I'm linking to avideo that everyone needs to see. It's a hard video to watch as it's basically a lot of hurt, scared kids. The little girl that put it together has been getting death threats because of this antiwar message, yet another sign that way too many people in this country still have it so fucking wrong. This video really is one of the hardest things I've ever seen, especially knowing that it's our country that has caused so much of this pain.
What Would Jesus Do
Saturday, April 29, 2006
where I live
While scurrying around looking for some good Knoxville pictures for my last post, I came across the following showing the inersection of Gay St. and Main St.
Here is the first picture, the one that started this quest, and then look here at a much more recent photograph of the same general area.
I don't know what the point of this is beyond a "yeah, neat." It's what a Google image search can turn into if nothing else. The first picture is actually from a postcard, so it may or may not be extremely accurate, but for 1793, I'm guessing it isn't too far off.
Here is the first picture, the one that started this quest, and then look here at a much more recent photograph of the same general area.
I don't know what the point of this is beyond a "yeah, neat." It's what a Google image search can turn into if nothing else. The first picture is actually from a postcard, so it may or may not be extremely accurate, but for 1793, I'm guessing it isn't too far off.
Friday, April 28, 2006
aaaaaaahhhhhhhhh
Friday night, Momma's seriously late night at work, the boys are in bed, and I don't hear the sound of Big Brother rolling around fighting bad guys and kicking the wall. It's a pretty common ocurrence with him, as he spends most days fighting bad guys so why not go to sleep fighting them some more? I'm guessing he actually went to sleep fairly quickly tonight.
I'm enjoying a Bridgeport IPA and realizing that it's much too quiet. Momma and I spent last night listening to the different bands that will be playing in a few short hours at Ska Weekend. We're taking the boys and want to be prepared, so we've made a list. The listening though is all on Myspace, so it's one song at a time, then I have to go back there from whatever I'm doing while the song plays and play the next song. What this means is that I hear a song, then realize it's quiet and the cycle just keeps on turning, turning, turning.
But all that work is for "the list." We have a three part list consisting of bands that we are definitely going to see, bands that we may or may not work in depending on the schedule and finally the bands that we don't need to bother to see, as in "Oh-my-fucking-god!!! is this emo ska? Who the fuck thought that would be okay?" With this list and the schedule, we'll be able to navigate the several stages that will be set up in the Old City.
Which brings us to the Old City. I love the Old City, and my best jobs here have been there, though I may not have said so at the time. The whole staying at home thing being how it is, I don't make it out of the house so often these days, but when I do, if I don't have other plans, it's the place I'm drawn to, for better or worse. One of the places I worked is Patrick Sullivans. If your interested, follow the link. Rumor has it that the bullet holes are still in the wall. They could be. Oddly enough, I just realized that the pint glass my beer is in is from Sullivans. Small world?
And another one of those "why's it so quiet?" moments before I'm back to the Myspace page to play the next song. I'm really excited about the show tomorrow. I know I've gone on about it some lately, but it's such a huge deal. It's a really huge show in the world of ska music. It's also showing one of those growing up things for me personally, something I've just realized about this particular show. Not so many years ago I'd already know about many of these bands. As it is now we've had to decide based on 2 to 4 songs how much we want to see many of these bands. There are a couple of bands that I've wanted to see for years, so it's that much more exciting.
Here are some Myspace links to a band or two. If you aren't familiar with Myspace, clicking the link will take you to the band's page and after a few moments, music will begin to make you happier as the sounds of the ska caress your brain in a mixture of Jamaica and America and England.
The Pietasters alone would be a great show for me personally. King Django I've seen once before, in Knoxville oddly enough. He does all kinds of things, sort of a renaissance man. Deals Gone Bad is one of the bands I'm not really familiar with, but the songs I've heard are really good, better than average. I'll take a couple of extra dollars for a cd from them for sure.
And this post has taken me an entire beer to write. I went a little link crazy because it's so damn fun. Maybe I just end the night here with some dub to lull me into a fall sense of sleepiness. I'm stopping here before I get into why I think that ska and dub music were the parents of hip hop/rap music. It's true, but it's not for tonight. Actually, by the time most people read this, both of you, it might already be tomorrow, which is Saturday.
As per usual, more beer, a smoke and thee my love.
I'm enjoying a Bridgeport IPA and realizing that it's much too quiet. Momma and I spent last night listening to the different bands that will be playing in a few short hours at Ska Weekend. We're taking the boys and want to be prepared, so we've made a list. The listening though is all on Myspace, so it's one song at a time, then I have to go back there from whatever I'm doing while the song plays and play the next song. What this means is that I hear a song, then realize it's quiet and the cycle just keeps on turning, turning, turning.
But all that work is for "the list." We have a three part list consisting of bands that we are definitely going to see, bands that we may or may not work in depending on the schedule and finally the bands that we don't need to bother to see, as in "Oh-my-fucking-god!!! is this emo ska? Who the fuck thought that would be okay?" With this list and the schedule, we'll be able to navigate the several stages that will be set up in the Old City.
Which brings us to the Old City. I love the Old City, and my best jobs here have been there, though I may not have said so at the time. The whole staying at home thing being how it is, I don't make it out of the house so often these days, but when I do, if I don't have other plans, it's the place I'm drawn to, for better or worse. One of the places I worked is Patrick Sullivans. If your interested, follow the link. Rumor has it that the bullet holes are still in the wall. They could be. Oddly enough, I just realized that the pint glass my beer is in is from Sullivans. Small world?
And another one of those "why's it so quiet?" moments before I'm back to the Myspace page to play the next song. I'm really excited about the show tomorrow. I know I've gone on about it some lately, but it's such a huge deal. It's a really huge show in the world of ska music. It's also showing one of those growing up things for me personally, something I've just realized about this particular show. Not so many years ago I'd already know about many of these bands. As it is now we've had to decide based on 2 to 4 songs how much we want to see many of these bands. There are a couple of bands that I've wanted to see for years, so it's that much more exciting.
