Christmas Eve

And Noni stopped by to surprise us!


Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G

Late night with B.J.

Go to sleep, Boydee.


Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G

Boydee and Momma, ready for Christmas

I did take this photo a few weeks ago. We got our Christmas tree up on time.

Boydee has been pretty mad this evening. I could understand if it was last night, maybe the Davidson game made him mad? But no, tonight, everything was peaceful, yet he screamed at his Momma for an hour before I finally overheard him through the Foo Fighters concert (on Palladia) and went up to give Adro a break. An hour later, and he's still screaming.

I needed a break so I set him down on the couch (I'm sitting at the computer, right behind him). I've got GolTV on (La Primera highlights) and Radiohead's "How to Disappear Completely" on a loop on the jukebox. Now, he's chilling. Maybe it's a good combo? Maybe he just needed some alone time?

Or maybe I have a reincarnated Spanish soccer fan on my hands?

Regardless... let's get to bed soon, Boydee. It's not vacation time yet.

I'll try to post the photo I just took of Boyd's POV next...

I really need to return that library book...

Five years later? That's gotta be a major fine.

(JOKING, I went and checked it out again.)

Evey is the top photo, taken when she was about eight weeks old. The second photo is Boydee, taken at about eight weeks old.

The original post with this shot of Evey can be found here.

Nice rental!

I've got this as my rental for 24 hrs. The guy got me a good deal, around half price.

It's a 2012 Corvette with only 500 miles on it! that's how I roll!


Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G

The Rat Pack

Check out this crew of baby boys!

From left to right is Asher (with Kendall); Boyd (with Adro); Hayden (with Lindsey); and Spencer (with Jess). There are four months between oldest (Hayden or Asher?) to youngest (Boydee.)

I'll try to get a better photo of these boys together someday. As you can tell, my son wasn't too happy about the photo.

Happy 5th birthday Evey!!!

Evey turned 5 on Wednesday. But we've been celebrating her birthday all week!

I have a bunch of cool photos to share... I'll update as the week goes on.

Happy birthday Evey!!!

Enchiladas and eggs

My Grandma JoJo made me a batch of enchiladas recently... These were probably the first enchiladas I've had from grandma in 5 or 6 years. A nice surprise.

And Grandma's still got it. to this day she makes the best enchiladas I've ever had.

Years ago -- I think I was still in college -- I did a video of grandma showing me how to make them. I need to find that videotape!

Pictured here, perhaps the best way to have enchiladas... With over easy eggs. Awesome!


Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G

Back to work

Sadly, Adro's maternity leave ended on friday, her first day back is monday. She did tell me she's not that sad anymore after her holiday christmas party... That it was good to see her coworkers again and made her feel better about going back.

Evey, meanwhile, is thrilled to be going back to school. She misses her friends and her teachers. I know she is going to struggle with getting up early, she's been enjoying sleeping in to 830 everyday.

I'll wrap this up with a thank you to Adro for taking two months of leave off to watch the kids! thanks babe, it was a great two months!!!

Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G

A beautiful what?

We took a photo of the cousins together by our brick at Allen Fieldhouse. Marina's purse is resting on our brick, you can see my name is the last name on there.

***

Evey has had a couple good one-liners recently.

She drew a map of the planets for me, and started naming each one. Her planets were wildly out of order, but I couldn't put them in order either.

Evey was pointing out each planet to me.

"Dad, this is Mars... that's Neptune... here's earth... then Venus... that's Planet Druidia..."

So, I'm happy that Princess Vespa's home planet, from the movie "Spaceballs," made her list of planets.

***

We throw the term "brilliant" around the house loosely, usually in jest. I'm always coming up with brilliant ideas.

The other day I had a brilliant idea, and I shared it with Evey. Evey shrugged off my plan, and gave me her own. We agreed to disagree.

"Dad, my idea is brillianter than your idea," she told me.

That... we agreed on.

***

We were sitting at the dinner table and Evey started complaining about one of her classmates in her dance class. This mean girl, she told us, encouraged Evey to make the wrong dance moves.

"Which girl?" we asked.

"Well, she's the mean one. You know who she is. She has the beautiful retard."

Me and Adro tried to keep a straight face.

Turns out this girl had a beautiful LEOTARD... so she at least had that going for her.

Leotard is way brillianter.

