More odds and ends

1. Growing up, I was allowed to listen to 4 of my parents albums (as in record albums). The Eagles, Chicago, Doobie Brothers, etc. were off limits. The fab 4 I was allowed to peruse were: a Beach Boys live album, The Best of Barry Manilow, Neil Diamond: Gold, and the Grease soundtrack... In some ways, I find the Grease soundtrack a little ironic. I wasn't allowed to listen to the other albums because they were too "ris-que'", but now that I'm a grown-up (I am right?) I see that Grease had some very objectionable content. From the song "Go Grease Lightning" the refer to their car as "a real p***y-wagon". The following conversation may or may not have actually occurred with my dad:
Me: "Dad, what's a p***y wagon?"
Dad: "A car that purrs like a kitten."
Me: "Oh."

2. Since Christmas, I've read 6 of the 7 Harry Potter books. Six books in two months sounds impressive, but they're supposed to be for kids (Just a shade under the Twilight reading levels for all you vamp geeks - and no, I've not read them). The first couple are definitely for kids, but the further you go, the more intense they get. Same for the movies too. Keep that in mind parents. (*side note*) Ever had one of those dreams where you are dreaming and awake at the same time? I do. Last night I dreamt I was Harry Potter and I was explaining my anger/frustration to Dumbledore, Moody and Lupin. I knew I was dreaming because I was awake and talking out loud - I even looked at my clock to see what time it was (4:07) - and kept on talking away until I fell asleep. Weird. I think the cheese is sliding off my cracker...

3. Yesterday, Dash, Kaed, and I were home being sick. I hate being sick, but a day home with both the boys is always good. It doesn't happen too often anymore.

4. What do Greg Oden, Joel Pryzbilla and I have in common? . . . We've all had issues with our patellas. It was on the tip of your tongue right? I broke mine when I was 12. It's a knee cap, btw. I did it on a slip-n-slide at my house (brought up by Tammy and Duane Sanchez). That's our best guess anyway. It didn't break, or I should say that I didn't have any problems until 2 days later. It was a Tuesday, last full day of school in 6th grade. Play day. I was doing the 50 yard dash against Amy Oldis. It was close. Then WHAM!, my knee locked up and wouldn't bend and I toppled over. Split my knee cap. Ended my baseball season - All-stars was about to start and I had finally made it as a catcher... Two things stemmed from that injury: 1. I never played baseball after that year and got into Track (which was the right move because I wasn't really that good of a hitter - I looked silly swinging at curveballs), 2., Jeff Bailey was the other catcher for that All-star team and he played a ton that summer. He plays for the Boston Red Sox now. You're welcome Jeff... Just sayin'. :)

5. I turn 33 next month. Kareem. Bird. Canseco. Dorsett. Pippen. Patrick Roy. Grant Hill. Spahn. All 33's. I have never felt, looked or felt older than I do right now...

6. For the past couple weeks Dash and I have slept in the same bed. This normally happens every once and awhile, but lately it's been always. He'll usually come crawling in during the middle of the night, but I've gone and crawled in with him too... I've mentioned that we both have twin beds right? In the long-term it's not a good idea to be doing this, but for now, I love it. Dash has been my lifeboat in the last year, no doubt. I might even go so far as to say he's saved my life once or twice.

7. I made a Trapper-Keeper reference in class yesterday and I got a bunch of blank stares... Not one of my students knew what the heck I was talking about. Crap.

Weekend Thoughts

1. "Happy Balentimes day Daddy Wahmere." You too buddy.