Here are some Myspace links to a band or two. If you aren't familiar with Myspace, clicking the link will take you to the band's page and after a few moments, music will begin to make you happier as the sounds of the ska caress your brain in a mixture of Jamaica and America and England.
The Pietasters alone would be a great show for me personally. King Django I've seen once before, in Knoxville oddly enough. He does all kinds of things, sort of a renaissance man. Deals Gone Bad is one of the bands I'm not really familiar with, but the songs I've heard are really good, better than average. I'll take a couple of extra dollars for a cd from them for sure.
And this post has taken me an entire beer to write. I went a little link crazy because it's so damn fun. Maybe I just end the night here with some dub to lull me into a fall sense of sleepiness. I'm stopping here before I get into why I think that ska and dub music were the parents of hip hop/rap music. It's true, but it's not for tonight. Actually, by the time most people read this, both of you, it might already be tomorrow, which is Saturday.
As per usual, more beer, a smoke and thee my love.
new toy
I do in fact own a few records, real vinyl records. Some of them are fairly new, while others certainly predate better technology. I don't often listen to my records as the turntable is kind of a pain to deal with. Okay, it's actually easy, but I'm lazy as shit, so . . .
So this LINK YO will take you to the new USB turntable. It's not that expensive really, certainly not as pricey as buying all these same albums on cd.
So, will I get one? Probably not, sadly enough. My wish list for things that I don't actually need is long enough as it is, and the canoe gets purchased first. Now I should probably start saving some money for that canoe.
So this LINK YO will take you to the new USB turntable. It's not that expensive really, certainly not as pricey as buying all these same albums on cd.
So, will I get one? Probably not, sadly enough. My wish list for things that I don't actually need is long enough as it is, and the canoe gets purchased first. Now I should probably start saving some money for that canoe.
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Momma was on the telly
A couple of weeks back, at a practice of the Hard Knox Roller Girls, a crew from a local television station did some filming. Another crew was there last week. The stories were finally aired today. I walk by in the background at some point holding The Boy while Momma is the one with the blond in the front of her brown hair. Notice the number of shirt fronts that are blurred. Silly prudes!
LINK YO!
LINK YO!
Dear UnRev. Jim
I think the Rev. Jim is an absolute jackass. I will call him names here, because I hear he likes that. He likes it so much that he sees it when it doesn't actually exist. And even when it does exist, name calling and cussing do not inherently invalidate an arguement. Just because his virginally christian eyes and ears are so loathe to see/hear cusswords does not negate truth or value of the words around the cuss words.
I give as an example, my version of a passage from the Declaration of Independence.
Maybe it isn't as pleasant to read. But it makes the point. I'm glad that the founding fathers were as literate as they were because the documents that we hold dear have a certain zing that I probably couldn't have come up with.
We need however to get back to Rev. Jim. He states his arguement, assure us that it's the absolute right arguement and the only real truth. If anyone argues with him, he ignores them. If anyone refutes his point, he ignores them. If a blogger does either, he ignores them. I'm sure he knows who is linking to him and reads as he has mentioned that he's been called a dick and an ass and a motherfucker. I should also add that he doesn't really ignore them, he just doesn't present a reasonable arguement and doesn't involve himself in any meaningful dialogue. Instead he gets fussy that he had to read unpleasantness, attaches all cusswords used to all homeschoolers ever, assigns us the designation of racist, and finally he, without trying to discuss the issue, assures us all that it is we homeschoolers who won't compete in his arena.
Hey, Jim, add mytical superstitious uptight turd on stick to the list of things you've been called. Also add lying closeminded assmonkey. And as a cherry on top, I will also say that you are a big old meany poopoo head.
Note, Rev. Jim, that only I have called you these names. Note also, Rev. Jim, that this post in no way is of or about homeschooling. I'm not bothering to argue that one with you. I will argue however whether you are or are not the aforementioned poopoo head, but that is all I will discuss with you. As well as not about homeschooling, this post is not representative of any opinions other than my own. I do not speak for homeschoolers or homeschooling, so the old "lump 'em all together" trick won't work here.
I give as an example, my version of a passage from the Declaration of Independence.
You bunch of fuckin' Loyalists can all go straight to hell. We in America have decided that we want no more of your bullshit, that each and every one of us has a godamn right to pursue the life that most suit us and the fucking liberty to make ourselves happy. Fuck you King George. If you try to take our rights we'll more than fuck you up as these aren't rights we've decided you can give or take. If you don't like it you can suck it.
Maybe it isn't as pleasant to read. But it makes the point. I'm glad that the founding fathers were as literate as they were because the documents that we hold dear have a certain zing that I probably couldn't have come up with.
We need however to get back to Rev. Jim. He states his arguement, assure us that it's the absolute right arguement and the only real truth. If anyone argues with him, he ignores them. If anyone refutes his point, he ignores them. If a blogger does either, he ignores them. I'm sure he knows who is linking to him and reads as he has mentioned that he's been called a dick and an ass and a motherfucker. I should also add that he doesn't really ignore them, he just doesn't present a reasonable arguement and doesn't involve himself in any meaningful dialogue. Instead he gets fussy that he had to read unpleasantness, attaches all cusswords used to all homeschoolers ever, assigns us the designation of racist, and finally he, without trying to discuss the issue, assures us all that it is we homeschoolers who won't compete in his arena.
Hey, Jim, add mytical superstitious uptight turd on stick to the list of things you've been called. Also add lying closeminded assmonkey. And as a cherry on top, I will also say that you are a big old meany poopoo head.
Note, Rev. Jim, that only I have called you these names. Note also, Rev. Jim, that this post in no way is of or about homeschooling. I'm not bothering to argue that one with you. I will argue however whether you are or are not the aforementioned poopoo head, but that is all I will discuss with you. As well as not about homeschooling, this post is not representative of any opinions other than my own. I do not speak for homeschoolers or homeschooling, so the old "lump 'em all together" trick won't work here.
etouffee
Myrtle asked for a recipe for etouffee. I basically use the recipe from the Joy of Cooking. That book is generally the first thing I check when searching for a recipe or info about an ingredient. I do have better sources for ingredient checking, mostly online, but I have a certain love for the JoC. I also have a lifelong crush on Julia Child. Because so much of what she did revolves around French food, she isn't as good a general source as the JoC.
