Home for the Holidays

Well, holiday actually, but lets not get too technical.

Monkey-Girl and I drove up to Wisconsin on Friday. Along the way, we picked up our friend, Sean. Much fog was enjoyed by all. We ate at the Yardarm Bar and Grill in Racine (have it!) with some of my clan.

Saturday we attended/participated in a friend's ordination to the Deaconate. (That is correct. I don't care what spell check says.) I must say it was very nice to get a preview of what Monkey-Girl will be doing in another year. I kept thinking, "I'll get to hold the baby during this!" I'm excited.

Above is an example of my previously teased contribution to my school's holiday decor. It's a picture created from a set of points listed as ordered pairs and plotted on a coordinate plane. Here's another. I like them because they make me feel like I may have some artistic talent. (I don't.) The books in the series are called Cartesian Cartoons or some variant of that and are excellent for supplementing an algebra lesson.

Tonight we go to our home parish's Christmas service. It will be great to see everyone again. I've been joyful since we crossed the Wisconsin-Illinois border. (Even if the Packers tanked.) It's wonderful to be home!

Technical Difficulties

Sorry. I had quite the head of steam built up there for awhile. It was my intention to update this blog each day through year's end and possibly beyond. Well, reality stepped in and put the kibosh on that. My laptop died again. To compound the issue, I can't find our camera.

I've decided that in spite of these setbacks I will attempt an update. Here it goes:

Today is the last full day of school before Winter Break. (Your titles have to be secular when you're in a public school.) The kids are crazed. The teachers are manic. All is well with the world. The halls and class rooms are decked out in festive regalia. (I too was able to contribute, but more on that later.)

My favorite decoration, unfortunately, has to be described in words. (Again, no camera.) There is a strand of garland arcing over our heads in one hallway with signs hanging from it. The signs read, "Have a Holley Jolley Christmas!" Now before you go hanging your head in shame at the decline of the American education system, let me explain.

Kathryn Holley, our art teacher, is the occupant of the room to the left of the previously mentioned garland. Likewise, Roger Jolley, social studies, is the teacher on its right side. So, in fact, its a clever decoration. Yay!

X-Stitch for X-Mas

This is the coolest Christmas decoration ever! It combines the cheesiness of a Star Wars photo montage, superimposed holiday clip art, and counted cross stitch.

Some enterprising eBay personality has ignored copyright law in order to create this cross stitch chart. The modern-day pirate is asking for $10 with shipping.

I know I ought to be morally opposed to this, but it's just too uber-ridiculous to resist. I do have some birthday cash left. I'll sleep on it.

Happy hundredth post, y'all!

Serendipity

I was racking my brain to come up with a picture to write about for today's post. I really didn't have anything to say. I guessed updating the blog every day was a little too ambitious. I was content to break my streak and just finish my book.

Then I looked behind me. Mercutio has the right idea. It's late fall. The days are still getting shorter. The semester is coming to an end. Lots of paperwork is coming due. In short, the stress is on. It's time to find a buddy to snuggle with!

Mercutio's buddy is a recently acquired family member, Vibo, the vibrating monkey. I bought Vibo for Monkey-Girl when she was just starting to experience the aches and pains of being pregnant. He's nice to lean against when your back is hurting and you can leave him out when not in use. He's too cute to put away.

I think God wanted to get the message out. Self-care and companionship are a must right now.

Get too it!

Mr. Jones, You've Let Me Down

The Jones Soda Company made a name for themselves by creating ridiculous flavors for carbonated beverages. The Thanksgiving Holiday Pack -- sporting such flavors as turkey and gravy, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes -- put them on the map.

Since then they've made an effort to legitimize themselves with more sane offerings. Cream soda, green apple, and berry lemonade can now be found in Wal-Mart's soda aisle.
Besides being more accessible, Jones is trying to be more healthy. Their sodas are made with pure cane sugar. No high-fructose corn syrup here. Those trying to be nice to their bodies will be happy for that.

Wanting to be a healthier daddy, I sought out one of my favorite varieties of soft drink: root beer. Having found the Jones version of said nectar, I have this to report . . . eh.

