.  What's interesting is that the exposition is about 2 sentences at the beginning of each episode, and then you're right into it.

After two shows, which he did enjoy, Isaac insisted on Episode IV A New Hope again.  And he sat and just enjoyed the full "real" Star Wars experience.  While blowing his nose non-stop.

Bella is doing well with her guitar lessons - she's taking it seriously, and played her practice songs for us several times today.  She gets this faraway smile when she does so.

And that's the update for today.

A strange biography

Ok I like to share my dreams when I can remember them. Here's one from last night - just a fragment:
I'm sorting through a stack of books, trying to decide which to keep and which to chuck. I linger on one book.

An 800 page hardcover tome with a weathered slipcover. The picture on the cover is of a man wearing a Mario style overall set - red overalls, white shirt, red baseball hat. He's reclining on a white leather sofa looking at a copy of the same book I'm reading.

Two women flank him wearing futuristic jumpsuits looking out at the viewer, one brunette, one blonde. The couch is in a stark white room, and a huge window is behind them through which you can see the curve of the earth and a wheel shaped space station. They're clearly on some sort of space cruiser.

The man in the Mario outfit is David Cross (Tobias Funke from Arrested Development). This is his autobiography and it is titled "That was some shit, it was".

Zooming back out to me holding the book, I remember thinking it was a pretty good read, but not worth keeping. I chuck it on the toss pile.

Then I woke up.

Media Update

Three (or so) Media things for today:

1) Isaac has been insisting for a few days that "he is ready to watch STAR WARS", so I agreed to watch it with him today. I turned out that yes, there's a lot of guns and shooting and yes an entire planet gets blown up, but there's not much SCARY stuff in there. If anything, the "action" on Tattooine was a bit draggy for him, but once we hit the Millennium Falcon things moved at a decent clip. And he loved Darth Vader.

I do have to say that my DVDs are the "Special Edition" ones from about 10 years ago, and its really quite jarring to see all of the digital effects that Lucas had crammed into there - all of the fakey storm troopers riding lizards, the lamentable "conversation with Jabba" that makes no sense since Jabba is literally HALF the size he is in Jedi - even Bella commented "there's a bigger one of those in another movie". I am OK with the new improved "explosion rings" for Alderaan and the Death Star, but a lot of the rest of it was just painful. I am not looking forward to the further tweaks he put into the Blu-Ray releases.

Anyway, the kids loved Star Wars, and have demanded we do "The one with the SNOW" on Sunday. So we're doing that.

2) Torchwood Miracle Day ended last night, and it was just hard to gauge my feelings - I felt a bit like at the end of Falling Skies - "well that was interesting - not sure we needed 10 episodes to get there". It had a cool premise - one day humans turn immortal - just life, not healing, so people who are dead are still alive, but still suffering. And one guy who is immortal (Captain Jack) turns Mortal. But they just sort of dinked around with it and quite honestly it would have fit in a well written two episode story, or been stretched to a 5 episode series like Children of Earth was (which is still amazing - do yourself a favor and netflix that). But at 10 episodes, they just flailed around.

Let me just say that it's been very stark - I get to the end of a Torchwood, and I go "hmmm, interesting". Then I load up a Doctor Who and I'm on the edge of my seat completely enthralled (in no small part due to Matt Smith's amazing work).

I'm not sure what will happen with Torchwood - I hope if they go high-concept again that they'll do more with it than they did this time. But that's done.

3) On the recommendation of friends who know I love my Dr Who with Matt Smith, I've started watching from the 2005 beginning, with Christopher Eccelston. And I love it, and can't believe I wasn't watching this years ago! Eccelston has an impish gawkiness with great self assurance that leads very often to a very puzzled look when things aren't working out. Anyway, I'm very happy to have another 50 episodes to enjoy (just 5 more with Eccelston, then I get into the David Tennant years, and I've seen a few of his episodes and can't wait to get to know him.)

4) Alphas was renewed for next year! More David Strathairn! More "sorta-mutants"! It's all great fun.

And that's my media news, what I'm enjoying. Posts about my life will return soon enough.

Isaac quotes today

When I grow up I want to jump from a giant cliff. Because I want to be a PROFESSIONAL.

(wondering why urinals are out in the open but toilets have doors)
Why do people want to see other people pee?

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