So Much Stuff I Can't Recall

Honor Roll

2009-10-09T09:56:00.004-05:00

We break Radio Silence for the following brief announcement:

Phil made the Six Weeks Honor Roll with All A's and 1 B. (Still time to get All A's at the semester.) Here's a couple pix from this morning's assembly.

The Boy and His Class

The Boy and His Certificate

...descending again beneath the depths and resuming Radio Silence....

New States, New Philpix

2009-08-01T21:42:00.004-05:00

Yesterday Dina, Phil, and I took a road trip to Shreveport, Louisiana, and near Texarkana, Arkansas (skirted around the city, never went in). Here's Phil at the Louisiana border. No pic at the Arkansas border because a) it was dark and b) it was Arkansas. Two new states bring the total of states visited to 29, 58%.

This evening sister Julia took us and my brother's family out to dinner. Here's pix from Red Robin in Garland:

Phil
(he had just rubbed his hair with his balloon ... to pick up salt from the table with the balloon, of course)

Cousin Jack

Bill & Brenda

The Whole Group

Julia and Phil, Outside

Running on Ice

2009-07-30T23:23:00.003-05:00

Phil had his first experience ice skating this afternoon. His aunt Julie took him and his cousin Jack to the Dallas Galleria and helped them both get the hang of things. They lasted a couple hours, and by the end of it Phil had let go of the handrail and was tooling around quite ably.

Since Aunt Julie can skate backward (and do hockey stops!), she shot some video of Phil. Enjoy!

It's a Starbucks Pastry Morning (Tomorrow)

2009-07-20T20:01:00.003-05:00

Buy a beverage, get a pastry. What's not to like?

I've got to go downtown tomorrow and test for my ESL certifimacation. Now I can flaunt the don't eat/drink rules on the light rail.

Check it out: Mmmmm...

Never Surrender, Even If You're French

2009-07-19T22:31:00.003-05:00

So's last night I was making French toast. Yeah, for dinner. Overslept in the morning and Dina and Phil had already eaten when I finally got up. Hence breakfast for dinner.

Unfortunately after I had cracked the eggs I discovered the milk had gone bad. Didn't want to cover the eggs and put them back in the fridge and run out to Albertsons. Fortunately I had sour cream. And aerosol whipped cream. Which to subsitute? Wound up splitting the difference.

Note to self ... Mmmmmm....

SRV and Barry

2009-07-15T21:56:00.004-05:00

During today's Laying the Foundation training (for pre-A.P. teachers) we did a narrative free-write while we listened to what someone said was Stevie Ray Vaughan's rendition of "Little Wing." Sounded more soulful/funky than the SRV/LW recordings can find online, but who knows. Anywho, this is what I wrote (with minor revisions).

Barry walked down the street as the lightpoles phased on. A warm breeze blew, mixing the smell of produce, beer, cigarette smoke, and perfume. The evening was amber, and Barry leaned back as he strolled, making it look easy. Making it look good.

A car pulled by, a long car with fins, and Barry nodded. Driving's fine, but a night like this he had to be out in it. Anton, the guy who sold maybe twenty bucks a day in his junk store, caught his nod and returned it, kept sweeping his stoop.

Ladies were beginning to trickle out on the avenue, their workday ending, most—some, their day just beginning at six. But it was good. It was all good. Barry and the ladies admired each other and the drivers of the long cars. It was all good. And more than that, it was right. It was all right.

Barry took a deep breath, inhaled the oncoming night, held it in. Closed his eyes and let it out slow. Slow and fine. Slow and fine and easy.

The exercise was to demonstrate tone. Any guesses as to what I was shooting for?

(Ronny Jordan's "The Jackal" has a similar vibe to the song played in class.)

Ahhh, Biff. What a character.

2009-07-12T22:04:00.003-05:00

Yeah, I know. Two days in a row. Still, this is worth it, I think.

Tom Wilson (Biff in Back to the Future) sings about crazy fans.

Plus, a sneak peek at something(s) I might show my classes next year:

The Haiku songs

and Homonyms!

Enjoy!