Things me and the wife looked up on YouTube on our big screen while we hung out tonight

Smashing Pumpkins acoustic
NIN Lollapalooza 2008
Zero 7
REM acoustic
For Squirrels
The Sheila Divine
Radiohead Lollapalooza 2008
Thom Yorke Orpheum
Lemonheads
Cure covers

Comets game with the Johnson's and my Mom

Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G

Say "cheese... burger!"

Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G

The ewok is sleeping

Got the whole family out at McDonald's, got the Johnsons with us, too... Photos to come.

Right now, Boydie is sleeping in his bear costume.

Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G

TGIF, from Boyd Atticus

Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G

Solo on the news!

http://www.usd263.com/vnews/display.v/ART/4e3ee685f2223

Post something here, maybe about 11/11/11

What the heck happened?!? Where am I?

Sorry, folks. It's just that my favorite reader -- one Mrs. Adrianne Jones -- is currently on maternity leave. She's with me at home, where I work. 

I find less inspiration to post on the blog when my lovely missus is with me everyday, not checking her computer all that often. Sorry. I like you too, dear reader. Just not as much as my wife. You understand, right?

Things are good here. Boyd is getting good sleep. He's a good boy.

Evey has been gassy lately. Still sweet, but gassy. 

Dad has just been gassy.

Adrianne still glows as she walks on little cushions of air with every step she takes. Sigh...

Happy 11/11/11... and in 11 minutes, it'll be 11:11 on 11/11/11. I better dance, or something.

We can afford that stove

The Neutebooms came and visited us last week and even brought gifts for the kids and dinner for all of us! Very nice, thank you 'Booms.

Couple quick hits:

-- Evey has an alarm clock in her room now. She's really excited about this. I told her it's nothing to be excited about, it's actually quite sad that she's old enough to need one. But she's thrilled. She told her grandma all about it on the phone tonight, like she just got a new bicycle or something...

-- Adro was looking through the Pottery Barn catalog tonight and Evey saw a kid's play kitchen. It was really nice, and it was also $300. "Mom, I need that," Evey told Adro. "My kitchen is really old."

Technically, Evey, NOTHING YOU OWN can qualify as "really old," but she was determined to talk mom into this new play stove. Adro then tried to explain to her that it was way too expensive... mom and dad could practically buy a new fridge for what they were asking for this play stove. To drive the point home even more, Adro told Evey, "Listen, the money you've saved in the bank so far? It would take almost all of it to buy this toy."

Evey got excited. "Good!" she said. "I have enough to get it."

-- Boyd continues to sleep well. He grunts a lot when he sleeps, but he's not waking up, he's just grunting.

-- I've got Sporting Kansas City tickets for tomorrow night, just in time for the 40-degree drop in temperature and sleet. Great!

Halloween 2011

That was a blast!

The weather was perfect and Adro -- dressed as a witch -- came with me and Evey to trick or treat for a while. Mom went back home to give out candy (Boyd, dressed as a pumpkin, stayed back with Judy and Virginia) while me and Evey kept going on.

We must have hit 30 houses! It was just so nice out, and everyone was so nice and liked Evey's costume ("You're the only Spider-Girl we've seen!" was what we kept hearing) that we just kept going and going.

Evey's biggest concern -- and she kept asking me -- was, "Dad, are you SURE you know how to get back home?!?"

I'll post photos later, after they're downloaded.

Evey's Halloween costume

She's going as Spider-Girl! Her idea! Love it!

Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G

Three weeks and a day

This is bullshit, Boyd has been around for three weeks now and I have more Peking Taste coverage on the blog than I do cute baby photos.

Sorry, son. When you get older, if you get the pleasure of enjoying Peking Taste buffet, you'll understand.

"Sonny," as we call him, is doing great. This photo was taken two weeks ago, so it's not the most current pic ever, especially when you're talking about 22-day-olds. But, he still has all his hair, steely blue eyes and an occasional smile. He's sleeping well, too.

I guess there's just not much to report on a three-week-old when it comes down to it.

And, in hindsight, I didn't start blogging about Evey until she was, what? Two months old?

Peking video gets some local coverage

Well then... while I didn't see that happening exactly, I was somewhat prepared for more than just the blog readers to see my video.

