While kids are away....

Last week, while both my kids were away, (my son to the UK and my daughter to Girl Scout Camp) my wife and I took advantage and went to one of our favorite get away from it all places. Oddly enough it is located only about 1.5 hours from home and is near Covington, Indiana. It is a bed and breakfast log cabin call Cabins and Candlelights. It is probably the best bed and breakfast we have ever stayed in! It is a complete place to stay with full kitchen, stocked with goodies, dining area, sitting area, large bed and hottub all contained in the same room. Outside you have a fire pit and wooded area, a creek nearby and lots of wild critters to come visit you while there. As you can see from the photos, it is a very elegant place and truly is a place to relax and get away from it all. I really like it there and highly recommend it for anyone who needs a bit of time to themselves. The owners have thought of everything and all that remains is for you to visit. We have been twice and will definately be back...

Some of things we don't normally get to do while we were there...

sleep in

pick wild raspberries for pancakes

talk a walk in the woods

have a quiet campfire

read for hours

relax in the hottub

watch a movie without interuption

go antiquing

go eat somewhere we have never been

and other things I won't go into detail about....

Check it out on the web. Just search for Cabins & Candlelights! You will not be disappointed!

Later!

Update from the UK and Ireland!

Well, after nearly 8 days of not hearing a thing from our son, who is traveling in England, Wales and Ireland, we finally got a phone call telling us that all is well and that he actually does not miss us or is not homesick because it "is the most amazing experience." That makes all the hard work and time to get him over there worth it all. We have heard that they have been having experiences that your normal tourist coudl never have and much of what he talks about is making me jealous! (like complete free run of Warwick Castle and stuff like that....)

He will be there until the 9th of July and returns on the 10th. So far he has taken over 1GB of photos on the digital camera. I think that is something like more than 300 images! Wow!

I am so glad he is having a great time, but I can't wait to see him and hear all about it!

later!

One of the toughest things I am going to do....

Hello All!

This coming Thursday, the 21st of June, I am going to have to do one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. I will be letting my 12 year old son travel to another part of the world, where for the most part, I will be unable to help him, watch over him, guide him, comfort him, yell at him or do anything more than talk to him on the phone. He is leaving for England, Wales and Ireland to spend three weeks abroad with the People To People Student Ambassador program. He was nominated and selected from a group of Central Illinois Students to go on this cultural exchange program and for the last 6 months we have been working to raise funds to send him. Well, now the time has come. I think it has snuck up on everyone in our family. I think that for a very long time, my son thought that it would really not happen, but indeed it really is. I know that he has many apprehensions about leaving and traveling so far away from his family. I have the same ones. However, this program has been doing this sort of thing for almost 30+years and is very well organized and well planned.
Aside from being very proud of him for going, I am jealous. I have never been anywhere other than Canada and that cannot really be said of going to a foreign country, especially when I have only traveled to Toronto. He is going to get to see and do so much. The itinerary they have laid out for him is amazing! I highly doubt he will even think about calling home he will be so busy and moving around.
Thursday is coming up fast. I am quite nervous but I do not want to let him see that. I am sure there will be tears upon leaving but he will not see concern in my face. I hope to add entries to the blog as he progresses in his travel. But for now, all I want to do is get through Thursday and see him off safely and comfortably. Other than making sure he is well prepared, that is about all I will be able to do for him. Wish me luck!

Later!

Earliest Memories?

How far back does ones memory go? Are we able to remember things from our very early childhood days? I was thinking about this when on vacation in St. Louis. My daughter, who had visited the arch when she was about 2 years old or so, thought she remembered it, but really was only remembering a photo she had seen. My son did remember some of it but it was very little and he was about 6 years old. Not that far back in terms of length of time for him. It piqued my interest and I thought about what some of my earliest memories are. Here are what I came up with.

I remember an afternoon spent in a mud puddle at the entrance of my parents driveway. My younger brother and I spent a good hour or so playing in a deep muddy pool of warm water. There is a photo of this, and I am not remembering just the photo, because I distinctly remembering riding through the puddle with my trike and pouring water over my brother's legs and arms. And I remember my mother laughing at me before taking the picture.