Important Freebie Bulletin

2009-07-11T10:33:00.005-05:00

We interrupt this blog silence to remind y'all to head on over to 7-11 today for free mini Slurpees (one per store, you do the math based on how many 7-11s there are in your neighborhood). Go sooner rather than later as there tends to be a limited supply of mini cups and last year the stores I hit in the afternoon had been wiped out by day camps.

Enjoy.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled non-happenings here on the blog.

Moving Night

2009-05-30T08:53:00.002-05:00

The sellers are moving out during the day today; we're loading up a van to move the bulk of our stuff into our new-to-us house tomorrow.

But tonight we'll move a few boxes, fragile stuff we don't trust to the back of the van.

Good Times.

Free Foxes

2009-05-16T20:00:00.002-05:00

Foxe's Book of Martyrs that is.

Pick up a free audio copy at ChristianAudio.com (offer expires ablaze at the stake at the end of May)

Should make the daily commute seem mild in comparison.

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and the Wind ... Sweepin' Down the Plain

2009-05-09T21:15:00.002-05:00

Went to two new places today. Well, new to us at least.

Started the morning by stepping back in time at the Scarborough Faire Renaissance Festival in Waxahachie. Good times. Good bird of prey show and kid-friendly swordmaster duel show, and the joust was OK. Fun parade. Phil and I got swords (2-foot long padded sticks) and did some archery. Phil also played a couple games of "skill," spearing the brass ring first try on the kiddie joust, did not so well with the ping pong-ball crossbows. All in all, a fun six hours in the Sixteenth Century. (Thanks Jennifer for the tix!)

On the way home we decided what-the-heck and drove on up into Oklahoma. No reason. Drove in three or four miles, turned around and headed back home. Still, 'nother state I've been to. Here's the current map.

Cool Like Me

2009-05-04T20:26:00.003-05:00

Just got a copy of Issue #2 of Coach's Midnight Diner, which includes my short story "Hinky Jenks."

Look how cool I am now.

Jealous? Don't be. Order your own copy!

Random Acts of School Fundraising

2009-04-30T20:40:00.003-05:00

The Chik-fil-A in Allen does quite a bit of fundraising for the local schools. We wind up there every couple months to help out Phil's. Sometimes, like tonight, we wind up there when they're doing fundraising for campuses that aren't his. We drop our receipts in those boxes, too.

A few weeks ago we stopped at a CfA drivethru up in McKinney. There was a fundraiser poster plastered on the cashier's window. "Oh yeah," we said, "we're doing the school thing." The cashier handed us our receipt with a pen and asked us to write our child's homeroom teacher's name on the back. I scribbled something starting with a W. I hope Ms. Wrvnshftn appreciated the effort.

Finding Yourself at Wal-Mart

2009-04-28T18:48:00.002-05:00

Stopped by the Wal-Mart earlier this week to Jif and Little Debbie's oatmeal cookie sandwiches, wound up with Mr. Bean's Holiday on DVD ($5 bin) and several bags of Mike-Sell's caramel-flavored Puffcorn Delites ($1 each on the close-out rack).

Hadn't seen Mike-Sell's brand goodness at Wally's before. And since it was on close-out, I'm guessing I won't again....

Still, I am delicious.

Philip Versus the Number Line

2009-04-26T09:48:00.004-05:00

Yesterday was Dina's 49th birthday. Phil wanted to know why that was such a big deal. I told him this was the farthest Dina would ever be from turning 50.

Barely missing a beat Phil announced, "No, when she turns 70 she'll be farther than she is now."

Not exactly the high point of the day for Dina, but she was impressed with his math skills.

Get Thee to the Christian Book Expo

2009-03-20T20:46:00.003-05:00

If you happen to be in the Dallas area, stop on by the Christian Book Expo at the convention center tomorrow and/or Sunday. Discount codes for online registration are available from local Christian book stores, but even without the $5-10 off admission is still worthwhile. A friend and I stopped by today; got a bag of free books; had chats with fellow writers, an acquisitions editor and an agent; sat in on some good panel discussions and workshops. Plenty for both writers and readers.

Attendance was sparse (though it was a workday), so help bring the numbers up so the industry will be back next year.