You could easily leave out all the meat, increase the overall amount of vegetables and make this vegetarian or even vegan if you omit the butter as well. I can't think of any vegetables to use to substitute for the meat that wouldn't greatly change the dish, but some fake sausage (blech!) may not hurt.
But I eat meat, so we'll start with the chicken. You can cut it into serving pieces or just quarter it. I like to pull the skin off now because it's going to get tossed anyway. This also reduces the amount of chicken fat that ends up in the final dish. Rub you chicken with a mixture of
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp thyme, dry
1/2 tsp basil, dry
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp ground red pepper
Dredge the chicken in about 1 cup of flour. Heat a pan on the stove with some olive oil, about medium high, brown it well on both sides. As the chicken is about ready to remove, turn the heat down to a little below medium. You're going to make a roux next and you don't want the pan too hot or the bottom will burn.
A roux is just a mixture of fat and flour. You will want about a 3 Tbs of each. If there is that much fat in the pan, use it. I use a combination of olive oil and butter. Omitting the butter is fine if you want to use olive oil. Keep the heat low enough so that this doesn't burn. You do want it to cook until it's nice and dark brown which could take up to 20 minutes. Note that most cooking that involves a roux will NOT require that you cook it nearly this dark.
As the roux starts to get really dark, add
1 onion diced
1 red pepper diced
1/2 green pepper diced
1/2 cup celery diced
1/2 cup sausage diced
cook till the vegetables are a little soft and add
garlic
1/4 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp sage, crumbled
after about a minute add
2 cups liquid
3 Tbs tomato paste
1 Tbs worcestershire sauce
hot sauce to taste
Bring this to a boil and turn heat down to a simmer. Return the chicken to the pan and cover pan with lid. Let it simmer for 20-30 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken when it finishes cooking. If the sauce is too thick, turn the heat up and reduce it till it's where you want it. Don't thicken it too much as it will thicken as it sits, and it will be especially thick as leftovers the next day. It shouldn't need to much thickening.
Serve over steamed rice. I learned personally that if I pick the chicken, it's a shit ton easier to reheat as leftovers. Reheating chicken on the bone is a pain in the ass. I prefer not to mix the chicken back into the sauce because, if it's cooked well, the chicken with the spice mix cooked onto it really fucking rocks.
You could easily leave out all the meat, increase the overall amount of vegetables and make this vegetarian or even vegan if you omit the butter as well. I can't think of any vegetables to use to substitute for the meat that wouldn't greatly change the dish, but some fake sausage (blech!) may not hurt.
But I eat meat, so we'll start with the chicken. You can cut it into serving pieces or just quarter it. I like to pull the skin off now because it's going to get tossed anyway. This also reduces the amount of chicken fat that ends up in the final dish. Rub you chicken with a mixture of
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp thyme, dry
1/2 tsp basil, dry
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp ground red pepper
Dredge the chicken in about 1 cup of flour. Heat a pan on the stove with some olive oil, about medium high, brown it well on both sides. As the chicken is about ready to remove, turn the heat down to a little below medium. You're going to make a roux next and you don't want the pan too hot or the bottom will burn.
A roux is just a mixture of fat and flour. You will want about a 3 Tbs of each. If there is that much fat in the pan, use it. I use a combination of olive oil and butter. Omitting the butter is fine if you want to use olive oil. Keep the heat low enough so that this doesn't burn. You do want it to cook until it's nice and dark brown which could take up to 20 minutes. Note that most cooking that involves a roux will NOT require that you cook it nearly this dark.
As the roux starts to get really dark, add
1 onion diced
1 red pepper diced
1/2 green pepper diced
1/2 cup celery diced
1/2 cup sausage diced
I usually use kielbasa as at's always easy to find. The JoC also suggests smoked ham
cook till the vegetables are a little soft and add
garlic
I use 3-5 cloves depending on size because I like a lot of garlic. 2-3 would be more normal.
1/4 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp sage, crumbled
after about a minute add
2 cups liquid
You can use water, but . . .JoC calls for chicken stock. I've used vegetable stock as well as half vegetable stock and half chicken stock. You could use beer. You could use 1/4 to 1/2 cup of wine and some water.
3 Tbs tomato paste
1 Tbs worcestershire sauce
hot sauce to taste
Bring this to a boil and turn heat down to a simmer. Return the chicken to the pan and cover pan with lid. Let it simmer for 20-30 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken when it finishes cooking. If the sauce is too thick, turn the heat up and reduce it till it's where you want it. Don't thicken it too much as it will thicken as it sits, and it will be especially thick as leftovers the next day. It shouldn't need to much thickening.
Serve over steamed rice. I learned personally that if I pick the chicken, it's a shit ton easier to reheat as leftovers. Reheating chicken on the bone is a pain in the ass. I prefer not to mix the chicken back into the sauce because, if it's cooked well, the chicken with the spice mix cooked onto it really fucking rocks.
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
really don't feel like cutting the chicken
I need to cut up a chicken so that I can make supper. I'm making etouffee at some point tonight, and I'm looking forward to it, but that damn chicken sits in the refrigerator waiting. And I really just don't feel like cutting a chicken.
It's not like it's that hard really. Yank her spine out , cut through to the joints, break them and cut. It's a really simple job if a bit messy.
It's much cheaper than buying the already cut up chicken, especially when you add that little bit of stock from all the extra bits you get. If I'd cut the chicken up earlier, I'd have that little bit of stock already to go in the damn etouffee. I didn't, so I don't.
I've got the recycling straightened up, the counters wiped and even washed the pile of knives and the wok. I suck for leaving the wok days at a time after using it. It's tiny pain in the ass to wash versus the pans that CAN go in the dishwasher. I'm just being lazy by doing needed housework to postpone the inevitable chicken demolition. That's extra sad that I have enough housework to do that.
