Thursday, March 23, 2006

Wile E. Coyote-Super Genius

I've always been a big fan of coyotes. Great survivors! Hunting them has always been a bad idea, since eleminating the large predators from an ecosystem causes smaller, even more annoying species to prosper. Anyway, canis latrans, Latin for "the talking dog" has an amazing ability to survive anywhere. And I mean anywhere! Check out this dude:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060322/od_nm/life_coyote_dc_5


Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Weepy Daddy

I just heard this song and it made me all weepy. Poor Miri, with the marshmallow dad.

The Things We've Handed Down by Marc Cohn

Don't know much about you
Don't know who you are
We've been doing fine without you
But, we could only go so far
Don't know why you chose us
Were you watching from above
Is there someone there that knows us
Said we'd give you all our love

Will you laugh just like your mother
Will you sigh like your old man
Will some things skip a generation
Like I've heard they often can
Are you a poet or a dancer
A devil or a clown
Or a strange new combination of
The things we've handed down

I wonder who you'll look like
Will your hair fall down and curl
Will you be a mama's boy
Or daddy's little girl
Will you be a sad reminder
Of what's been lost along the way
Maybe you can help me find her
In the things you do and say

And these things that we have given you
They are not so easily found
But you can thank us later
For the things we've handed down

You may not always be so grateful
For the way that you were made
Some feature of your father's
That you'd gladly sell or trade
And one day you may look at us
And say that you were cursed
But over time that line has been
Extremely well rehearsed
By our fathers, and their fathers
In some old and distant town
From places no one here remembers
Come the things we've handed down

Thursday, February 16, 2006

Everybody needs...

...a ukulele! I'm learning to play and it is the happiest little intstrument on the planet. Just strumming it makes me grin and I haven't learned a single chord! Stressed? Get an aloha shirt, some tikis and a ukulele and you will be transported to happy land (which I guess is somewhere near Hawai'i).

Friday, February 03, 2006

Growing older but not up

I did a short TV spot yesterday for my job and, when I saw it later, I noticed that my 40 years are finally starting to show. I'm not so fixated on my weight anymore (for my daughter's sake) but my face is starting to show the passage of time. So am I getting old? Nah...just older! Life is a barrel of monkeys right now, with my new job and little girl. And my wonderful wife just gets more beautiful every day. Not bad for a forty year old...

Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Huh.


I have no idea what to say about this...

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Still funny

I can't get enough of "Whose Line is it Anyway?"! I've seen every single one, over and over, but it is still outrageously funny. Never seen it? The American version is on almost every week night at 9pm CST on ABC Family. The British version can be seen occaisionally on Comedy Central. Collin rules!

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

New year, new job, new perspective

Here I sit at my new job at Exploration Place, a kid's science center in Wichita. I am the Programs Manager, inventing, developing and supervising program stuff...and having an absolute blast! The experiment as a librarian was an absolute failure. I enjoyed my time with kids, but those times were few and far between. Spending my day on the circulation desk and banging my creative head against the thick hides of the unbalanced and parochial females that ran the library only made me tired, crabby and very angry. So, when this job came along, I jumped at it! I've been in program for so much of my working life that this was just the place for me. Fun fun, fun!

Miri turned one in December. She nearly three feet tall and is the most fun loving little person I've ever met. The other night, while waiting in line at a pharmacy, she noticed a very unhappy man behind her and proceeded to dance and mug, trying to cheer him up. Little diva...

Renn faire rolls along well. We have gotten involved with the court at the Great Plains Fair and are having quite a fun time. We have some awesome garb and the Queen loves to hand out "bling" (shiny objects to pin on garb) to her loyal courtiers; I have so much now that I don't need to wear armor anymore. And, I will be inducted into the Order of the Garter this April, so just call "Sir"...

One sad note: I have lost my tiki room. Our good friend Liza fell on some hard times and we offered our home till she could get back on track and, unfortunately, she had to go into my tiki room. Oh, well, I had one for a while, and Cole promises that I will get another some day. At least my tiki's weren't packed away; they now live on some shelves in the bedroom.

Tuesday, August 02, 2005

OK, OK, now leave me alone!

Well, for all of you that have been whining about the fact that I haven't updated my blog in a while, here is a little something for you to think about:
1. It's my blog and I can let it sit and grow moss if I want to AND
2. Maybe you should tell your boss you don't have enough to do!

