Happy Burf Day!

Pictures of the now one-year-old Jackson Duke! He will be celebrated.

And Rafael Furcal is back. He will play with grace. He will be honorable.

Break starts this weekend. Super.

The Gentleman's Jam. 1st official. Will be January 19th. Special guests. For real.

I had to scrape ice off my car this morning. First time in LA.

UPDATE:
McNulty is in the version of A Christmas Carol we're watching in class. I keep waiting for him to end up under the London Bridge having a taste with Cratchit, for Tiny Tim to find his older brother's gun, and for Scrooge and the Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come to have the following exchange:

Scrooge: I see you favor a .45.
Spirit: At night I do. And I keeps one in the chamber in case you ponderin'.

I haven't posted on here in a while. I think it has something to do with a certain someone freaking me out about my sentence structure. Maybe it was something else, I'm not sure.

We're living in a new house and Jack is starting to walk. He's just taking a few steps and he smiles and laughs when he does it. I like him. He is cool.

We're not really playing much music, but we should start again sometime soon.

I haven't been watching too many movies. I watched The Long Goodbye. I really liked it. I want to go driving up the coast, I think. I'm listening to Leonard Cohen in my classroom and it is raining. I think it's making me want to play hooky. I think it is making me want to play hooky from life in general. I am reading The Naked and the Dead . It is very nice. We're going to have a concert in my garage soon. Jack turns one on Thursday. Things are happening. Things are moving. Things are just chugging right along.

Obama

It would be stupid for Obama to give up a 20 year smoking habit on the eve of becoming the president.

Garage Sale!

We're having a garage sale. 2738 Locksley Place. We'll probably start around 8:00.

Cool.

This weekend was fun for several reasons. On Friday, I went with Jayson, Am-en, and some other guy to the Ben Folds concert. When the concert was over I went back to Jayson's work and had a free beer. On Saturday, I cleaned up around the house (the new house that we are now living in) and then in the evening, I took Jack to the super-rad Salon thing in Long Beach. While in Long Beach, I saw many friends and Jack saw many girls who he made become his girlfriends. He works much faster than I ever did in my prime. We didn't stay until the end because he was quite spent, but it was very fun nonetheless.

Today, we finished our weekend of fun by going to church, making delicious combination of pureed meat, fruit, and vegetable (for the boy), and eating Korean BBQ with Kevin and Tisa. The place we ate at featured many parts of the cow and pig. I liked the pig parts the best.

Nebraska's "safe haven" law is the lead story on CNN.com right now. The whole thing is pretty sad on a number of different levels. Because of the urgency of the article, I was under the assumption that hundreds (or even thousands) of children were being dropped off and legally abandoned. It turns out, however, that only 34 minors have been affected.

In 2005 (the most recent data found on a quick search), 3220 abortions were performed in Nebraska. To put it in perspective (based on the approximately 26,000 children born in the state), nearly ten percent of the children conceived (that doesn't sound right; that can't be right, right?) were aborted. If these people were at least responsible enough to get their abortions in nearby Kansas, their dead fetuses could have been receiving the sacraments from this horrible man.

The lesson of the day is that it is better to murder than is it to abandon. I guess.

We've moved into our new place officially. It's a little strange, but I'm excited. There are way too many things to take care of, mostly relating to things in need of purge. It'll all get finished soon enough, though.

I don't really have anything else to add. John Updike is at UCLA tonight. I'd kill to go see him, but we need to finish up stuff around the house. The argument might be made that the house will be there tomorrow and John Updike will not, but like historic World Series games prior, it is really better to be responsible in the present. Not.

Echoing Darren's recent thoughts, I can't fathom, on any level really, how irrelevant abortion has become in regard to reasons to vote for a candidate.


link

via one of Darren's friends:

Remembering Collective Shame

By Uwe Siemon-Netto

This column requires a caveat: I am not an American citizen and therefore neither a Republican nor a Democrat. But as a German residing permanently in the United States I believe that I have a duty to opine on at least one aspect of the upcoming elections – the question whether years from now Americans will have to wrestle with collective shame, just as I have had to deal with collective shame over what has happened in Germany in my childhood for my entire life.

It was West Germany’s first postwar president, Theodor Heuss, who coined the phrase, “collective shame” contrasting it with the notion of collective guilt, which he rejected. No, I cannot be expected to feel guilty for crimes the Nazis committed while I was still in elementary school. But as a bearer of a German passport I have never ceased feeling ashamed because three years before I was born German voters elected leaders planning the annihilation of millions of innocent people.

I am certain that in 1933 most Germans did not find the Nazis’ anti-Semitic rhetoric particularly attractive. What made them choose Hitler, then? It was the economy, stupid, and presumably injured national pride, and similar issues. This came to mind as I read the latest Faith in Life poll of issues Americans in general and white evangelicals in particular consider “very important” in this year’s elections.

Guess what? For both groups, the economy ranked first, while abortion was way down the list. Among Americans in general abortion took ninth and among white evangelicals seventh place, well below gas prices and health care. Now, it’s true that most evangelicals still believe that abortion should be illegal, which is where they differ from the general public and, astonishingly, from Roman Catholics even though their own church continues to fight valiantly against the ongoing mass destruction of unborn life. Still, 54 percent of Catholics and 60 percent of young Catholics have declared themselves “pro choice,” according to the Faith in Life researchers.

What I am going to say next is going to make me many enemies, of this I am sure: Yes, there is a parallel between what has happened in Germany in 1933 and what is happening in America now. The legalized murder of 40 million fetuses since Roe v. Wade in 1973 will one day cause collective shame of huge proportions. So what if this wasn’t a “holocaust?” This term should remain reserved for another horror in history. But a genocide has been happening in the last 35 years, even if no liberators have shocked the world with photographs they snapped of the victims as the Allies did in Germany in 1945. And it has the open support of politicians running for office next month.

If most Americans, and shockingly even a majority of Catholics, think physicians should have the “right” to suck babies’ brains out so that their skulls will collapse making it easy for these abortionists to drag their tiny bodies through the birth canal; if even most white evangelicals think that economic woes are a more important concern (78 percent) than legalized mass murder (57 percent), then surely a moral lobotomy has been performed on this society.

I agree it would be unscholarly to claim that what is happening in America and much of the Western world every day is “another holocaust.” No two historical events are exactly identical. So let’s leave the word “holocaust” where it belongs – next to Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen and Mauthausen. Still there are compelling parallels between today’s genocide and the Nazi crimes, for example:

1. Man presumes to decide which lives are worthy of living and which are not. “Lebensunwertes Leben” (life unworthy of living) was a Nazi “excuse” for killing mentally handicapped children and adults, a crime that preceded the holocaust committed against the Jews. Notice that today fetuses diagnosed with Downs Syndrome are often aborted as a matter of course in America and Europe.

2. In German-occupied territories, Jews and Gypsies were gassed for no other reason than that some people considered it inconvenient to have them around. Today, unborn children are often slaughtered because it is inconvenient for their mothers to bring their pregnancies to term.

3. Murder I is legally defined as killing another human being with malice and aforethought. The Nazis killed Jewish and Gypsies with deliberation – and maliciously. But what are we to think of babies being killed deliberately simply because they would be a nuisance if they were allowed to live? No malice here?

4. Ordinary Germans of the Nazi era were rightly chastised for not having come to their Jewish neighbors’ rescue when they were rounded up and sent to extermination camps. Ordinary Americans and Western Europeans might find the fad to kill babies disagreeable, but as we see from the Faith in Life poll, most have more pressing concerns.

Some future day Americans and Western Europeans will be asked why they allowed their children to be slaughtered. They would even have less of an excuse than Germans of my grandparents’ and parents’ generation. In Germany, you risked your life if you dared to come to the Jews’ rescue. In today’s democracies the worst that can happen to you is being ridiculed for being “a Christian.”