2. Oh Canada is my 3rd favorite National Anthem behind USA's and communist Russia. I love the words too, though I have no idea what USSR's are (why do I like USSR's #2? It's a very manly sounding song. Blame the Hunt for Red October.) (after a quick google search, I don't like the Soviet lyrics)

3. The Luge is a crazy sport (though I'd hardly call "how flat can you lay on this sled?" a sport - maybe that's just my ignorance). Extremely unfortunate that one luger died. I know there's risk involved with anything, but I actually think the Olympic Games Committee handled it pretty well. And from what it sounds, I may be in the minority. Now, I don't know if that metal beam he ran into would have still killed him had it been padded, but I do know that in a battle between an unprotected human vs a stationary metal beam (padded or not)... it won't end well for the human. The Games Committee ruled that the course was not at fault, but moved the starting area down the track. Many saw that as a concession of fault - otherwise why move the starting area, right? Well, a man died. If the Committee did nothing, they would have been ripped apart for not doing anything. It's lose-lose at this point for the Committee, but I at least applaud the move on their part - even if it was for appearance (not the track's fault).

4. As a whole, I have never been real concerned with the Winter Games. Not that I don't appreciate their skills or efforts. I've just never been a "winter sports" guy. I've snowboarded thrice. It was fun. Basketball was my winter sport (and spring/summer). I was too young to understand the significance of 1980's Miracle on Ice - so there's never been a real Winter Olympics definining moment for me. The Summer Olympics is the only real Olympics for me.

5. I may or may not be training for the next Summer Olympics in . . . table tennis. I have 2 tables in my basement now. And my Christmas star has become a chandelier. So awesome...

SUPER Bowl

A few things to note before I get to the Super Bowl:

1. Dash has learned his last name recently and has been applying it to everyday coversations. He refers to himself as "Dath Wah-mere". He has been better at calling himself Dash using his "sh" sound instead of his mini-lisp. What's been even funnier is that he's been calling me "Dad Wah-mere" or "Daddy Wah-mere" frequently- and by frequently, I mean all the time. As soon as I get some video of this I will post it.

2. Kaed is deep into his bball season. His team is playing up against kids a grade older still, but this year he's on a 10 ft. hoop. He's had good and bad games so far, but I think he's learning that with bigger kids and a bigger hoop that he's going to have to get better at a couple things (the lesson here as always is that when going against harder competition, your bad habits get exposed. This is true in life.) He's having a lot of fun though and loves playing - except one team, and it's because they get creamed every time they play them.

3. I have an old new hobby. Thanks to Rob Green, I have a ping-pong table now that resides in my basement. It's a blessing and a curse. I love to play and try to have guys up all the time (think Halo circa 2001-2003). The competition is great and there are a bunch of guys who are good and also love to play. It's made me clean up my basement = good. I stay up really late at least 2 nights a week = less good (but at least I'm home). Kaed likes it too, and isn't too bad = good. I get to compete and sweat = good. My shoulder hurts = bad. (I'm not making this up: yes I sweat and yes my shoulder hurts. Am I getting old when I want to take ibuprofen so I can play ping-pong?) The guys who have participated? Rob Green, Eric Wah-mere, Matt Talbut, Chuck Hendrickson, Darin Gardner, Aaron Odem, Jason Dieter, Jason Langenbach, and Luke Treadway. All are worthy opponents. We've even printed off the actual ITTF table-tennis rules and are loosely trying to follow them. The swearing has been held to a minimum (except on those rare shots that barely tick the edge of the table and cursing/much rejoicing ensues) Good times.

And now the Super Bowl. The game itself was ok. I'm glad the Saints won, but would have been equally glad for the Colts had they been victorious. What was SUPER about Sunday was all the food... Dave/Barb/Carlianne Shelton, Tory/Chrissy/Jonah Shelton, and Sam/Sharnessa/Chase/Weston Sanden came up with a. lot. of . food. Carlianne made a super bowl of carmel corn. Sharnessa made a super bowl of mocha punch and a super bowl of broccoli salad. I made some sausage super balls (thanks for the recipe Em). There was a lot more food, but those were the only ones I could make a play on words with. Dash loves to play with Chase and anytime you can say Chase and Dash in the same sentence... They came, we pigged out, and I was very tired when I went to bed. "Plus nobody I know got killed in South Central LA. Today was a good day." (that one was for my homies down in cell block A)

"My riches consist not in the extent of my posessions, but by the fewness of my wants." J. Brotherton