I Don't Deny My Roots

Look what popped up on the good ol' facebooks this morning.

I bit that last note. Oh well, never picked up that horn again. 

Oh and while we're at it...

Not my proudest moments, but I didn't know that then. I do still have that camouflage jacket. I wear it as a wrist warmer.

Completely Catchup

I was absent for a couple days there. My dad yelled at me. I swear that I sometimes forget that people might read this drivel. But we had some photos to show. These were the random leftovers.

practicing forward roll

practicing ottoman leap

practicing yogurt face

practicing sleep drink

See ya tomorrow... promise.

Arguments For The Oxford Comma

I'm torn

I'll Be Your Crib

Sunday was relaxing. Watch some more of BSG and ignore the ProBowl. I'd rather watch the toilet bowl. But there was an exciting highlight, for me at least. Yuula did something she hasn't done in months. She climbed up on the couch with her blanket, crawled on top of me, and went to sleep. I was a happy daddy, so I took a little nap too.

I took a photo.

Don't know how many more of those I'll get.

Block Knocker

At Yuula's checkup on Wednesday I was asked if she can stack blocks. I had no idea. She's not big on stacking blocks but she's awesome at knocking them down. We set 'em up, she knocks 'em down. We three make a good team. We can barely keep up with her. We continue to spread out the stacks so it takes her more time to get from one to the next but he's still pretty good.

See if you can spot the hidden message (hint below*).

The Grand Finale

And in case you were worried, yes, she can stack blocks, but she has the rest of her life to work. We'll let her smash some stuff while she still can.

*there is no hidden message

Mother/Daughter Dance Slaughter

Slaughter is a word I don't use litely. It was my Achilles heel in the 3rd grade spelling bee. I think I spelled slotter. My father grimaced. Now I watch these fools dance every nite and I grimace.

playing a little catchup here

Eyes: Battlestar Galactica
Ears: Zoo Kid - Freestyle 2012

Update: Lunch New Favorite Meal

curry cream cheese on a litely toasted everything bagel

THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING!

Sally Two Forks

This is a long one, but I couldn't find any more to cut out. Dinner at the table, never dull.

And yes I am aware that our baby is patronizing us.

Did We Make A Maid?

Just got back from el doctorino, where Yuula got two shots, one for each thigh and she took it like a pro, if a pro screamed and needed two nurses and her daddy to hold her down. "She's strong", said the masked assistant. I must've raised an eyebrow or something. The more curious part was during the regular line of good parenting questioning the doctor asked if she, Yuula, likes to clean the house. Tho stunned I was with the inquriy I still managed to come back with, "No, but I did let her drive here". But apparently she's all good, perfect perhaps, at 23 lbs (avg) and 33" (tall) and a pretzel stick for the road made it all worth it. Right girl?

nice socks

Two Of My Favorite Things

the NY Giants and bananas!

what did you think I was talking about?

Aural Quarterly, October-December 2011

As the year ends so slows the release of music unto the world. Maybe musicians are all bears that need to hibernate. Or maybe bears are just musicians. All of them, part of a band or a solo singer/songwriter out in the woods, scratching backs on trees and playing drums. It must be all bears tho, because there's a lot of music coming out nowadays. Bears aren't endangered are they? Polar bears are. I bet polar bears make music like Bjork or Hall & Oates. Save the icecaps so I can hear me some Hall & Oates.

OCTOBER

Let's start it off right with our very own perennial contemporary folk father Bonnie 'Prince' Billy. I have listened to BPB's more raved about albums, holding each one in high regard and to special occasion, but the lesser lauded releases, including Wolfroy Goes To Town seem to slip thru the cracks. After adeptly soothing me on an anxious busride home from Maryland I learned not to ignore the little people any longer. Wonderful. Finally wrapping my head around the brilliance that is Future Islands (right), the album On The Water really got me in a good way, what with its quiet power that sneaks up on you from behind and starts rubbing your neck gently and before you know it you're in a full deep muscle massage, and I feel 17 again. Hitting all cylinders on the hipster tour is Real Estate, playing the kind of smart jangle pop on Days that invoke bliss and head swaying to the strums and cymbals of each little understated gem aboard.