As a foreigner I have no right to tell Americans whom to elect on Nov. 4. Recently, though, a friend asked me: “If you worked in an office and a colleague asked you at the voter cooler, whom he should vote for what would you tell him?” Well, I would say: “I am not here to make up your mind for you. But personally I could never give my vote to so-called pro-choice candidates.”

This would doubtless lead to a heated postmodern dialogue. Perhaps the colleague is not a Christian; he might chastise me for mixing politics and religion. “If you as a Christian oppose abortion,” he could say, “then by all means don’t get involved in an abortion, just don’t impose your religious views on the rest of us.” How would I answer that? An evangelical might yank out his Bible and quote passages pertaining to this issue. But to a non-Christian the Bible is meaningless; I am not sure a political debate around the water cooler is a great venue to start individual evangelization.

My Lutheran approach would be different. I would argue natural law, the law God has written upon the hearts of all human beings, including non-believers. Unless they really have undergone a moral lobotomy they should be open to this story: Down in Wichita, Kansas, there is a physician by the name of George Tiller. On his website he boasts that he has already performed 60,000 abortions, mostly late-term, and week after week he is killing 100 more unborn babies.

Dr. Tiller does not think of these fetuses as clusters of cancerous cells. He knows they are human because he baptizes some of them before he incinerates them in his own crematorium. You don’t baptize non-humans. Dr. Tiller knows that. He is a practicing Lutheran. His former congregation, Holy Cross of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, excommunicated him as an unrepentant sinner. But the Lutheran Church of the Reformation, which belongs to the ELCA, communes him. Did I mention that he kills 100 human beings every week and has already done away with 60.000? Sixty thousand! In Nuremberg they hanged some fiends for murdering less than 60 -- zero point one percent of Tiller’s toll.

Perhaps this little tale will give even non-believers pause if they have not discarded their conscience, known to Christians as the law God has written upon every man’s heart. One day, of this I am certain, this will indeed result in collective shame – and God knows what other horrible consequences.

We had a nice weekend in Big Bear. We sat inside and watched babies crawl around on the floor. At night we talked some and made jokes. It was good.

I am listening to "Ballad in Plain D"; it is such a beautiful song. The bell rang; lunch is now over. Students are coming into my class; they will be finishing their narratives. A student just rang my bell; its sharp ting hurt my ear.

New York.

My wife, Robyn, sat on the end of the bed and complained that our son, Jack, would have trouble getting to sleep. We were in New York with my parents. A friend from college was getting married. We had eaten bowls of fettuccine and marinara. It was Paul Newman’s marinara. His face on the jar was rugged and his hair was gray. He looked good.
“Jack’s going to have trouble getting to sleep,” said Robyn. She was sitting on the bed reading a People Magazine. Jack had made his way under the hide-a-bed.
“Maybe we should put him in the bathroom,” I said.
“Really?” asked Robyn sardonically. “You really think it would be a good idea to put him in the one place people are going to be going in and out of through out the night?”
“Or we could put him in the elevator with a do not disturb sign on the crib,” I said covering some from the bathroom suggestion I’d thought made sense. Robyn shook her head some. My jokes weren’t amusing her.
“What time do you want to leave for Brent’s?”
“I’m not sure, I’ve got to call him.”
“Maybe you should do that now,” she said.
“I’ll call in a little bit,” I said.
“You guys should take a cab,” said my mom from the kitchen. She was washing dishes.
“The subways are safe, mom,” I said.
“We don’t want you getting mugged,” said my mom.
“Where’s it at?” asked my dad. He was looking at a plastic tourist map we’d bought from a drugstore earlier in the day.
“They live on Riverside Drive,” I said. My dad squinted at the map. He had trouble seeing in the dim light. Jack pulled at something on the floor and put it in his mouth. I think it was a string of carpet. “You guys get to go right through Harlem,” said my dad.
“Really?” asked my mom. I think she was hoping he was pulling her leg. “Yeah,” he said.
“We love Jackson, but we don’t want to raise him,” she said half-joking.
“I’d love to raise Jackson,” said my dad.
“Jeez mom,” I said.
“You know what I mean.”
“We’ll be fine,” I said.
“Gosh, Debby,” said my dad. We all laughed.
“You know what I meant,” she said.
“Do you have money in your wallet?” asked Robyn.
“I’ve that money we took out earlier.”
“That’s right,” she said.

I fixed my dark gray beanie in the elevator mirror on the way down. The floor ticked away electronic and red. The song Seal sang for one of the Batman movies played soft. It was quiet and intense. Very melodramatic. It sounded like it could’ve been in a high school production of Phantom. That’s how you talked about musical theater. Les Mis, Phantom… one word was all you really needed. It was a New York thing. New York tourist vernacular. Like Urkle or Tim the Tool Man.
“Which way do we go?” asked Robyn as we stepped into the cold night. It reminded me of walking into the produce section at Costco.
“59th street,” I said. “The Columbus Circle.”
“Do you know what that is?”
“No.”
* * *

pumpkin patch and octoberfest!

we went to the pumpkin patch with the pools, parents, poppo, and sister. we also watched the great pumpkin and ate meat at a german restaurant. i also had a reunion. andy smith and the pools crashed it. fun. fun. robyn is sick. pray for her to become not sick.

the dodgers lost. i'm still busy. i'm not sure what else. i'm resting after the half-marathon. i will rest for about a week and start running again, i guess. not much else.

i was in class for the game tonight. andy was sending me text messages. they were mostly lewd remarks about larry bowa. not much else. the classes are time consuming, but i should be completely finished by april--except for btsa--a fun beginning teacher support program full of busy busy work. lame.

i'm also getting ready to apply for grad school in the fall. the program will allow me to keep working. it looks to be rad. we'll see.

we'll also be in new york in a couple weeks for the wedding. should be super rad.

we also may (hopefully) be living in the new place next week. my uncle is giving us a player piano with a bunch of old rolls. i am excited. i think i'll put the piano from here in the garage for awesome future gentleman's jams.

robyn and jack are still alive. this is a blessing. jack claps, plays kazoo, piano, changes his own diaper, says dada, and opens bottles with his gums. he also recently said the phrase "waz up boi?!" in sort of a new yorkish asian jew type beastie boy voice. it was weird.

i also ordered an all-in-one remote from woot. i have not received it yet. i imagine woot is run from the back of some guy's car in norwalk--that same guy who tried to sell me sweet speakers one time.

i am very excited the dodgers are in a position to be awesome. i was at the clinching game with greg and it blew my mind wide and long.

as far as the games go, i plan on listening to them on the radio--or radio with the tv on and the volume down. this might very well be vin scully's last (potential) world series... really, honestly, the stupid people who run tv world need to let him broadcast the games. he is such a beautiful man.

i met him once. it makes me cry to think of it sometimes. i was supposed to pick darren up from the airport. it was raining and i didn't want to go. i ended up waiting in baggage claim for a while... after a bit, several hard-bodied men began walking toward the rotating metal luggage thing. one looked like gary sheffield. another, like kevin brown... after a few moments of awesome, i realized these greek godesque gentlemens to be the dodgers. i chatted a little with then pitching coach jim colbourn as i had gone to high school with his son and met vin. i was a bit frightened, but felt my life would be a little less awesome if i didn't say thank you... so i did... and shook his hand... and i haven't washed that hand since...

i went to the game last night with greg. it straight blew my mind.

it is early. i have a student helping me sweep up a bit. he came earlier than me. i showed him how to make a blog.

the dodgers are winning games. i am gong with greg on saturday. mike was going to come, but he is a little bummed.

i am listening to bix.

i really don't have any time right now for anything. a lot of school. three classes with a ton of work, my regular grading/ planning/ etc., and i'm in charge of the accelerated reader program--which means i've been spening ever spare minute here at school entering in each of the few thousand students into the system. since the classes are still moving some, there's a good chance i'll have to fix many of them after the fact.

i'm also working toward running a half marathon. i ran ten miles the day before yesterday. today four, tomorrow, two, sunday maybe ten again, rest... i can't afford the race right now, though, so i just plan on running the 13 miles next sunday on my own time. oh well.


i'm also getting stuff together for grad school. there's a program i'm applying to that i can take while teaching next year. it should be rad.

happy fall.

we went to bakersfield. i am sick. i will be working tomorrow and it will not be fun. i am also watching the wire. the last season. it is really good. i am playing a show in long beach on saturday. it's just me and keith. it will be in a park.

the wire is subtle, pulpy, and brilliant. so good.

i want to be here now.

via a pretty arbitrary random espn article on great stadiums:

"40. Dodger Stadium
Location: Los Angeles. Opened: 1962. Capacity: 56,000.