For me, all root beers can be divided into two distinct camps: sweet and spicy. Sweet can be best summed up by its representative A&W. Its title says it all -- that is -- not much. Spicy, on the other hand, is an acquired taste I'll admit. Once acquired however, a world of flavor will be opened unto the brave taster. Spicy, you are my muse!

Jones, you are no spicy.

As for me, I will trust in my faithful IBC root beer. Poor, poor liver.

Too Much Fun to Bake

I've got to take the time to do some Christmas baking. These guys look fun and delicious (a double threat,) and I want to make some. I've baked within the last week. (Chocolate covered cheesecake bites anyone?) That's not the issue. I just have a need to bake something you should only bake in December. Now I feel like I'm racing the clock to the 25th.

It's my own fault that I haven't had the time to do this sort of thing. I chose to drive up to Murfreesboro to play Dungeons & Dragons today. I played Heroscape yesterday. (I'm such a geek.) I just wish that there was more time in the day. Who doesn't?

I vow to make some gingerbread men this week. You are my witnesses. I will make the time. (I never just stumble upon some extra time.) If you don't read about my gingerbread exploits by next Sunday call me on it.

The clock is ticking . . . .

Famous Fog Finally Falls

The campus we live on is a meteorological oddity. (It is to me at least, but I'm no meteorologist.) We're on a plateau and yet, come fall, we experience this crazy dense fog while the valley is crystal clear.

Today was the first time we experienced the white-knuckled, oh-my-God-we're-all-going-to-die-driving-down-the-mountain, fog. Yet, once I drove off the Domain, there was nearly limitless visibility. An hour later, back on the Domain, the fog was as thick as ever.

Today was a good day to stay indoors and play Heroscape for six hours at a go. Which I did.

For those of you that care, Guy the Chia Guy is doing well. As you can see his "hair" is coming in nicely. I expect he will have a full and glorious coat by Christmas

43 Years Young

Yesterday marked the anniversary of the 1964 debut of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer on NBC. (It was later moved to CBS.) The holiday special produced by Rankin/Bass is the longest running show of its type. It is a personal favorite of mine and one of the few programs I've purchased in both VHS and DVD formats.

Two of its stars, Santa and the titular Rudolph, were recently restored to their original glory. It seems that the puppets were saved from the Japanese animation studio's dumpster by a Rankin/Bass employee and gifted to a family with young children. The two were used as toys for several years before becoming holiday decorations. Rudolf was actually kept in a candy dish near the end of his decorating tenure. Due to the abuse these two took over the years, they were retired to the attic for being unattractive.

In 2005, the two puppets were purchased by a toy collector. The collector hired an artist to restore the pair. The above photo was taken after a recent unveiling. One would be hard pressed to find evidence of the stain on Santa's face, the mold under his beard, or his two broken legs. The poor guy was even missing half his mustache. Rudolf fared no better better than his jolly friend. The cloven-hooved wonder had a broken neck and couldn't hold his head up. His trademark nose had been lost and replaced with Play-Doh and candle wax.

The restorer commented that the job was very rewarding and stressful. She felt she was holding her own childhood in her hands as she worked. The worst part for her was having to behead Ruddy in order to replace a control wire in his neck.

By the looks of it, she's done a wonderful job. My inner 5-year-old approves.

Calendar Defender

My guy Optimus is keeping vigil. He's making sure no one lays a finger on my Advent calendar. The German chocolaty goodness is mine. All mine, you hear!?!

Oh, Optimus? I keep him in delicious energon. He's more than grateful. He's built for defense. He lives for situations like this. That and if he did complain, he knows I'd put him back in storage with the other transformers.

That's all I got for tonight, folks. It was Survivor night at our friends' house and it's late.

I'm putting up a new entry every day now. They can't all be winners.

Samurai X Sudoku

Has the sudoku fad died out yet?

I don't care. I enjoy it. As a math teacher, I'm almost obligated to. Here's a bit of professional insight. There's very little math involved in solving a sudoku puzzle. Sure there's logic, a valuable mathematics tool, but certainly not enough actual mathematics to justify Shanghaiing math classrooms across America. Numbers are just symbols being used to hold places in the puzzle. You can use letters, shapes, colors . . . anything!