At this point I'm just going to wait a bit more. As soon as 4:00 hits, I can listen to NPR in the kitchen and be happy cutting the chicken. Between now and then I will yell at the boys for no good reason, squeeze out a fart and smoke a cigarette. I also think that I already need a beer.
It's not like it's that hard really. Yank her spine out , cut through to the joints, break them and cut. It's a really simple job if a bit messy.
It's much cheaper than buying the already cut up chicken, especially when you add that little bit of stock from all the extra bits you get. If I'd cut the chicken up earlier, I'd have that little bit of stock already to go in the damn etouffee. I didn't, so I don't.
I've got the recycling straightened up, the counters wiped and even washed the pile of knives and the wok. I suck for leaving the wok days at a time after using it. It's tiny pain in the ass to wash versus the pans that CAN go in the dishwasher. I'm just being lazy by doing needed housework to postpone the inevitable chicken demolition. That's extra sad that I have enough housework to do that.
At this point I'm just going to wait a bit more. As soon as 4:00 hits, I can listen to NPR in the kitchen and be happy cutting the chicken. Between now and then I will yell at the boys for no good reason, squeeze out a fart and smoke a cigarette. I also think that I already need a beer.
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
one sore sob
Yes, I am indeed one sore son of a bitch. Between playing soccer on Sunday and yesterday's yard work, I'm just about pitiful.
We'll begin with Sunday. We had exactly eleven players show up while the other team had a nice batch of subs. In addition, they had a couple of players who seemed to think this was a professional, international match. I heard a couple of my teammates complain about the elbows, but I thought nothing of it myself. It's one thing to hide the elbow from the ref, but you've got to be good to for the opposing player to not notice till after the play. Or maybe I just play so hard that I don't notice.
Either way, the shot to the hip started hurting pretty quickly after the play, but I thought nothing of it then. I realized later that I'd been privy to one of those elbows, how else to explain it? It quickly turned into a really nasty bruise that will be the envy of Momma's roller derby practice tonight.
As Sunday turned to night and then Monday, I began finding new hurty places that aren't normal soccer wear. These, I'm guessing, are more elbows. They aren't bruising like the hip, but they are random spots, halfway down my right forearm, the back of my left elbow, for instance. Having just checked the elbow, it is bruised, lending the elbow story more credence. These could only have been cheap shots.
The yard work had to be done, and I've finally finished another round of the hellish raking that my procrastination awarded me. We can put yard waste in our ditch in front of the house and know that every other Tuesday, a truck will come by and cart it away. During mostly leaf season, it's a truck with a huge vacuum hose, the sucky truck. During mostly dead stick weather, the truck sports a giant claw.
The vacuum truck sucked up most of the leaves, but plenty more sat at the bottom of the ditch collecting water and worms. My most recent raking episodes, all yard based, were mostly removed from the ditch as well. Yesterday was the day to rake the ditch itself, pulling all the accumulation from one end to the other. I'm leaving next Tuesday's claw truck no reason not to take all the crap this time. After raking the ditch, I mowed all of the front the side and most of the close half of the back.
Then I heard a sound that is more and more familiar each year. First is the kachunk of the blade spinning into something that's not grass followed by the dead silence as the mower quits working. And yes, I've bent yet another mower blade.
So, I can feel each and every muscle in my back as it screams at me to stop getting involved in more activity that my sad body can take. My hands feel deformed from the rake and the mower, but somehow, possibly through magic, there are no new blisters. There's also the place on my ankle, the ever popular soccer play where you and the opponent kick the ball/each other at the same time. I could go on and on.
We'll begin with Sunday. We had exactly eleven players show up while the other team had a nice batch of subs. In addition, they had a couple of players who seemed to think this was a professional, international match. I heard a couple of my teammates complain about the elbows, but I thought nothing of it myself. It's one thing to hide the elbow from the ref, but you've got to be good to for the opposing player to not notice till after the play. Or maybe I just play so hard that I don't notice.
Either way, the shot to the hip started hurting pretty quickly after the play, but I thought nothing of it then. I realized later that I'd been privy to one of those elbows, how else to explain it? It quickly turned into a really nasty bruise that will be the envy of Momma's roller derby practice tonight.
As Sunday turned to night and then Monday, I began finding new hurty places that aren't normal soccer wear. These, I'm guessing, are more elbows. They aren't bruising like the hip, but they are random spots, halfway down my right forearm, the back of my left elbow, for instance. Having just checked the elbow, it is bruised, lending the elbow story more credence. These could only have been cheap shots.
The yard work had to be done, and I've finally finished another round of the hellish raking that my procrastination awarded me. We can put yard waste in our ditch in front of the house and know that every other Tuesday, a truck will come by and cart it away. During mostly leaf season, it's a truck with a huge vacuum hose, the sucky truck. During mostly dead stick weather, the truck sports a giant claw.
The vacuum truck sucked up most of the leaves, but plenty more sat at the bottom of the ditch collecting water and worms. My most recent raking episodes, all yard based, were mostly removed from the ditch as well. Yesterday was the day to rake the ditch itself, pulling all the accumulation from one end to the other. I'm leaving next Tuesday's claw truck no reason not to take all the crap this time. After raking the ditch, I mowed all of the front the side and most of the close half of the back.
Then I heard a sound that is more and more familiar each year. First is the kachunk of the blade spinning into something that's not grass followed by the dead silence as the mower quits working. And yes, I've bent yet another mower blade.
So, I can feel each and every muscle in my back as it screams at me to stop getting involved in more activity that my sad body can take. My hands feel deformed from the rake and the mower, but somehow, possibly through magic, there are no new blisters. There's also the place on my ankle, the ever popular soccer play where you and the opponent kick the ball/each other at the same time. I could go on and on.
Monday, April 24, 2006
new picture
I found a new picture of Momma and me. I didn't think I had such an accurate representation of us, so when I saw this, I knew I had to show the world.
this crappy century
Yeah, this is post number 100! whee . . . I give you cake, ice cream and something to drink.
