Choco the Clown

Kai's learning curve is accelerating as he gets his feet under him and his teeth around words. His vocabulary has expanded to include: "cheese" and "cracker" (do you detect a theme?)

It seems "ice cream" won't be that far off either.

He Likes Me!

Joy of joys, Paul Shirley considers me a friend! My request to be added to his list was granted; it reminds me of high school, trying to suck up to the cool kids. Mind you, Paul Shirley would be the last person to think of himself as a high school cool kid.

So, the purpose of my MySpace membership has been fulfilled: to read his blog and the gems contained therein. Where else can learn about possible titles for his book, his search for a tall, good-looking man that he can cruise bars with, his predilection to use the word "retard", his "love" of Kansas and Kansas City, and on-line blind dating?

In other celebrity news, Michael Stipe was a guest on tonight's episode of Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Sirajul and Mujibur made an appearance as pizza-jacking bandits. I'm not sure if I can stay up to see who's on Letterman tonight, if my idol worship trend continues, but something tells me it'll be a rerun.

Leisure Day

On this Monday, we indulged in the irony of a holiday celebrating the contributions of the Labour movement to society. (Although I'm well aware that others regard this coincidence as entirely appropriate).

We travelled to Sarnia's Canatara Park where the omnipresence of ducks, Rei's favourite animal and her choice for a pet, overcame her anxiety about the other creatures at the Children's Animal Farm. Mind you, we had to carry her the entire time; at least we knew her shoes were clean.

She did enjoy herself later at the playground, peeking through this "spaceship window":


Lunch was a very healthy serving of fries under the bridge before a leisurely drive home.

Kai had his first ice cream cone tonight.

He figured out quickly enough how shotgun the ice cream by biting a hole in the bottom of the cone and sucking out the innards.

Before bed, as the sugar buzz was wearing off, he took a couple steps. He's not quite walking yet, but very soon he'll utilize bipedal locomotion.

MySpace

I see that the online exploits of my favourite NBA benchwarmer will continue at myspace.com. Paul Shirley's contract with ESPN has come to its conclusion and if I need my fix of sardonic and wry wit with a dose of self-loathing from a 6'10" word-loving basketball wannabe, I need to become a "member".

Like any momentous decision, it takes some time for me to warm up to the idea before committing. This is not to say I'm abandoning my blogspot and throwing in with the myspacers; at least it's not Windows Live Spaces. Mostly, my deliberation is about what login name I will use ...

On the Town

For the first time in a long time, Shelley and I went out for some shopping, movie and supper.

I stopped in at the new New Balance store in London, turns out finding shoes for size 7½, 4E width, is difficult even for a specialty store. And I didn't feel like waiting 2 weeks for my size to arrive and spend $160 for a running shoe (well, two of them, actually)....

We did manage to find Tegan & Sara's "So Jealous" so we can legally own the music that I borrowed from the Lambton County Libraries.

Despite Jeffy's movie recommendation of An Inconvenient Truth, also endorsed by some of Shelley's blog sources, we opted for something more darkly light-hearted. Little Miss Sunshine turned out to be a quirky, yet accessible, movie that was a superior family road trip to any of the National Lampoons vacations.

It carries a cinematic undertone of Blind Melon's "No Rain" video, although that could just be my resonance with Olive's character. There is a small dose of Weekend at Bernie's kitsch with an appreciable touch of resurrection at the end. Despite its predictability, the running gag throughout the movie never failed to amuse me. The grand finale dance scene outstrips that of Napoleon Dynamite.

Highly recommended; although keep in mind I haven't seen a movie in a theatre in ages...

As for supper at Jack Astor's? It was "nice".

Reunion

Shelley's parents pulled their trailer into our driveway this afternoon for a welcome stopover on their way back to the cottage from a western roadtrip. It was a reminder of how quickly time passes.

When they left, Kai was barely supporting himself on his hands and knees, log-rolling his way around the room, and Rei was still in diapers. The kitchen floor was still textured vinyl and our phone, TV and garage door opener functioned.