Friday, May 06, 2005

Wow. And what a season it was...

Well, it wasn't a national championship, but it was great. Thanks Fighting Illini basketball for all the achievements this year.
1. The best record in men's division 1
2. Only two losses, with an average loss by only 3 points
3. A winning average of over 10 points
4. One of the greatest comebacks in tourney history against Arizona
5. Classy wins in the Big 10 tourney after Coach Weber's mom died
6. Making Dick Vital eat crow all season
7. Longest run at #1
8. Dee Brown

Again, guys, thanks.

Saturday, April 02, 2005

Final Four time! Go Illini!

Old Princeton yells her Tiger,
Wisconsin, her Varsity
And they give the same old Rah, Rah, Rah,
At each University,
But the yell that always thrills me
And fills my heart with joy,
Is the good old Oskee-Wow-Wow,
That they yell at Illinois.

Os-kee-Wow-Wow,
Illinois,
Our eyes are all on you.
Oskee-Wow-Wow,
Illinois,
Wave your Orange and your Blue.
Rah! Rah!
When the team trots out before you,
Every man stand up and yell,
Back the team to victory,
Os-kee-Wow-Wow.
Illinois.

Final Four time! Go Illini!

Old Princeton yells her Tiger,
Wisconsin, her Varsity
And they give the same old Rah, Rah, Rah,
At each University,
But the yell that always thrills me
And fills my heart with joy,
Is the good old Oskee-Wow-Wow,
That they yell at Illinois.

Os-kee-Wow-Wow,
Illinois,
Our eyes are all on you.
Oskee-Wow-Wow,
Illinois,
Wave your Orange and your Blue.
Rah! Rah!
When the team trots out before you,
Every man stand up and yell,
Back the team to victory,
Os-kee-Wow-Wow.
Illinois.

Final Four Time! Go Illini!

Old Princeton yells her Tiger,
Wisconsin, her Varsity
And they give the same old Rah, Rah, Rah,
At each University,
But the yell that always thrills me
And fills my heart with joy,
Is the good old Oskee-Wow-Wow,
That they yell at Illinois.

Os-kee-Wow-Wow,
Illinois,
Our eyes are all on you.
Oskee-Wow-Wow,
Illinois,
Wave your Orange and your Blue.
Rah! Rah!
When the team trots out before you,
Every man stand up and yell,
Back the team to victory,
Os-kee-Wow-Wow.
Illinois.

Sunday, January 09, 2005

That icy, cold feeling

Tuesday, January 4th, 2PM. A large ice storm moves into Wichita and takes down the large tree in our backyard. That tree then falls onto the electric line to our house and pulls it down. So, no power and no heat since. We've been living in a hotel waiting for power to be restored, which could be Wednesday or Thursday of this week, due to the massive number of power outages in the area. Oddly enough, the phone and cable (same company) were also cut off, but that was repaired in just two days. We would have just stayed in the house, but the three days following the ice storm had temperatures well below freezing. Monday morning a kerosene heater will be delivered and we'll move back into the dark house. And I've had to work EVERYDAY this week. Ask me how I feel about Kansas...

On a good note: the #1 ranked University of Illinois men's basketball team is still undefeated! Go Illini!

Saturday, December 18, 2004

Get over it!

Let me begin by saying that all the Democrats I know are perfectly reasonable people who accept the results of the last election and are busily working on improvements to their party so that it will be viable in the future. Good for them. But what I can't get over is that the far left is so unbelieving of the fact that more people wanted Bush re-elected than put their invisible man in the Oval Office that they are turning into a bunch of petulant little kids. For instance:

>Hollywood has-been Chevy Chase needs a boost for his lagging career, so to get some much-needed publicity he's launching another attack on our president.


"Even certified Hollywood liberals were reeling after Chevy Chase's potty-mouthed Bush-bashing Tuesday night at the Kennedy Center," the Washington Post reported today.


After fellow travelers Alec Baldwin and Susan Sarandon accepted some cheesy little awards from the hate group that calls itself People for the American Way, Chase, PAW's master of ceremonies, "took the stage a final time and unleashed a rant against President Bush that stunned the crowd. He deployed the four-letter word that got Vice President Cheney in hot water, using it as a noun. Chase called the prez a 'dumb [expletive].' He also used it as an adjective, assuring the audience, 'I'm no [expletive] clown either. ... This guy started a jihad,'" the Post revealed.