What more could you want from me? I can only give you my best, and if this is my best . . .
Wait, this isn't about me. This is for the people, the little people, the ones who made me what I am today.
Saturday, April 22, 2006
stuff n' things
This will be post number 99 for me. I'm sure that I'll throw a party when I get around to 100, but that's for another time.
Many things suck more, but there is a special sucking involved with knocking your pint glass against your tooth, and it's the same with bottles. I try to stick to glasses though.
Ska Weekend is coming up in now less than a week. We are all kinds of excited. Momma, checking on tickets, got us a really sweet deal. She went to the Ska Weekend message board to ask about kids tickets. Ticket prices are $15 plus 5 cans of food as it is a fundraiser for a local food bank. This is the fourth (I think) year that the show has happened, and it's all thanks to one guy that must seriously bust his ass to put this together. It's big enough, that he obviously has some aid, but it's mostly his deal from what I can tell.
I don't think he had considered young kids when he told Momma that "if you can walk, you need a ticket." I can totally see his point, but I don't think he had reason to even think of our point till Momma brought it up. So he lowered the price for the 10 and under set and assured us of a special ticket price. That's just awesome! We were afraid we'd miss because $60 is a shit ton, and though we missed the very first show, we've attended each one since. This is an amazing day of bands if you like the ska music. And not only do we like the ska, but the fucking Pietasters are playing!
The Cobras, Big Brother's soccer team, played a great game today. It was a little crazy having missed two weeks, one for rain and the next for Easter. Many of them missed some of the practices as well. Then we get that good old deep south steam bath of a day with the sun beating down on the sodden fields.
Depending on the weather, I get mine tomorrow, which is technically now today. I'm going to hurt Monday as I haven't worked out for shit in ages. But I really can't wait to get on the field. It's another interleague game which I only mention to extend this paragraph.
It's late as shit, and The Boy is still up while Big Brother lounges in a tub full of water that is tepid at best. I need to harangue him out or pull the plug while at the same time get The Boy read to and in the bed too.
Many things suck more, but there is a special sucking involved with knocking your pint glass against your tooth, and it's the same with bottles. I try to stick to glasses though.
Ska Weekend is coming up in now less than a week. We are all kinds of excited. Momma, checking on tickets, got us a really sweet deal. She went to the Ska Weekend message board to ask about kids tickets. Ticket prices are $15 plus 5 cans of food as it is a fundraiser for a local food bank. This is the fourth (I think) year that the show has happened, and it's all thanks to one guy that must seriously bust his ass to put this together. It's big enough, that he obviously has some aid, but it's mostly his deal from what I can tell.
I don't think he had considered young kids when he told Momma that "if you can walk, you need a ticket." I can totally see his point, but I don't think he had reason to even think of our point till Momma brought it up. So he lowered the price for the 10 and under set and assured us of a special ticket price. That's just awesome! We were afraid we'd miss because $60 is a shit ton, and though we missed the very first show, we've attended each one since. This is an amazing day of bands if you like the ska music. And not only do we like the ska, but the fucking Pietasters are playing!
The Cobras, Big Brother's soccer team, played a great game today. It was a little crazy having missed two weeks, one for rain and the next for Easter. Many of them missed some of the practices as well. Then we get that good old deep south steam bath of a day with the sun beating down on the sodden fields.
Depending on the weather, I get mine tomorrow, which is technically now today. I'm going to hurt Monday as I haven't worked out for shit in ages. But I really can't wait to get on the field. It's another interleague game which I only mention to extend this paragraph.
It's late as shit, and The Boy is still up while Big Brother lounges in a tub full of water that is tepid at best. I need to harangue him out or pull the plug while at the same time get The Boy read to and in the bed too.
Monday, April 17, 2006
first day's schedule
Today, I actually tried to implement the vaguest of schedules for the day. I actually can't say that it worked especially well, but there's always tomorrow.
I haven't asked very much of Big Brother is ages, so he's gotten used to not doing much of anything. I don't want to spring all of this on him and further complicate all this. But I can't help feeling I've been way too lax.
I've also been pretty lazy personally, so most of my working on is going to be to get myself to do things, set an example. I did fold some clothes and put them up, but I didn't fold all the laundry yet, and I could easily wash at least two more loads which of course I would then need to fold and put away.
I got some dishes done, but that pretty much had to happen. I don't know how Momma got to the sink this morning, but she managed to get the coffee made. I could possibly do another load of dishes just based on what's collected today.
We did no school anything, though I have some stuff in mind and had actually planned a couple of things. Again, I don't want to overwhelm the poor kid, and I don't want us jumping into too much stuff only to give up because we didn't plan. I have a personal history of great ideas that I didn't keep up.
I guess I need to go for The Boy is "huuuuuuuungry." Of course he knows that he has plenty of Easter candy still, so he wants some of that. I'd say candy may have been half of his diet today. Cereal for breakfast, Easter dinner leftovers for lunch, M&M's, Robins Eggs, jelly beans, a tiny bit of pork fried rice, and now he wants more candy.
I haven't asked very much of Big Brother is ages, so he's gotten used to not doing much of anything. I don't want to spring all of this on him and further complicate all this. But I can't help feeling I've been way too lax.
I've also been pretty lazy personally, so most of my working on is going to be to get myself to do things, set an example. I did fold some clothes and put them up, but I didn't fold all the laundry yet, and I could easily wash at least two more loads which of course I would then need to fold and put away.
I got some dishes done, but that pretty much had to happen. I don't know how Momma got to the sink this morning, but she managed to get the coffee made. I could possibly do another load of dishes just based on what's collected today.
We did no school anything, though I have some stuff in mind and had actually planned a couple of things. Again, I don't want to overwhelm the poor kid, and I don't want us jumping into too much stuff only to give up because we didn't plan. I have a personal history of great ideas that I didn't keep up.
