I remember Linus proposing a Children's Day in *Peanuts.* His grandmother replied, "Every day is children's day."

She was wrong, and this is a terrific idea.

Kid's day. I like that thought. Don't they have something like that in Japan? I have a memory from elementary school to that effect...

Oh, and First!

"opposite" OK? Or "opposition"?

Chris Rock has a routine about dads who go around bragging "I take care of my kids!" What do want, a cookie?

Does 'Mudge know about this????

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:-)

You know, we could make scheduling a whole lot easier if we just had an Everybody's Day.

:-)

"Opposition" it is. Thanks...

>and how would we have been able to take that trip to Yellowstone last year with the trailer without the SUV?"

Well Scotty, where's our pint-size nuclear reactors bud? Ought to be enough room under the hood of a Suburban!

I guess you actually run on steam so there should be plenty of left-over hot water for laundry, not to mention a handy way to steam veggies and lobster on the road.

My wife keeps telling me it's time for me to go out and get the trophy wife and start raising kids all over again. I tell her second families are for dads who feel guilty about neglecting their first set of kids.

I have been a very involved dad. Cub Scouts. Band Parent. Endless school field trips. I got my son to take of his new Bose headphones long enough to ask him if I have been involved enough in his life.

He said, "Yeah. I guess so. You took me to Balticon."

That will be my legacy.

At our house, July 9 is Daughters' Day, and has been for years.

Don't worry guys, I held up my end of the Father's Day deal for everybody. Yes, the kids made me breakfast (Potato Bread French Toast and sausage links...mmmm) while I watched the finish of the LeMans 24 hour, and even kinda cleaned up the kitchen (sorry, kitchen cleaning isn't done if your eyes aren't watering from the bleach fumes), but I got back at them by dragging them to the Udvar-Hazy Air & Space museum and lecturing them on darn near every vehicle in the joint.

Then I took them out to a nice dinner; using utensils, saying please and thank you, no kneeling in the chair, napkin in the lap and everything.

The kids applauded my manners, and pleased that they didn't have to badger me.

Much.

bc

Oh, that's right yello -- make me feel guilty, because I didn't take my kids to Balticon so they could grill Larry Niven about why he is so sexist in writing his female characters. Hey! I was busy, y'know? Those photons don't collect themselves.

For Father's Day, we went to look at a house on which we are off to place an offer this morning. For my birthday (today), I have been granted permission to buy a new digital camera at a rather self-indulgent level of capability.

I'm glad all you Dads had good days.

Happy Birthday Science Tim!!

Jumping up and down waving at Yoki!!!

Kids Day is an excellent idea, although they seemed to enjoyed Mother's and Father's Day just as much. The little one bounces around for days anxious to give out her precious hand made gifts and cards.

Good luck with the house SciTim.

SciTim,
Niven has female characters? Who knew? Other than the non-sapient female Kzin, I had never noticed. I guess that proves your point.

Connie Willis is the guest of honor next year. You can take your kids and give them a positive female role model to emulate.

For Father's Day, my son gave me a price quote on the parts needed to replace my six year old computer with one that is fast enough to do the video editing for his school projects.

Happy Birthday ScienceTim. I'd say celebrate wildly, but I figure that's in your plans anyway.

Good luck on the house-buying process. Don't forget, you need three clauses -- general home inspection clause, termite inspection clause, and chimney inspection clause.

HomeBuyerTim,
Don't forget radon testing and lead paint testing. And ask them where the septic tank is. You may need to know that someday.

EF, correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Asimov have walnut-sized reactors in the Foundation series?

Pint-sized would be good, but I'm holding out for one that I could leave in my other pants.

Also: Slyness, those pics are beautiful, thanks for thinking of me on that mountain drive. I *do* love an engaging drive on a good mountain road.

On a later Father's Day note, I did Tivo some of the US Open and the United States Grand Prix at Indianapoils for later viewing (how *about* my man Lewis Hamilton? bill everything - noted USGP whiner Ralf Schumacher was the first guy out of the race when he botched the first corner. Darn shame he took some other guys out with him.)

bc

bc, Wouldn't reactors that could be put in a pants pocket be just a tad dangerous if you know what I mean.

Hallmark holidays such as Father's Day seem saccharin to me. My wife & I encouraged or daughters from the earliest to create "cards" with their thoughts. Isn't it painful to watch buyers in the card store struggling to find a card that one card that maybe reflects their sentiment. It is nice to get a hand made card that says exactly what the giver intends.

We have given up on greeting cards in our house. That is eventually going to cause some friction with my parents. My mom sends cards for every occasion: Thanksgiving, Easter, Halloween, Arbor Day. My dad sent me a Father's Day card. I left a message on his voice mail.

bc: Ralf obviously has been taking lessons from the White House about shrugging off responsibility:

"Things do happen at the start," he said. "The grip was not perfect, and the tire locked a little bit. I just got in the way of David or he into my way, one of the two. It's just unfortunate."

Sheesh . . . .

Here's the full article about the collision:

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070618/SPORTS0111/706180358/

Oh, there's a BOO.

Happy Birthday, *Tim.

And don't forget that if the sellers don't agree to LiT's three, you need to consider engaging the fourth - the lost clause.

Congrats on the new camera, I'm sure you'll enjoy the hi-res pics of your favorite subject.

bc

>didn't Asimov have walnut-sized reactors in the Foundation series?

Speaking of things I need to re-read, that's probably tops on the list. So I dunno. But if they can't make it any smaller than my 472 in the heavy Chevy I think I'd still take it.

Good race at the USGP, Lewis Hamilton is indeed the man.

Morning Boodle. For Father's Day I planted the newly purchased crape myrtle without assistance from Mr. F who was dreading having to do it. I'm sure he was having flashbacks to every hole he ever dug in NoVA, all of which seemed to have been filled with boulders held together by red clay the consistency of concrete. Our soil here is so easily dug it could be confused for sand. (It is sand, I live in denial.)

If that weren't treat enough we ate at a favorite seafood dive with an old friend whose father died a few months ago. He brought Mom along and surprisingly, considering the circumstances, hilarity ensued with Frostdottir's teen foibles providing many punch lines. (We will pay dearly at some later date when she is in full umbrage mode.)

dr, it's not dangerous if you have the right boxers. But tighty-whiteys would be insufficient.

bill e - at this rate, I expect Ralf to be fired or at least benched before the season's over. He's being paid something like $20M a year, and doing nothing to justify it to this point.

bc

"Is that a walnut reactor in your pocket, or are you just glowing to see me?"

bc... I thought that was *our* favorite subject. :-)

Hey... can we have a show of hands and a rough head count on the First Nationals BPH this weekend: Saturday night, RFK Stadium, gathering at 5:30 or so (at a place to be determined).

So.. who's in?

yellojkt, thank you for restoring my faith in humanity with your 9:43.

I was wondering when someone was going to take a swing at that softball (as it were).

EF, you have a crate 472 in something?
Impressive.

bc

There is only one true Father's Day and I have experienced it. It was the day that the kurosawachick's last college tuition check was written. In the words of the immortal Dr. King, "Free at last, free at last! Great God Almighty, I'm free at last!"

Speaking of people benched, I thought it was interesting that Jack Villeneuve was in the Peugot diesel at Le Mans this year. I was beginning to think he had retired to run a maintain bike shop in Colorado or something.

Cool looking car, that Peugot.

TBG, at this point I'm in for the BPH, as certain as St. Heisenberg (motto: "Your mileage may vary.")

bc

>EF, you have a crate 472 in something?

Not a crate, that's standard issue '68 Coupe de Ville. MUHAHAHAHA

kguy!!! *waving wildly*

Happy Birthday, *Tim!!! *faxin' a cake wildly*

TBG, count two more in for Saturday.

EF, there's this company that talks about "urban mini-reactors," yanno...

