Category: Everyday Stories
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H.o.p. asks, "What are they doing advertising things that hurt the earth at a place that’s supposed to help the earth?"
From when he was knee-high, I’ve been telling H.o.p. about ads. What ads want from you. What they want to sell you. I tell him about the relationship between ads and some of the websites he visits. Like Neopets. I ever remind him that those sites want something from him, which is all the time…
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Fernbank Science Center Observatory (2 views)
Fernbank Science Center Observatory We had a lovely night at the observatory at Fernbank. The weather was cool and clear. There weren’t many people and when there aren’t many people that means you get a chance to look at a variety of celestial bodies. Outside, one of the smaller telescopes was trained on the moon,…
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Blasting the old "Homeschoolers are destroying the future of science!" argument
While H.o.p. is learning about how rats at a temple in India are revered and that at the end of the day people drink from their milk bowls with the hope of acquiring luck (his interest in the creatures that populate the Redwall world has him daily eager to learn more about rats, mice, moles…
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Having polished off my last chocolate raisin, I will slide back under the desk
Drama kings and queens. Me (to H.o.p.): Don’t be a Drama King. H.o.p.: What’s a Drama King. Me: You know what a Drama King is. H.o.p.: To be or not to be? I’m stealing that one. * * * * * * * A while back I pretty much stopped writing about politics because, frankly,…
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Again, just checking
Last night it was… H.o.p.: I have something to ask you, mom. How weird is it to find an alien for the first time in your bathtub? Me: Very weird. Today, talking with his Oma on the phone, H.o.p. started crying out, “Oh, daddy, not again! Don’t do it again!” and then would make huge…
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The Mug Show
For the blog – mugs Originally uploaded by idyllopus. Saying Yes informs that The World’s Fair is wanting to know what kind of mug you drink from for the purpose of interpretations of the cultural and environmental philosophy of your mug. The World’s Fair has a set of questions and well, sure, why not. 1.…
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Mundane Story About a Three Day Gig at a Movie Theater
Originally uploaded by eman59. The photo to the side isn’t mine. It’s by Eman59, whose photography I’m following at Flickr right now. I love the photo, which is universal (for all who’ve interacted with a box office window), but it also reminded me of a job I once had. Post pop-psychedelia, a movie theater opened…
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What in the hell brought this up?
H.o.p.: So without anything in my body, I would be kind of hollow? Me: Yep. H.o.p.: And I could hit it like a drum. Me: Yep. (If you could move, which would be a unique event in history.) H.o.p. (reading my mind): Well, I couldn’t. But you could.
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Indeed, Virginia, You CAN Nail Jello To A Wall
Indeed, Virginia, You Can Nail Jello To A Wall AKA “Jello Christ” Which is how art works. First Stelarc makes an art installation of himself, hanging himself from hooks, appending an ear to his arm. Then H.o.p. says, upon glimpsing a pic of Stelarc’s ear, “Let’s make a jello man!” So, he makes a jello…
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Parenting a nine-year-old, after you stop wondering if you have a poltergeist, you start wondering if you’ve lost your mind
WHERE DID IT GO? We’ve had problems with lost items in the past, in this apartment, which have nothing to do with H.o.p. I had long ago concluded there are teeny tiny blackholes abounding that science knows nothing about, which suck up random belongings and very occasionally spits them back out a few months later,…
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Just checking
H.o.p.: Dad, do you know what it’s like to stand in front of a gigantic spaceship?
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The Jello Man Tragedy
Making a Jello Man was harder than H.o.p. thought it would be. Those are the two shots I was able to capture before H.o.p., hysterically laughing, doubled over on the floor and that was that. Was time to step in and make sure we didn’t end up with jello all over the rug. Well, we’ve…