Over the past 5 or 6 years I have become quite fond of Tom Waits (left) and since most of his stuff predated my affinity for his scratch-throat meanderings I have done my due diligence in exploring his back catalog, all of which are magically timeless enough to seem fresh all these years later. Bad As Me fits that mold and continues the tradition of immortality in the musical realms. Never one to shy away from his epic movie-themed heavy synth mini operettas, M83 has released an album that the critics alike think is a masterpiece. I thought Hurry Up, We're Dreaming was good, but I didn't get all crazy on it or anything. In a year and month like this I much preferred the sullen lull of a band like Low Roar, whose quietly unassuming s/t album was a surprise delight, its cover depicting a large buck apparently breathing out birds, conveying the concept of the gentle beauty that can come from a massive beast. Seems about right. 

Godspeed And Goosebumps

I've become an Earl Grey and grapefruit guy in the morning. Boss is on the road today so I'm not expecting too much time spent in the observatory outside of a few loose ends, but ya never know. I watched Laura disappear into fog before she got to the driveway early this morning and now she's off fighting crime, literally. Godspeed and goosebumps. The snow is melting faster than it fell. It's an odd winter friends. Child is still down but not out completely. Today we're gonna see if she can stay awake for more than two hours before wanting another nap like yesterday. We did keep her up late Sunday night tho. Not my fault the game went into overtime. Night night can wait. Night night can always wait.

Eyes: the baby monitor
Ears: Grouper & Ilyas Ahmed

You Gotta You Gotta

do yourself a favor and start watching Portlandia

Growing The Icicles

hopefully today's photo can be titled "Melting the Leftovers"

Our Noses Were Well Smuttied

Well, that was as intense as it gets. And I am not looking forward to the next two weeks wait, all the conjecture and comparison is going to be dreadful. And I can't help but feel that this whole revenge thing is going to be front and center and it's just not my gig. Can I avoid the sports networks for two weeks? Yes. Will I? Probably not. I do love me some Woody Paige.

No Rematch, No Rematch, No Rematch, Stop!

I remember 2008, walking thru the Miami airport and seeing the end of the Giants/Cowboys game on a bar television. The whole place erupted, dollars got new owners and drinks were ordered. It was an exciting time to be a Giants fan. Little did we all know what lie ahead. Now it's 2012 and this time it's different. A surprise party is fun when you don't expect it. This year I feel like I should expect the Giants to win the super bowl. Back in the end of November I remember trying to figure out who I was going to root for come post season because the Giants looked awful and it wasn't even a thought that they'd make it to the conference championship. Now that they're there and playing the 49er's (the team I chose to root for sans Giants) I am quite uncomfortable going into tomorrow. I do think they can win, but that opens up a whole new set of worries. I kind of don't want the Giants to play New England in the Super Bowl. What a buzzkill that will be if (and when) Brady & Belichik finally get their revenge on the blue menace. It won't make up for destroying their potentially perfect season, but it would suck. Another interesting game would be Baltimore vs San Francisco, brother vs brother, but they tried that at Thanksgiving and I think it was a snooze. So, of course, by default I'm rooting for the Giants to win, but I'm gonna go against my better sense and root for Baltimore to meet them in Indy. No rematches. I'd take SF and NE if I have to, but I won't like it.

So, I got my burgers, I got my chipotle chips, apparently there will some sort of skype session so I am ready for that. Let there be two good games and I won't be disappointed. I guess.

For That You Get This

Where has this week gone? Kinda can't believe it's Friday. Haven't really been keeping up with things. Maybe I need to switch to a stronger morning beverage. Maybe I need to stop DVRing First Take. I can't hear the same fabricated arguments everyday. It makes my week blurry and I FF>> most of it anyhow. Enough Tebow. Friday workday. Good to have a plateful at 6am. Yuula is awake but I am not entertaining her. When Laura walked out the front door I heard a cry from the crib. Those two have the Shining. But she's slowly settling back down. I don't think she needs to be up at 5:30am. I think even Sprout has infomercials. Gives me time to unload the camera. And for that, you get this...

the Everymorning

showing maternals

stacked cats

nightsnacks

mini chilly

tastes symmetrical

totfan

Mommy Stickerface

painful piggies

caught her

what? You don't like pizza?

...and

She's back to sleep.

Eyes: NBC sitcoms
Ears: Dale Cooper Quartet & The Dictaphones

Your Tree Is A DJ

and that's a solo performance

Imagine the woods!