:-)

Sorry, TBG. I will be in Beijing by the time of the first pitch.

http://livebythefoma.blogspot.com/2007/06/slow-boat-to-china.html

EF, last I heard Jacques was recording a record in Quebec (honestly).

Morning!

Happy Birthday Tim and congrats on the almost-yours house.

Slyness, why aren't you supposed to use cast iron pans on flat-top stoves? Not that I do, but guys like Alton Brown sometimes make me feel guilty for not even owning one.

Yesterday I wasn't even torn between watching the US Open or the NASCAR race. The Open was a great story with all kinds of plot twists. NASCAR seems to have become SSDD, so I fast-forwarded through most of it to see the last laps. bc, is there a cure for NASCAR fatigue?

Mornin' all...

Joel... you know that if you had taken this same angle on a kit regarding Mother's Day, even Salman Rushdie would be saying "man... you really shouldn't have gone there".

Manufactured-by-Hallmark holiday or not, us Dads deserve at least one "special" day a year (whether we feel special or not).

Peace...

(btw... due to not "working the program", the sobriety ticker has unfortunately had to be reset to zero)

Hi, k-guy!

Congrats on your freedom on Father's Day.

Me, I'd still be worried my daughter would want a wedding with 300 guests. And I have three daughters.

In the words of poet-philosopher Kris Kristofferson,

"freedom's just another word
for nothing left to lose,"

bc

>"urban mini-reactors,"

They need to shoot for dishwasher-size. Then we got somethin'.

dmd, thanks for the JV update. I can't imagine his singing voice. Don't... want... to... !

At least NASCAR is in HD now. That doesn't suck.

martooni, just think of it as a lesson learned. Hang in there.

martooni, every path has its patches of uneven ground. Now you have some experience on how to keep your balance next time.

:-)

Let's just say his voice is perhaps best listened to while in an F1 car, the album is in French by the way.

Martooni, just keep trying.

Jacques V's record is epically bad. He should have stuck with driving and badmouthing his colleagues, he's much better at that.
He actually had a good race at Le Mans but the engine quit with 22.5 hours done but with still 90 minutes to go. The second Peugeot's engine quit too but with minutes to go they run it at no-low oil pressure to the finish. I wouldn't want to be in that situation, running the last lap with no oil pressure. Talk about stress.
I had a busy Father's day, opening the pool and all but it was OK to be outside in gorgeous weather. The kids found out it was father's day when I casually mentioned it while eating the dinner I PREPARED FROM SCRATCH. That was OK, we usually go out on FD as I am the family's cook but I was too dirty and tired for that last night. And we have to watch the Puppy too. Yes, the old dog now has a little friend. The old lab is not really thrilled but it takes it better than the stupid cat.

From the bass Loodle: A middle school student gets in trouble for giving his girlfriend a HUG.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/17/AR2007061701179.html?hpid=topnews

I bet if he asked, the school nurse would have given him a CONDOM instead.

Hang in there danghippie. Hopefully this picture of a potential partner for Stella will cheer you up:

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2007/06/campaign_pic_of.html

We definitely are ENTHUSIASTIC. (Sorry to shout, but I can't use italics like Sandy Lovemuffin)

TBG
I will be attending the game and will let you know if anybody will be joining me.

Hey Martooni, just hang in there dude,you already taken the biggest step. I am sure your sponsor is telling you the same. When I was working the program, my sponsor told me 90% of us slip once. It is just like falling off a horse, get back on and continue on with the journey.

Martooni,
Add me to the chorus from your group of imaginary supporters. I hope I never have to deal with the demons you do. It's very brave to admit you need to keep going. One stumble isn't going to keep you from completing your journey.

That's SIR Salman Rushdie.

Happy birthday, Tim! And good luck with the house offer, hope everything works out for the very best!

Raysmom, I dunno why. I surmise that castiron might crack the glass top, but that's just a guess.

Heyyy, k-guy! Yeah, writing that last check is a good feeling, isn't it? I'm hoping elder child will be reasonable about a wedding, but that's not in her nature.

Sooo, martooni, we pick ourselves up and go again. Grace is sufficient for all.

martooni, you made it as far as you did, you - and we - know you can do it again and then some.

Raysmom, I've got the same SSDD/fatigue issue with NASCAR, which is why I am more inclined to watch the road courses and small ovals. I have an idea though: maybe you and the Mr. would like to spend an afternoon or evening at the Allsports GP kart track near Dulles:

http://www.allsportsgp.com/#

That might help.

bc

A fine Father's Day weekend. Talked to Carl, and had some attention my way as well.

yellojkt, re: your 9:43. It had to be said. I was backboodling and all ready to go on the obvious joke clean up squad.

martooni, hang in there.

Pop Socket, see? It wasn't so hard to go off topic. We have a bunker to hide in when Ron Paul's jackbooted thugs come asking for you after straying off-message, so don't worry. ;)

Another observation from the weekend. I think one of the saddest things in pro sports is to watch the young up-and-comer who starts day four of a major golf tournament in the lead (in this case, the Australian Baddely in the US Open). He got a triple bogey on the bit that I watched, and shot an 80 on Sunday.

bc, good idea. In my former job, we went to one of those places for a team building event, and it was a blast! (Especially the opportunity to spin out the boss.)

You also reminded me that we need to get out to Shenandoah Speedway the next time we're at the country place. I especially like the races run with the battered hulls of old 4-cylinder cars, like Dodge Neons.

SoC, you're right, it was so sad to see young Aaron implode after showing such promise on Saturday. Even sadder, NBC just stopped showing his shots, as if Tiger was playing all by himself.

Martooni, you walk, correct? When you were learning to walk, you tripped and fell, you got off balance, you ran and could not stop, so falling looked like a way to stop. It took a while for you to get the hang of walking. So too, with this. Counter reset, maybe, but you had a couple of path's you could have chosen. One to reset, and one to stop counting. I'm really really glad you chose the first.

A chilly weekend camping. We toughed it out. Details here:

http://needlesandthings.blogspot.com/

I love this Kit. Ivansdad was the stay-at-home, or "primary caretaker" in jargon, until the Boy began school. He's routinely taken care of the Boy, but never babysat a day in his life. [Not for others' kids, either. Pedants.] He did an excellent job. However, he also benefited from the extemely low bar to which fathers are so often held. [Kids, don't try that sentence at home.] I agree with Linus's grandmother that every day is kids' day. They'd like to think so, anyway, and giving them an inch will just encourage them to take that mile.

Short takes:
Happy birthday and good house-hunting, ScienceTim.
Martooni, thanks for being honest with us and yourself. We're happy to restart the clock, dude, so keep it going.
Pop Socket, keep working on that shouting. Nice expansion of themes.
Point of confusion from yesterday: LB, I didn't mean to make any substantive comment about Thomas Keller or fancy restaurants, and certainly nothing disparaging. I merely noted that is one of Pixar's somewhat unlikely draws for Ratatouille.

dr... I am in awe of your talent with yarn. The only thing I can knit is my brow.

dr, the pictures of your handiwork were wonderful, I am not handy in knitting or needle work but have done some projects for the kids, but not close to your standard.

Everything I want to say has been said and better than I could. So Ditto...

are y'all eatin' lunch, or chattin' with Tom, or both, or...

Nice spot dr. It's not in the Pigeon lake area I gather?

Raysmom, I've been thinking about entering one of those 4-cyl events. I've been trying to covnice a friend that an old banged up Neon he's got would be perfect for it.

Mine's a little too nice for it, plus they don't allow manual transmissions. And I'm not going to swap in an AT just to beat the daylights out a car I can still use on the street.

BTW, how about that Angel Carbrera?
He played some great golf with the pressure on, unlike the guys who finished behind him.

Oh, and Raysmom, let me know when you and Mr. Raysmom want to go up to Allsports; that's a fun evening.

bc

SCC:"Cabrera"

Imagine *me* making *that* mistake.

bc

OK Orioles fans, was this season (so far) bad enough to fire Perlozzo over?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/18/AR2007061800588.html

Me, I don't know.

bc

bc;

I'm surprised you didn't call him "Carrera."