Because if this stadium had a voice, it would sound like Vin Scully and it would tell you about Sandy Koufax, Steve Garvey and Kirk Gibson and a sun-dappled jewel in the Los Angeles hills."

nice, whatever.

i think i'm getting sick, though i really hope not. i'm knee deep in half-marathon training: getting ready for the race and loosing my gut in the process. i am running a lot and it feels nice.

today i hate recycling. here are some notable facts.

* In cases where recycling truly does save resources, such as with large scraps of aluminum, this will be reflected in market prices, and voluntary recycling will take place. Thus, there is no need for the government to mandate it.
* Tree farmers plant more trees than they cut down.
* Government mandated recycling is more expensive than putting the garbage into landfills, which means that this recycling uses up more resources than it saves.
* Some small towns with landfills are happy to import garbage from other cities and states because it provides jobs and tax revenue.
* Today's modern landfills are much cleaner and safer, and much less likely to leak and pollute than the landfills of the past.
* Regarding the claim that the U.S. is running out of landfill space, Tierney wrote, "A. Clark Wiseman, an economist at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash., has calculated that if Americans keep generating garbage at current rates for 1,000 years, and if all their garbage is put in a landfill 100 yards deep, by the year 3000 this national garbage heap will fill a square piece of land 35 miles on each side. This doesn't seem a huge imposition in a country the size of America. The garbage would occupy only 5 percent of the area needed for the national array of solar panels proposed by environmentalists. The millennial landfill would fit on one-tenth of 1 percent of the range land now available for grazing in the continental United States. And if it still pains you to think of depriving posterity of that 35-mile square, remember that the loss will be only temporary. Eventually, like previous landfills, the mounds of trash will be covered with grass and become a minuscule addition to the nation's 150,000 square miles of parkland."

In a 2007 article, Michael Munger, the Chair of Political Science at Duke University, wrote, "... if recycling is more expensive than using new materials, it can't possibly be efficient... There is a simple test for determining whether something is a resource... or just garbage... If someone will pay you for the item, it's a resource... But if you have to pay someone to take the item away... then the item is garbage."

couple things:

1. i'm itching to move. just down the street, but still.
2. i'm itching to shoot episode 2 of the tv show. the first episode was just me and jack.
3. i'm itching to punch the man on youtube who sent me this note on the video of me and jack in the tub: "cute hairy daddy. but why does he take a bath in a swimsute?" i deleted it and will soon delete every video of my son on the internet.
4. i'm playing a show with keith in lbc on september 27th at a park.
5. i'm needing to take the gre soon.
6. nothing else.


I could survive for 51 seconds chained to a bunk bed with a velociraptor

Created by Bunk Beds Pedia

death by caffeine:

126.98 cups of coffee. 68.2 nodoz.

we shot some stuff for the tv show last night.

that is all.

one of my favorite people on one of my favorite movies:

bourdain on ratatouille
" "I think it's quite simply the best food movie ever made,” Tony wrote today in an email. “The best restaurant movie ever made--the best chef movie. The tiny details are astonishing: The faded burns on the cooks' wrists. The "personal histories" of the cooks...the attention paid to the food...And the Anton Ego ratatouille epiphany hit me like a punch in the chest--literally breathtaking. I saw it in a theater entirely full with adults--and the reaction to that moment was what movie making was once--a long time ago--all about: Audible surprise, delight, awe and even a measure of enlightenment. I am hugely and disproportionately proud that my miniscule contribution (if any) early early in the project's development led to a "thank you" in the credits. Amazing how much they got "right."

tickle device? maybe?

On Sunday night's 60 Minutes, famed journalist Bob Woodward talked about his new book The War Within: A Secret White House History 2006-2008, about the Iraq war. During the interview, he made a vague reference to a breakthrough supersecret weapon or capability the US military has that he claims is comparable to the advent of the tank and the airplane. From CBS News:

"This is very sensitive and very top secret, but there are secret operational capabilities that have been developed by the military to locate, target, and kill leaders of al Qaeda in Iraq, insurgent leaders, renegade militia leaders. That is one of the true breakthroughs," Woodward told (60 Minutes correspondent Scott) Pelley.

"But what are we talking about here? It's some kind of surveillance? Some kind of targeted way of taking out just the people that you're looking for? The leadership of the enemy?" Pelley asked.

"I'd love to go through the details, but I'm not going to," Woodward replied...

"If you were an al Qaeda leader or part of the insurgency in Iraq, or one of these renegade militias, and you knew about what they were able to do, you'd get your ass outta town."

via boing boing, via somewhere else.

we're working on the tv show tomorrow night. if you want to help, give me a call. we're doing it in silver lake at the other house. it is staring myself and jack. we might need someone to play a female social worker who tries to tell me i am a bad father to my son suri. the character's name is nimphadora and the character will be sprayed with a hose during the episode.

monday. jack cried a lot last night and i couldn't get to sleep for a long time because my body was so wired from running 71/2 miles right before bed. i am training for a half marathon and trying to become less fat. the dodgers keep winning. this is good. and i have work to do.

i bought some molasses for my pulled pork i made last night. i also put it on my corn bread and added it to my cereal this morning. buy some. it is actually healthy for you. and it is very old timey for those old timey aches and pains.

Cancer is so limited...

It cannot cripple Love

It cannot shatter Hope

It cannot corrode Faith

It cannot destroy Peace

It cannot kill Friendship

It cannot suppress Memories

It cannot silence Courage

It cannot invade the Soul

It cannot steal eternal Life

It cannot conquer the Spirit.

If an incurable disease has invaded your life, refuse to let it touch your spirit.

Your body can be severely afflicted and you may have a great struggle.

If you keep trusting God's love, your spirit will remain strong.


Why must I bear this pain? I cannot tell,

I only know my Lord does all things well.

And so I trust in God, my all in all,

For He will bring me through, whate'er befall.
Anonymous

EACH STEP OF THE WAY

I'm following Jesus,
One step at a time;
I live for the moment,
In His love divine.
Why think of tomorrow,
Just live for today;
I'm following Jesus,
Each step of the way.

The pathway is narrow,
But He leads me on;
I walk in His shadow,
My fears are all gone.
My spirit grows stronger,
Each moment, each day,
For Jesus is leading
EACH STEP OF THE WAY.