I remember a 2 year old birthday with a clown cake. I remember it being decorated on the counter just to the left of where the fridge in my parents house now sits. I also remember tasting the icing and taking a picture outside by the front lamp post.

I remember my first day of walking to the school bus. I had to walk with my older brother, who was 13 years older than me. I also remember standing in the road outside my parents house with my sack of things for school waiting for my mother to take a picture. I don't know if that photo still exists or not. I vividly remember my fear and walking behind him to the corner to be picked up. It was a sunny, hot day. I don't remember the bus arriving but I distinctly recall the bus driver saying to my brother, "It looks like you have a shadow today." I also remember the nervousness I felt when he walked to the back of the bus and I stayed in the front. I thought I was supposed to stay with him but instead he moved as far to the back of the bus as was allowed. I don't remember anything after that.

I definately remember the old neighbor we had next door. Lee Fry. I remember stealing his cane and letting us sit with him on his front porch in the afternoon. He also used to give us cold drinks in the summer. I remember his yard was often overgrown and it had junk lying around in it. He was quite old and I think we have photos of me and my younger brother posing with him. I also remember visiting him in the nursing home in Hoopeston I think. Maybe it was Watseka. He died when I was maybe 5 years old but I don't recall a funeral that I attended. I currently own his mitre box saw and his single shot 12 guage shotgun. He was a cool guy.

Speaking of old guys, I remember the barber how used to cut my hair. Snuffy Barth. Snuffy was his nickname and for the life of me I cannot remember his real first name right now. I remember the old barber chair that was too big for me to sit in so I had to sit on my dad's lap. The shop always had neat things to look at and examine but we (my younger brother and I) were always told to sit still and not mess with anything. I seem to recall his shop being in a garage or at least it looked that way to me. Snuffy was a short balding man that had a interesting pattern of speech. Almost like he was puffing out air as he talked. He was incredibly friendly and made getting haircuts tolerable for a youngster.

This is what I can come up with for the moment. I am sure that as I think harder, more memories will come to the fore. If any of you have that you want to share, feel free to comment! Thanks!

Later!

Family time part two...

In this second, and last installment of the St.Louis Trip, you can see some photos from Dave and Barry's which we spent some time and $$$ at last night. If you get a chance to go and like the interactive video games and spending alot of money on cheap prizes, this is the place for you! This morning we got up, ate another bowl of cold cereal and stale danishes and headed out for Hermann, MO. Home of Stone Hill Winery, and bithplace of our favorite wines. We took the trip a few years ago and liked the place and since we were in the area we decided to go aout again. We did the tour for all of $4 for the 4 of us and learned some cool things about our favorite wines... In the photo of the barrels stacked up in a pyramid, you are looking at the newest batch of the Port wine. This is good stuff! And in the other barrels are the other red wines fermenting and aging. This winery was established in the 1830's but took a big hit during prohibition when it went from making wine to growing commercial mushrooms! After the tour and wine tasting we went to the restaurant and had a great meal. From there we went to the St. Louis Mills Mall and checked out the Cabelas, and a few other specialty stores. But we were pretty tired, and the kids really wanted to hit the pool so as of this writing we are back at the hotel, swimming, looking at delivery menus and basically just relaxing. So, I guess it is time to get wet, eat and maybe play a game... family time... just like we wanted.

Later!

Family Time in St. Louis

Hello there! I am in St. Louis right now spending a bit of time with the family. We decided to do a short family vacation as my son, Julian will be spending 3 weeks in Europe over the summer and we will not get a real vacation this year. So here we are in St. Louis. A good distance from home but not too far to make it hard to get there and back... First off, I have to say, I miss my DOG! Gunnar is my best buddy and I miss him. I wish he were here. Ok... there, that is done. He is staying at home with a neighbor. I hope he is ok. Ok, now I am really done.