I guess I need to go for The Boy is "huuuuuuuungry." Of course he knows that he has plenty of Easter candy still, so he wants some of that. I'd say candy may have been half of his diet today. Cereal for breakfast, Easter dinner leftovers for lunch, M&M's, Robins Eggs, jelly beans, a tiny bit of pork fried rice, and now he wants more candy.
anti-organization=pro-mediocrity
Yesterday was Easter, so I stuffed myself full of ham to celebrate a religion that began with the Jews. How proper.
Frankie decided to post about her amazingly well run household just so that the rest of us could see how great she is and how suckful we are. Okay, actually, she has better reasons, and it's pretty funny that she did post about her household. I've been thinking for quite a while that one of my issues is about order and schedules. Her post has pushed me just enough to finally follow through a little.
I'm being totally honest when I explain that most of our days are spent staring into screens. I don't just mean this in number of days but also in amount of each day. I hate it and it's driving me and the boys crazy. They're currently fine with too much television, but we all need to change this before it gets worse.
The house is going straight to hell, and I'm tired of the mess, the confusion, the wrestling match to achieve even making a cup of coffee in the kitchen.
So I'm going to play with some of Frankie's ideas. I kind of like to actually schedule things, when I'm not too lazy to do so, so I won't steal her idea outright. But I do need to list all those things that we want done. Too many things just get forgotten or put off otherwise.
In addition to being tired personally of the mess and the clutter and the lack of motivation, I need to show the boys a better way. I don't want them to think that life is just t.v., nor do I want them to be used to living surrounded by mess. We also need to get back to reasonable bedtimes for everyone so that we can more easily wake up in the mornings.
I've rambled for long enough, and I haven't even touched on education. That's a subject I'm still not sure how I want to approach. But we're going to approach it more than we have lately.
I can hear the boys stirring, and they'll want to wake up and head straight for the t.v. probably. But that's just too bad. Today is the first day of scheduling and accomplishing. Organization and accomplishment are the goals, the buzzwords of the day/week/year.
Frankie decided to post about her amazingly well run household just so that the rest of us could see how great she is and how suckful we are. Okay, actually, she has better reasons, and it's pretty funny that she did post about her household. I've been thinking for quite a while that one of my issues is about order and schedules. Her post has pushed me just enough to finally follow through a little.
I'm being totally honest when I explain that most of our days are spent staring into screens. I don't just mean this in number of days but also in amount of each day. I hate it and it's driving me and the boys crazy. They're currently fine with too much television, but we all need to change this before it gets worse.
The house is going straight to hell, and I'm tired of the mess, the confusion, the wrestling match to achieve even making a cup of coffee in the kitchen.
So I'm going to play with some of Frankie's ideas. I kind of like to actually schedule things, when I'm not too lazy to do so, so I won't steal her idea outright. But I do need to list all those things that we want done. Too many things just get forgotten or put off otherwise.
In addition to being tired personally of the mess and the clutter and the lack of motivation, I need to show the boys a better way. I don't want them to think that life is just t.v., nor do I want them to be used to living surrounded by mess. We also need to get back to reasonable bedtimes for everyone so that we can more easily wake up in the mornings.
I've rambled for long enough, and I haven't even touched on education. That's a subject I'm still not sure how I want to approach. But we're going to approach it more than we have lately.
I can hear the boys stirring, and they'll want to wake up and head straight for the t.v. probably. But that's just too bad. Today is the first day of scheduling and accomplishing. Organization and accomplishment are the goals, the buzzwords of the day/week/year.
Saturday, April 15, 2006
kid-speak
Not only do kids say the darnedest things, but they also sometimes say the greatest things. This post is more about those darnedest things.
Example 1 was just moments ago. The boys are eating lunch, peanut butter and orange marmalade sandwiches. Big Brother eats his sandwiches in layers, peeling off the top slice of bread to eat first, then proceeding down through whatever toppings there are. With the pbj, there are no layers of course, so he eats it jelly side first then peanut butter side. I'm a little anal, so the peanut butter has to go on the bottom slice of bread.
Big Brother opened his sandwich and asked if that was honey on the bread. We've eaten a fair amount of pb and honey sandwiches lately because I've been lazy about scraping the multiplying jelly jars. I told him no, that it was orange marmalade, to which he replied with a shout, "OH YES!"
The Boy's humorous utterances lately are all the fault of Thomas the Tank Engine books. We haven't even read the books much lately and haven't had to watch videos several times a day lately either. The track pieces have been put away for some time, though put away just means in a clothes basket off to the side. A few of the engines are always floating about.
Lately, The Boy has been speaking as if life were all one big Thomas book. I asked him one day recently if he was okay, just randomly checking his well being. Me: "How are you doing?" The Boy: "Fine, said Thomas." Earlier today I asked him if he wanted a treat, and he answered, "Yes, said Cranky."
And now to add the freshest, even fewer moments ago. The boys are currently behind me trying to do handstands. Big Brother has been working at this for some time. The Boy wasn't doing well, so Big Brother gave him this advice, "You have to throw your hindquarters in the air."
If you read this and have kids, even if you never comment or seldom comment, you are now required to comment and leave a humorous phrase your child has uttered. Get to it now! All kids say funny things.
Example 1 was just moments ago. The boys are eating lunch, peanut butter and orange marmalade sandwiches. Big Brother eats his sandwiches in layers, peeling off the top slice of bread to eat first, then proceeding down through whatever toppings there are. With the pbj, there are no layers of course, so he eats it jelly side first then peanut butter side. I'm a little anal, so the peanut butter has to go on the bottom slice of bread.
Big Brother opened his sandwich and asked if that was honey on the bread. We've eaten a fair amount of pb and honey sandwiches lately because I've been lazy about scraping the multiplying jelly jars. I told him no, that it was orange marmalade, to which he replied with a shout, "OH YES!"
The Boy's humorous utterances lately are all the fault of Thomas the Tank Engine books. We haven't even read the books much lately and haven't had to watch videos several times a day lately either. The track pieces have been put away for some time, though put away just means in a clothes basket off to the side. A few of the engines are always floating about.