Amazing grace! how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

AMAZING GRACE...nothing we did to deserve it!
But what HE did for us that day on CALVARY!

day three. yesterday was a long one. i've a bunch of stuff to do. busy, busy. nothing else. bye.

day two. we went to a dodger game last night. they won. it ruled. we ate sausage biscuits. they won and ruled too. today i have to go to class after school. i will get out at 10:00 pm. this will not rule and will be torture.

first day of school. i will be going to a dodger game tonight. tomorrow and saturday i have class. i am also training for a half marathon. and reading my antonia and watching john adams. and almost season 5 of the wire. this is going to be my lost weekend year--except all the cool things john lennon and harry nilsson did will be replaced by credentialing classes, apprehension, and night terrors.

have a nice day.

first day with no students. tomorrow is the first day with students. that is all.

i had this weird thing happen last night where i woke up and i couldn't breathe. i kept gasping and it felt like my lungs were filling with river water. i wasn't sleeping because it weirded robyn out too.

do i have a mighty big crush on sarah palin? mmmm...

back in my classroom. i like it here. it is nice. we were going to try and watch as many pixar movies as we could last night, but i fell asleep 3/4 of the way through the incredibles. weird al should make a movie called the edibles.

i am working in my classroom. it is good to be back. i'm finally getting a little excited about the coming year. ask me how i'm doing in a week. or not as i'll probably be mopey and melancholy.

anything else? i'm training for a half-marathon. and i might make some stew for dinner.

my brain.

my brain almost exploded this morning. i am touch and go.

i am watching john adams. and i am a bit tired. i got home at 2:30ish or so and got up at 6:30ish. jack fell asleep about 20 minutes ago, but now i'm awake and i don't want to ruin my day by sleeping through.

this is going to be a busy week. i have to get ready for school (starting next wednesday), i have to do homework for my class, i have to start moving things to the other house, i have to dig a trench for a pipe, and i have to do some other things too.

this movie is good. it would be better if he played john adams as harvey peekar and if laura linney played a. adams as her character in kinsey and if the guy who plays george washington played him in the same way that he played that guy in the movie with dakota fanning that made people a little uneasy.

i may change the name of the band to the sons of liberty.

we have a show on saturday.

i need some coffee.

i think i may watch the diving bell and the butterfly. and i'm drinking green tea with vanilla soy milk.

i finished in cold blood and am starting my antonia. it is neat and reminds me of the nebraska relatives--my mom's side. anything else? no. oh, yeah. we're playing a show saturday. come out. 7:30. 7.00.

i'm watching the sands of iwo jima and it is nice. i am finishing in cold blood and starting in my antonia. poppo was in the hospital with heart issues. we think he's good, but please be praying.

we are playing on saturday. come on out.

Barbie Cue Update...

If you are coming on Sunday... bring a lawn chair or chairs as we only have a couple.

we saw a family of four of these yesterday.



eagle rays they be.

tonight we ate at aloha mix plate. good local food. i had the look fun. it was. we then went to town and had a little walk and saw a rainbow and a sunset. we will come home tomorrow.

i just finished lolita earlier today. now i am starting in cold blood. lolita was for book club. in cold blood was because i wanted something for my last couple days here. i'm slowly going through some stuff that i should've read a long time ago. i plan on skipping the boring things though because life's too short to pretend to be smart, or prentend to be trying to be smart or learnededd. making fantasy baseball trades is way more fun. sometimes. we leave in a day or so. this makes me sad. real life. shrug. i'm starting a tv show though and i have a baby and wife. these things are good. we went and saw the batman tonight because jack has a lot of grandparents around right now. it was way cool. sirius totally died and then didn't. it was so wack. heath ledger just totally...

so come to the barbie cue. it is sunday.

we are still in hawaii. robyn is giving jack food and i'm making my igoogle page more rad. the parents went on a drive to upcountry leaving robyn, jack, and myself all by our lonesomes. we've taken turns watching the baby and relaxing by the beach. robyn is finishing her vampire book and i am finishing the book club book of the month. we also spent some time in town under the banyan tree. we met an old man from australia and ate sushi. really the best and freshest sushi is from the market. i've been a little light on the poke this trip, but all in all my raw fish intake has been decent. i almost bought some look fun noodles to make look fun when we get home. i'll probably pick them up tomorrow or the next day. oh well. home soon. boo hoo.

so, we are on the home stretch. i think we get back to los angeles on friday, but i'm not counting. we've had a fantastic time. a lot of the same old, same old, but seeing as the same old (fresh fish- raw and cooked, snorkeling, surfing, reading, writing, sitting in the sun, etc.) rules, we've really had a gas.

nothing much major. robyn's dad got stung by a jelly fish. we saw a rare monk seal. jack doesn't like sleeping. the dodgers made some trades i kind of like and kind of don't. nothing else really. time for a shower and aloe.

i'll put up more pictures i guess sometime.

here are some beaches with people.

hawaii is still fun. jack decided to not sleep last night so i am tired. very. we played dominoes late last night and i recorded two songs with jayson. the belts leave today. this is sad. robyn's parents come in some time next week i think. i'm just reading a lot and snorkeling and whatnot. nothing out of this world, just your usual relaxing awesomeness. i may make some coffee soon. we're going to mix plate for lunch to eat good hawaiian food. and we may go surfing again soon. like today. robyn's birthday is tomorrow. we will probably do something fun. oh, and the dodgers made a dumb meaningless trade. ned colletti and joe torre bug. here is my analysis via fire joe morgan. they wrote the words that were in my brains:

Dodger Fans, Rest Easy

There's a steady hand at the helm of your ship. A hand that wears a cowboy hat. A hand that also wears snakeskin boots. Ned's hand.

What's that? You just traded a 22-year-old catcher with a .994 OPS in 2008 and a pitcher with 335 strikeouts in 262.2 minor league innings for a defensively challenged third baseman with a career 106 OPS+ who turns 35 in a month?

And he's a two-month rental?

Relax -- there are good reasons for this. Excellent reasons. Reasons like -- Ned, you want to take this one?

"Casey Blake is a gamer," said Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti.

See? Don't you feel better now? What, you need more? Ned's got more.

"I think we improved the club," Colletti said. "Blake's a grinder with great character, a passionate player."

That's not all, Dodger fans. In addition to the privilege of trading away two talented prospects, you'll get the added benefit of continuing to block the progress of Andy LaRoche, who's racked up an .898 OPS in 1796 minor league at bats, has been heralded as a top prospect for what seems like hundreds of years now, was projected by PECOTA to OPS something like .850, and yet can't seem to ever be good enough to play in more than a handful of games in a row for the Dodgers. Ever. (LaRoche, by the way, has awful numbers in the majors this year, but he's been incredibly hit-unlucky (BABIP of .200) and he's walked more than he's struck out. Plus -- dude. The guy has gotten all of 59 at bats. Angel Berroa has gotten 89 at bats for Joe Torre's TerribleVetSquad already.)

It's not like Carlos Santana and Jonathan Meloan are sure things. Santana is kind of old to be in High A (and he's in the hitter-friendly Cal League), and Meloan has been terrible as a starter (though he should be a reliever anyway). But we're talking about giving them away for two hundred-some-odd at bats of Casey Blake. .336 career OBP Casey Blake. Bad defender in an already defensively suspect Dodger infield Casey Blake. Gamer Casey Blake. Grinder Casey Blake. Beardy Casey Blake. Casey Beard.

So yeah, I guess if I had to give this trade a grade, I would give it an A-. The only reason there's a minus is: there now appears to be a gamer surplus in the Dodger clubhouse. What happens when a team attains such a dangerously high gaminess quotient? Will Juan Pierre grow a thick, Baron Davis-style beard to prove that he's more of a gamer than Blake? What if Jeff Kent shoots himself in the foot with a crossbow just so he can play through the pain of a crossbow wound and be hailed as the gamiest Dodger of all? What if Nomar turns himself into a 5'6" white guy, and then Broxton transforms himself into Brett Favre in retaliation, and then Hong-Chih Kuo tops them all by becoming the ultimate gamer: a 5'6" Brett Favre?