Chase raged, "This guy in office is an uneducated, real lying schmuck ... and we still couldn't beat him with a bore like Kerry."

PAW's president, Ralph Neas, clucked: "Chevy Chase's improvised remarks caught everyone off guard, and were inappropriate and offensive. It was not what I would have said, and certainly not the language People for the American Way would ever use in discussing any president of the United States."

PAW's founder, Norman Lear, who still hasn't kept the promise he made to the Wall Street Journal to move to New Zealand if Bush won re-election, said: "I thought it was utterly untoward, obviously unexpected and unscripted and all that stuff. And, uh - it was Chevy Chase. He'll live with it. I won't."

P.S.: Democrat soon-to-be-ex-senator Tom Daschle, the Post tattled, "looked taken aback when he went on directly after Chase."

Daschle's opening line: "I've had to follow a lot of speakers, but ..."<

I still don't know which was worse: Chase's rant or the fact that somebody was coked-up enough to give Sarandon and Baldwin an award for "protecting democracy."


Friday, December 10, 2004

Now I really am Miri's dad

It is a bright, breezy day here in Wichita, and my two best girls are having a snooze. I can't say that I blame them; it was a rough few days.

Miriam Joscelyn Bell was born at 5:42pm CST on Wednesday, December 8. She weighed 8 pounds, six ounces and was 20 inches long. She has lots of black hair and grey eyes. She came after nearly 12 hours of induced labor and much hollering and carrying on. I felt pretty useless through the whole thing, but at least I was there. Afterward, Cole (her mama) was exhausted, in pain, very hungry and more beautiful to me than ever. Later on, after I returned home from letting the dog out (poor Frippen!), I expected to find her out cold. Instead she was wide awake, smiling, hair back in place and ejoying hospital french fries. God, I love that woman...

Miri was very well formed for a newborn and the nurse cleaning her commented to me that her feet were very large. "Better go by a basketball, daddy," she said. I'm thinking fencing gear: tall people have a better reach!

We spent one day at the hospital (swanky corner suite) and got home last night about 9PM. Frippen wants to be a good big brother dog, but his terrier personality is overwhelming and annoying. He'll adapt, though; he's a good dog. Cole is breast feeding, but apparently it doesn't move quickly enough for Miri. She was up most of the night yelling for food. Finally, a little formula this morning satisfied her and Cole was able to get a nap. We don't have a bottle, though. I need to pick one up when I go grocery shopping today.

It was a great experience for all and we are looking forward to watching her grow. Check back here: I tend to brag.

Chuck, now Dad-man

Monday, December 06, 2004

Music in the air

With the holidays here, it is hard to escape all of the cheerful, festive music being played in both homes and stores. Cole and I were talking about it, and I came up with my 3 most favorite tunes and two least favorite. Not that anybody really cares, but that is what you get for reading this.

Most Favorite:
The Christmas Song (any version is worthy, but Nat King Cole's version is still the best)
I'll be Home for Christmas (what great history this song has! Look it up and get a new appreciation for the song)
Sleigh Ride (Mel Torme's version: skippy doodly wah)

Least Favorite:
Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree (Have twangin' country Christmas, y'all)
Jingle Bell Rock (such awful lyrics...)

Well, today is Miri's due date, but still no little girl. *sigh*

Thursday, December 02, 2004

Political cartoon

As both a librarian and a member of the vast right-wing conspiracy (which according to the American Library Association are mutually exclusive), I reccomend this cartoon:

http://www.time.com/time/election2004/cartoons/20040609/2.html

Oh, and no baby yet...

Thursday, November 25, 2004

Dennis Miller sums it up

"If two gay guys want to get married, I couldn't care less. It's their business. If some foreigner wants to blow their wedding up, I want my government to eliminate him."

Dennis Miller, Jan. 2004

Tuesday, November 23, 2004

Yet another great book!

I love this part of my job! Here is another great picture book:

Mole and the Baby Bird
by Marjorie Newman, illustrated by Patrick Benson
Bloomsbury Childrens Books, 2002
ISBN 1-58234-784-0

Chuck

10 days and counting

After this morning's OB appointment, Cole is in the "any minute now" stage. Of course, it could still be December 6th before Miri shows up. I'll keep you posted.

Chuck