In spite of that, I still like it as a personal distraction. I just don't subject my students to it.

Now for the rules:
1) Use the digits 1 through 9 to fill in every cell of the puzzle.
2) Each digit may only be used once in each row, column, nine-box-square, and diagonal within each colored area.
3) Some colored areas do overlap.
4) There is only one unique solution.
5) The puzzle can be solved using only logic. No guessing required.

Dare you face the dreaded Samurai X?

Forgive Me

Monkey-Girl and I have fallen into an odd Yuletide tradition. We've happened to see nearly every installment of The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. This year we actually decided to see the show instead of something else. (Check out Tin Man on Sci-Fi!)

The show doesn't just feature women in their underwear. There are always musical performances. This year features the debut of the Spice Girls reunion. I suppose my sarcastic prayers have been answered.

So far, this show has been quite tame compared to my recollections. The first year, they had to cut away from the models as they walked back from the runway. The ladies were revealing too much "ga-dunk" in their thongs I guess. I'm seeing a lot of capes and bikinis this year.

Sorry this is so short. Ms. Klum calls.

No One Bid On This!

This is the weirdest/coolest Star Wars collectible ever. It features a festive Darth Vader in all his evil glory complete with a wreath/stand for display purposes. I can't believe I missed this thing coming out. Perhaps because it was a Star Wars Shop exclusive . . .

Regardless, have you ever seen anything so beautifully trashy? That crazy red makes you want to taste this guy just to see if it's peppermint or cinnamon flavored. The plastic wreath for him to stand on that looks like it was picked up at a Woolworth's on December 26th. It's perfect.

Ebay currently has over half-a-dozen of these nuggets of wonder up for auction. I'm very, very tempted.

Candles Aren't Just for Chanukah

Today is the First Sunday of Advent. "Christmas Time is Here," says the Vince Giraldi song. It's time for bringing yard trimmings into your home and bringing decorations outside. As Episcopalians, Monkey-Girl and I like to light candles in greenery to signify the passage of time during Advent. As we're not getting a tree this year, I thought we needed a wreath. Here's ours. It comes complete with color coded candles!

Not wanting to do completely without a tree, I smuggled this bad boy out of the nursery. Charlie Brown would be quite proud. Can you believe the sincerity oozing out of this guy? Now that is a tree to be proud of!

Speaking of Guy, here he is. Chia Guy is now sporting goo! He should be sprouting in a couple of days.

Belated Birthday - Chia Style!

I am of the generation that grew up watching the Chia Pet commercial played in a seemingly constant loop during commercial breaks from Batman the camp-tacular 60s television show. The theme was drilled into my head. "Ch-ch-ch-Chia!" When it came time to spend some of my birthday money it seemed only logical to track down this bit of nostalgia.

Surprisingly enough, I had to go to two different drug stores to find this thing. The first had the full line of licensed Chia products; Chia Homer Simpson, Chia Garfield, Chia Elmer Fudd, etc. As cool as that was, I wasn't going to settle for anything less than a Chia original. At the second store I entered I found a similar selection to the first. Unsatisfied, I dug through the display until I found, in the back, this little item. Behold! Chia Guy!! (The large letters at the top of the package may read Chia Head, but at the very bottom you can see his real name.)

I've begun the crucial yet boring process of preparing the pottery. The head itself must soak for twenty-four hours before the actual fun begins. If you click on the picture at the left, you'll see a larger image of Chia Guy. (Named, I'm sure, for my uncle.) His scalp immediately reminded me or Marvel Comic's own Norman Osborn. Also, you'll notice Guy is typical of most french men with his large nose.


I'm really looking forward to tomorrow at one o'clock. Then I get to slather Guy's stripey head with this seed goo. The seeds too must prep for twenty-four hours. (How convenient!) They're already starting to look like the raspberry jam I put on Monkey-Girl's pb&j this afternoon.




I'll keep you all informed as to Chia Guy's progress. (I know you're all rivited.) He should have a full, luxurious, head of alfalfa by Christmas.

A Good Samaritan for Today

At a time in our history when immigrants are being vilified regardless of their legal status, Manuel Jesus Córdova Soberanes stepped up to become and example for all of us.