I think the answer to all of these questions is: the Dodgers and their fans win, that's what happens. Casey Blake is the key to the World Series. Ned, you're a genius.

we have now been here a week. this is the first morning where i think nothing is wrong with my body. i will continue to take the strep medicine, though as it has made me who i am today.

we are playing a lot of dominoes and swimming in the ocean and reading. i am writing too. and reading. wonderboyz. a rock autobiography. the human comedy. lolita when finished.

made the annual trip to the whaler's museum. i will visit five more times this trip. i took jack. i hope he becomes a whaler some day.

i am trading like mad in fantasy baseball. propose a trade and i will accept. not. only if it will make my team stronger like the wind that is dolly. in texas.

word.

i have to go to the doctor today. i think i have strep or mono again.

the rio bravo and jayson belt are playing a sweet fun show at the key club on august 23.

buy a ticket!

first day. so far. got up early and wrote. robyn went for a jog, but my toe was still hurting so i stayed behind. we just finished a walk. i tried jogging a little. tomorrow i'll give it the full go. on the walk we ran into a man in blue board shorts. he was walking from his place about a half-mile from kahana sunset. after we ran into him we started talking about the baseball all-star game. nearing the beach we ran into a man wearing a 2008 all-star game t-shirt. my dad said nice shirt. san francisco giant announcer jon miller turned and said, "thanks."

now jack is napping and we are reading and stuff.

my toe hurts. jack is on the floor. we leave for hawaii tomorrow. i will surf and eat poke. i will probably also eat other raw fish and read books.

im watching round midnight. it rules. dexter gordon stars. you should watch it. we will go to long beach today. im not sure what ill do down there. maybe play whiffle ball. this movie makes me want to move to paris. but then i think back to paris and realize i didn't really dig it as i did roma. rome was more like the west. dry and dusty. we were actually in paris this time last year. or was it rome? we ended up with an extra day in rome because of a terror threat. someone tried to board a plane with a raptor in their pants.

im drinking coffee. hopefully my next cup wont taste burnt. it probably will. hopefully i will see more of my friends who live in other states. i think i may catch them all before the end of summer.

i should really play more piano.

this french guy in the movie has become friends with dexter gordon. i want to be friends with dexter gordon. my baby might start crying soon. when he does, i will pick him up. like now.

im watching darjeeling limited. i'm a bit over wes anderson right now, but i don't hate it. we saw wall-e tonight. it was fun.

if you want, buy a ticket to see randy newman on the 2nd at the hollywood bowl. we will be there. there also may be a jamout happening on saturday for people who can play instruments and sing.

summer rules.

here is a link to my amazon wish list. my birthday is on the 6th. i will be 28. i never thought i'd make it to 30. we'll see.

link.

tomorrow is the last day of school. it has been a better year, but i am tired and ready for summer.

my summer will consist of the following: remodeling a house, going to hawaii, hanging out a little. it will be busy and over before i know it.

happy father's day to me. jack bought me this:



i am happy.

1. we had a fun practice in long beach last night.
2. it is friday.
3. we are doing stuff to our new house like ripping up carpet and tearing down walls.
4. i will have a father's day this weekend.
5. i will jog and stuff today.

jack eats.





oh... and if anyone wants to come to my birthday celebration at the hollywood bowl july 2, you can buy tickets via ticketmaster. randy newman will be playing songs and the dodgers will be celebrated.

we started jack on solids. by solids, i really mean liquidy mush. he seemed to really enjoy it. we made him two bowls. one plain and one with arby's bronco berry sauce mixed in.

yesterday my mom and i took down the cottage cheese ceiling in the living room of the new place. things are starting to look rad. today she's taking down the rest of the cottage cheese. then we start the demo process.

today we're finishing mr. smith goes to worshington.

we had a nice weekend. friday, we went to bakersfield and saw people we hadn't seen in a while. it was nice and we ate hamburgers. saturday, we went to the new house and began tearing things up. we got through two of the rooms and uncovered some sweet hardwood. that afternoon we went to j. patterson's b.day for a bit (until jack started not wanting to be there), and that night, matt pool and i hung out with matt o'brien at the new house. matt needs people. good people and prayer.

sunday we went to church. book club. band practice. my taco.

church was alright. book club was fun (i made cool new friends). band practice= two new hit songs. my taco= some really delicious pork thing in a hot chile sauce.

we got home too late to do anything (actually it wasn't too late- i was just burnt).

now i'm in class getting things together for the end of the year and watching mr. smith goes to washington. one of my students said jimmy stewart looks like keanu reeves. a different student, confused, asked if jimmy stewart was in the matrix. i said yes. then another student said he was ugly. i said be quiet. she said, what? it's true. i said be quiet again, but louder and more grouchy. she then said sorry mister and got back to work.

not much new. finishing up school stuff and everything. hot fun in the summertime.

went to the dodger game last night with jayson, m.pool, and nate b. it was fun. we made many jokes and talked about stories. road stories and such. anyhow. i didn't run, which was a bummer, so i'll have to go three times around today. i'm also maybe going to write some music with andy, but i'm not sure exactly.

we went up to big bear with the pools. last time i was there i crashed my car. this time was much more fun. we played some cards, drove around a little, did some fishing, relaxed, and dealt with issues of the gut. everything was amazing and needed- except for the issues with the gut. i think i might have an ulcer maybe. i'm not sure. all the signs are there- i won't go into detail here, but i may have to go get my insides checked out. worry, stress, apprehension, and too much coffee probably caused it to occur.

in other news... nothing.

i went to bed last night in the middle of lost. i read some spoilers in the morning. shrug. i guess it's cool. i now have a paper to write before we head up to the mountain. whatever. i'm like so over it. i'm also like so burnt out on like everything.

UPDATE:

my birthday is just around the corner. you should buy this for me.

i got to school at 6:40 only to find robyn's keys in my pocket. so, instead of getting time to prep, i had to drive home and give her the keys. when i got back to school, i had a student threaten to beat me up. my students have actually been rad this year- he was an opportunity transfer from a different school in the district new to class today. i have no idea why they decided to put him in my class for the last few weeks, but a few weeks turned into a few minutes after the altercation (and a subsequent altercation with a PO wherein he threatened to beat him up as well). anyhow, all was wacky and now all is good.

i don't think i have to barf this morning- though i still have no floss. i haven't flossed since sunday at the pools'. i stole some from their bathroom, though it was out in plain view. i need some badly. robyn, if you're reading this, you should go be good wife and buy me some. i will reward you later.

i'd like to go see the wild bunch tonight, but i may have to stay back and finish something for a deadline. it'd be a bummer to miss, though.

i also found these pictures of john wayne looking eerily like my father at the same age.

i am eating a pear and strawberries and listening to billie holiday sing about that ole devil called love. it is good.

my day started out not so good when i found myself unable to floss. my teeth feel tight and dirty. yuk.

i almost barfed earlier today. i'm not sure why. maybe i'm going through the change of life.

now i will read a book to pass the time at lunch.

on thursday we went to disneyland with the pools. we stayed in a hotel thursday and friday night. it was sweet and rad. we rode buzz lightyear like 13 times and learned secrets from high school kids. we also saw karen and dave (and dave's family). it was nice for jack to say yo to the aunt and uncle.

then on saturday, after eating at coco's, we played a show in long beach. it went really well. many friends and poets and artists were there making things nice and enjoyable.

sunday we hung out at the pools for a bbq. it, too, was quite fun.

today i will work on stuff, though i need coffee first. i might also jog a couple times around the lake.

i left my phone at home. not cool. now i can't call my bookie at lunch.

anyhow, disneyland tonight ought rule. there's the possibility of some delicious mrs. knotts, but we'll have to see.

in other news, i got my coffee for free this morning because i had to wait a few minutes for it to brew. now, i've three dollars burning a hole in my pocket. my morning will be complete if they have pigs in a blanket here at school. if so, i will be happy and filled with joy.

i watched a tom petty documentary last night while minding jack. it was really good and it made me want to be in the heartbreakers. they get no respect. i also bought a roy orbison song that was featured. it was sweet.

then i tried to write, but almost fell asleep at the keys. i need to work some nodoz back in my life.

we're also playing a show this weekend. go here for more info.

bye.

i had this cool dream where matt pool and i were playing for the yankees in the world series. i think we were both rookies or something, but i was as i am now, it wasn't like i was a prospect or anything. joe torre was the manager and he had me pinch hit against chien-ming wang who was pitching for the other team for some reason. i remembered taking a ball and a strike, before flying out deep. i was pretty excited that i'd actually made contact, before realizing that just making contact wasn't really a good thing in the majors. matt came up after me and hit a homerun to tie the game. he kind of looked like a surfer version of david ross or matt nokes. i was happy we'd tied, but bummed i'd flied out. i thought there was an "i" in team. i also remember joe torre chatting with greg on a yankee blog. he was in a really good mood and greg was one of his good friends.