:-)

Only three teams doing worse and the Nationals ain't one of 'em.

From our loyal Pakistani allies in the GWOT --

The award of a knighthood to the author Salman Rushdie justifies suicide attacks, a Pakistani government minister said today.

"This is an occasion for the 1.5 billion Muslims to look at the seriousness of this decision," Mohammed Ijaz ul-Haq, religious affairs minister, told the Pakistani parliament in Islamabad. "The west is accusing Muslims of extremism and terrorism. If someone exploded a bomb on his body he would be right to do so unless the British government apologises and withdraws the 'sir' title."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/pakistan/Story/0,,2105748,00.html

shrieking, no, its Rock Lake, north of Hinton. It overlooks Jasper and Willmore Wilderness.

I feel badly for the people in the Pigeon Lake incident. They said they were experienced campers. Camping experience and common sense don't always show up in the same place, sadly. Laying on the ground, some distance from the tree might have saved them.

We were fortunate in the mountains. No thunder, just rain.

dr, did you get as much rain as they did in the Calgary area?

Wow, I feel completely inadequate. Tim's buying a house, yellojkt's going to China, dr's blogging and knitting socks while camping in the rain. I'm hoping to get my hair cut today (I dreamed that I didn't even manage that, and was going to have to do it on my way home from work Tuesday.)

*waving quietly at Kguy so as not to scare him off*

Thank you for the comments on my blog. This was only its second public appearance. You are too kind. Its not really a talent, its more of a test of perseverance attached to a terminal case of playing with string. String seriously interferes with reading, but it does allow me to watch a lot of movies.

Happy Monday, everyone. Congratulations on the relatively successful passage of another Father's Day.

Good luck with the house, SciTim, great birthday present if the offer gets accepted.

Martooni...Never say die. Go find that wagon and climb back on it, knowing that we're all here cheering and waving like mad, and will be, no matter how many times you have to climb back up on it.

Peace.

Now if we can just get all those overacheiving mommies to cut it out - think of the unrealistic interest level in children that they're setting up their daughters with.

Front Page alert.

Not so much as Calgary. At the house of R it was dry as a bone. News showed pictures from Banff. It snowed up this weekend.

mostly, you just have to keep telling yourself that hairstyle really doen't matter, that it only matters that you keep it off your face in order to see the strings better. Stop at a yarn shop. You will feel better.

Although Joel's father might have excelled at defying conformity, my own father was just the opposite. He did not much cotton to changes in the status quo. In fact, he could become downright testy if anything unexpected ever occurred.

As children we learned early on that my father was not a man to whom you took problems; my father was a man from whom you carefully hid problems. (One of my earliest memories is of him becoming violently apoplectic over a clogged toilet.) We either solved problems on our own, or consulted, in hushed tones, with our mother. Mine was a childhood of guile and conspiracy whose overriding goal was to keep my father blissfully ignorant.

And in some twisted way our dysfunctional childhood may have actually worked to our advantage. For all of us have become successful adults. But, of course, it has come at a price. Not the least of which is that I became a parent with very few insights into how to pull off this whole fatherhood gig. Fortunately, I married a strong woman who took it for granted that I was to serve strictly as an advisor.

I take further solace from the insight that a knowledge of conventional fathering is only applicable if one ends up with conventional children. And, as luck would have it, both of my children are decidedly unconventional. So it kinda worked out in the end.

Besides, I guess all fathers, to some degree, must make it up as they go along. All parenting is improvisational. All I can say for certain is that my children will never remember their father getting angry about a clogged toilet.

Of which I am inordinately proud.

yellojkt,
Long direct flights save a lot of time. I liked Dulles-Tokyo in February, especially taking some aerial photos of Fairbanks from the window. It helped that the flight was run by ANA, using a nice new plane with video-on-demand.

I've seen some of the art that used to be in the Forbidden City, at the National Palace Museum in Taipei.

Beijing is busy enough that they probably won't show off a major aspect of the civilization--cultivated flowering plants. The Chinese bred camellias, roses, hibiscuses, peonies, etc. European and American gardens would be nearly naked without them. Long ago, Colonial Williamsburg even yanked out the forysthia bushes.

RD,
You have hit on one of the concepts Joel only hinted at. Fathers of my dad's generation never changed diapers, missed birthdays on a regular basis, and served more as a bogeyman threat than an actual day to day parent.

That is why we feel so accomplished for doing anything while spouses expect a more equitable sharing of roles. It's all a matter or role models and expectations. My wife is very proud that my son is already more domesticated than she can ever hope to get me.

And Joel, I loved the description of your morning with your daughter. I hope you enjoy those fab brunches while you can.

SCC: It's all a matter of rolemodels...

Thanks for the heads up, Dave. I will definitely pay attention to the flora. Like I said in my blog, I'm taking over 10 gigs of media storage and we have a gadget that lets me use my iPod for overflow. This trip will be nothing if not well documented.

RD, it sounds as if your childhood prepared you pretty well for your nascent management career -- discussing a problem in hushed tones with the other team members, trying to solve it before bringing it to the boss.
Actually, as so often happens in one way or another, it sounds as if your father's temperament and approach to parenting did prepare you not to be like him. Many people don't manage to accomplish that. Congratulations on your success so far.

Besides, as you say, mostly parenting is making it up without letting the kids know. At least it is for us. I invented a "Parent's Manual", which I often referred to when the Boy was young, as authority for random parental pronouncements. I told him it was given to each parent at the hospital but VERY secret and he must never mention it to other children. This worked surprisingly well for many years, but now I think he's on to me.

He doesn't believe lightning bugs cause lighting either.

Lightning. Lightning bugs cause lightning. Everyone knows lighting is caused by diet.

>lighting is caused by diet.

And here I thought it was PSE&G. What am I paying those guys for?

See, when you diet, you get lighter . . . oh never mind.
I apologize.

Ivansmom, as someone who typed lightening for lightning early today - do not apologize.

It was my child who invented our Parents Guide, she would compliment me when I did something she thought was really good and ask if there was a book I had that taught me to be a Mom, I said yes the Mom book.

She seemed to forget those compliments on the days when she would pack her bags to go live somewhere where there was "no rules". :-)

Really Ivansmom, no need to apologize: both your posts made laugh.

>Ivansmom, as someone who typed lightening for lightning early today - do not apologize.

Indeed. I'm on a lighten up kick myself. I just couldn't resist.

When I eat too much, do I darken?

Lavar Arrington was in a bad crash on the beltway; he's in stable condition at PG Hospital.

Error, if I'd seen your post before writing mine, I might have left it alone. I thought I had killed the Boodle with my bad joke. I'll have to work harder.

Error after I saw Ivansmom, I realized my typo, so I doubled check and laughed when I saw the definition (medical) of lightening. Sometime Errors are funny.

oh come on. every day these days is "kids day". Kids are the center of the universe. Compare their role in society to that even 50 years ago, and you will see how insane it has gotten.

My dad calls kids The Ultimate Pet. I find little evidence to dispute that hypothesis. I keep explaining to my son that the economic benefits of children eroded long ago.

>I'll have to work harder.

Oh my Ivansmom, don't work harder. Take my advice on this. We all work too hard as it is.

OH! SOOOOOO GLAD YOU HAD A HAPPY CHILDREN'S DAY...as the US was bombing the life out of seven children in Afganiastan. At a mosque that is also a madrass school...(we can't have them learning things the Israelis won't like). They must've been MILITANTS, as is every Palestinian child the Israelis shoot or bomb.
We are in fact becoming like Israel. No surprise, the war was conceived and is run by Jewish neocons for Israel. And the world also detests our savagery.

A darn shame about LaVar.

Wow, that works on so many levels.

I hope LaVar isn't too badly hurt.
After the ACL injury last year and being cut by the Giants, the guy's luck sure isn't very good lately.