Coming in we decided to hit the zoo first as we have heard great things about it and aside from parking and food it is basically free. (It is funded through taxes.. smart idea!) It ws not too hot like it usually is when we visit zoos, so the animals were actually out and awake as opposed to looking something more akin to roadkill. Our visit to the zoo was not as long as hoped as Mapquest gave us some really screwy directions and the fact that there are little to no signs indicating that there is even a zoo around the area it is located. We drove around for about an hour before we found the place. Once found though, it was a nice visit and we had a good time. Beware dive bombing puffins in the penguin house!

The next morning, we had a really bad, stale continental breakfast and headed out to the Gateway Arch. I have been before a few times but each time it is really amazing to me the size and magnitude of this monument to westward expansion. They have really done a nice job with the memorial grounds and the museum inside the visitors center is really nice too.

We finished the arch around 11 am and headed for something called the City Museum. Now, this is not your typical museum... it is more of an art museum or a work of art in progress. It is like the worlds largest set of monkey bars made from recycled items and materials and bent, banged, welded, and glued into a fantasy world were you can explore and crawl around and basically throw yourselves literally into a peice of art that someone has made. There is a tremendous amount of creativity and imagination in this place. It is really hard to describe but maybe you can get a bit of the idea from the photos. In a reversal of roles, Julian was being the brave kid for once and climbing out on precarious outcroppings and cages that hung in mid air while Cora was holding back. I think that she thought that maybe somewhere something was going to jump out to scare her but there is none of that. I must say, you should be very limber, have good knees or knee pads, and not closterphobic in this place! It was a great time and I highly suggest it.

After that it was back to the hotel for a bit of swim time and then to Dave and Buster's, the big dinner/bar/video arcade in Maryland Heights. It is a good time and is actually cheaper than going to Six Flags and the kids liked it just as much! We visited with some friends that evening and had a good time. Tomorrow is a day for Mom and Dad.... Hermann Missouri and the Stone Hill Winery!

Later!

Going to the Principal's office.... *yawn*

Recently I did a stint as a substitute teacher. I like doing this part time job as it nurishes my appetite to be a teacher and to do something different once in a while. It is also a lot of fun and 99% of the kids I meet are great kids! However, there is that pesky 1% still left out there, and I am going to talk about them for a bit.

While subbing, I encountered a couple, no three kids, all boys who were somewhat considered troublemakers or unruly, or just lacking respect or discipline. One boy just seemed to thrive on disrupting class and the attention it got him, and so, he was removed from class, oldly enough at the request of many of the other students. Off he went to the prinicpal's office. I saw him later, no worse for wear...

The second boy, while struggling in school, seems to be able to cope with the class work, seems to be a victim to his own inablity to ignore outside stimuli and reacts, or more accurately, overreacts to it. I was present when he and others were called out for taking a test in private room without teacher supervision. One thing led to another and he started to yell, hit the wall and otherwise over react to the situation. Off he went to the prinicpal's office, with me escorting him. While walking I tried to tell him that it was not the fact that he was not to take the test without a teacher present, but his actions that followed that got him a visit to the office. I think it made sense to him and he seemed to understand, a bit. (Later he was about to over react and he stopped and looked at me and said, "Oh, right!" "I remember!" and he stopped and just sat back down!) After his visit, he was back at class, able to finish the test and looking like it was just another day at school.

The third boy, had a direct confrontation with me and I decided that if I did not act immediately, I would loose respect and give this boy more confidence to act out again in the future. This kid seemed to think that he was better than just about anyone else and held other in contempt. It is a good thing that our local school kids are nice, because this kid is pretty small and nerdy and stands a good chance of getting a pounding if things in the make up of the school kids was different. Anyway, I took him to the office and went in to the meeting with the Dean of Students while he was made to explain while he was there. He basically stalled, hem-hawed and ignored the Dean and as I was leaving, the principal was filling out a disciplinary report. I looked a the boy and he seemed to not care at all. And why should he? All he was getting was a report form and maybe a after school detention. (Don't know for sure, though)

