Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Line in the Sand


Enough! I've had it with myself. I need to post more often. To that end, I've signed Penguin Postings up for a 31-day post challenge. I will be posting every day in October. The chosen theme is Vote.

Let's see what we can do with that. Come back tomorrow, and often!

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Cure-All Breakfast

Good french toast can make you forget what a rough week you've had. Then again, it probably helped that I just avoided Friday entirely. After the car stuff earlier and the school stuff I didn't even mention here this week needed to end prematurely. (Thank God for substitutes!)

I started my Saturday by making Monkey-Girl and her parents a breakfast of french toast and bacon. I enjoy cooking for others, and my audiences rarely hold back the appreciation and praise. This recipe was no exception.

After breakfast I got to play Dungeons & Dragons with my geek crew. Nice.

Later we had grilled burgers while we watched Spider-Man 3. Very nice.

Today was a great recharge, and it all started with breakfast. Let me know if you want that recipe.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Braking My Spirit

I try not to make this blog into a glorified whine session. Bare with me. At least appreciate my clever play on words.

Our Volkswagen's brake light switch died. So the brake lights were constantly burning even when the car wasn't running. Fortunately, VW has a recall on that particular part so they'll replace it for free. Unfortunately, we had to get it replaced at a dealership over an hour's drive away and in the eastern time zone. Still, we could work that. Then the VW's battery died right before we were supposed to leave. However; friend, Jason, was great enough to give us a jump start.

We were determined to make. We could have made it. We SHOULD have made it.

Then the accident happened.

NOT TO US! A car on it's way to Chattanooga was in an accident ahead of us. That's why we were crawling on the interstate for twenty minutes. That's why Phoebe (normally an excellent car rider) started to cry ferociously. The next exit was into downtown Chattanooga. We pulled into the Visitors Center parking lot and were immediately offered the use of someone's parking tag. (A bright spot to the evening.) Monkey-Girl changed Phoebe out of our trunk while I finally found the correct fuse to pull to get those darn brake lights off.

In order order to salvage the night, I asked that we go to TGI Friday's. It was nice, but Monkey-Girl's meal was cut short as she had to feed Phoebe. (We hadn't properly prepared for me to be able to feed her.) I finished and joined my girls in the VW. Needed a bit more of a boost, we found our way to the Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shop. Sated, we trudged home, the car no better off than when we had started.

The next day, I drove the VW another hour away (different direction) to another VW dealership. The repair is done, but the toll has been taken. Thank goodness my in-laws are coming to relieve us this weekend!

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Of Bonding and Undeath

So my friend, Vic, needed to geek out. (His words, not mine.) I got him started playing Dungeons & Dragons and now he's gotten into collecting the miniatures. Unfortunately, the nearest gaming retailer is over an hour away. With cash burning a hole in his pocket, he did the only reasonable thing. He called for a nerd roadtrip.

Monkey-Girl was too busy playing catch-up to watch Phoebarino. I thought my participation was a no-go. Then Monkey-Girl said the words my sleep deprived brain was beginning to think about possibly forming.

"What if you take Phoebe with you?"

Had Wil been up to it, we would have totally had a three-men-and-a-baby geekfest. Without Wil, Vic and I both had to be 50% more nerdy. I decked Phoebelicious out in her Dungeons & Dragons onesie, checked the diaper bag, and filled a bottle. Mission accomplished.

Since Vic drove, I bought dinner. We had a really nice time just talking about stuff and hanging out. Phoebe was great and only cried when she was hungry. I felt good removing distractions from Monkey-Girl.

While at the gaming store I picked up a little something to assist my Dungeon Mastering, a bag of relatively cheap figures I can use to represent hoards of creatures attacking my players.

Oh, Bag 'o Zombies where have you been all of my life? Why do I love you so?
  1. You supplement a game named Zombies!!! (that's right, three exclamation marks) that no one I know has even heard of.
  2. You'll cause me to make sure I've cleaned well lest the baby choke while eating zombies.
  3. Because of you, when asked, "how much did you spend?" I was able to say, "$22 with dinner and zombies."
  4. Quiet simply, you're chock full of a hundred glow-in-the-dark zombie figures.

Perhaps it's all of the above.

Check out Phoebe's pictures! There are, as of today, one-hundred of them.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Taking Time to Notice

With all the craziness lately, it can be difficult to appreciate the wonderful things God has to show me.

I took this picture last week while watching Phoebe. Monkey-Girl was at the library studying. Phoebe was still in her carrier just beginning to fuss. Mercutio was doing his thing. I saw this dew-dabbled web and thought, "I should take a picture of that, but there's so much else to do."

Then something else reminded me that the other things could wait.

I'm glad I did.

Please, take the time to sign up as a follower of this blog at the right. Knowing I have an audience encourages me to keep posting.

Monday, September 8, 2008

Frazz Is Therapy for My Soul

Today's Frazz comic by Jef Mallet is a a perfect example of why I love this strip. I particularly like the one-two punch of the teacher not leaving tips (not an issue here as I'm a former bartender) and riding on a converging train (think about it).

Frazz is a successful songwriter turned janitor at his old elementary school. He is also the school's most respected educator. Caulfield is a precocious young man who always seems to be getting into trouble for knowing more than his teacher. Early on the the series there was an extended period of time devoted to poking fun at standardized testing. Caulfield got a very low score as he refused to take the high-stakes test seriously and used the answer sheet to create pixilated versions of great works of art.

Some teachers love Frazz. Others despise it. They see the jabs at the mentality of the system as pokes at themselves. I say that if you are offended you should examine why. Personally, I see Frazz as a touchstone. I never want to be like Mrs. Olsen.

Why am I a math educator? To get young people to solve quadratic equations by completing the square? I should hope not. I see my time with students as a way of preparing them to solve life's problems. The way through any difficulty can be examined as a series of simple steps and procedures. The challenge comes from going from the concrete (problems in the book) to the abstract (securing a mortgage).

You can check Frazz out for yourself each day by clicking here.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

A Little Inspiration

The pun is completely intentional.

I am one of the few people on the internet to have purchased this action figure without any irony. If you know me at all, you know I love toys. A few years ago I was reading through Toy Fare, a magazine devoted to . . . uh . . . toys. I saw this figure and others from the line posed with some sophomoric caption. Looking to my toy shelf and seeing a significant lack of messiahs, I rushed to secure my very own son of man.

I've got to say that even though it isn't the focus of any toy display of mine, my occasional glance this figure's way results in a smile and lightened heart every time.

Train Up A Child, Inc. sells the above Jesus action figure along with a host (again, the pun is intentional) of other biblical action figures. The six-inch scale figures are available in light and dark skinned varieties for $6.95.

There were other Jesus action figures out there, but most of those didn't seem to have the same intentionality. Hopefully your search for a plastic savior replica will offer more variety with the same respect.