As reported here, Córdova, a Mexican bricklayer, on his way to Tuscan, AZ, stopped just fifty miles short of his goal to save an eight-year-old boy. The boy had survived a car crash which ultimately resulted in his mother's death. Even though neither spoke the other's language, Córdova was able to discern that the boy had been in an accident with his mother.

After an unsuccessful attempt to rescue the mother, Córdova built a fire and stayed with the boy until rescuers could arrive.

Córdova was deported.

The boy was treated for minor injuries and reunited with his biological father.

A columnist for Arizona Republic wrote that Córdova was probably nobody special. That's the point. Neither are any of us.

Thanksgiving 2007

I'm up early (for a holiday) so that I can watch the most famous parade in the world. I love this thing! I watched this when I was a little kid. It was the only thing I could do on a Thursday with no school and with my parents preparing to gorge their entire family on turkey. It helped that it was so kid friendly back then.

When I grew older I was lucky enough to see this parade in person. That was my first trip to New York City. I was there with my best friend. We were both theatre nerds. (Note the spelling. Damn you, spellcheck!) The parade has slowly evolved into a Broadway love fest. The kiddie stuff is still there, too. Basically, it's designed for me.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Beverage of Choice

What have I been drinking lately? It's a question I'm sure many of you have found yourselves asking while lying awake at night. Well, here it is in all it's glory; my elixir. I find myself thinking about pouring one of these while at work on particularly difficult days.

It's not what you think.

Cranberry Splash Sierra Mist is God's way of opening my heart to the wonders of the holiday season. No, seriously. It's that good. I heard about this wonderful drink last year, but stupidly did not buy 30 cases of it. Although, if I had tried it, I'm sure I would have. It has returned for this year's batch-o-holidays and has claimed my tongue as it's slave.

Now, I'm a little nervous. I know that this is a limited edition soda. Come January, this will be gone from store shelves and my pantry. I just hope it makes it back to me come November of '08. I don't have the best of luck when it comes to consumables. Long-time readers will remember the Shamrock Shake fiasco. There was another Christmas themed soda; Holiday Spice Pepsi. May it rest in piece. Even television shows aren't immune from my reverse Midas touch. I give you Firefly, Arrested Development and Drive.

I'm just going to have to have faith that God will see me through. (I guess this is good practice for the whole being pregnant thing.)

First Baby Picture!

There it is. The squiggle inside the dark oval is my baby. As you can see, there's just one there. No multiples in spite of what some people have said. (You know who you are.) According to the measurements, Baby is as big as the top of a pen cap. (That's about 1/4 inch in diameter!) The projected due date is July 6, 2008.

Wow!

Of Colds, Candles and Crabby-Face

So, God thought it was wrong of me to use a sick-day at work without being actually sick. Fortunately, He saw fit to help out by making sure I was actually sick. Joy! All in all, being under the weather was okay. It just made it hard to communicate during the latter half of my 12-hour Dungeons & Dragons game on Saturday.

Last Sunday, a racial slur was found spray-painted onto one of the buildings of the undergraduate campus. The university officials moved quickly to remove the graffito. So quickly that few people even heard about it. That's the problem. This Christian school did nothing but release a statement saying it was bad. The students of the school of theology were personally moved to action and took matters into their own hands by writing and performing a candle light vigil this evening. Some would argue that they didn't really do anything, but I think they did. The only effective response to hatred and bigotry is love. That's what this service was about. The students who organized this deserve many congratulations for their bravery, leadership, and integrity. I'm especially proud of Monkey-Girl (as I must be) who lead the musical portion of the service.

Lastly, I'm afraid I have to mention Crabby-Face. She's one of Monkey-Girl's fellow seminarians. Crabby-Face has a reputation for being - well, crabby. Anyway, Monkey-Girl was telling a friend at school how excited she was to be getting off the mountain especially how fun it would be to go to Barnes and Noble and get baby books. At this, Crabby-Face (not previously in the conversation) made a laugh-like sound. Monkey-Girl then called her into the conversation and asked for the reason for her amusement. "As if any book could really prepare you for childbirth," was what C-F had to say.