i started brideshead revisited. i like it i think. we have testing today. i should use the time to work on homework. i also think i might barf. i'm not sure why as i don't feel sick. that is all. bye.

fun weekend. went to ventura with the pools. ate some sushi on friday. saturday we went to the beach for most of the day, saw the parson redheads at a ventura in-store, ate burritos, and played a benefit concert. after the concert, we ate ice cream and cookies and laughed at jokes. sunday we made a nice breakfast amber invented. it was very nice. then i helped record a dodger podcast. when we got home matt and i slept for a few hours. then we went to poppo's. he gave amber and matt rocks. now i'm at work.

so the guy running for dean at my school brought us donuts and candy bars this morning as bribes. i was planning on my breakfast being two bananas, but instead it became a glazed donut and a nestle crunch bar. i'm not sure if i won or lost.

today we're heading up to ventura with the pools. maybe a little sushi. maybe a little narnia. maybe a beach day. maybe a rock show.

that is all.

the searchers was fantastic. i ended up flying solo, which was fine (though i saw some friends from around that made the night cool). one of my favorite things to do is see movies by myself and with the baby, i haven't really been able to see movies at all- making this a rad occurrence on all accounts. with afi doing this screening series (and with movie watching at a premium) i may forgo all upcoming new releases and just catch the screening series when i can. butch cassidy is next week and the wild bunch the week after. i'd rather see the wild bunch if i had to choose (if i can get out to see either). they're also showing grease and jaws in sherman oaks. i hate grease, but robyn loves it. jaws would be fun though. in other news, i may hit up that jackie robinson thing this evening before practice. i also need to jog and work on my movie. if i'm feeling spicy, i may start pumping iron. okay. bye.

so, the excursion to the autry was a success. matt and i saw many a cool western thing. i liked the paintings- they wet my appetite for the searchers tonight. the searchers is maybe my third favorite behind donovan's reef and the quiet man... maybe. we'll see after tonight.

nothing much else. i had my taco yesterday- four al pastor tacos and a quesadilla. when i was finished i went for a run around the lake and almost barfed. it reminded me of high school when i would eat tri-tip sandwiches, or in-n-out, or steak & hoagie before basketball training workouts. it was fun in the sun. if you're ever in ventura, you should eat at steak & hoagie. it rules. get the fries. they put them in a double bag so the grease doesn't run through.

UPDATE:

i think i might take jack here this afternoon:

ONGOING THROUGH 2008
The Baseball Reliquary presents William Robert Steele’s Ebbets Field Replica, an exhibition of Jackie Robinson paintings (including Michael Guccione’s "Jackie Robinson Icon"), and a display of Negro League memorabilia. Jackie Robinson Center, 1020 N. Fair Oaks Ave., Pasadena, CA. Free admission. Hours are Monday-Thursday, 8:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m.; Friday, 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.; closed weekends (open by reservation). Further information, phone (626) 791-7647; for directions, phone (626) 744-7300.

... anyone want to come?

last night i went down to spaceland and saw people i don't get to see too much. it was really nice.

today, i am giving the CST. i told my students yesterday that today i'd give them all "candy sugared treats"- little do they know... ;) HAR HAR HAR. Zerch.

this afternoon, if all goes as planned, i will be taking my son and matt pool to the gene autry museum of western idolatry. should be vapid and gross. not.

in other news... i went to my taco last night, but it was closed. as a fall back, i got robyn taco bell and myself mcdonald's.

robyn sent me an email about the full house episode she was watching this morning...

highlights include:

Kimmy says to Mr Tanner: "Hey Mr. Tea-Bag."


And then later in the episode;

Danny says to Joey (because joey is practicing ballet to improve his flexibility, and he is acting like a squirrel): "Watch those nuts!"

i get "watch those nuts" as a sort of joke, but mr. tea-bag?! best. from now on, instead of dude or man, i will refer to everyone as mr. tea-bag. 'sup mr. tea-bag!

my brain is done and i am tired.

paul depodesta has a blog now. it seems pretty neat.

poppo got me a bunch of good tools today. my old tools were stolen along with a lot of other nice things from my garage. now that we're buying a new house, i'm going to need tools. lots of wrenches, a drill, a hacksaw set, table horses, everything really... very excited.

now i will take jack upstairs. i hope he doesn't wake up. i'm burnt.

jack slept better last night. robyn swaddled him again. we were able to watch the office and lost without interruption, which was a nice little change. the office was pretty dry. it's been pretty dry since coming back from the break. they need to make it comedy again and buy my spec. in my episode dwight secedes from the union. i even wrote in a funny scene where he shoots a bunch of people in the office. if they were smart, they'd buy it and put it straight on. but they're not. they're a bunch of onions.

in other news... the weekend starts today. later today to be exact. later today i will be packaging cds. tomorrow, we may go to ventura and we may stay until sunday. i've really nothing else to say. i'm listening to chopin and now i need to get a warm-up together.

last night i went to a thrilling dodger game with my dad, phil (check out phil's ride here), and jayson. the team is now tre and cero when i am at the ballpark. imho! here's jack on opening day.



UPDATE:

ballad in plain d just came on. what a nice good song. listen to it today. now im listening to frank sinatra sings for only the lonely. id forgotten to load it into my ipod. it is very very nice.

i am drinking my coffee at school. it is good. i like it very much. i need to get to work. last night amber brought us my taco for dinner. it too was good. it made me happy. after, we watched an episode of seinfeld. it was the one with the whiz. it made me laugh. the guy who played the whiz is also on carnivale. i think that's how you spell it, but i don't want to look it up. i am reading andre dubus and all the king's men during silent reading. i like them both very much. i've been listening to a lot of impressionist music like ravel and debussy. it makes me happy. it reminds me of bill evans. debussy once got mad when someone said hey you impressionist jerk, he responded and said "i am trying to do 'something different' – in a way realities – what the imbeciles call 'impressionism' is a term which is as poorly used as possible, particularly by art critics." we have so much in common. he is so dreamy. that's totally how i feel about the art of life. like when i'm making robot voices with a cheech accent while driving myself to work. or like when i do other things. word. out.

i had a fun weekend. met up with the parents in santy monica yesterday. it was fun. on saturday we went to the zoo with keith and karen. then we made tacos and robyn and karen played video games. i dont really like video games very much, but they do.

this week i've a dodger game tuesday and we need to have practice. there's also a couple birthday parties on saturday and a mother's day on sunday. if anyone is up for dodgers on tuesday, let me know. i'm also giong to see the searchers on the 14th. i will probably be going by myself unless people are interested. okay. bye.

my wife is the best wife in the world, but she'll be even better than best if she lets me go see the searchers at the archlight on may 14th at 8:00. they are screening a bunch of the top 100 afi films. some suck and some don't. of the some that don't, the searchers is near tops. monument valley never looked so sexy. sha-bang!

i spent yesterday with jack. it was probably the longest i've been with him without robyn and it was quite trying (though very rewarding). there's not much to really go into... it was just tough. i respect robyn much more for it. though she does have a secret weapon filled with milk that will usually make jack quiet and content. the milk weapon isn't a cure-all, but it usually works better than me singing what raffi i can remember.

robyn and amber are going to go see a free screening of baby mommy tonight. i get to play mister mom with jack, though andy may come by and hang out. if he doesn't, i'll probably go to a museum or something. jack needs some culture. i went jogging with him yesterday. it wasn't so bad actually. we're going to play racquet ball tomorrow morning at the YMCA. I usually play in a foursome with Los Angeles legends Fritz Coleman, Shotgun Tom Kelly, and John Wooden, but Wooden has a pancake breakfast at Children's Hospital so Jack will have to be our fourth.

my screen test is up on hobosoul. check it out if you DARE!!