Lately, The Boy has been speaking as if life were all one big Thomas book. I asked him one day recently if he was okay, just randomly checking his well being. Me: "How are you doing?" The Boy: "Fine, said Thomas." Earlier today I asked him if he wanted a treat, and he answered, "Yes, said Cranky."
And now to add the freshest, even fewer moments ago. The boys are currently behind me trying to do handstands. Big Brother has been working at this for some time. The Boy wasn't doing well, so Big Brother gave him this advice, "You have to throw your hindquarters in the air."
If you read this and have kids, even if you never comment or seldom comment, you are now required to comment and leave a humorous phrase your child has uttered. Get to it now! All kids say funny things.
the neighbor kid
Our neighbors across the street are a seemingly nice family. I've never had any issue with them or their kids. Their dog is a little noisy and freakish, but that's a dog for you.
The kids, a boy and a girl, are older than my kids. I'd guess that they are probably both in the 12 to 15 range. I'm also not good at guessing ages, but I know neither of them drive yet.
So back to the neighbor kid, the boy, who I'd put at about 12 or 13 years old. He's getting his workout in for the day apparently. He's holding two small hand sized dumb bells above his head and running up and down the street.
I know it's only slightly humorous, and I certainly shouldn't make fun of the kid, even if he looks funny. Mostly it just looks really awkward. It looks like an exercise that someone made up so that he'd look funny as he ran.
The kids, a boy and a girl, are older than my kids. I'd guess that they are probably both in the 12 to 15 range. I'm also not good at guessing ages, but I know neither of them drive yet.
So back to the neighbor kid, the boy, who I'd put at about 12 or 13 years old. He's getting his workout in for the day apparently. He's holding two small hand sized dumb bells above his head and running up and down the street.
I know it's only slightly humorous, and I certainly shouldn't make fun of the kid, even if he looks funny. Mostly it just looks really awkward. It looks like an exercise that someone made up so that he'd look funny as he ran.
apostrophe
Earlier tonight I began writing but got stuck when I tried to use the apostrophe. Each time I pressed the key I got some sort of search bar appearing at the bottom of the screen. I didn't take the time to check it out and figure out what it was. I did check around the Blogger help menu, and I didn't find anything about it. I ended up closing window I think, and I never figured out what the problem was. I'm certain that whatever it was it's now gone. And considering the damn thing now works, I'm quite certain I might never know.
I'm sure whatever I was writing was a rant. Honestly, some days I can start any number of posts that don't end up being finished. I generally start an early proofread and realize that I'm off by a few degrees or am sounding like a jackass.
Don't be fooled here. I'm not at all afraid to sound like a jackass. I'm seriously okay with it. I would however like to at least seem as though I have a clue what I'm talking about. Sometimes I write shit that is actually too twisted and ranty even for me.
And all this now is because of that damn apostrophe. Oh how I now hate it. I can't help but expect the same treatment each time I need to indicate either possessive tense or a contraction, so I'm a little gunshy with my punctuation. And it's not so easy to not use the apostrophe, and you can believe that I spent a good minute and change thinking of ways to rewrite things so as not to need them. And try typing apostrophe a few times. That's about to send me straight into the beer.
But, I got a damn blog out of it. I've created more guilt for myself because I'm so dry and devoid of ideas that I made an entire post of the most ridiculous of topics. I've made a mole hill out of an ant fart. But I've done something.
YEA ME!
I'm sure whatever I was writing was a rant. Honestly, some days I can start any number of posts that don't end up being finished. I generally start an early proofread and realize that I'm off by a few degrees or am sounding like a jackass.
Don't be fooled here. I'm not at all afraid to sound like a jackass. I'm seriously okay with it. I would however like to at least seem as though I have a clue what I'm talking about. Sometimes I write shit that is actually too twisted and ranty even for me.
And all this now is because of that damn apostrophe. Oh how I now hate it. I can't help but expect the same treatment each time I need to indicate either possessive tense or a contraction, so I'm a little gunshy with my punctuation. And it's not so easy to not use the apostrophe, and you can believe that I spent a good minute and change thinking of ways to rewrite things so as not to need them. And try typing apostrophe a few times. That's about to send me straight into the beer.
But, I got a damn blog out of it. I've created more guilt for myself because I'm so dry and devoid of ideas that I made an entire post of the most ridiculous of topics. I've made a mole hill out of an ant fart. But I've done something.
YEA ME!
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Becks in the US?
Found this interesting tidbit at Soccerway.com. It seems David Beckham is wanting to end his career here in the US. He already has a soccer academy in CA somewhere.
I'd love to see it happen personaly. We're are slowly becoming a real soccer nation which I see as beneficial to us in regards to how we are perceived throughout the world.
The World Series, other than one or two Canadian teams isn't anything more than a national celebration of a game, and the same applies to pretty much every other American sport. Why do we presume to call all of our sport championships world championships when in fact, most of the rest of the world doesn't even care?
Soccer on the other hand is the one truly international sport. With the coming World Cup in Germany, we have a chance to see what is truly a world championship event.
If you'd like to see your men's team, tonight, 4/11/06, they are playing Jamaica. The game will be aired on ESPN2 at 7:00 et. I'm skipping out on roller skating to stay home and watch this.
I'd love to see it happen personaly. We're are slowly becoming a real soccer nation which I see as beneficial to us in regards to how we are perceived throughout the world.
The World Series, other than one or two Canadian teams isn't anything more than a national celebration of a game, and the same applies to pretty much every other American sport. Why do we presume to call all of our sport championships world championships when in fact, most of the rest of the world doesn't even care?
Soccer on the other hand is the one truly international sport. With the coming World Cup in Germany, we have a chance to see what is truly a world championship event.
If you'd like to see your men's team, tonight, 4/11/06, they are playing Jamaica. The game will be aired on ESPN2 at 7:00 et. I'm skipping out on roller skating to stay home and watch this.