As grand/parents are wont to do, they bore gifts from the West: for me, tea from the Fairmont Hotel; for Shelley, soap from Pacific Coast Soap Works, and a Dora puzzle and storybook for the kids. The greatest gift may be the chance for Shelley and I to have a date night tomorrow – perhaps dinner and a movie? It'll be the first time in a long time.

What's in the theatres these days? It's been a while since I've thought to pay attention. "Snakes on a Plane"? I wonder if that movie's about snakes ... on a plane....

Redemption

If last week's golf outing was one of my worst, today's was immeasurably better. Well, measurably 16 strokes better (mind you, that is more an indication of how poor last week was). My swing was strong and on-line, my putting was passable; things are starting to come together. Poor club selection had a role in a couple holes, but 2 pars and 2 bogeys are a welcome change from my usual.

Still, those invested in my day job need not worry.

Put a Lid on It

One of Kai's favourite activities has become taking lids off of containers and replacing them. Many variations present themselves: peering inside, placing a toy within, mismatching the lids; it's all great fun.

The Blog Days of Summer

Maybe it is the August malaise, the lack of activity in the basketball world (the FIBA tournament and WNBA hold only the most passing of interest for me), the dropping off the Blue Jays in the pennant/post-season races, the dearth of new television, or the preparation for the busy-ness to come that is September, but I'm finding it difficult to compose blog entries for the time being.

Putting up cute pictures of the kids is not presently an option, as Rei has become quite camera shy lately – any request I've made to take her picture results in an emphatic "NO, thank you!" My sense of balance hasn't allowed me to go overboard with Kai pictures yet, although he does have 26 months of catching up to do. Not that I'm implying he is inferior or behind in anyway ... maybe I should just stop here before my other foot crams itself into my mouth (keyboard?).

It's Catching

After some debate this morning, Kai went to daycare and had a fine day. His body temperature was much cooler and he had a good, but subdued, day.

I, on the other hand, have a summer cold. Despite sniffles, sneezes and an endless string of kleenex, I managed to get a few household chores done, a bit of church work and some Daddy Day moments with Rei.

I'm headed to the "sick bed" tonight to quarantine myself from Shelley; there should be at least one healthy parent in the household. *sniff*

Hot-Blooded

Last night Kai had a temperature and did not sleep very well at all. Dosing him with Tylenol and Advil through the day helped somewhat.

We managed a fairly peaceable visit to great-grandma for supper. A walk around the block helped, although the neighbour's big dog loping over to greet our return didn't help Reiko.

If it's a new tooth, his molars are next in line. Of course, the alarmist parent in me wonders about West Nile...

Picture in Picture

A Portrait of the Artist (and His Sister) as a Young Man:

Speaking of James Joyce, I really should get back to that book if I want to finish it by Labour Day.

Dancing & Duffing

Dancing in the kitchen with Rei has evolved away from Hi-5 to take on a more Canadian flavour: Neil Young and Tegan & Sara.

Our dance routines now incorporate some of Pocoyo's grooving moves as well as chasing each other around in circles.

My golf outing in the afternoon was pretty horrid. I couldn't get a handle on the slick greens and turned in my worst performance all year. Mind you, I also hit my best drive ever: 230 yds down the middle of the fairway! Too bad I followed up the last 95 yds with 6 shots...

Patience of Job

I took the car in for an oil change today. I saw a trio of sales staff standing around outside enjoying the afternoon. I entered the waiting area to an onslaught of one-sided conversation.

There was a sweet "little old lady" who was opining, reiterating and waxing ignorant about anything and everything. When I arrived, she was talking about her phone:

"I still have a dial phone, you know the one with the numbers that you use with your fingers? When I'm on the phone and you have to push the button? I can't do that; I go to my neighbours. Do I have to pay Bell for the push-button phones?"

After learning what I do for a living:

"I'm born again. Baptist. My dad was Presbyterian but I'm Baptist. You should tell your wife when you get home that she's like an angel – hanging around, up there, always harping! Ha! You know the health food store here in town? The owner was saying that he thanks God ten times a day. Now that gets you thinking, doesn't it? It got me thinking."