-Bill C

I really liked the analogy someone drew a couple of weeks ago to a neighbourhood bar.

front page indeed.

Whoops, that'd be bc.

Shouldn't have crossed the streams there.

Ah, well. So I'm another one of a million guys in the Boodle with the same first name.

bc

bc, You are the former President???? :-)

I always thought maybe you were Bill Clinton, bc. Now I'm convinced.

Could be Bill Cosby. Or Bill Cullen (that's my age showing. Beats my slip showing.)

dmd: //She seemed to forget those compliments on the days when she would pack her bags to go live somewhere where there was "no rules". :-)//

That would be my house. Doubtless she'd find something to hate there too! :-)

dbG, I used to make her promise to return if she found the land without rules because I would want to live there too, not sure if that chapter was in the Mom book.

dmd, it is in the mom book, in the section on teenagers. It ends with the note 'in your dreams'.

My Father's Day was slowed by a broken collarbone sustained a few days earlier in a bike accident where I displayed heroism in trying to avoid a wayward child -- he was unscathed. I now know what it's like to crash out of The Tour.

My wife made french toast, I received some cool cards, went to the pool where I spoke boldly of my plan to heal quickly, and then off to my parents' house for the evening. In the kitchen I wished my Dad a Happy Father's Day and he responded, "same to you, kid" while my 5-year old son, standing between us, smiled a knowing smile. I think he got it.

Children's Day. Great. Why don't we just give every kid a juice box, a fruit rollup and a trophy every week, just for breathing in and out.
Oh, and don't forget the Bumper Stickers that honor the kid who gets a B in spelling.

dmd, expanding (this may be covered by your subsequent post), if she doesn't have any rules, you don't either. In my house o'norules, I wouldn't feel compelled to do her laundry, grocery shop, make her breakfast, lunch and dinner, give her an allowance. . . while I'd probably do all these things, by definition, I wouldn't have to because there's *no rule* making me.

Perhaps this isn't what she imagined?

Is it my imagination, or are our new boodlers shy on whimsy?

I'm laughing, dbg, at "shy on whimsy." And you guys thought *I* was a sourpuss.

yellojkt - I think the "Ultimate Pet" analogy, although unflattering, is about right. Most of us don't have children to help with the farm, or work down at the mill, or even to take care of us in our old age.

We have them because we want to create happiness and to have witnesses to our lives. Or, as my sainted mother used to say, kids are "just good for loving."

As a child it took me a while to figure out that this wasn't anything to feel bad about.

But, but, Mudge...isn't that your publicly assumed identity?

Of course WE know better, but still!

;-)

Thanks RD. I like how when they are little they smell good and fit in your arms/lap, and when they are bigger they are funny and full of wit and zest (though not always smelling so very wonderful). Good for loving indeed!

I think people aren't quite getting the thinking behind the "Children's Day" concept. They seem to be suggesting that we spoil our kids enough. But that isn't at all what Joel is saying. If I read him correctly, he is saying that the best thing about being a father isn't that you get power tools and a big breakfast once a year. The best thing about being a father is that you get to be around kids. Kids are the reward.

I think that's right, RD. I don't see any suggestion that we should spoil the Children, just that we should celebrate them - and in a way, that is what both Father's and Mother's Days are all about (marketing aside). In fact, the Kit ends with the suggestion that we should get the kids the ties, golf balls and power tools currently offered to Dad. Now, of course, those children don't need those things, so Dad might as well get the use of them, right?

Of course, you want to watch out. This could be like Homer and Marge with the bowling ball. Imagine Bart with a chain saw. Or, worse, Milhouse.

I'm not sure kids are the reward, Padouk; it's the grandkids who are the reward. At least in our family.

I don't know about you, but I put my kids to work for me plenty... bending over to pick up things on the floor, reading the little type on medicine bottles... stuff like that.

LiT, I don't think that's showing your age as much as either kit-writers or snoodlers using the term "fab". For you kids out there, that's middle-late 20th C English for "fabulous".

I just had a flashback of the sudden age-awareness of my fifth grade teacher when none of us knew what "tripping the lights fantastic" was.

Groovy!

Is THIS what's gonna finally do them in?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/18/AR2007061800809.html

Probably not. But there's no harm in wishful thinking.

TBG,
So basically your kids are poorly disciplined service animals that will eventually demand your car keys.

Actually, did you guys know there really IS a Children's Day? It was March 4 this year (well in New Zealand, anyway). See http://www dot childrensday dot org dot nz/ChildrensDaySite/

And Clinton had at least one: http://clinton4 dot nara dot gov/WH/new/html/Tue_Oct_10_120420_2000 dot html

It is May 5 in Japan and Nov. 14 (Nehru's birthday) in India. http://festivals dot iloveindia dot com/childrens-day/

Nov. 5 in Natal, South Africa: http://www dot capegateway dot gov dot za/eng/pubs/news/2005/nov/118763

Arbusto's Daddy proclaimed it to be Oct. 14, 1990: http://www dot presidency dot ucsb dot edu/ws/index dot php?pid=1903 (second Sunday in October)

Bu then Clinton came in and: "The Congress, by Senate Joint Resolution 139, has designated the third Sunday in November as "National Children's Day...." http://www dot presidency dot ucsb dot edu/ws/index dot php?pid=62456

This outfit wants it to be held on the third Sunday in March: http://www dot nationalchildrensday dot org/

Just sayin'.

Tubular!

Bummer!

Children's day is not celebrated in New Zealand, regardless of what you can find on the internet - it's a relatively new gimmick that was dreamt up a few years ago and no one does anything about, much to the chargrin of those who instigated it. I think the concept is targeted at the lower end of society and is all about taking care of your children properly - more of a "please don't beat your kids today, day" or a "please send them to school with lunch today, day". Tragic, but true.

SoC, the other day I said something about using Pantene on Dear Child's hair to keep her from looking like Roseanne Rosannadanna, and my friend fell out laughing. She said it showed my age that not only did I know who Roseanne Rosannadanna was, but that I used it in everyday conversation. Golly Gee Willickers, I thought RR was a household name, or that people had at least heard of Grandma Roseanne Roseannadanna's Banana Cake.

Stuff on the Internet isn't true???

*tearing hair out*

LaVar will live, so sayeth the TV newsies.

:-)

Mothers Day, Fathers Day etc. as a reminder that at least one day a year we should call and remember how special they are, is fine. A little nudging to call your mom or your dad or your kids is never a bad thing.

A day as a marketing gimmick attached to flowers or cards, is just wrong.

So if I forgot to call my dad yesterday, what does this make me, and should I send a card as well as call.

Bill Cullen, ha!

I told my kids I had Peter Frampton hair when I was younger, and they just stared at me.

I may just grow it back to see what it looks like all shot through with gray.

Er, maybe not.

Well, I bet Frampton hizownself would be jealous anyway.

bc

Hah hah!

Just got in. Note to Error Flynn: no Bonneville, no Jovian messages. I think it's Mike Gravel offering otherworldly messages at the moment.

I hasten to add that I am a resident of Ye Olde Glasse House as well.

Speaking of which...

re Peter Frampton. On the weekend I happened upon the Bee Gees movie version of Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club. 'nuff said.

Actually, Linus' grandma was
right. Every day is, generally,
childrens' day. End of story.
Amen.

>In any case, we probably ought to dispense with Father's Day and replace it with Children's Day. A day dedicated to kids, whether our own or someone else's. They're the ones who should be glorified and praised and celebrated.<

Father's Day this year was special because it fell on the day after the first time both of our kids had been away from home for a week at camp.

Quite a culture shock for Mr. and Mrs. Everything. Relief mixed with a definite bit of emptiness. Did get to spend some great time together but almost felt guilty which was crazy, of course, because the kids had the time of their lives.

We all went for brunch on Sunday to a popular breakfast stop. The place was packed, of course. Great people watching, imagining the connections of all these tables full of differently composed families.

