Friday, December 28, 2007

Computer art by e g

A Christmas Tradition

Swimming at the hotel is becoming a family tradition.

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Bee Movie - Review




Took the kids to see "Bee Movie" this afternoon at the dollar theatre.

My review: "At least we didn't pay full price for the tickets."

I feel sorry for all the people who did.

I love Jerry Seinfeld but I should have known this movie would stink because none of the trailers/previews looked any good at all. Even the crappiest movies have great trailers/previews.

Most of the funny parts were aimed at adults. And were only slight chortles, not rip-roaring funny.

I didn't appreciate the "Bujesus" reference.

Funniest part -- for me -- was "Sting" taking the stand and having to defend his use of the name "Sting".

The accuser says, "Your real name is .... Gordon M. Sumner!"

The jury gasps in horror.

Sting later protests, "But it's just a prance-about-stage name".

I love that Sting has such a sense of humor and is able to poke fun at himself.

And I like Patrick Warburton who played "Putty" in the Seinfeld series; it was great to have him as a character in a movie with Jerry.

Aside from that, the movie mostly just had us scratching our heads, wondering what was the point.

Thursday, December 20, 2007

John's Maze


An art class project for John.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Sesame Street

I remember this one from my childhood. I was singing it to my kids and then I thought ... I bet youtube has it. I was right.



Here's another I remember...

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Cool Honda Civic Commercial



Another cool Honda commercial. This one has a choir making all the sound-effects for a car driving on the road. Cool.

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Cool Honda Accord Commercial



I saw this about a year ago and sent this to my mom for her to use in her physics classes. It's all about transforming energy from one form to another. Cool.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Happiness, 2



Carolyn bought Emmalee the figurine of "Happiness" for her birthday.

Today Emmalee said, "Look mommy. You gave me happiness and now I'm giving happiness
to you."

Carolyn said, "You do that every day, sweetie."

Fish



It's probably been almost two years since we bought any fish. When Carolyn was working evenings, late 2005 early 2006, the kids and I had a routine of feeding the fish right before bed, sitting in the dark watching the fish eat their food.

I took John and Emmalee to the pet store on Saturday and they each picked out a fish. Emmalee picked a fancy guppy with a leopard-spotted tail, and John picked a black molly.

Before we got home Emmalee had fallen in love with her fish, and named it "Bella".

John's fish has a temporary working title of "So-Duh", which is like "Soda" only with the emphasis on the second syllable. It's from a computer game they've been playing.

I found this crayon drawing by Emmalee, which shows the hexagonal fish tank, Emmalee watching her fish, and John's fish looking away.

Friday, December 07, 2007

Thanksgiving Pictures

























































Amazing Citroen C4 Commercial

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6xk-sZxMbc



You've gotta see this!

Saturday, December 01, 2007

The World's Biggest Marble




No, not really "the worlds biggest marble" but rather a touchable marble sculpture at Holliday Park.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Happiness



Emmalee got this figurine for her birthday. It is entitled "Happiness". It could just as easily be named Emmalee as far as mom and dad are concerned.

It seems to embody her spirit.

More info

Monday, November 26, 2007

Emmalee's Art And Science Fiction



Emmalee poses with her artwork.

----

John broke the antennae off his new remote controlled car after just 1 day of play.

Emmalee said, "We should call Gramma D."

Carolyn said, "This is something daddy will have to fix. Gramma won't be able to help over the phone."

Emmalee said, "But Gramma D can tell John how to fix it."

Carolyn said, "But it's going to have to be soldered. Daddy has to use the soldering iron."

Emmalee said, "But Gramma D knows science"

John said, "Taking things apart and fixing things isn't science"

Emmalee thought about it for a moment and said, "Maybe she knows science fiction..."

(Fiction = Fix-shun)

Emmalee was serious, but we couldn't help but laugh.

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Shopping List Surprise

Carolyn looked at the shopping list and was surprised to see an entry she hadn't made.



Emmalee had surreptitiously added "Wii" to the list -- she spelled it right.

I guess she expected her mom to mindlessly follow the list, see the $250 game system, and buy it without question.

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Kids' Art

A look at our virtual "refrigerator door", a sampling of the kids' art work.



Emmalee's colorful rockets.





John's dream house. The top floor features 40 foot high speakers that dwarf the occupants of the room. This was inspired by John's favorite scene in "Back To The Future"; where Marty McFly hooks up the guitar to Doc's enormous speaker and cranks up the volume. One strum of the electric guitar blows the speaker and blows Marty backwards.

The second floor is a game room.

And the first floor is a Harley Davidson motorcycle garage.

Monday, November 19, 2007

Sunset

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

John surveys an Indiana sunset.

More pics at our photobucket site

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Happy Birthday, Ted





No, I really didn't get a "New" bike for my birthday. Carolyn and the kids washed up my dirty bike and made it look brand new.






I don't know why I went overboard with the birthday photos this year. I guess I was just playing around with features of www.photobucket.com. Seems pretty cool.

Photobucket Album


Click on the picture for a slide show.