Monday, April 10, 2006
in their little bow ties
We'll begin today with my reasoning behind why I refer to the Nation of Islam as the bow tie nazis. Having grown up in Atlanta, I'm very familiar with the sight of, on random street corner, the small group of black men, usually in grey suits but always in bow ties. They always look so sharp standing there, ready at a moment's notice to approach the passersby with a copy of The Final Call. I'm guessing it's still the same paper. But why Nazis? Out of dozens of times that I've been sitting at an intersection peopled by NofI members, I have only once in my life been offered my own copy of The Final Call. The one copy I was offered was in Charlotte where Momma and I lived for a while. That was probably the one time I saw them in Charlotte. What made me different from the drivers that do get offered the paper?
I saw some more of the bow tie nazis (btn) yesterday. It was sort of refreshing, escpecially when I got that old look that I remembered so well. All it takes is for them to peak at my white face staring back at them, and they calmly step back onto the sidewalk and turn to each other. These guys were different though.
In Atlanta, I was used to seeing the btn regularly. Growing up in south Dekalb, you get used to being the only white person at the grocery store or the library. The btn were always young adults, possibly college students. Yesterday however, they were all 10-14 in my estimation. They wore the suits and the little bow ties, and they looked so adorable. One little boy held a megaphone, though he didn't use it while we were at the intersection. Additionaly, several of them carried pies in what looked like grocery store type packaging.
It isn't that I mind being snubbed. Honestly, I can take it, especially in light of our country's history regarding race relations. As well, religiously based racism even seems different to me than just outright ignorant asshole racism. Being from the South, I'm well aware of both. And while there is no difference in the evilness of either, the difference isn't there to discern between levels of evil so much as to suggest that some things are different for how they get there. This also gets back to being raised a certain way only to grow up and find that you are fighting with yourself over ideas that clash based on a grown up awareness versus childhood indoctrination.
I digress, so we'll get back to the story.
I was once again snubbed for my whiteness. This time, while still humorous, it was different because these were kids. They haven't yet had a chance to confront life as it is. I imagine the NofI to be similar to any other cult in that the kids don't know any different, are not at all aware of what "the world" truly is and what it truly means and holds for them. Many of these kids may never leave the NofI, just as many kids will never leave the JW's or the Baptist church, though many kids will. And full on indoctrination in the church only prepares kids to stay there and not for a real life in the real world.
I just realized that I'm making the old "S" word arguement against religion, which isn't what I mean to do. I can understand that parents are going to teach their kids their religion and want for their kids to grow up and stay true to that religion. I plan to teach my kids my own views on life. But I can look back to what I thought of "the world" as I grew up only to find myself questioning all I'd ever been taught. When I finally moved out and was really on my own, life wasn't so black and white as I'd been taught. Every didn't fit into either good and christian columns or bad and nonchristian columns. In fact no one person fits in any one column. Some christians lie and some atheist don't.
So as I watched the youngsters, the next gen of btn, I laughed and thought to myself that I was missing one more copy of someone's religious propaganda. That thought was closely followed by the thought that these kids, so young, already knew that if you checked, you wouldn't have to waist the steps if the car held white people. I don't feel hurt or offended nor do I care. I know that if a group of black men or boys occupy a street corner and are wearing neat suits and little bow ties, they don't want my white ass to get a copy of their paper. I'm sure I'm the devil, possibly Jewish and responsible for some of their misery.
I saw some more of the bow tie nazis (btn) yesterday. It was sort of refreshing, escpecially when I got that old look that I remembered so well. All it takes is for them to peak at my white face staring back at them, and they calmly step back onto the sidewalk and turn to each other. These guys were different though.
In Atlanta, I was used to seeing the btn regularly. Growing up in south Dekalb, you get used to being the only white person at the grocery store or the library. The btn were always young adults, possibly college students. Yesterday however, they were all 10-14 in my estimation. They wore the suits and the little bow ties, and they looked so adorable. One little boy held a megaphone, though he didn't use it while we were at the intersection. Additionaly, several of them carried pies in what looked like grocery store type packaging.
It isn't that I mind being snubbed. Honestly, I can take it, especially in light of our country's history regarding race relations. As well, religiously based racism even seems different to me than just outright ignorant asshole racism. Being from the South, I'm well aware of both. And while there is no difference in the evilness of either, the difference isn't there to discern between levels of evil so much as to suggest that some things are different for how they get there. This also gets back to being raised a certain way only to grow up and find that you are fighting with yourself over ideas that clash based on a grown up awareness versus childhood indoctrination.
I digress, so we'll get back to the story.
I was once again snubbed for my whiteness. This time, while still humorous, it was different because these were kids. They haven't yet had a chance to confront life as it is. I imagine the NofI to be similar to any other cult in that the kids don't know any different, are not at all aware of what "the world" truly is and what it truly means and holds for them. Many of these kids may never leave the NofI, just as many kids will never leave the JW's or the Baptist church, though many kids will. And full on indoctrination in the church only prepares kids to stay there and not for a real life in the real world.
I just realized that I'm making the old "S" word arguement against religion, which isn't what I mean to do. I can understand that parents are going to teach their kids their religion and want for their kids to grow up and stay true to that religion. I plan to teach my kids my own views on life. But I can look back to what I thought of "the world" as I grew up only to find myself questioning all I'd ever been taught. When I finally moved out and was really on my own, life wasn't so black and white as I'd been taught. Every didn't fit into either good and christian columns or bad and nonchristian columns. In fact no one person fits in any one column. Some christians lie and some atheist don't.
So as I watched the youngsters, the next gen of btn, I laughed and thought to myself that I was missing one more copy of someone's religious propaganda. That thought was closely followed by the thought that these kids, so young, already knew that if you checked, you wouldn't have to waist the steps if the car held white people. I don't feel hurt or offended nor do I care. I know that if a group of black men or boys occupy a street corner and are wearing neat suits and little bow ties, they don't want my white ass to get a copy of their paper. I'm sure I'm the devil, possibly Jewish and responsible for some of their misery.
pictures?
The first picture is Big Brother and Momma, while on the sofa are me and The Boy. He doesn't really play guitar, or should I say that he plays as far as he's concerned. I just realized that, though these pictures are a few months old, I'm actually wearing that same tshirt today.
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