Wow! I guess, since C-F is a mom already, that we can assume she had her child after having done no research what so ever. Furthermore, since it's a fool's game to think that one could ever know everything about theology from "any book," C-F must have done none of the required reading for her courses here.

It amazes me what some people will do or say without thinking of how others may perceive them. I seriously doubt that Crabby-Face meant to sound as if she was belittling our excitement at being pregnent. I also doubt that she frequents Penguin Postings, but if she does and she sees through the pseudonym, I won't be ashamed. Some people have to be told when they're embarrassing themselves.

Playin' Hooky

I needed a mental health day. I took one. Monkey-Girl and I will be heading out to the new mall after her morning class. We're really looking forward to checking out their Barnes and Noble because 1) we're nerds and 2) we want to read up on being pregnant.

Today's image comes from somewhere on the internet. It's uncle Owen and Aunt Beru from Episode IV: A New Hope post stormtrooper raid. I know it's sick, but it tickles my fancy.

Tell 10 to Tell 10

The Breast Cancer site is having trouble getting enough people to click on their site daily to meet their quota of donating at least one free mammogram a day to an underprivileged woman.

It takes less than a minute to go to their site and click on "donating a mammogram" for free (pink window in the middle).

This doesn't cost you a thing.

Their corporate sponsors/advertisers use the number of daily visits to donate mammogram in exchange for advertising.

Here's the web site! Pass it along to people you know.

http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/

Courtesy of the "Tell 10 to Tell 10" Group on Facebook and Eric Ryniker.

The Celebration

This weekend has been quite busy. The undergraduate school had its homecoming. With over a thousand alumni descending (or, since we live on a mountain, ascending) on the campus, several people were asked to tend bar for various parties throughout the weekend. I stepped up and made some extra money in the process. Boy, can those alums drink!

The upshot is this: Monkey-Girl and I haven't actually celebrated our expected addition yet. So tonight I made a dessert for us to enjoy in just such a vain.

Behold monkey bread! It seemed the most appropriate thing to make.

Halloween Creche

What else could be making our Halloween night so full but a "traditional" living nativity. Participants were encouraged to costume themselves and stand in for the recognizable characters from a creche.

Most of the choices were logical. There was an angel, a wise man, Mary (wearing blue and sporting a beard), Joseph (not pictured, sorry Wil), even a donkey.

There were also opportunities to buck tradition in favor of more creative interpretation. Standing in for baby Jesus is Aaron. Aaron dressed as Hugh Hefner for the night. His lovely wife, Rachel, is a Playboy Bunny. My guess is she's a bunny that was present at the birth of Christ. The bowl on baby Jesus' tummy? That's for trick-or-treat candy.

Monkey-Girl and I were invited to participate, but Halloween being on a Wednesday can sure hobble the celebration. Besides which, we took a pregnancy test and found out we were going to be parents that night. Cut us some slack!

Ta Da!

So this is a major part of why Halloween was so full.

Yay, us!

Halloween 2007

Lots of stuff going on today. There's too much to tell in one sitting, but I'll just say that trick-or-treaters are very persistent down here. We had our porch light off. We had no candy for kids. We still had about four kids come to our door within the half-hour we were home. I had to give up my own candy sent to me by my mom. (There are tears on the keyboard as I type this.) We eventually fled to a party down the street. Once I find my camera cable, I'll post a picture or two from the shindig.

Happy hauntings, all!

Digital Relief

Meet Riku. She's the high-energy cutie from the video game Final Fantasy X. The name is increasingly misleading as the number of sequels continues to swell. This is compounded by the fact that the games aren't really sequels of one another. There's a new story on a new world and new game mechanics each time out. Oh, wait! This particular outing, FF-X, did have a sequel: Final Fantasy X-2. It's way confusing and possibly better for you if you never actually read this paragraph.

So Monkey-Girl has returned from a week off from class, but not a week off from classwork. She has been quite stressed as of late and has needed to blow off some steam. He answer: dip into the old video game well.

It's been fun just having Monkey-Girl near as she plays her game and I putz around the internet. Tonight, Mercutio has deigned to join us as well. Joy.

Update: Monkey-Girl updated her blog.

Also, no spelling errors for this entry. Double-joy.