None of these kids seemed to be in the least bit intimidated about going to the office. Maybe it was because they have been there so many times, they don't care, or maybe it is not a big deal at home and so they don't worry. I do know that in my time and that was not that long ago, a trip to the office was a thing of dread! I even remember getting spanked! In grade school! (so much for that now) Punishments were real then, it seemed. Long after school detentions, extra homework, extra physical work, and even expulsion. Doesn't seem to be the case now. Maybe that is a good thing. Maybe my school district doesn't really have really bad students like I hear about in other places, but I think they have made the "OFFICE" a very un-intimitating place. I remember at my school it being a place to fear. Not so now it seems. That is too bad. I don't have a solution, but I would think that making it a more scary place might make it a less often visited place too!

Your thoughts?

Later!

Non Sequitur

Check out the "Non Sequitur" comic for May 3rd, 2007. You might find it at www/gocomics.com/nonsequitur.

This is a great comic strip and this day's comic in particular is right on target. It is something that my wife and I have often wondered, every time we hear about a suicide murderer blowing themselves and other up in the name of their religion or god. So why are the Jihadist leaders, leading by example? Huh?

In a nutshell, the comic shows a jihadist leader on a pulpit in front of a crowd of followers. One of the crowd has his hand up and asks, "Um... If being a martyr is so great, why don't you ever volunteer?" And on the bottom, of the strip, a text box that states, "Why jihadist rallies never have Q and A sessions."

Wiley, the creator, hit the nail on the head. Maybe if a few more jihadist leaders lead by example, there would be less holy war in the world.....


later!

Global Warming on Mars??? How's that happen?

I am not sure where most of you stand on the topic of Global Warming, but I am not a proponent of the theory. While most people believe humans are responsible for it, I have yet to be convinced. I do admit that we humans do put a bunch of crap into our environment and we aren't doing it any good by continuing to live as we do, but I don't know if I believe that we can affect the entire earth with our efforts alone. Here is something that has recently come to my attention. It is certainly on the opposite end of the spectrum on then debate on the global warming. So I present this to you, "For What It's Worth!" Note the final paragraph of the article. In that same vein, so was Issac Newton, Galileo and other noteworthy scientists!

later!


http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/02/070228-mars-warming.html

Mars Melt Hints at Solar, Not Human, Cause for Warming, Scientist Says
Kate Raviliousfor National Geographic News
February 28, 2007
Simultaneous warming on Earth and Mars suggests that our planet's recent climate changes have a natural—and not a human-induced—cause, according to one scientist's controversial theory.
Earth is currently experiencing rapid warming, which the vast majority of climate scientists says is due to humans pumping huge amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. (Get an overview: "Global Warming Fast Facts".)

Mars, too, appears to be enjoying more mild and balmy temperatures.
In 2005 data from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor and Odyssey missions revealed that the carbon dioxide "ice caps" near Mars's south pole had been diminishing for three summers in a row.
Habibullo Abdussamatov, head of space research at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Astronomical Observatory in Russia, says the Mars data is evidence that the current global warming on Earth is being caused by changes in the sun.
"The long-term increase in solar irradiance is heating both Earth and Mars," he said.
Solar Cycles
Abdussamatov believes that changes in the sun's heat output can account for almost all the climate changes we see on both planets.
Mars and Earth, for instance, have experienced periodic ice ages throughout their histories.
"Man-made greenhouse warming has made a small contribution to the warming seen on Earth in recent years, but it cannot compete with the increase in solar irradiance," Abdussamatov said.
By studying fluctuations in the warmth of the sun, Abdussamatov believes he can see a pattern that fits with the ups and downs in climate we see on Earth and Mars.
Abdussamatov's work, however, has not been well received by other climate scientists.

"His views are completely at odds with the mainstream scientific opinion," said Colin Wilson, a planetary physicist at England's Oxford University.

The end of a good thing.