I loved the kit but I think we need to keep Father's Day for the very reasons Joel petitioned for Children's Day; it forces the male of the species who carefully keeps all emotions carefully hidden to contemplate about the family he is a part of. The mom's don't need a day to do this (which is why we need her day, fabricated or not).

[My very last, I think, Sopranos comment follows.] Could not get that suddenly newly popular Journey song out of mind during the brunch. Kept watching other people at the restaurant in the same way Chase showed the movement of strangers at Holsten's. Fortunately there were no guys sitting alone wearing a cap that said "USA" who shuffled off to the bathroom. I think I'm going to be ok.

Peter Frampton pretty much shaves his head these days, but he still rocks. I know this because I've seen him on TV recently (Soundstage on PBS) and on a video with Ringo Starr's Fourth All Starr Band (with the fantabulous Jack Bruce and Gary Brooker). I have to confess that I had his album "Frampton Comes Alive". When we were both much younger.

bill e, maybe there will be a support group for recovering Sopranos fans. Sounds like you could use it. (I'm cracking up at the picture in my head of you in the diner!)

What is good parents? and Who is good parents? A lot of money? Supporting their sons and daughters for better education? Being responsible for their children's weekend? When I compare my parents with other parents, I deeply thank my parents for thier passion for our brothers. Eventhough we,our family, is not rich, my parents keep making their many efforts to keep step with other childrens. In many ways, they've tired to make happy home. Of course, it's not easy to do. Not for long, I'll be a father. Like a above article, 'Good fathering' is hard to meet. Smiling always, Happy together !!! My answer for my question will be appeared in my mind !!

Stuck in meetings all day today and tomorrow, so limited boodling but here's my tuppence worth:

1) dr, no reason that the string activities should interfere with your reading. One word for you: "audiobooks!" I always listen to stories when I'm working on a crochet project.

2) My Japanese friend says Japan has two days for children: Boys' Day is a national holiday, celebrated by all, people take off from work and give the boys special presents and everybody makes a big fuss. Girls' Day is, well, a day. If she was a little more Americanized, she might add sardonically, "I'm not bitter..."

3) I liked this cartoon about the Sopranos' finale:

http://attachments.wetpaintserv.us/PY5d29hadZii4u92SEyRpg%3D%3D90022

4) martooni, forgiveness is a wonderful thing. Accept yours and continue on.

5) Perhaps it is ironic, but studies show that in order to have enormously positive effects on their children, all dads really have to do is just be there. So hurray for dads, everywhere, Superdad or not-so-super, it's all good.

Jumper, thanks for the update. I still wonder sometimes where (or if) that guy is. He was certainly sincere.

>thinking behind the "Children's Day"
I thought it meant it would change so they had only ONE day to be pampered and you could work them like dogs and beat them all the rest of the time. Like in the Good Old Days.

Maybe that's why I'm still a bachelor. :-)

I'm happy to report that our son called his dad *today*, finally. Not that we were obsessing about it, but still...Was it Father's Day in Canada, too?

Mostly, Peter Frampton did a concert here about a month ago with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. My wife, who is in the ISO, had to be schooled how, in the world of popular music, he is a bit of an odd phenomenon.

He did sell out. "Do you feel like I do," indeed.

I saw Lou Dobbs' reaction to Gene W's article (he didn't like it). Pretty funny. I have to admit that when Lou Dobbs starting bashing Bush's policies, that's when I started to watch, and to take heart that it wasn't just us "liberals" that were dissatisfied with the country's direction. I pretty much agree with him on outsourcing - not so much on the illegal immigration issue (frankly, I don't listen to him that much and I'm not really sure what Lou thinks we should do about it).

Toles scored an ace today:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/opinions/cartoonsandvideos/toles_main.html

And, arguably, the best satirical use of you know what:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/opinions/cartoonsandvideos/toles_main.html?name=Toles&date=06142007

Cool, bill e! What does your wife play? Did you go to the concert? I had a colleague who also played cello in the symphony orchestra here, and it was interesting to hear his "behind the scenes" takes on that. I was surprised at how well Frampton played, since he had faded from sight for so long. And, oh, the hair.

yellojkt! Make sure to pack plenty of American-made toothpaste!

Thinking of Kiwis, we in Florida have hurricanes. The Legislature and Governor have done there very best to make homeowner windstorm insurance more affordable through a socialistic state insurance company, with the State assuming much of the risk (not to mention providing subsidies). On top of that, the Legislature is also doing its best to starve local governments of property tax revenues. These measures ensure that local governments won't have financial reserves (the notion seems to be that "every penny of reserves is a penny taken away from taxpayers"). There'll also pretty certainly be massive layoffs of police, firefighters, and other emergency responders.

After the next storm (preferably not until after the 2008 election), Congress, seeing this irresponsibility, will finally let a large, prosperous state take care of its own predictable, semi-routine bad weather not conduct a bailout. The locals can raise taxes, default on bond issues, etc.

Now for the Kiwis. New Zealand has volcanoes and earthquakes. I suspect NZ has done the best it can to ensure the country won't go under when something nasty happens.

Mostly, I didn't go and did my usual "Symphony dad" duty (now that the kids are older we are going more often to concerts, however).

My wife does not suffer musical fools quietly and was quite complimentary about Frampton's playing. I had to explain, however, that there were a few guys in the rock pantheon that might go in front of him.

It's been quite interesting; I knew little about classical music when we met; her popular musical interests when we met included The Carpenters (really; totally inexplicable) and Barbara Streisand.

To her, the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Seger etc. are just indistinguishable and she couldn't tell me, other than maybe famous Beatles' songs, who is on popular rock radio at any time. I hear one note and know the entire song. I have gotten her to admit that she is beginning to understand the Dylan thing. I also have gotten her to like Emmylou Harris (because you cannot listen to Emmylou Harris and not be in awe; I mean, I knew I would win that one) and Alison Krauss.

The latest effort of the ISO last Friday was doing the music of Led Zeppelin with a rock band outdoors at White River State Park (I am not making this up).

I deeply appreciated the rich incongruity this must have created for many orchestra members who have spent their lives honing their craft to play superbly beautiful abstract music. It is symbolic of the state of classical music in America and the desperate attempts by orchestras across the country to somehow attract new audiences. Meanwhile, school corporations in this country are eliminating music programs like never before.

How did this soapbox get under my feet?

Dave of the Coonties has an interesting slant on the property tax reform measures in Florida. I've just returned from a local town council meeting where the issue was one of many. The town has enjoyed a 70% increase in property tax revenue over the past 5 years, primarily from the real estate "froth" that escalated property values. The town budgeted and spent every dime of the windfall and tonight the town attorney said he would resign unless his fee was basically tripled in the next budget, going from a flat hourly rate to a minimum retainer and then doubling of the hourly rate. The only way to rein in profligate government spending is limiting revenue. The legislative property tax changes are not perfect - many homeowners with homestead property values under $200,000 may see an increase in their taxable value, but those over that base will see a significant decrease. The voters will decide in January.

We have plenty of toiletries including toothpaste. We were also warned to bring our own toilet paper. We spent a few days trying to find trinkets to give as gifts that weren't made in China. We finally decided on a couple of cases of Jelly Bellys. Made in America. Guaranteed, I've seen it.

Thanks, bill. The orchestra here does similar things to get the audience in. I've only been to a couple of symphony concerts myself, in all these years. The only time I've been in the beautiful new symphony hall was when Bob Newhart performed. I was glad that they had a small group from the orchestra play a jazz set, so I could hear the acoustics. One of the performers they had last year around Christmas was Emmy Lou, who is wonderful.

My praying mantises have hatched! I had to rescue the egg case the other day when my husband pruned the rose bush it was in and threw the branches in the yard waste bin. Luckily it was on top, so I put it in the butterfly bush. They are about a quarter inch long, and you can see their triangular heads, and antennae, and little folded up forearms. There are a bunch of them - hope they do ok.

Mostlylurking, it was *Canadian Fathers' Day* yesterday.