My New Name

All one really needs in order to be a Jedi is a funny name. That's what the people at Liquid Generation think anyway. If you go here, you'll watch a commercial then you'll be asked 15 questions about your personality. When done, you too will have a nifty sign to hang on your webpage.

Crazy Awesome, or Just Crazy?

Transformers just came out on DVD. The movie did alright at the box office this summer. $700,000,000 world-wide is still considered alright, right?

As a result, nearly every major retailer wants the public to buy the movie at their stores. In order to get consumers into their stores, the major retailers are offering exclusives with their copies of the DVD.

Target has the weirdest/coolest exclusive. Pictured above is the latest plastic incarnation of Optimus Prime. True to his nature, Optimus transforms, but not into the traditional semi. This boy's a DVD case!

Geeks of the world rejoice!

A Villainous Scheme

Umm . . . .

All I can say is that comics have changed a lot since the 1940s. Also, the American version of the English language has changed a lot in the sixty years since this particular comic panel was created.

It seems Joker had made quite a mistake. So big a mistake one could say he was being rather bone-headed. Get it?

Now, get your mind out of the gutter!

If you'd like to see more innocent comments made raunchy by sixty years of lingual evolution, go here.

Mom, you don't need to go. Please don't.

Trick or Treat

Little kiddies aren't the only ones wearing masks this Halloween. This Kaleesh warrior is carrying his clan's traditional bone mask. If the mask looks a little familiar, that's because it should. This handsome guy has a featured role in 2005's Revenge of the Sith. This is what General Grievous looked like before his "accident".

Hasbro has released a metric ton of super-cool Expanded Universe action figures. There are figures based on comics, cartoons, and video games. Best of all: the local "nexus of evil" has all of them.

It's fun to walk the toy aisle again!

Happy October!

This lovely picture was lifted from Kate's Blog. She has a wonderfully simple and whimsical artistic style. Her subject matter is exquisite.

I've said it before. I'll say it again. I love the fall (and Monkey-Girl). Enjoy!

New Season New Recipe

I really like fall. The weather is just right. It gets dark early. There's football. I can't list all the reasons here and I have more important things to do.

In honor of a friend, I tried my hand at making pumpkin soup. Wow! It's fun and easy to make. It tastes great. It's healthy. Most importantly, it gives me an excuse to buy pumpkins.

Buying pumpkins makes it feel like Halloween which makes it feel like my birthday's just around the corner which makes it feel like Christmas which makes this a very long sentence.

Another post with no misspellings and it's the twelfth in a month. Every thing's coming up penguin_poet!!!

The Begining and the End

What's wrong Han? Ear splitting alarms sounding aboard the Falcon? Toothache brought on by belting down one too many nerf steaks? No? Must be the fact that you are in The Star Wars Holiday Special.

Had the special been in any way palatable, it would have launched a series of similar holiday specials for other movie franchises. Just imagine: The Rocky Holiday Special, The Star Trek Holiday Special, and Indiana Jones and the Holiday of Specialness. Heck, we'd have seen The Lord of the Rings Holiday Special and The Pirates of the Caribbean Holiday Special by now. This paragraph may now official hold the record for the most frequent use of the words holiday and special. Special holiday.

As it was, Lucas' vision did not translate too well to the small screen in November of 1978. The world was not ready to hear Bea Arthur sing about life as a cantina bartender in a galaxy far, far away. The cast of the original movie all made it back to offer up some legitimacy, but to no avail. Even the debut of a Boba Fett, a character not to be seen again for nearly two years in The Empire Strikes Back, could keep this thing afloat. The Star Wars Holiday Special was the death of the cinema related, non-religious, one-off television program.

The special was only aired once. It was never released on VHS, beta, laserdisk, DVD, etc. (You can find bootleg copies at sci-fi conventions and online.) Lucas has only recently acknowledged its existence by allowing Hasbro to produce a 3-3/4 inch action figure dubbed Animated Debut Boba Fett.

See kids? The prequels really could have been worse. A LOT worse.

DVD Relief

Thank goodness for Wal-Mart's $5 Halloween Movie Sale. The title is not official, but you now know exactly what I'm talking about. It was just what I needed after school today.