After pulling out my laptop and popping in the headphones to signal that I don't want to be part of the conversation:

"What does a computer do? I don't know anything about them, my grandson works with them all the time. They scare me. I like flowers and animals and health. Could a computer teach me about that? How do you pay for it? Is it a little each month? Can you show me your computer? How does it work? My grandson knows all about them; he says he could get me one. How does the internet work?"

In the almost-hour that I was there, she didn't let up at all. You can imagine what she thinks about raising kids these days, the high cost of auto repair and getting old.

My sales guy was telling me later that she'd been there for 3 hours while their car was getting fixed. He spent an hour-and-a-half of it outside, enjoying the afternoon. He was going to call me into his office to discuss a "problem with my file" so I could get some work done in peace away from the chatter. Had he done that, I might have felt obligated to buy another car or, at the very least, lease a getaway vehicle.

Gallery: Boy Blue

In an overcompensating attempt to bestow attention upon the second child and the lack of photos on the blog, here is Kai ...

... Boxing


... Climbing


... Drinking


... Standing

Back to Earth

Our TV watching has fallen out the treehouse and crashed back to earth. The cable company sometimes previews a channel from one of their "deluxe" packages. For the past month, we've enjoyed the preschool-friendly programming of Treehouse.

This morning, the preview was revoked, right in the middle of Dora the Explorer. Rei burst into tears wanting to know how they saved the red fire truck (although I'm pretty sure she's seen it before). Looks like we'll have to make do with the mish-mash of TVO Kids, CBC Kids, PBS with some TLC; we also have a 6-hour tape from one afternoon when I popped a cassette into the VCR and hit "Record": it's a hard life.

Prison Broken

I've always enjoyed the heist movie or the escape story, watching how meticulous plans and preparations fall into place. Maybe it was the influence of Hannibal Smith in my impressionable years: "I love it when a plan comes together". And so Prison Break was one of my must-sees last year.

Although the season finale didn't do it for me. After T-Bag's hand went the way of Chase Edmunds' (24: Day 3), my zeal for the series abated somewhat, and I question how this series could credibly go beyond this year.

Yet I'm very pleased and excited to see Scofield and Sucre return to the small screen for another run and hope not to be disappointed ... noting that Abruzzi is only credited with a guest appearance, my favourite born-again, lapsed-again mob boss, may not share my enthusiasm.

30% Chance of Rain

The 2006 edition of TA Camping was more domestic than times past, as we converged upon a homestead with thoughts of tent camping in the yard. The forecast gave cause for optimism, 30% chance of rain. As in 30% chance that it would rain all day.

Fortunately the large farmhouse had plenty of room those gathered, and their kids. Although our two were spending the night with my parents nearby; so we had the luxury of looking after only ourselves at meal times.

There was a surprising paucity of Simpsons' references and quotations, but there was much talk about Treehouse programs (yay Pocoyo! boo Ruby! wha? Toopy & Binoo? sorry Daniel Cook, make way for Emily Yeung!) and musing about the incarnations of Icon-o-clash, possibly featuring a Ralph Wiggum Division.

There also wasn't much "camping" unless you count sleeping on couches, cushioned floors and tractor beds camping. In which case, there was lots of it. Something else there was a lot of? Beer and tea (and trips to the bathroom).

My Literary Odyssey

I've calculated that I need to read 33 pages of Ulysses every day for the next couple weeks in order to complete the book by Labour Day. This being my participation in Canada Intends to Read, I'm not going to lose any sleep if I don't reach my quota. (Therein being the problem, I tend to fall asleep before the 33 page mark).

Back to Life

We're back home after 4 hours of driving (and 6 hours between departure and arrival). I'm getting caught up on things. One of those things did not happen while on holiday was making progress in Ulysses. Although I learned that, if I were to suffer from insomnia, James Joyce is a viable solution. I did read that Leopold Bloom had lunch. I'm not sure why it's called Ulysses, if it's a classical reference, or a person in story, or if merely reading the tome is an odyssey.

As for now, it's time to get caught up on the blogs and the "important" events of the sporting world. Last time I was away for the week, the biggest news in the NBA was Steve Nash's haircut.