As many of you know, I was the Cubmaster for the local Cub Scout pack in my hometown and I stepped down a few years ago and handed it off to a very capable person to keep the program going and growing. And this person did a great job of it, at least until, it became to much for some other people in the organization to allow a woman to be in charge of the pack. For the last two years, the current cub master has been brow beat, un-duly influenced, coerced, backstabbed and undermined in as many different ways as you could imagine by members of the pack committee. Many friendships have been dashed apart because of this style of leadership and in the end it has hurt the program as a whole. Recently, the cub master stepped down from the position and for good reason and I cannot blame her at all. Even her assistant wants nothing to do with the program as he does not want to be manipulated and worked as a puppet for a program he has no investment in anymore. (His son is no longer a cub scout but rather a boy scout.) In addition, I stepped down as a committee member and as a advancements chairman, and a few other people in the group stepped down for maybe the same reasons as I mentioned above or for their own, but all in all, it was pretty much a wiping of the slate for current committee members and leaders. To solve this problem, a family meeting was held to find new talent and volunteers for the organization. I did not attend the meeting as I do not want to be associated with the leadership at the current time, and I did not want to be involved anymore. However, I did hear from those that attended that the focus of the program will now, no longer be about the boys, but what works for the adults who lead the group. I heard that a large number of activities and events that I and my successor worked hard to develop are being eliminated because, "while the kids love it, it is a hassle for the leaders and adults." Big freaking deal! Because it is designed for the boys is the reason the kids love it! It is not about the leadership, it is a program for the boys. Since when do people (and I mean adults) who volunteer in organizations like scouts and things like that think that it is all about them and how much recognition they can get, instead of putting their time and talents toward helping boys develop, grow, mature and become men? I think it is people who have never had any kind of real recognition in their life or maybe have done nothing that proves that they matter. The committee leadership that picked and poked and tore apart the group so that they could have it their way, got exactly what they wanted. A group that is all about them. This cub scout organization that I worked so hard to develp and make a fun program for the BOYS has been destroyed all because of some people's egos. To these people I say, grow up! It ain't about you. I am sad that this local group will now founder and fall and ultimately fail those it is supposed to help, the boys of my hometown. But those that brought it down can blame only themselves for what it will become.

I am glad I stepped away when I did. I am only sorry that so many friendships were damaged over this matter. If you find yourself in a situation similar to this, simply walk away while you can. Cut your losses and hopefully you will retain some of your friendships and dignity.

Later!

I am still here!

Sorry to everyone, or anyone for that matter, that reads this blog. I have been terribly busy with a fundraising event that has pretty much occupied almost all of my time. Writing in a blog was pretty much the last thing I was thinking about. My apologies. I will attempt to get something worthwhile in here by the end of the month at the very least. Lots of new things are coming up that I can comment on for you to read about or ignore, so stay tuned!

Later!

Stop Yer Whining!

Last night, I was watching the TiVo (and if you don't have TiVo, you should consider it) with my wife and she was catching up on some of her Oprah shows. This particular episode was one of those feel good shows that she often has on, but this one in particular had a pastor from a church in Kansas that started a movement based on the 11th commandment... "Thou Shalt Not Whine." It is a movement to reduce the amount of complaining in the world. He believes that the amount of trouble and strife in the world is directly proportional to the amount of whining and complaining that people do and that if people can make an effort to quit complaining about things, then the stress and strife might be reduced. It kind of go to the idea that the more you focus on something (good or bad) the more it is amplified and expanded. If you bitch and moan about your horrible lot in life, then your life just gets worse and vice versa.

Anyway, he came up with the idea to wear a purple arm band on your right wrist and to try and go 21 days without complaining about anything. (At least out loud as far as I can tell.) If you do find yourself complaining you are supposed to switch the armband to the other wrist and start over on a new 21 days. (21 days is supposed to be the number of days needed to break or start a new habit)

You can find out more about this program at http://acomplaintfreeworld.org/ I know that way too many of my friends complain about way to much. I too complain about too much when in reality, I really have very little to complain about. Things are pretty good for me and my family. So my wife ordered some of these for us and friends. Check back later to see what happens! And stop whining about it!

later

A Dead Serious Weekend

Wow! What a great and incredibly busy weekend for my family! Where do I start? How about...

