All Good Things . . .

. . . must come to an end. It's back to the grindstone tomorrow. Don't worry. I've gotten used to posting more often thanks to break. I'll be back very soon.

The Secret Revealed

So this is what I got from our trip to Target. That's right, one can finally create 3-D images on two-dimensional paper. Amazing! For only $9.99 who could say no? Monkey-Girl couldn't. (She must have been tired.)


This is what a typical page looks like before applying the "magic" marker. To be fair, the details are much more obscure when not under a camera's flash.


Here's the "magic wand." It's a clear marker. The instructions strictly forbid getting the pages wet. That coupled with the fact that the markers are non-toxic leads me to believe that these markers are just water in a sponge-filled tube.


Here's what you get when the "coloring" is done. As you can see, all one does as one "colors" is remove the black coating. How creative! The 3-D glasses do make the image slightly, uh . . . weird. So that's cool.


As Wolverine would often say, "'Nuff said, Bub."

Date Night

We drove all the way to Nashville because those steampot commercials looked so good.

Score one for the marketing team.

Also, we dropped 150 bones at Target. Phoebe got 'jamas and a cool new toy. Monkey-Girl got hair ties and barrettes. We got The Simpsons season 11. I got . . .

Tune in tomorrow.

Under the Wire

Five minutes to spare!

Just watched Sir Ian McKellen and Dame Judi Dench in the Royal Shakespeare Company's 1979 production of Macbeth.

I've got to say it was the best I've seen. The titular couple hit every note required of them. The supporting cast was excellent as well. (The Thane of Ross was played by Ian McDiarmid, known to Star Wars fans as the Emperor.) MacDuff broke my heart.

I fall in love with Shakespeare every time I see a wonderful production of his work. This is the first time I've fallen in love due to a teleplay.

Makin' Baby Food

Tonight we steamed and food processed green beans, peas, and sweet potatoes. I stewed and food processed pears. We now have food for Phoebe for another week. We save a few bucks and are assured of the quality. Sweet deal!

Also, check out the second baby picture update of the week. My favorite is #251.

Relationship Rewind

We saw Jeffrey when Monkey-Girl and I were first dating. Twelve years later we watched it again.

It's a wonderful movie about a gay man living in New York who decides to give up sex rather than face the realities of AIDS. He immediately meets a wonderful guy whom he finds out is HIV positive. The rest of the film is a witty and caring exploration of life and love and our need for both.

The acting, especially Patrick Stewart, is great. The cameos are fun in a mid-nineties sense. I'd forgotten how much I liked this movie. I owned the VHS!

Monkey-Girl and I have changed. Our relationship has changed. It was fun rediscovering this movie and finding how it fits into our latest sensibilities. Monkey-Girl even found a pastoral moment she thought would be a challenge.

My Culinary Obsession

Part cooking show. Part Bill Nye the Science Guy. Part sit-com. All brilliant. You must check out Good Eats.

The host, Alton Brown, began his career as a successful cinematographer and video producer. Then in his early thirties he decided to reinvent himself . He attended cooking school, took his video production knowledge, and created the show Good Eats.

I love this show.

Phoebe has been going to bed earlier since the beginning of Daylight Saving Time. That's great because now she's down and out in time for Alton. Yay!

Monkey-Girl jokes that I have a man-crush on Mr. Brown. I laugh it off and suppress a tear when I think that we'll be moving further away from Good Eats' headquarters in Atlanta, GA.

Why must seminary end?

Spring Break Begins Now

I guess it started Friday night, but being Phoebe's only present parent until late last night kind of cramped my party style. Monkey-Girl was away for an interview at a very historic church. The interview went well. Monkey-Girl came back to the same living things she left behind. I must have done something right.

As a reward I had an adult beverage last night. There was no spiced rum in it but it tasted just as festive. I 'll probably pick up some of the above character's drink of choice, but not today. No liquor sales on Sunday in Tennessee.

For now I've got a diaper to change.

More tomorrow. I promise.

Over Two Years in the Making: The 200th Post!

I've been putting-off updating because of the perceived weight of my 200^th blog post. What to write about? Transformers? Star Wars? Dungeons & Dragons?

After days of mounting, self-imposed stress it fell into my lap. My dad and I were talking on the phone after having been out of contact for a while. He's recently purchased a new computer and set up internet access. I told him about Penguin Postings. Suddenly, I had a topic.

Many of you have read about my love of Batman. This is rooted in watching the super-campy 60's series in reruns each afternoon from an early age. As time went by my grandma had my dad take his childhood comic collection out her basement. It was moved to our basement were it soon became this reluctant reader's first steps into the literary world.

My dad was a Marvel Zombie as the saying goes. He has several early issues of Spider-Man, Iron Man, The Hulk, and many other Marvel staples. His few forays into the DC universe were mostly Green Lantern based.

Pictured above is the cover to his sole Batman item. With a cover date of March 1968, Batman 200 was eventually gifted to me. It remains a prized possession to this date. Next year the Batman comic will be publishing its 7oo^th issue.

I have stepped away from comic collecting due to personal finances and shrinking storage, but Monkey-Girl was clear that she wanted me to keep them to share with our kids. This particular comic will be handed down to a third generation some day.



SPECIAL 200th POST BONUS CONTENT!

Here's a dirty little secret. I'm currently watching my favorite movie I'm too ashamed actually own. If you've seen the size of my DVD collection you'd understand why that's notable. I'll just say that the movie can be seen on basic cable at least once a week on TBS, USA, and now Lifetime.

I'm completing the mood with some fresh baked Ginger Beer Bread.

• 3 cups AP Flour
• 1TBSP Sugar
• 1tsp Salt
• 1 TBSP Baking Powder
• 12 oz Ginger Beer (Stewart's is the best)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Mix first four ingredients.
3. Pour in soda and mix thoroughly.
4. Bake in loaf pan until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. (About 45 minutes.)

Great with ANY carbonated, non-diet beverage.