Two days of Spring Break remaining...

Atomic Spring Break

2009-03-17T20:47:00.003-05:00

Picked up the third season of Moonlighting at Half Price Books for $12. Included in the set is the Taming of the Shrew episode, "Atomic Shakespeare." Unfortunately I'm teaching Julius Caesar, so my students will likely miss out on the immortal line:

Doth bears beareth?
Doth bees bee-eth?

Petruchio Dave does quote the "Friends, Romans, Countrymen" line from Caesar, so maybe I can make it a Where's Waldo/Spot the Marc Antony Reference assignment.

Still five days left on break. Went house hunting today. Tomorrow: Six Flags!

Spring Break Has Broken Like the First...

2009-03-14T23:14:00.003-05:00

...?

Dang it, where's Cat Stevens when you need him?

Anyhoo, Dina, Phil and I are all on Spring Break together this year (last year mine was a week off Phil's). Not a whole lot planned. Six Flags. Looking at houses. Maybe driving up to the Oklahoma border so I can add another state to my "been there, seen that" map. Friday is the Christian Book Expo here in Dallas (well, the whole weekend; I'm just going Friday).

Mostly it's just relaxing and resting up for the Bataan Death March that is the final eleven weeks of school (no breaks at all in April, none in May until the 25th).

Eight more days of not-school. Aaaaaaah.

A Free Drink's a Free Drink, Baby

2009-03-10T17:56:00.002-05:00

... and free fries are a bonus.

Free small drinks and fries at Jack in the Box till midnight tonight.

Just Because It's All You Can Eat Doesn't Mean You Have To

2009-03-06T20:28:00.002-06:00

Or does it?

Went to Red, Hot & Blue for their AYCE Salad and Stew deal.

Ouch.

That said, I'm looking to be miserable again March 10th.

Hat tip to Julia for the Jack's coupon.

Free Tacos Till Midnight

2009-02-24T18:35:00.002-06:00

Meant to blog on this earlier, but today's Free Taco Day at Jack in the Box. Get your coupon, print out (a few), and stop by the nearest Jack's (and the next nearest, and the next nearest...) to pick up your free pair of tacos.

Enjoy!

Fast-Moving Facebook Flair

2009-02-17T19:06:00.003-06:00

For a while now I've had two pieces of ranked Facebook "flair": "Team Spike" is now at #95,465 (923 users) and "Team Willow" is at #437,387 (73 users).

End of last week I made a piece of "Ya Think DiNozzo?" flair, celebrating my favorite NCIS line. As of this morning it was at #406,528 (80 users -- it's now up to 97).

It surprises me some of the things that haven't been made into flair on Facebook. For instance the Team Spike (playing off the Twilight vamps with the Buffy characters) and the DiNozzo thing.

Some of my flairs haven't been so successful, though. My "Faith Manages" flair -- Babylon 5 buzzphrase -- is only at 18 users. My Joe Bob Briggs (only one in Facebook) is stalled at 2. Still, seeing what takes off and what doesn't is half the fun. (OK, seeing-what-doesn't is maybe a tenth of the the fun.)

Not to be left out of any fraction of the fun, Phil has created his own piece of flair (keywords: Rookie, crash). Enjoy.

So Wrong

2009-02-08T18:58:00.003-06:00

I'm just saying: My Little Cthulhu

From the My Little Pop Flickr photo set.

via digg.

Biblical Curse Generator

2009-02-07T21:17:00.002-06:00

Blame Dina for this, but not too much, as it is quite fun.

Take heed, O ye armpit of Satan, for you will be as welcome as a fart in the queen's bedchamber!

O that thou wouldest be pursued into the mountains by sex-mad baboons, O thou plaything of Beelzebub!

Woe unto thee, thou son of thunder, for you will be taunted by the king's concubines!

Have fun!

The "Mostly" Full-Color Diner Cover

2009-01-27T17:30:00.002-06:00

Last time I posted a link to the cover of Coach's Midnight Diner #2 the main illustration was only in black and white. Not so any longer.

Check out the amazing. (A few details to still be filled in, but still ... wow!)