FRIDAY... that seems like a good place. Let's see. On Friday after work, we needed to get alot of shopping done for a number of reasons. My wife was hosting a baby shower for a good friend of ours, and we as a family would be hosting a couple of young ladies in our home as they and their performing troupe brought their play to our little town. After getting everything purchased we headed home and tried to get the house ready for our guests and get everything organized for rest of the weekend. Finding a bit of down time, we watched a movie and relaxed before heading over to our church around 10pm to recieve the "Mish Kids" from the Cincinnati, Ohio region. These teenaged kids and the adults that travel with them, are actors, stage crew, and support staff of a show called "Dead Serious... About Life." This is a show that lays bare the problems that many teenaged and some pre-teen kids face everyday of their lives. It show the effects of teen sex, drinking, drug use, abuse, and ridicule. Up to this point I had not heard of the show before, but the church was sponsoring the play and we had signed up to host some of the troupe members. The "Mish-Kids" pulled in just a little after 10:15pm or so and we got to meet the two wonderful young ladies that would be staying with us. Heather and Suzanne were to stay with us and would depend on us for lodging, food, and travel while in town. It was late and they looked tired and hungry so we headed home, got them a bite to eat and get them settled in.

Dead Serious... about Dancing!
SATURDAY... Saturday morning came and as usual, Gunnar the wonder dog was the first one up and as is the norm, that makes me the second one up. He headed downstairs to go lick the faces of our sleepy headed guests, but I stopped him. After all, they had travelled a long way and had a very long day ahead of them, so I let them sleep. After a while, though, I had to get them moving because they had an entire stage to set up, a play to rehearse, and show to perform, all by 6pm that day. I have not had teenage girls in my house for any length of time, so I got a quick lesson in the amount of time needed for the girls to get ready. I can fully imagine that I will be experiencing this first hand soon, as Cora grows up and enters her teen years. Despite all my fears that I might not have awoken them in time, they were up, dressed, fed and ready to go! I dropped them off at the school and left them to go to my next appointment... getting things gathered up to feed all of the performers and crew at the school and helping my wife get her stuff gathered for the baby shower. I helped her get ready and then I met up with our pastor, got the food together and made it back to the school in time to set up and be met with 45 hungry teenagers. One and a half hours later, I was heading back home from the school, and took in a bit of a breather with my son in the form of XBOX.
Then, the big plan of the day... a date with my daughter! (See "Dancing with the Girls" from the March 2006 posting... check the archive) It was the annual Daddy-Daughter dance sponsored by the Girl Scouts. We had a dinner reservation at 5pm at the local eatery, and then off to the dance at 6pm. Man! What a great turn out! The dance floor was packed with dozens and dozens of frilly dressed little girls and almost as many well dressed dads, grandpas, step dads, and brothers or other male dates for the dance. And it did not take long before everyone of those little girls was out dancing with their dates... whether the dads wanted to or not! My daughter and I danced for two solid straight hours and had a blast! It was totally fun and almost too short of a time together! But we were there until 8:30pm and I had to head out again to get Suzanne and Heather at 9pm. I would have to get them home, feed them, let them relax, and hopefully get them a good nights sleep for the next day's performance. It was nice having them back in the house again. We did not get much time to visit and get to know each other better, so we took some time to do so before calling it a night. Apparently the play went well and the turnout was good. I would not be seeing it until the next day, but I had already heard great things about it from them and others, so I was really looking forward to it.

Dead Serious...about Life

SUNDAY.. the day of the play. I hated doing it, but I had to wake the girls up early so that we could attend the 8am chuch service all together. I was glad the Suzanne and Heather decided to forgo the teen Sunday School gathering to instead hang out with us at the house. The initial feeling of uncomfortableness that all strangers have was pretty much gone, and by the time lunch was ready, my kids, and my "mish kids" were hanging out playing HALO having a good time, and the girls felt comfortable enough to dance around in the kitchen to the music on the XM satellite. It is funny to think that they were doing the same thing that we do as a family when we are feeling happy and a bit silly. It was a good feeling. I felt like we had succeeded in making them feel at home. But our time was coming to an close soon. The girls had to pack their stuff and get back to the school for the last performance. The show was at 2pm and I would be with the Church confirmation class to see the show. We were told to sit apart from the kids so that they could take it in without the watchful eye of their parents. Actually, I preferred this, as I could then concentrate on the play myself.