Monday, November 12, 2007

Emmalee's Birthday



A giant chocolate-chip cookie for her birthday...

More pictures

Thursday, November 08, 2007

Sleep Test #2

I had no trouble at all with Sleep Test #1. No anxiety related to being wired in like a Borg.

For #2 everything was the same except there was a CPAP machine with a full-face mask, covering my nose and mouth, and forcing air into my lungs.

I felt as if I was breathing through a straw. I felt as if it could not give me enough air. When I sucked enough air in, it wheezed room air in through the exhalation port. I took all the air sent to me through the pipe, and that wasn't enough, It was exactly like being smothered.

The technician talked to me in dulcet tones trying to calm me down. Convinced I could not smother so long as I could draw air in sharply through the exhaust port -- I laid down and tried to sleep.

Lying still did not help. After about 20 minutes I ripped the mask off and flung it on the ground in frustration. I signalled the technician and waited.

Having trouble? he asked.

I explained that I felt claustrophobic in the mask, I felt like I was suffocating.

He responded in such a soft, hypnotic tone that it angered me. If he could talk to me like a frightened kitten, he did not truly understand my fear or my pain. He did not understand.

Have you ever had anybody get up and walk out?! I asked, with a frantic edge to my voice.

Yes, he replied, but I don't recommend it. It's an insurance nightmare.

I've had my fill of insurance nightmares, and wanted no part of another one.

Would you like a sedative? he asked.

This was creeping me out. I felt like he was not understanding the depth and passion of my feelings. It was like the snake Kaa, mesmerizing his quarry with song and soft voice, only to devour him once he was lulled to sleep.

No! I said, emphatically. I know what those drugs can do. I had visions of myself suffocating to death, unable to raise my own hand to the mask to rip it off. "I don't want a sedative."

Maybe I'd do better with the nasal mask, I relented.

He fitted me to the nasal mask. This one had two nozzles, one per nostril, and strapped to my face like the last one. But my mouth was free. The comfort in this setup was that in a panic I needed only open my mouth to breathe.

I was still very upset. It took a while to calm me down. My body was convinced the nice prison guard was trying to smother me. Every fiber of my being wanted to get up nd flee. I felt as if I was held captive against my will.

I hated this device. I could not imagine using it. I would not ever use it. I only wanted to get through the night so I could be done with this forever.

The first mask was a fat hand held over my mouth and nose, calmly trying to smother me.

The second mask was two snakes trying to crawl up my nose.

The ability to breath through my mouth when necessary helped.

I was ultimately able to fall asleep.

After about two hours of sleep I awoke, with a horrible burning sensation in my nostrils and sinuses. The warm dry air of the devil's breath, breathed into my nostrils by the two-headed demonic serpent, had turned my nasal passages to fire.

I lay there in pain, wanting for all the world the reach up and claw the serpents from my nose, warring with myself, trying to exercise self discipline, trying to keep the test going. For perhaps two more hours I teetered on the edge of sleep, fidgeting, like some horrible hemorroid of the face was perched between my eyes and my mouth.

Finally, in desperation I clawed the mask from my face, flung it to the floor as before. This time, I did not signal the technician.

He came in of his own accord. Speaking hypnotically soft tones to me again.

"Hey, your mask fell off..."

"No, it did not fall off. I took it off."

"Do you want to try a different mask.":

"No," I said flatly. "I want to sleep."

He said okay. We have enough info from the mask, we know what your pressure settings should be. You can go ahead and get some rest. But in 45 minutes it'll be time to get up.

God, have mercy on me. 45 minutes? That makes my total sleep for the night approximately 2:45. Hardly enough to function.

But 45 minutes of sweet sleep without Beelzebub's Spawn trying to violate my face.

I was passive aggressive when the technician awakened me. I would say anything to get him to leave me alone. I had no intention of complying with his suggestions, but I knew that in order to get out of there quickly I had to appear to be compliant.

"Maybe you could get an anti-anxiety medicine to help you adjust to wearing the mask," he said.

"Yeah, maybe" I said, without really agreeing, and with rage rising within me.

God, how can this be your will?

Devil machine

Sleep test with a CPAP machine...




Medieval implements of torture which set my nostrils on fire and clamped a fat hand across my nose and mouth as if to smother me in my sleep. Vile tools of satan bent on my own destruction. In other words. . . I hated it.

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Mom Overture

Sunday, October 28, 2007

The Many Names Of David Ryder

Remember Mystery Science Theater 3000?

Watching "B" movies with your friends, making fun of the cheesy characters and paper-thin plots?

Being a couch potato was never more fun!


Snowboarding

My very own mother alerted me to this very disturbing newsclip, showing the snowboarding phenomenon.

The Road Home

The road home.

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Watseka

Classic midwestern town on a gray october day.



The famous smiley face water tower of Watseka! It was yellow for about 20 years, and recently got repainted white. I wasn't sure they'd apply the smiley face after repainting the tower white, but they did. Watseka will be smiling for another 20 years...



I should've taken this photo from about a half mile closer. The familiar blue silo was built in 1974.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Photos