Thursday, March 31, 2005
Terri Schiavo has finally found peace. I’ve not written about her situation for many reasons. I don’t object to nearly every blogger needing to state their views. I don’t understand, though, how anyone outside the family can form a complete opinion since all the information those of us in the general public possess is third-party (at best), often based on conjecture or hearsay, and subject to the biases of the people sharing that information.
Monday, March 28, 2005
We survived our little baby sitting experiment. Sorta. I went to bed around 12:20 last night (or this morning, I guess) and found guest baby sleeping on S.. As I shared yesterday, he’s got some health issues and had woken screaming and trying to breath, so she just brought him to our bed and held him until he passed out. Shortly after I got into bed, she took him back to his room.
Sunday, March 27, 2005
We hosted our first big Easter dinner today. Nine people were seated around our tables for an early afternoon meal. We dropped the obligatory honey ham on them, two quiches, pasta salad, deviled eggs, two fruit plates, and a lemon cake for dessert. For some strange reason, I decided I needed a nap at around 3:45. Next thing I knew, it was 6:00. So there’s little chance of me getting sleep anytime in the near future tonight.
Saturday, March 26, 2005
We’ve been trying to wean M. off the generic, hospital-issued pacifiers for a couple weeks. We’re hoping to get her to use a store-bought binky that has a strap that attaches to her clothes so she can’t lose it. She hasn’t seemed all that interested in the new model, and after a few minutes we inevitably replace it with the old one. This morning, however, she came up with a new trick.
Saturday, March 19, 2005
Appropriately Wayne Simien’s shot to win the game fell short at exactly the stroke of midnight here in Indianapolis. In years past, I would spend the next five or six hours laying on the floor without movement. I mean, Bucknell in the first round? OK, I might have been preparing to leap from a tall building. I’m bummed, but not devastated this year. I didn’t expect much from this team, who for whatever reason could never find their identity this season.
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
M. crawls!
Sunday, March 13, 2005
Having trouble getting a baby to nap during the day? First, wear them out by letting them play for 60-90 minutes. Then, put them in your lap and play Beatles music, singing along softly. After about 15 minutes, cue up “Hey Jude.” Guaranteed, but the extended fade-out, your child will be nodding off. I’ve always been a Lennon guy, but I will give McCartney credit for once.
Sunday, March 6, 2005
Time for an update on the doings of Baby M. As documented over the past couple weeks, she now has two tiny teeth peeking through her lower gums. She likes to scrape them on things. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not. Her sleeping patterns have normalized slightly since the teeth popped through, and she’s kicked her nasty Motrin habit. At least until the next teeth start coming in.
Wednesday, March 2, 2005
There are a few developments in the world of on-line music that have got me all geeked up of late. I mentioned in my year-end post the glory of the MP3 blog. Thanks to people who are much hipper and better connected than I can ever hope to be, I’ve managed to develop some idea of what is going on in the alternative music world. The second development that I think is great is the growth of quality, streamed music options.
Tuesday, March 1, 2005
I’ve not shared how my week-long vacation from college basketball went. I indeed managed to avoid almost all college basketball coverage for a full seven days. I didn’t watch games, read about them in the paper, or follow columnists online. Tuesday morning at about 10:00, I checked the Kansas-Oklahoma score but did not read any stories about the game itself. And that was it. A week to attempt to regain some perspective, to try to remember I’m not actually playing in the games and thus should enjoy it when my team wins and be able to move on quickly after the lose.
Sunday, February 27, 2005
M’s first two teeth pushed their way through her tender little gums this weekend. She’s a bit shy about showing them off, and they’re just barely visible, so it will probably be a couple more weeks before they’re photographable. She had managed to chomp both her mom and me a couple times, though. Sadly, she remains fairly cranky at times, so her top two central incisors may not be that far behind.
Saturday, February 26, 2005
Here are my impressions. It was a truly excellent concert. We wormed our way as close to the stage as possible, and had just two people and five feet of stage between us and Neil Finn. Probably the closest I’ve ever been outside some of those tiny bars and coffee houses I’ve seen bands perform at. The brothers Finn were using a rather non-traditional stage set-up. They were seated at the front of the stage with a bass player behind them.
Friday, February 25, 2005
We watched Ray tonight, which I think means I saw one movie nominated for this year’s Oscars. Anchorman didn’t get any nominations, right? I liked Ray, I just thought it was oddly done. It was far too broad, and thus left me unsure of what to think of Ray. Was he a bad guy who turned good? A good guy who had some rough patches? They try to do too much even though the movie is two and a half hours long.
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
This week was the anniversary of my mom’s death. I don’t say that to bum you out or earn sympathy from anyone. Just to point out she’s been on my mind a little more than usual the past couple days. My mom was one of those people who always had 20 things going on at once, and consequently, was a little absent minded from time-to-time. As an example, one day I got home from school and went to the cabinet to get a glass for a drink.
Sunday, February 20, 2005
Long-time readers and friends know that I’m a gigantic sports fan and a competition freak, both of which combine with a sometimes frightening intensity in my extreme devotion to the basketball team of my alma mater, the University of Kansas. I’ve been extraordinarily lucky to have been born into a fandom that has provided many more high moments than low. One national championship in my lifetime. Two other national championship game appearances (Those loses sucked, but come on, we were one of the last two teams playing with an even money shot to win both times.
Saturday, February 19, 2005
My promised summary of some of my favorite Finn Brothers music. I’m always a little surprised that I’ve become such a big fan of Neil and Tim’s work over the years. I’m generally not into the singer-songwriter thing very much, even when it leans to the alterna-pop side of the spectrum. I guess I was entranced by the majesty of a certain song in the spring of 1986 and have never really gotten over it.