In a nutshell, WOW. What a great play. It is not like it was the best play I have ever seen, it was just that it was the best play about the pressures and troubles facing teens I have ever seen. It was pretty emotionally raw in some places and it did not neccessarily end on a happy note. It was not overly preachy but sent a great message, and it even gave members of the audience a chance to go back and talk with people who were just willing to listen. The message was a faith based message, but the biggest message the play tried to get across to the teens in the audience, or anyone for that matter, was to just talk to someone and don't try to face your problems on your own. My son thought it was an awesome play and I saw quite a large number of thoughtful, or even tearful faces in the audience and a fair number of audience members did take part of the listening room. It was a very uplifting experience. I highly recommend it for any community. You can find out more about it at http://www.mish-inc.com/ You will not be sorry.

Then, we finally had to say good by to our "girls," Suzanne and Heather. They were here for such a short time, but they were so fantastic that I will miss them. If the play comes back to this area, I am definately going to request that we be allowed to host them again if the circumstances allow. It was a great time.

That night, it was a very deep night of sleep. I was Dead Serious... about sleeping.


later!

News from the Neutral Zone...

It is official! Star Trek XI is off the ground and looking for a landing in Christmas of 2008! And the best part, it will focus on the ORIGINAL Star Trek story and characters! Don't get me wrong, Next Gen, DS9 and Enterprise were great shows, (notice I left out Voyager) but they can't hold a candle to the original shows.

Check out the link below for more info!

http://www.eonline.com/news/article/index.jsp?uuid=b3ea9976-ddad-47f6-b0e8-f8f599de18e3

Later!

If you want...

If you want what you have, then you have what you want.


Given to me in a Valentine's card. Think about it. It makes great sense.

This beastly body...

"We are constantly confronted with the limitations of the body. My body seems a mere encumbrance to me; an imbecilic wagon, hitched to horses of desire, which is the soul. Without my body, I feel I could spurn the earth and mount to those vast, sapphiric peaks of accomplishment and soluble mystery which by reason of my lumbering and utterly useless body, I can but catch brief glimpses, across the uninteresting and monotonous expanses of worldly life.
Yet, it may be that this beastly body of mine has a purpose. Perhaps abstract desire must take concrete form ere any step can be made toward accomplishment and knowledge."

Robert E. Howard, letter to Tevis Clyde Smith, Jr.
Aug. 28, 1925
(Robert E. Howard, Selected Letters, 1923-1930. Necronomicon Press, 1989)

Why did I post this? Any number of reasons but mainly two... First off I thought it would be an interesting and thought provoking statement, especially when some discover that it was written by the creator of the pulp fiction Conan the Barbarian character. Most who have never read the stories by Robert E. Howard, think of him only as a superficial fantasy writer that deals only in blood and gore. Again, that is because they have never read the Howard stories.

Secondly, I love the analogy of the soul, being compared to a team of horses. The horses of desire. It clicks with my feelings that a soul, while an incorporeal and intangible thing, is still a part of the human body and life, just as much as the heart, lungs or any other internal organ is. Without a soul, I don't think that we would be anything more than just another animal. A soul to me is God's fingerprint on us all, being made in his likeness. And it always seems to me, looking for a way out of the body to soar to a higher peak. And this is why I think humans always strive to attain and accomplish more than what they have. The soul is looking for a better place, a better life, a place where the soul can soar.

Enjoy...

Later!

It's almost time...