Busy weekend full of family finally over and I just finished washing the kitchen floor and doing 3 loads of laundry. The grandchildren met each other for the first time. After some initial territorial issues by my granddaughters, which manifested themselves in shyness, a mini pout and a whispered "when are they leaving?" from the younger one, the children got along well. A good day for the dads as well.

Slyness, what beautiful pictures, so pretty in those mountains. Martooni, as others have said, just get back on the horse and start riding. I learned a lot from my slip and I'm sure you will too.

I'm too tired to back boodle any more tonight.

A local bank had an ad saying if you dine in a few selected restaurants in town on Father's Day (Sunday) and charge your meal with your platinum card, they'll reimburse you B$50 (US$33). That sounds like a great deal. I suppose they made that offer cuz they know there are not that many platinum card holders.

Read something interesting about the Amazon. "Z" sounds incredibly painful.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article2670606.ece

rain forest, that is incredibly funny. Sort of like the Casper Gustly Tinies, only for real.

I killed the Boodle. Killded it dead, I did.

It's just resting Yoki. It's been a long day. How's the cookbook going?

I finally managed to post a few pictures. The Puppy is featured as well as the Old Dog. For those suffering from the heat and humidity please note that snow is featured in a few pictures for a few seconds of relief. There is a rat, a slimy creature, a spider, a spineless vertebrate and flying raccoons as well.
I didn't think about reducing the size of the pics before posting the first few pics, so peeps with slow connection be advised.

http://picasaweb.google.fr/ShriekingDenizen/BoodleAlbum

Shrieking, thank you. And may I say, that Croque is such a puupy-baby? So so sweet. And poor old lab-person. Well done, sir. Well done.

Oh! The cookbook is good, just fine. I need another couple/three weeks to proof it, and finish testing the instructions. But I think it will be salable by end-July. Or thereabouts. Roughly speaking.

It has been so much fun to do this. You have no idea.

Goodnight, Boodle.

bc

Thanks Yoki. We enjoy the cuteness factor of the puppy while it last. The Pup's father weighs in at 145lbs and has the largest dog's head ever sitting on top of its neck. Stately and nice but the cuteness is gone. Here's Dad.

http://www.doguedebordeaux.ca/diego.htm

g'night bc.

g'night puppy-boy dogue de bordeaux.

The Little Dog Tray!

dr, pocket reactors would lend new meaning to the phrase "hot pants."

Okay, time to back-boodle some more.

Sometimes a father's day has extra meaning. A friend of mine is confronting the fact that her father may not live much longer, and she was saying "my god, it was such a good day, the family together and all."

And sometimes that's what matters-- being together. Not the super-dad awards.

No father is appreciated until the kid is at least 25 and/or realizes that being an adult and/or raising kids was tougher than they thought. So yeah, you're basically teaching the kids to fake appreciation and show affection-- so when they do feel it, they won't be caught flatfooted how to show it.

Shiloh,
Florida's been lucky in not having a city-busting hurricane since 1992 or even earlier, if you consider that Andrew largely spared central and northern Miami-Dade County. Charley (combined with torrential rain from later storms) was horrific, but Punta Gorda, Port Charlotte, Arcadia, Lake Wales, and the flooded ranches just aren't big metro areas. by the way, the ability of local ranchers to move their cattle out of flooded pastures was impressive. Those families tend to remember lessons from long-ago disasters.

Florida has responded reasonably effectively to recent hurricanes, unless maybe you count the power utility, FPL. But the major urban counties--Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Hillsborough, Pinellas, and now perhaps Lee and Collier too, need to be financially healthy and adequately staffed to cope with major disruptions. Same goes for the state government.

I admit to being a big beneficiary of property tax increase limits, thanks to being in the same place for seven years.

The town where live depends on upscale winter residents, so it's essential that the place look safe and attractive, maintain the boat ramps and marina, provide lifeguards and safe bathrooms at the beaches, and support cultural attractions (which blessedly thrive on private funding). There's also problems with cleaning up the local waterway, the public hospital that seems to be going under, and a neighborhood, just outside of city limits, that has to be pumped dry after rains. Our own baby New Orleans. And judicious undergrounding of power lines to make the system more reliable (something I appreciate). All of this stuff requires money.

A former city manager assures me that he was a tightwad and that the city's still pretty thrifty--but he doesn't trust the county!

Thanks, Yoki! Glad to hear of the cookbook progress (how to explain, though? Here are recipes from my imaginary friends!)

SD, great pictures. Love the horses and I assume one of your daughters - of course, it's muddy. The cat is wonderful - right on the edge, but so relaxed. And the peonies - fabulous - mine are nowhere as exotic as those.

Goodnight, everyone.

Since I'm a lone voice in the post-midnight wilderness, one of my memorable father's days was when I was at camp and my dad sent me a lovely card for father's day saying he was proud to have a talented "Ultimate Pet" like me.

The offer has been accepted. The house will be ours, if we can pay for it, and unload the old house. Now the *really* scary part begins.

Since I'm a lone voice in the post-midnight wilderness, I might as well boodlehog a bit.

A memorable father's day once was when I was at camp and my dad sent me a lovely card for father's day saying he was proud to have a talented "Ultimate Pet" like me. The card was also dead-on-- very nature-based sketching.

This morning I provided the pops with some amusement while my grandma gave my first knitting lesson-- How to do the casting on stitch. Her style differed from the book, and apparently she kept saying "backwards! No! Under, not over!" repeatedly upon deaf ears.

I suggested it'd go easier if we had separate knitting needles so I could follow every move as she made it, rather than trying to see the whole sequence and then recreate it from memory. I think she showed me around 40 times before I finally got the cast-on.

Man, I sure do have sympathy for Wilbrodog suffering through some of my early training efforts. Tomorrow I buy extra knitting needles for the future lessons-- if any arrive.

My grandma did make a comment that when they were girls, they had to practice 2 hours a day knitting. That makes sense to me-- I nearly put in the same amount of practice drawing as a kid daily, too.

You don't develop talent just by sitting around and priding yourself on the little you can already do "without training."

Wilbrod, I found the boodle! It's not dead! Tell me, am I am GOOD or not?

HEY! "Kids are poorly trained service animals who will demand your keys one day??"

How dare you-- hmm. Now my ear's throughly scratched, I reckon I can't really disagree on that. Especially the training point.
You ever smell some of those little diapered kids out there? Whoo, that's what I call advertising far and wide.

Woo hoo, Tim - that's exciting and scary, all at the same time!

I'm proud to say that I *did* get my hair cut today. And bought yarn.

Wilbrod, that's great that you're learning to knit. I taught myself from a book, when I was a teenager, and remember being very frustrated and in tears. Somehow I managed to figure it out - but there are lots of different ways to knit, so it can be confusing. Good luck!

Live demos are MUCH more useful, mostly.

My interest was to develop a hobby that, once mastered, I can do without using my eyes as much as if I were reading, or almost anything else, so I can relax if my eyes aren't feeling the best.

I can get sinus-based migraines from excess sun exposure and other triggers.

The end result is that on some days after a long day at the PC or whatever, I need to take my eyes offline completely-- and I find myself in a quandry-- I don't feel sleepy, but there's not much I CAN do other than pet or play with Wilbrodog.

Knitting always looked relaxing, although now I'm not so sure ;).

Congrats on the house Tim and I am sure that help make it a memorable birthday for you.

I just got home from work and tonight must be Owl night. I saw two in flight on my ride home and I have been frequented by a screech owl living nearby my house. He just let out his screech as I sat down at the computer. If you have ever heard one before, it is a very cool scream. But I think he was welcoming me home.

Tim,
Best wishes with the scary stuff.

The Post has a story on kids not liking to be outdoors. Sad. I had a sort of Calvin-and-Hobbes childhood, followed by, among other things, getting paid to roam around an entire Wyoming basin and some of the neighboring mountains. Wandering into a sage grouse nest or an undescribed wild carrot just isn't like watching nature on TV.