Thursday, February 17, 2005
We’re hosting S’s best friend and her two-month old son this week. Tonight, we had people from their high school group of friends over so they could all see the little guy for the first time. Including infants, we had 11 kids in the house. I’m really not sure why I bothered to clean this afternoon. When we had shown the last of our guests to the door and bid them goodnight, our kitchen, dining room, and living room were covered in a thin layer of crunched up chips, spilt milk, and ground-in brownie chunks.
Thursday, February 17, 2005
Remind me to use the blog to wish for KU wins in March. After my post last night, not only did M. make it through the night with me only having to go put her binky back into her mouth two times, but she also slept (and thus so did I) until S. walked into the house at about 8:30 this morning. Behold the power of the blog!
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
Man, I had to deal with full-on screaming tonight. M. has cried hysterically, shrieked, yelled exceptionally loud, and I probably even characterized some of her outbursts as screaming in the past. But tonight, there’s no doubt it was a scream. She literally stopped crying so she could scream for five minutes, then started crying again. Some non-parents out there are probably saying, “What’s the big deal? Babies scream.” Yes, but my daughter has proven to be pretty tough so far.
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
Why is Liza Minelli always on TV? I did some checking, and while she won an Oscar and is the daughter of famous people, it’s not like she’s done much to generate all the media attention she gets. There are some people that older generations are gaga about, and while people our age may belittle their talent, we at least understand they were once huge stars. I’m not sure I understand what Liza did in her career that makes her so interesting.
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
Arriving in today’s FedEx shipment, my Valentine’s Day gift from my wife: The Jack Stack Barbecue BIG Taste of Kansas City package. Included: A bottle of Jack Stack sauce Hickory Pit Beans Barbecue Sausage Chopped Beef Brisket Pork Burnt Ends Cheesy Corn Bake Yum!
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
To the basketball team of my alma mater. Gentlemen, In the future, if you plan on losing a weeknight game that begins at 9:00 PM my time, please do so in regulation rather than taking two overtimes to do so. I’m not as young as I used to be, and now I’ve got a kid. Who is teething. It’s not in the interest of my health to be awake until 1:30 rethinking every play.
Monday, February 14, 2005
Selection Sunday is four weeks from yesterday, so we’re down to crunch time. Many smaller leagues have only two weeks of play left, so the mid-majors should be solidifying their at-large credentials. The heavyweights are playing for top seeds. Will Kansas and Oklahoma State be playing not only for the Big 12 crown, but also a #1 seed? Or, with no giant in the West, is there a second #1 seed available for someone from the Big 12, ACC, or Big East this season?
Friday, February 11, 2005
Some random bits in advance of the weekend. I’ve not talked much about school since class started. Things have been going quite well so far. As my professor warned me last fall, the class is very basic and at times a little slow for someone who’s already got a degree. But I have been learning some good rules about print journalism writing that are different from academic writing. As we get deeper into the class, I’m sure there will be more things I learn that are new and useful to me.
Thursday, February 10, 2005
…next year. Snob Hill 22 (30) Silo Tech 0 (0) KU will have one or perhaps two more wins over K-State this year to continue their long, insane winning streaks (22 straight in Manhattan, 30 straight overall) and next season the ‘Cats will finally knock off their bully cousins from Lawrence on their home court. I see Jason Whitlock has already written the same thing. Other than his unfounded praise of Tyler Hughes (great body?
Tuesday, February 8, 2005
S. and M. are out with Baby Henry and his mom at a movie. Apparently there are theaters that have kid friendly flicks during the day. They’re regular movies, but parents are welcome to bring their small children. They keep the lights only half-dimmed and no one cares if your child cries, talks, etc. Pretty cool concept when you think about it. Anyway, before S. left she started giggling and said she imagined my fellow new fathers and I taking the kids out to a movie together on our next trip to Kansas City.
Monday, February 7, 2005
(Posted at 2:30 AM because I’m still waking up with coughing fits. What is this, emphysema I have?) Super Bowl Sunday was a Mr. Mom day for me with S. working a 24 hour shift. As an added bonus, not only is M. teething, but she’s also fighting what appears to be her first illness. In other words, there are parts of the game (along with the corresponding commercials) that I just didn’t see.
Monday, February 7, 2005
A pretty crazy weekend in the Big 12. Five of six road teams won. The single road team that lost was Missouri, who lead by one at halftime while their best player served a one-half suspension (or at least that’s what I was told). Kleiza comes in for the second half, Mizzou loses by 28. Strange. What to make of two other games? Tech wins at OU. Does this mean Tech is much better than we thought, or OU not nearly as good?
Friday, February 4, 2005
Tonight is the big matchup between Carmel and Lawrence North. Or, for the hypesters, Duke-bound Josh McRoberts and future phenom Greg Oden. Hoops fans will enjoy the references to past matchups of top flight talent in Indiana history. The game is on TV on tape delay. I’ll try to remember to record it and share my thoughts next week. Super Bowl Prediction: New England 28 Philadelphia 17
Wednesday, February 2, 2005
I was indeed sweating it, cursing, and attempting to throw things last night during the Kansas-Missouri game. Rivalry games are nerve racking enough. When your team is supposed to win by a lot (18 point favs, I believe) and they start kicking the ball all over the gym to fall behind by 11, well, tensions tend to rise a little. We just happened to be baby-sitting for some friends last night.