Everyone is asleep. I had a yummy meal of fish and potatoes. I fried the potatoes in olive oil, chili powder, honey, garlic, and dill- and the fish I fried in some sauce from Hawaii with ginger. It was good. Robyn and Amber ate ice cream before dinner. I had chocolate milk for dessert.

Now I will sleep.

There is also a post on hobosoul.

jack has been crying more and more in the middle of the night. it used to be the case that he'd cry, we'd take him from his crib, shush him a bit, and let him sleep next to one of our warm paternal bods. it seems, however, that our warm paternal bods have lost their appeal. in an effort to give robyn some much needed time to herself, i'm going to start taking jack on afternoon adventures. this week i plan on visiting the lacma and a free art exhibit presented by the baseball reliquary. The baseball reliquary exhibit will feature (among other things) a replica of ebbets field, an exhibition of jackie robinson paintings, and a display of negro league memorabilia. i'm really hope a few of these things are on display as well.

other afternoon adventure ideas include: the autry's western fling, observatory, the zoo, fishing the la river, the free old pasadena film festival, dodger stadium championship tour, hollywood's tragic history tour, the museum of tv and radio...

any other ideas? anyone want to come along?

401

i saw sly stone last night. he was two hours late and crazier than brian wilson, but he ruled and i'm very glad i saw him play. friday i had a screen test for my whaler movie. vern wanted to make sure i could act and, low and behold, i found out i could. thusly, i am now a whaler. my next goal is rick dubois.

in other news, we've put a few rio bravo tunes up on the myspace. i am happy with them, though it is now time to start on blonde beards and black panthers part duex.

i think that's it. we spent a lot of time trying to stay out of the sun and keep jack happy. he's sleeping now, so i think we may've won the battle. maybe.

i'm going to go write something fun on the hobosoul site now.

...lastly... i think i know funny, and i know everybody likes flight of the concords, and in the past i've said i liked them out of thinking i should... but i've come to the realization that they are as funny as margaret cho and good burger the movie's baby. they are about as funny as if family guy and margaret cho had a baby that was delivered by a doctor who was the movie good burger during an episode of friends while the people on friends watched the movie mad money and ate blood sausage while reading bill plaschke write about why he likes oil rubs from juan pierre.

i also almost got in my first fight last night by yelling at a man who was saying bad things about sly.

tired

robyn is nice and usually deals with jack in the night. last night, though, i got to bed a bit later because of the dodger game and took the jack shift a couple times in the night. robyn still had him for a long amount of time, but man... i'm tired and my eyes burn.

i ought to be getting a few things together, but i need to wait for my mind to expand a bit.

in other news. nothing. bye.

UPDATE.

nothing too important actually. i went on stereogum to read about music i don't listen to (though they did have fun mentions about both radiohead and my morning jacket, which, oddly enough, i do)... and the stereogum webosite made mention of nbc going green for the week... which is really funny and lame... then i went to try and calculate my carbon footprint, but really all i was doing was trying to see if there would be a way to calculate the carbon footprint of my farts... then i became a genius and decided to create the website www.carbonfootprintfartmeasure.com. i will make it today and fill it with loads of google ads and matt bethancourt or matt obrien will make some scam of a fart calculator and i swear i'll be rich super quick and leaving my carbon feet printys all over the beaches of cancun and the glasses of glownig drinks with salt and papaya.

my birthday presents

my birthday is just around the corner (july 6th to be exact). if you want to be awesome, please buy me one of these yakov smirnoff glow in the dark shirts. they look like they might make up for the complete and utter disaster that was my scam of a captain eo shirt i bought for $30.00 on ebay.

in other news...

we're in ventura, about to head to santa barbara for the afternoon. after which, we will see our friends the matt and hailey and tomorrow we may go try and buy scalped tickets for mudcrutch at the ventura theater.

that guy

so it took me until about 7:15 this morning to realize i put on pants that still had a pair of boxers from a few days earlier stuck in the leg. they started coming out my pant leg on the way to the office to check my box.

we're watching something that has to do with anne frank. i'm getting over a nasty cold, so the timing couldn't be better.

in other news...

we're having another open house today. we should (if all goes well) be able to be in our house by early june. during the first bit of remodeling, we'll probably be living in ventura some. living in ventura will not make for a fun commute, so i may just sleep on the floor of the new place.

in other, other news...

i'm getting over being sick and jack is adorable and robyn is nice.

ollie johnston... dead.

here.

day is done

saturday night. robyn's putting the baby down. i'm listening to debussy, which i found out is different from da' bussey (a gary bussey cover band). it is however nice and i like it for writing and such.

this week was wild and tiring. we're getting to the end of making our album. this is my favorite, i think...

life in the west by rio bravo

Fandalism Free MP3 Hosting

... but the other guys like a few of the other ones better.

anyhow, this week was nuts. i had grades due. an outline for the script. some stuff to do on the whaler short film that we're shooting in may. and a show.

i also was quite affected by this. please don't make jokes i might make as the person was a friend, a colleague, and i've reason to believe students may have found this blog. it's not a secret as it's easily googled, but it's really bummed me out and made me sad.

oh, and we put an offer in on a house in silver lake. now we have to sell this one. i think i already told people as much.

things are looking up though, as i just purchased two sweet tickets to see sly and the family friggin' stone with my pa. i hope my son likes going to baseball games and concerts with me. it'd suck if his act of rebellion was... ah, i don't want to jinx it. whatever he rebels against will be cool i suppose. but then if i think it cool, he might not rebel... i don't know anything any more. maybe he'll rebel against being lazy in his twenties. and then i could maybe go back in time and learn something from him.

okay. bye.

Zoey's Show

When?: Tomorrow April 5th
Que Tiempo?: 8:00
How much?: $10.00

Fun times will abound in Ventura. Here's the link.

moving.

yesterday we found out a house we were interested in had fallen out of escrow sort of (it's a little complicated). anyhow, by the end of the day we made an offer. we went over with handyman mr. pool and his wife to see what we might be able to do to make the house a little (and by little, i mean a lot) less grandma. while we were looking around the place, the real estate man came by and told us our offer had been accepted. crazy.

now we have to sell our condo. we were going to have an open house sunday, but we may move it back a week to better prepare.

the new house is also in silver lake and it's a really fantastic deal, which was why we had to jump. we're in a little neighborhood just across rowena- walking distance to nicky d's type area.

here's a link...

happy.

Rafael Furcal, SS
Andre Ethier, LF
Matt Kemp, RF
Jeff Kent, 2B
Andruw Jones, CF
Russell Martin, C
James Loney, 1B
Blake DeWitt, 3B*
Brad Penny, P

(...cute baby in snow below is also happy)

in the snow

hey

im watching the baby and the ruttles. are the ruttles funny? jury is still quite out.

if you're not doing anything on the fourth of july, i will be celebrating my birthday at the hollywood bowl... the hollywood bowl will be celebrating 50 years of the dodgers in los angeles with the philharmonic and... wait for it... ... ... randy newman!!! playing baseball songs.

not much else. we're playing in ventura next saturday. jack is cooing a lot. we're looking to move. probably in the same neighborhood, which means another little while in los angeles. should be fun. life's wild man.

i also start school. national university. i will be paying for my credential, i guess. i just had some good pizza. we can't eat it much because when it comes out as robyn's milk, it upsets jack's stomach.

i am sore

from ultimate frisbee.

good thing it is easter. i will heal faster.

concert time!

matt inspired me. i've saved most of my concert tickets- presumably for this moment. and because i'm ocd.

first concert:
ray charles at the ventura theater. i was eight or so. to me he was the "you got the right one baby" guy. i fell asleep during the opening comedian. and woke up during hit the road jack.

middle school:
ray stevens, jim stafford (both fantastic country novelty geniuses), and the same christian bands matt saw mostly because of hume lake and not by choice. i would've seen more concerts i assume, but the tv toons artists rarely toured.