Among the many iterations of Friday the 13th and other "horror" perennials were these absolute gems. The Day the Earth Stood Still is THE sci-fi film of the 1950s. Notice that I used the word film and not movie. Sci-fi movies of the 1950s featured giant ants and lizards. This Golden Globe (TM) winning film is something else. This is science fiction at its absolute best. It has inspired generations of filmmakers. It is only broadly definable as horror, but thanks to the questionable labeling it's now mine for a fin.

Next up, Shock Treatment. Although the "sequel" to The Rocky Horror Picture Show, it absolutely does NOT belong to the horror category. (As if RHPS did.) The most frightening thing about the film is the poster. Having watched it again tonight, I am surprised at its relevance today. Released in 1982, it deals with normal, moral, people thrust in front of television cameras. It tracks the decline of said morals and the corruption of society at large. Reality TV, anyone? Now, this IS a sequel to RHPS so the above message is discernible only through the lens of campy costumes and wacky show tunes. That said, give a try sometime. Once you do, complain here in the comments section.

. . . Almost . . . October . . . .

September has been a long and tiring month for me. I feel drained all of the time. It's a chore to do just about anything. That's my lame excuse for why this blog has been so static lately. (On the bright side, September may yet end up having my highest monthly post-count so far.)

I'm glad this week is a short one for school. (Homecoming festivities are eating up all but a half-hour of Friday's regular schedule.) When we go back on Monday, it'll be a new month. For some reason, that makes me feel good.

Postscript: Spellcheck tells me I have no misspellings! That's another one for the plus-column. (I'm taking what I can get.)

Super-Geek!

Not only do I teach math and play board games; I actually try to link the two. GEEK!

I try to tell Monkey-Girl about Platonic Solids and which ones are duals of which. When I'm really into it, it takes me nearly three minutes to notice the glazed over look in her eyes. GEEK!

I bought and use a book on modular origami so that I can build geometric solids. GEEK!

I've even written a Excel spreadsheets to simulate different die rolls. (I have bar charts displaying the central tendencies or various die combinations.) GEEK!

Food of the God

I'm no polytheist and this is no ambrosia. Although, Ambrosia is the name of a chocolate company.

This is Monkey-Girl's favorite food. That's no shocker. Chocolate is many many people's favorite food. I'm just delighted by the cliche she falls into when in the sight of the stuff. We joke that I should keep a bar on hand in case of emergencies.

I, on the other hand, I fall into a different cliche. I'll just quote Benjamin Franklin: "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."

Scary Lady

Um . . . .

So, Monkey-Girl likes to play Starcraft.

I guess this . . . woman (?) is in it.

I don't know.

Maybe I shouldn't have gotten it for her for Valentine's Day.

Defender of the Universe

Monkey-Girl's childhood hero was Voltron III. You may be remembering him as just plain old Voltron; but , as many Japanese imports, it's more complicated than that.

Voltron III, the first shown in America, was the second cartoon produced in Japan. He's made up of five robotic lions. The story is set the furthest from Earth.

Voltron I, the second shown in America, was based on an earlier Japanese show. He's made up of fifteen vehicles. The story is set the closest to Earth.

Voltron II, a show never seen in America (but I remember seeing the toys at Kay Bee as a little penguin), was supposed to be based on yet another Japanese cartoon. He's made up of three smaller humanoid robots. The story's location was somewhere between the other two.

So, there you have it. The roman numerals are reflective of the Americanized characters' relative proximity to the Earth. It must have made sense to someone.

Anyway, the only socially relevant Voltron is Voltron III. For that, he gets to drop the roman numerals.

The first birthday present I ever got for Monkey-Girl was a reissue of the old Matchbox Voltron III gift set. (The box just calls him Voltron now.) All five die-cast metal lions were recreated for the set. I never had this Voltron growing up, but I'm happy to see him surveying Money-Girl's office today.

BIG Announcement

I've come to the decision that this week (Monday to Sunday, how European of me!) will be Monkey-Girl week. I'll be dedicating each post to some wonderful aspect of my better half. Why? 'Cause.