It Is That Fracking Good

I was recently prompted, by Portlandia, a new favorite show, to discover yet another new favorite show, one that I've heard of and about but never gave thought to actually participate in, but now that I'm halfway thru season one of Battlestar Galactica, I gotta say, it's pretty darn good. Basically a sci-fi series about the potential eradication of the human species by (you guessed it) their very own evolution of artificial intelligence. And I know that sounds wicked hokey and recycled but the show itself is pretty serious and original. And despite the contentious sci-fi requirements and the unfortunate pronunciation of the f-word, I'm hooked. I even tried to sneak in an episode during Yuula's bath tonight. The real challenge would be getting Laura to sit down and watch it with me, but I'm not holding my breath on that one.

Damn You Icy Conditions

Just me and the girl tonight. Laura got stuck in NJ due to a hazardous driving situation. Better to be safe. Read Yuula a few books and she was ready for night-night. Now I gotta figure out what to do with this time usually reserved for foot rubs and a glass of wine. I may stay up late, watch Game of Thrones and fall asleep on the couch or something. It's like I'm back in my bachelor days. Bachelor days with a baby monitor.

Who's Wearing Out Who?

Packers vs Giants.
Laura vs Yuula.

I Eat Pistachios When I'm Nervous

Saturday Morn, For A Flash

Saturday morning in bed watching cartoons. Kinda can't beat it. But life called and Laura wanted to head off to the gym before work (third day in a row) and I finally wanted to cook up some steel cut oats for my family's breakfast and Yuula, well she was content watching Jack Hanna in bed with a bottle of milk so... 

Let's see what we can do on a Sunday morning then.

The Rest Overslept Themselves

And then there were eight. From the Agatha Christie book. No? And Then There Were None. Anyone? You know the original title of that book? I'm getting off topic.

Football! That's right, playoffs this weekend, with four games, one more intriguing than the other, and I gotta get my two cents in. And I'm so terrible at picking winners and scores, you can mostly chalk this up to some comedic relief before the game. It's better than that hack Frank Caliendo and his "comedic" picks.

So let's go in order...

Saints Vs 49ers

What to say about this game? I think that the winner of this game goes to the Super Bowl for the NFC. That's one thing I can say. I've been following the 49ers much more than the Saints this year tho. The only bit I saw of them is when they slaughtered the Giants during the regular season. Embarrassing. But I think my money is on the 49ers today. I don't know why but I think after that defensive domination I saw in the BCS championship by Alabama, I feel like people are figuring out how to quash these potent offenses which is all New Orleans really is. Plus I think if Brees isn't getting his normal easy completions he's gonna start throwing bombs everywhere and I like the chance for some turnovers on San Francisco's side. I dunno. Let's say a low scoring game New Orleans 19, San Francisco 23. That is low scoring for New Orleans.

Broncos Vs Patriots

Good vs evil. East vs West. God vs the Devil. Call it what you will, it's gonna be a good game I bet. Brady & the Belichiks on the brink of inobscurity. Tebow and his minions going out with nothing to lose and everything to gain. I will not be surprised to see the Broncos really give the Patriots a hard time out there and keep it real close. I think the Patriots are going to use a strategy of intelligent design (no pun intended) to try and confuse Tebow and stifle his explosive plays, but I think what they take for granted is that Tebow doesn't play intelligent football where he reads defenses and gets a feel for the blitz and so on. He just yells hike and let's his neanderthal instincts take over. Tebow GO!. Ha. Watch this... Denver 31- New England 28. Surprise.

Texans Vs Ravens

Okay, I gotta admit I don't care as much about this game as the other three, but in saying that I do think that the winner of this game goes to the Super Bowl for the AFC. And I think that team will be the Ravens. I just think it's their time, with Steelers gone, Colts a joke, Patriots not their old selves. This is the fourth born kid taking center stage after the oldest leave the nest. And I don't mind that. Baltimore and 49ers in the Super Bowl. Two teams I haven't seen there lately. One step at a time tho. Houston 10, Baltimore 25. Only blowout.

Giants vs Packers

It's easy to be a humble Giants fan this year, after the hot and cold season they had and the way they backed into the playoffs, for once competing in a pathetic division, but after the last couple of games against the Jets and Falcons, I'm sorry, you gotta feel good about this team and at least a little excited to see them give Green Bay a run for their money. I don't want to jinx and make comparisons to 2007's run to the Super Bowl and so on, but the Giants seem to be clicking here, running, passing, blocking, sacking. They look darn good, but it's not hard to imagine the Packers have been laying low and letting everyone lower their expectations so they can come out blazing tomorrow night. Yeah, that's what they're doing. So this is a biased pick, but aren't they all. New York 34, Green Bay 31.