Last week, after suffering through a blinding blizzard and some really damned cold temperatures in my part of Illinois, the state did what it does best and flip flopped completely in the weather department. We had some really nice temperatures last week, sometimes topping out in to the 50's. It was nice and gave those of us who have motorcylces a tast of what is to come and made some of us consider getting the beasties out of hibernation. At the same time, one of my favorite motorcycle accessory producers; Kuryakyn, sent me the new 2007 catalog of things to spend my money on. But what was really neat was their philosophy behind making all the cool products that they make. From the letter in the catalog:

"Our ideas are products of creative minds that realize a motorcycle isn't simply a means of transportation, but ratehr a representation of a person's very identity. We firmly believe that a motorcycle adventure isn't just a destination, but also the quality and enjoyment of the excursion and the pride of making your motorcycle a tourist attraction at every stop along the way."

This should be called the "Way Cool Philosophy of the Two Wheeled Brotherhood."

Here's to hoping for warmer weather... it is almost time!

later!

Gunnar - King of the Hill

Gunnar - King of the Hill
Originally uploaded by cgeiken.

A great photo of Gunnar. he literally could not wait to get out into the drifts and snow. By the end of the day he was one pooped puppy!

My wife just discovered that I can post photos directly to my blog from "flickr.com." So, you will probably see alot more photos on the postings! Cool for you and easy for me!

As you can see, Gunnar is at the top of a 4.5 foot snow drift. This was before the snow plow made it another 1 or more taller. I have not seen snow like this around here for maybe 12 years or more. This is kind of reminisent of the snow fall I remember as a kid.

Later!

Later

The Valentine's day Birthday Boy

Kids feeding Gunnar his birthday cake
Originally uploaded by cgeiken.

Here is a photo of Gunnar and the kids with his birthday cake. Notice how intently Gunnar is focused on the cake. That is because it was made with a can of dog food, two eggs, a cup of flour and some milk. It looked just like a cake but smelled like something much different. He absolutely loved it. He is even so well behaved as to not eat until he is given permission!

Valentine's day is OK again...

Okay again you ask? What could I possibly mean? Hasn't Valentine's Day always been okay and a good day? Well, as a matter of fact, for my wife and I, it has not always been the best of days to express our love and affection for one another. To begin with, in the past, we always seemed to try too hard, or were too poor, or something got in the way of making it a nice day to enjoy. My wife had one of her favorite cats die on Valentine's day. One of our biggest and nastiest fights came on Valentine's day. Eventually, we just stopped recognizing Valentine's day and things seemed to be much better on that day. Nothing big, just a card and a small treat and it was all good. Sometimes when you try to put too much into a particular day, be it Valentine's or a birthday, or maybe even a big holiday, you can include too much stress and a day that is supposed to be special, instead turns out to be a big mistake and a disaster.

My wife and I have only casually observed Valentine's Day for the last umpteen years or so and it has been good for us, but we never really acknowledged the day as "Valentine's Day." It was just another day. But I think that all of that has changed for us now. We have another reason to celebrate the big "V" day.

Our wonderfully loveable, well behaved, handsome, protective, and incredibly smart dog, GUNNAR was born on Valentine's day of 2006. This year, we got to celebrate his birthday in addition to doing all the regular Valentine type of stuff. We did not go all out for the Valentine stuff... cards for each other and the kids, some treats and a nice meal out was the order of the day. I liked it. Nothing big, nothing outlandish. (I did get some "Sharries Berries" in the mail from my wife... gourmet choclate covered strawberries... oh. my. God. Yum.) And, along with the Valentine day stuff, we got to lavish attention and love on our pooch. We even made a dog food based birthday cake for him. (We have entered into that realm of crazy dog owners, I know...) He loved the cake! We even shared it with some of his doggie buddies. It didn't hurt that we had a huge snow storm that socked us in for two days and the kids were out of school, we were off work, and he could have us to himself for as much as he wanted. He loves playing in the snow! It was a good day for him and for us.

So... Valentine's day is back on the calendar for me. I will never again make it a huge day, because after all, it is just a Hallmark Holiday, but now it is more for my family and I.

Happy Birthday to Gunnar Valentin Von Geiken (yes, there is no "e" on the end of his middle name, the "i" is pronounced as an "ee")


Later!