When I was in my teens my sister taught me knitting. I could go straight but don't know how to corner. I never learned how to corner cuz my sister is someone you don't want to ask more than twice. Knitting is quite fun, therapeutic.

I wonder whether knitting might be one of those super-ancient, basic human technologies, like making stone tools, boats, baskets, and nets.

Yes, New Zealand has the earthquakes commission that will shell out if your house disappers down a crevasse or gets buried by lava. However, I'm sure if most of Wellington fell into the sea, which is a definite possiblity, your replacement house would be located in Palmerston North, the armpit of New Zealand, which, although damp and windy, doesn't suffer too badly from earthquakes... although it's only a few 100 kilometres from Mt Ruapheu, which last errupted in 1997, completely ruining the ski season, oh yeah, and covered everything in poisonous ash.

Yikes!
In 1980, I managed to wangle an unpaid 2 weeks off in the middle of a busy summer so I could take in a big ecology and evolution congress at the beautiful University of British Columbia. I carefully planned my trip to include a visit to Mt St Helens, which it seemed would be less overrun by tourists than Mt Rainier. The hiking guidebook arrived. Then the mountain blew up. We got an impressive ash shower and I got to see the mess in Washington State barely a month after it had fallen. Rainier was lovely. The glacier lilies were flowering a month early.

Yellowstone National Park looked a bit different on the way back.

Now if we could relocate beach dwellers to western Jacksonville. . .

Inner-city creep-- so many problems that show up in the inner cities first eventually creep out to the rest of society.

I am very concerned about the near-extinguishment of animals in everyday urban life, other than roaches, rats, pigeons, and sparrows. While those animals do have their interest, it's not an interest encouraged by parents.

Even dogs are being put under increasingly strict restrictions. It's a shame, because I think dogs are a good way to get yourself outside and learning more about your backyard-- there's nothing like a dog's nose poking everywhere to lead you to unconsidered places.

India-- you see animals all over leading their lives. It has its charms. I've always wondered what would happen if you let the jungle reclaim its own in American cities, a la Kipling.

It would make a nice movie anyway.

When I lived in Portland, the Eastmoreland golf course http://www.eastmorelandgolfcourse.com/
had nutria, beavers, lots of ducks and geese, and an effort was being made to restore the historic salmon run up the creek to Crystal Springs. This, in a part of town that's been more or less urbanized for a century.

Here, black racers seem to be the most persistent of larger urban snakes. Regrettably, I'm sure lots of yards have been stripped of everything but grass for fear of snakes. Joel obviously didn't grow up in that kind of situation.

\\I wonder whether knitting might be one of those super-ancient, basic human technologies, like making stone tools, boats, baskets, and nets.

Could be, Dave. Could be. All you need is 2 twigs and some jute.

Morning all!! *glad-we're-past-Monday Grover waves*

Congrats, Tim!!! *Snoopy dances*

Shriek, delightful pics, and I'm sure that pup's gonna be a handful!

:-)

Good mornin' everybody! Hey Cassandra!

Wonderful news on the house, Tim! Good luck with selling the old one. We look forward to hearing all about the move and the redecorating of the new. (I've never moved into a house that I didn't hate the previous owners' taste and have to do major cosmetic work.)

Sneaks, hope you and S rested well. I'll bet it was quite the weekend!

SD, loved the photos. Hope you will chronicle the puppy's growing up and share with us.

Kids not going outside? Hmmm...Although I grew up in the city, I spent large amounts of time outside, in the yard and in the park, which was about three blocks away. My kids were in daycare but their teachers took them to the park. They also had plenty of of time on the playground. Does that count?

Sadness in S.C., Slyness... :-(

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/19/AR2007061900336.html?hpid=moreheadlines

Mornin' all...

Got a busy day ahead but wanted to say "thanks" for all the support. I fessed up to Mrs. M. and my sponsor -- nobody had a clue I was off the wagon this weekend, so it came as a bit of a surprise to them. In other words, I could have gotten away with it. But I gotta be able to look myself in the mirror. In any case, I'm firmly strapped in today and feeling much more human sans hangover.

Peace out...

(1)

Good for you Martooni, fessing up cleanses the soul and puts you back on track. Sort of rested but already looking forward to the weekend. Awful news from South Carolina, reminds me of the six firefighters lost in Worcester, MA in 1999. The wounds there are still deep.

One day at a time, martooni. :-)

Sneaks, I bet it would have been cute if you'd had dueling grandkids, each trying to be cuter than the other... *L*

S'nuke, thankfully the ages, 8, 6, 3 and 1 make them all very cute in their own ways. I'm very pleased that there wasn't any overt jealously! And I did speak to mine yesterday to compliment them on how nice they were to the younger ones.

Sneaks;

Someone has obviously taught them well... ;-)

martooni, early this morning I was thinking about the courage it took for you to 'fess up. Well done.

Tim, congrats on the new place and best of luck selling the old one.

Slyness, I heard the sad news from S.C. and immediately thought of you and the sadness this brings to the firefighter community.

The kids in my neighborhood apparently didn't get the memo about not playing outdoors. Especially in the nice weather, they're outside playing ball and generally running amok. Makes me smile.

Slyness, our problem with the taste of the previous owners is that it is much better than ours. I fear we will be unworthy of this very nice house.

Whoa, terrible tragedy in Charleston, indeed. Thanks for the heads-up, S'nuke, I am just back from my walk and hadn't seen the news. I wonder if the building had a bowtruss roof, which are notorious for failing suddenly and catastrophically in fires. In the picture from CNN, the facade looked new, but you never know.

Paula Cole after an 8 year break has a new album out: http://www.paulacole.com/

SciTim, I'm sure the house will gladly accept a ScienceMotif or StorytellerMotif. Maybe even a RomanticMotif if you're inclined.

Or perhaps a SpouseMotif is in order?

:-)

Morning all...

I, too, thought of Slyness when I heard of the firefighers dying in South Carolina. Funny what imaginary friends can do for you, isn't it? Made me feel connected to those folks in Charleston--through an imaginary friend in Charlotte!

Martooni... good for you. We're proud of you here... your efforts and your successes. We really are.

Dave o' the C... I laughed when I saw your comment about New Zealand probably knows how to keep from going under. I thought they WERE under?

Long day ahead for me today. Monthly editorial deadline today that often goes into the wee hours. Then up tomorrow to catch a 6 am bus for a day trip to NYC to see "Curtains."

'Morning, Boodle. Pretty good Anne Applebaum column about cliches in language, and especially in politics, at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/18/AR2007061801364.html

I started to read Richard Cohen's piece about why Scooter Libby shouldn't go to jail, got through the first graf, knew I was just gonna get angry, so stopped. I don't wanna know how it turned out, so if you read it, don't tell me.

Looks like we could see a new kind of "Tysons Towers" soon...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/18/AR2007061800379.html?hpid=topnews

Alright, I don't know who else to ask but the boodle:

Does it mean anything when there's a vulture in your garbage?

Last night was the first in about four days that I actually got enough sleep to dream and it was pretty wacky and felt good. But I'm fairly sure I was awake when I saw this bad boy and started giving him grief from the kitchen window. He did not go easily.

Are there any shamans in the audience?

What HAVE you been doing with the groundhog insurgents, Error??? *L*

Vultures: 'Nature's flying garbage disposers'

The vulture spotted you as a real man-food guy EF. Vulture don't have much use for vegans' garbage.

I know this is off-topic, but I just need to vent a bit. Have you heard the radio commercials that began running recently about the gas shortages in the 1970's? There are two of them--one sponsered by the oil companies, and one is sponsored by the "SUV Owners of America". They both essentially are saying "Don't mess with the fuel economy rules for cars, or we will wind up with gas lines like we did back in the '70's. Oh and by the way, people die in smaller, fuel-efficient cars when the run into big cars." I just want to scream and shout at them that it's baloney. The gas lines had nothing to do with the CAFE rules--it was the oil embargo by OPEC. And we now have available safe, fuel-efficient vehicles (see, Toyota Prius; Ford Explorer hybrid, etc.). Joel, if you're looking in, maybe somebody needs to holler louder about this.