So, why does today's entry feature a couple of toys? Well, this is an archive photo of the present Monkey-Girl got for me while in Florida. When I returned from my visit to Wisconsin this summer, I opened the trunk to drop my luggage in when what should I discover but the object of my childhood's unanswered prayer: the Imperial Walker a.k.a. AT-AT.

When I was a little penguin, this thing was ALWAYS on my wish list. I never got it. My assumption is that it was just too darn expensive. I shared this little tidbit with Monkey-Girl once. (When you've known someone for over 10 years, there's little they DON'T know about you.)

I guess she must have missed me. She actually went into Toys 'R' Us (WHAT!?!) and lugged this huge box up to the counter. When asked why, she said that she wanted me to know how much she appreciated all that I did for her this summer. Wow!

Knowing how much my toy collecting is "tolerated" by Monkey-Girl, and how pricey this thing is, I can only say I'm floored. This is the greatest physical gift anyone has ever given me.

Yet, the AT-AT had fallen victim to it's original and greatest flaw. It's just too expensive. I couldn't keep it and not feel guilty about it. Monkey-Girl understood how torn I was and gave me permission to do what I felt was necessary. We returned it from whence it came.

I made sure to take a ton of pictures. This one features my 12-inch tall Optimus Prime for size comparison. (The AT-AT could totally kick any one on my Transformers' asses.)

Thank you, Monkey-Girl!

A Rest from Our Labors

Monkey-Girl and I took a little time to relax and enjoy each other's company. It was really nice. We've been taking care of the house and our respective schools lately: cohabiting. It was nice to sit on the sofa and do nothing but listen to music and be with each other.

At times like these, I play with Monkey-Girl's toes. I guess it's one of those primate social grooming type thingies. It's comforting to be that intimate with someone. I like it.

As you can see, it's not so bad for her either.

Up Late? Thank a Union.

I'm up late on a Sunday. That's because I don't work tomorrow. I'm one of only 8% of the national workforce that's unionized. If you're off tomorrow and don't pay union dues, you're welcome. (I'm just teasing.)

I stumbled on this picture moments ago. Apparently, Disney isn't making enough money off of normal holidays anymore. Here is a "pin in pin" set commemorating the unofficial end of summer. That's not all! This is just the Walt Disney World Labor Day pin for 2008. There is also a Disneyland pin. I'm sure there will be a Labor Day 2008 pin for both coasts as well.

If you'd like to know more about how Disney is planning to replace calandars with pins, go here.

Now go grill something quick. Wal-Mart's putting out Halloween decorations already!

We Went to a Luau. Dealt with THAT!

To kick things off (yet again), the seminary threw a good, old-fashioned, Tennessee-mountain-top, luau. The meat was barbecued, the decorations were kitchy, and we were all festooned in Hawaiian prints.

It was nice to talk to my friends within the community. (Thank you Eric for the title to this post.) I made plans to play HeroScape with Gordon on Monday. The brisket was delicious. My "dish to pass" was complimented. It was a really nice time.

As for the picture, I completely acknowledge its offensiveness. I choose to deal with it by appreciating the artist's chosen aesthetic. I see that it draws its inspiration from a more naive time. I'm okay with it.

How will you deal with it? You have to deal with it. You can't not deal with it. Can you?

Friday (Dark) Knight

Here is a beautiful piece by one of our favorite artists, Andy Lee. There is a print of it available for sale here.

Monkey-Girl and I would get a new original sketch by Andy Lee each year while attending Wizard World Chicago. He describes himself as a zen artist. I love his work for its minimalism. Just look at this! There's only a few lines and yet the subject is obvious. Watching him work is thrilling, and (I think) connects the viewer to the piece on a deeper level.

During my mother's visit last year, we hung our six original pieces in the dining room. We've got: Morpheus (Sandman), Ogami Itto (Lone Wolf and Cub), Gandolf the Grey (The Lord of the Rings), Trinity (The Matrix), Hellboy (uh . . .), and the arch-angel Michael casting Satan out of Heaven.

Because it happens so late in the summer and Tennessee schools start so early, I've missed the last two Wizard World Chicago conventions. It's just one of the little sacrifices we've made to come to seminary.

In 2008, the show will be in June. I'll be on break. I think I know what I'll be having Mr. Lee sketch.