high school and beyond (in no particular order):
bob dylan was the first. other dylan shows (dylan and willie @ the el rey, dylan and phil lesh, dylan and merle haggard, dylan solo in bakersfield, dylan with asleep at the wheel in bakersfield, dylan and paul simon @ the hollywood bowl)
johnny and june (thousand oaks)
steve miller band
john stewart (one watching, one playing with)
willie (el rey, bridge, 4th of july picnic ventura w/ leon russell)
gordon lightfoot (2)
u2 (2)
stones
paul mccartney (2)
old 97s (2)
james taylor (3)
doobies/ george thorogood
jon brion (many: w/ gillian welch and david rawlings, b. tench, grant lee buffalo, fiona apple)
the roots
common
mavis staples
ray price
smothers brothers
tiger woods benefit w/: the eagles, hootie, and brian mcnight
van morrison
taj mahal
petty
greg allman
daft punk
brian wilson
bright eyes
rufus wainwain
eric burdon at linda mccartney's memorial in santa b
arcade fire
levon helm
"beach boys"
beastie boys
marty stuart and porter wagoneer
beck
wilco (many)
jeff tweedy solo
jonathn richman
billy idol
billy joe shaver
larry gatlin
richie furay
chris hillman
charlie daniels
john doe
cwk
x
social d
eric clapton
john fogerty
dr. john
dave alvin
phish
dick dale
dwight yoakam
garth brooks
huey lewis
carol king
elliott smith
granddaddy
elvis costello (2)
emmylou
everly brothers
flaming lips
frank black
bobby vinton
glen campbell
jackson browne
jens lekmen
jimmy buffett
charlie pride/ dixie chicks/ sawyer brown (after party for the CMAs)
os mutantes
john cale
keb mo
kings of leon
robert plant
the who (2)
lucinda williams
lyle lovett
skynyrd
mouse and the billionaire
nitty gritty dirt band
peter case
roger waters
thom york
randy newman
richard swift
rio bravo
ryan adams
steve earle
supergrass
traffic (sort of)
dick van dyke
poncho sanchez
bridge schools: CSNY, Willie Nelson, Wilco, Indigo Girls, Counting Crows, Incubus Dashboard Confessional, James Taylor, Ryan Adams, Tenacious D, Thom Yorke, LeeAnn Rimes, Jack Johnson, Vanessa Carlton, Crazy Horse, Pearl Jam, REM, Dave Mathews, Ben Harper, Tracy Chapman, Billy Idol, Jill Sobule, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Beck, Dave Mathews Band, Foo Fighters, Tegan & Sara, The Who, Pearl Jam, Sheryl Crow, Green Day, Billy Corgan & James Iha, Emmylou Harris, Lucinda Williams and Brian Wilson
gram parsons benefit: jim james, keith richards, nora jones some others...
cwk
the red west
we barbarians
dj death face patterson
dmh
supertones
jerry seinfeld (2)
robin williams
fred arminsen
gallagher (sp?)

and i think some more that i forgot.


---
bonus: people my dad saw that make me jealous:
jimi hendrix (many)
janis (many)
moby grape
captain beefheart
james brown
woodstock
doors
the band
altamont (including a stabbing/ and the burrito brothers)
and many more...

rocky mountain hygh

we're in colorado. we've eaten at the cracker b. chicken and dumplings, mustard greens, fried okra, fried apples, and biscuits. yum.

we've also jogged, relaxed, played in the snow (movies to follow), watched movies, and hung out with robyn's parents. it has been nice.

we will be going to ventura on wednesday.

there's also a new post up at hobosoul.

bye.

splish splash mish mash

watching. reading. listening. farting.

house.
the hero with a thousand feces.
some gordon lightfoot this morning. and cannonball.

i kind of took the day off from writing yesterday and just chilled. i did a little late at night, but not much. it kind of felt a little weird. im very much getting used to my schedule of work, work, work... fun work, but still work... playing with jack, running, making music, writing movies, watching movies, cooking dinner... it keeps me busy, but i like being busy.

we'll be going to colorado for a few days, which will be a nice reprieve. calm. movies. some snow. reading. etc.

busy is the week...

ive a busy week. tonight is mellow, as is tomorrow, but ive many an assessment to give and many a parent conference to attend and many a colorado to visit and many a paper to grade.

that is all.

shhh...

is what i just said to my class. we're listening to solo monk. they're doing a free write to start the day about plants that talk. i'm trying to take care of a bunch of official school/ credential/ life stuff. we're doing a budget today. maybe. or maybe we'll push it to tomorrow.

i've been running a lot lately. it's been nice. i also may extend my lent past lent. we'll see. i get a lot more done.

jack's cool. he was up when i left, which means robyn is probably up now. my mom comes on tuesdays and thursdays to watch him while robyn goes to school. it's a nice arrangement. she takes the train. i think she's made friends.

yesterday we ate honey chicken and watched children of men and seinfeld. i liked everything about children of men but the message, which was a bit lame. the chase was cool though. i like chase, running from danger movies a lot right now. and seinfeld.

when robyn and jack went to bed i edited my the office episode and finished my whaler short. the whaler short is about a whaler from another world who, after being swallowed by a whale, is transported to silver lake. he eventually becomes a famous indie rock star who sings sea shanties. it ends with him taking credit for slip sliding away. you can read it over at hobosoul.com.

i'm also in a band. we're almost done making a record. we will give it out for free because we are hippies.

i will watch before night falls tonight and read something. i am very busy, but it is good, constructive busy. i like being busy. it makes me tick. tock.

thus, my life in a nutshell.

jack takes hold

sick to my stomach

via dodgerthoughts...

From Diamond Leung of the Press-Enterprise:

Joe Torre declared Nomar Garciaparra the favorite to start at third base over Andy LaRoche. "Being the veteran guy, he has the inside track in being the starting third baseman," Torre said. Torre said he could tell LaRoche has been a bit anxious during the intrasquad games.

This might be a motivational tool for LaRoche, or it might be reality. But the end of March is still 32 days away. A track is just a track, and the outside track is still a track.

and juan pierre is still living in left field with an inside track on being the most useless left fielder in history. i am a redsox fan now. or at least a fan of my fantasy team(s). ned colletti can go sit on a used scalpel.

Mouth Guard

I get a mouth guard tomorrow for my teeth grinding. I'm only supposed to wear it at night so it probably won't be that creepy. The bell just rang, so I should be getting to grading and whatnot from the time out of the classroom last Thursday and Friday. Nothnig else.

sunday, sunday, sunday!

im watching that show on the travel channel with the guy who goes weird places and eats weird things. it is really cool.

i have band practice soon. we are cleaning up a bit. jack is sleeping in his swingy thing. i may write soon.

survey!

from darrens silly baby blog.

A) Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. pizza maker in whittier
2. concessions vendor
3. roadie
4. janitor

C) Places I have lived:
in order
1. ventura
2. biola
3. whittier
4. los angeles

D) TV Shows that I watch:
1. the office
2. the lost
3. the seinfeld
4. the hbos

E) People who e-mail me (regularly):
1. vern/ jeff
2. my bands

F) Four of my favorite foods:
1. sooshi
2. pizza
3. a lot of other things

G) Four places I would rather be right now:
1. vero beeches
2. roma
3. hawaii

H) Four friends that I think will respond
1. billy's friend gill
2. wollet or whatever his name was who lived with jayson and andy

I) Things I am looking forward to:
1. nothing this is dumb.

what im doing

ive stopped with the "what im reading, watching, listening" thing on the sidebar because i feel its a little silly sometimes. however i do like to occasionally see what my friends are into/ reading/ etc... it gives me a little picture into their lives.

because of this. and because ive got a moment...

reading: just finished the diving bell and the butterfly. very nice. id like to see the movie.
watching: seinfeld season 4. like the simpsons, seinfeld really doesn't get going until season 4. i also got caught up on the office on the nbc.com
listening: a lot of country. ive been writing to ravel and sad jazz. and listening to sixties and seventies pop rock and soul for musical inspiration... billy preston, the rascals, etc... so much so, that i hadn't taken a trip down the country highway and its quite doing me well.