SCC: ...when they run into..

Just got a note from the husband about the Charleston tragedy. He heard that when the officer in the building called mayday he followed up by saying to Command, tell my wife that I love her.

ebtnut, I was umbraging about that stupid ad yesterday...

*steam from ears*

Can we say "fearmongering," folks?
__________________

Slyness, that's heart-wrenching... :-(

As a relatively new FL homeowner I can't speak with much authority on the new property tax plans. However, I do wish the FL media would spend more time talking to economists and government officials from other states that have been down this road. California is a wonderful example of the law of unintended consequences.

Happy Juneteenth http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juneteenth

The constellation Lyra (Lyre) was originally a vulture and was among the 12 labors of Heracles in Greek mythology. In the February issue of Smithsonian "The Vanishing" states "...perhaps the most dramatic decline of a wild animal in history has been taking place in India and Pakistan. Large vultures, vitally necessary and once numbering in the tens of millions, now face extinction. But why?"

Maybe thet are migrating to New Jersey.

Howdy y'all.

Error, the vulture was shopping.

Martooni, know you know why they say confession is good for the soul. We're with you.

There is outside, and then there is outside. As a child I felt deprived because I seldom got to play on playground equipment. We lived on an acreage, and I played outside all the time -- finding bugs and animals and turtles and bones and going down to the creek, making swords out of flowers, catching fireflies -- but there were no swings! Or slide! I've tried to keep this in mind while raising the Boy in the same place. When he was little we went to the park all the time, so he could play with other kids on the cool stuff. As he grows older he is more interested in the outside we have.

Frostbitten: If you haven't already discovered them, I recommend the web sites "Online Sunshine," "My Florida" and "flgov.com" for current news on what's happening in the legislature, state agencies and the governor's office.

>The vulture spotted you as a real man-food guy EF.

Ah, thanks that makes me feel better. Must have been my efforts at making a good shore-style Italian sausage.

>What HAVE you been doing with the groundhog insurgents, Error??? *L*

Scotty I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to go into that too much lest I lose the children's market and hear from Homeland Security again. But I was talking to my neighbor the other day and he said they're now going into his yard because I eh, made things a little uncomfortable where they were. (They decamped to my garage - not what I intended.)

"You must be slipping, there was a big one and three smaller ones".

"Yeah, but the day before there were six of 'em."

As I heard a cop once say "Ever go fishing? Ever get 'em all?"

Frostbitten,
In Florida, there is a sort of ban on discussing how things are done in other states. It has to do with dislike of being lectured by recent transplants on how things were done "up north." The California property tax mess was ignored when "Save Our Homes" was enacted to ensure that residents wouldn't be forced to move to escape rising taxes. Now of course some of those homeowners would actually like to move, but find that they'd suddenly be paying far higher taxes.

This tax deal discrimitates against renters, obviously.

Trying to catch up a bit:

1) Congratulations, TBG, on your son's graduation.

2) And congrats to the many guises of Tim and family for the new house. I hope everything goes well. And happy birthday wishes, too.

3) Did Loomis go to the Spurs celebration in San Antonio?

4) Hang in there, Martooni. It's good to see the counter start up again so soon.

5) Very nice to see you again, kurosawaguy.

6) bill everything, what does your wife play in the orchestra?

One of my officemates just had us all laughing. Somebody had sent her an e-mail concerning a quote from NY Congressman Charlie Rangle (House Ways and Means Committee), who said something to the effect of "President Bush has finally shattered the myth of White Supremacy." We thought that was great.

Now there is a day that I wouldn't mind celebrating. I like that.

Wilbord, keep working on it. Try knittinghelps.com. They have vidoes. A stalled video on a wonky internet connection made me see the light of what I do versus how most instructions are written. Check out the combination knitting videos. Your over, not under controversy sounds just like that.

Dave: Florida taxes have always discriminated against renters. Renters of six months or less not only pay pass through property taxes, but sales tax as well It's a good way of assuring that the states 45 to 50 million annual visitors pay a share of the tax burden. A proposal to base long term rental property taxes on income does not appear to have survived the special session on tax reform. However, current tax law does allow local assesors the option of income-based property values for businesses.

Anyone who follows the Redskins knows this will not end well... :-O

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/19/AR2007061900535.html?hpid=topnews

'Mudge, that's great!!! *L*

Good morning, Boodle.

Martooni, I'm glad to see the (1), dude.
Tomorrow will be (2), and the day after that, (3).

The news about those firefighters in SC *is* very sad.

Re. indoor kids, I don't know if it's a function of the kids themselves, or society as a whole. Don't a greater percentage of us work in offices than people did in past genrations?

How many hours do we spend using out computers for Boodling or surfing the 'net for research, learning, catching up on current events, or for entertainment (standalone and interactive online gaming, etc.)? Also, with hundreds of TV channels showing darn near anything worth watching (and a lot that isn't), do any of us get outside as much as we used to? I know I don't. But I'm trying to change that for myself and for my kids.

When the Couch Potato Revolution comes, it will not be televised. It'll be an online interactive system with the works (live cameras, virtual worlds, interactive media, wired govmenment, messaging, emails, etc.); the world may change at the click of a child's mouse button.

Hmm. This reminds me of a couple of things I wrote last year...

As long as the a/c and the energy holds out, we're fine. If it doesn't, well, take your pick of apocalyptic stories.

Someone might print out that fateful email message, "Pound pastrami, can kraut, six bagels-bring home for Emma."

bc

bc, you're quoting from my sci-fi classic, "A Canticle for Curmudgeon."

ebtnut... those oil-company and SUV-supporter ads might not get the slap in the face you're looking for in the Washington Post.

I'm hearing them regularly on WTWP... Washington Post Radio.

Blessed be Leibowitz.

"sic transit mundus"

Oh, a couple more items:

*Tim, congrats on the new digs. Don't forget those clauses in the legal paperwork.

Mudge, that line is *great*.

About those SUV ads; those folks are not doing themselves any favors with such misleading premeses and incorrect information.

However, as long as any vehicle and owner complies with the DOT and the laws of the US and any pertient local laws (state, county, city, etc.), it's legal. Like guns, motorcycles, and alcohol, it's still a matter of personal choice.

Outlaw SUVs, and only outlaws will have SUVs. But they won't be able to carry them in the waistband of their pants.

bc

I have a cold that came in yesterday like a lamb, but taking it easy today.

Loomispouse started to feel gouty as the weekend began, so although Sunday broke cool because of the rains, we didn't hike that morning--as the weather would have been great for it, but went to a very early breakfast at the best breakfast joint in town--everything made from scratch. No Spurs victory celebration either, to answer pj's question.

We came home Sunday from the Magnolia House, got more sleep, and lazed around with the Sunday paper until 11 a.m., when we went swimming. Here's something I wrote yesterday, but needed to run errands and ended up not posting it to the Boodle:

Loomisspouse and I were swimming yesterday around 11 a.m. and it started to pour. The couldn't remember if we had ever swum in our community pool in the rain before. But we had swum in the rain on my birthday back in May in a large, natural pool of a stream that is a feeder to the Sabinal, but to say more would mean having to explain the frog symphony and the fact that we had gone hiking with little gear. My birthday suit sufficed, and if a pair of young hikers hadn't come around a bend, my husband would have donned his birthday suit, too, rather than keep his boxers on.

Yesterday's rain was cold and heavy and it made bubbles all over the pool's surface--the largest bubble bath I've ever taken. The rain falling in May on the large pool under the limestone bluff made thousands of little diamonds of light dance on the water's surface.

But having idle time in the Olympic-sized pool and having the place to ourselves at that moment, we discussed what a grand idea it would be to have Parents"