In case you missed it, on Tuesday morning the LJWorld.com posted the below bit about my video, along with a link to the video itself:

As I mentioned, the store is going into the former Pizza Street location, which of course, is a buffet business that is no longer with us. (Rest in peace mashed potato pizza.) Well, there appears to be one Lawrence resident who takes his buffet eating at Peking Taste very seriously. A colleague of mine found this video on YouTube and I’ve decided to pass it along because it was spurred by information first reported in Town Talk. The video was uploaded by Seth A. Jones, according to the You Tube information, and he says he is speaking on behalf of Concerned Citizens for Peking Taste Buffet. He goes on for about five minutes over his concerns that when Peking Taste reopens in the Louisiana Purchase shopping center that it will no longer have a buffet. Among some of the highlights from his impassioned plea are:

1. He said his wife compared Peking Taste no longer offering a buffet to Southwest Airlines no longer offering flights. “My wife is an accountant. If she starts making analogies, something is wrong here.”
2. “When I come to Peking Taste, I want all I can eat,” Seth says. “I want broccoli and beef, all I can handle, hold the broccoli.”
3. Seth says he doesn’t eat crab rangoon because he thinks it's gross, but his friends like it. “Don’t limit my friends on Crab Rangoons. They’re good people.”

Anyway, the entire video is here. 

Pretty cool to get your name in the paper sometimes, and this was a fun one. Almost unanimous positive reactions, which is a surprise. Almost 300 views on YouTube as of this writing.


I did get a call from my pal Copy Jesus about it... he told me he posted the link in the comments section somewhere on LJWorld.com, and that's how they got a hold of it initially. "I hope you don't mind," he told me.

Heck no I don't mind! I want CNN to come cover this story!

Concerned Citizens for Peking Taste Buffet UNITE!!!

Peking Taste Manifesto

It's been almost two weeks since I've posted, so............

'I've got the kids'

We were finally discharged from the hospital. The nurse led us to believe it'd be happening around noon, so I had the room and car packed. It didn't really happen until 3 p.m., though. So there was a lot of sitting around and waiting.

When we finally did leave Lawrence Memorial Hospital, we only had a few things to take with us. A vase full of flowers from Adrianne's grandma. A diaper bag. A cell phone charger.

And, for the first time, two kids.

With one hand I lifted the car seat carrier. With the other, I held Evey's hand.

"Ready?" I asked Adro as she was escorted out in a wheelchair (a formality). "Ready," she replied.

Then I said something I had never said before.

"OK... I've got the kids."

Introducing...

Boyd Atticus Jones.

We're very excited, even if he isn't.

baby boy jones

Video shot last Thursday, 9/29/11

Jones Family Update

No baby yet.

Adrianne is doing well. Had a doctor's appointment on Friday, doc said everything sounded good. The boy is doing well, he's just not ready to celebrate his birthday yet.

I took the above photo of Adro on Thursday. As I said today, she's never been this pregnant before... with Evey, by this time, we had a two-week-old. So this is a different experience for us, this anxious waiting. Last time it was an unexpected, quick finish. With the boy, he's making us wonder when he'll show his face.

No baby, yet I have BIG NEWS.

Evey had her first multi-goal game on Saturday. She scored two goals!!! So exciting!

I hate to admit that missed both goals. My cousin Melissa was flying in from Louisiana, so I left Evey's hour-long soccer practice/game about 20 minutes early to pick up Melissa. I was on the road for about 10 minutes when my phone rang. Caller ID showed it was Judy, my M-I-L. I instantly thought, "Oh, shit, BABY!!!" I answered the phone and all I heard was shouting. I was like, "Holy crap, are they delivering right there on the soccer field?!?" Then Judy came on and shouted, "Evey scored a goal!"

Neuty and the girls

Here's a great shot of Eric and Bella and Evey, taken a few weeks ago.

A big shout-out to Neuty, for coming by the house and helping me install a new screen door on the back door.

Something I have to tell you about Neuty: he treats Evey so well. He jokes with her, plays with her, gives her hugs... let's face it, my friends are all mid-30s dudes. Playing with a 4-year-old might not be high on any of their list of priorities. But Neuty always takes the time to be good to Evey, to play around with her, to make her feel special. And that is one of my favorite things about Neuty.

Cheers to you, Neuty.

And before your head gets too big, just remember... I'm 1-0 against your fantasy football team this year, jerky.

Adro and Evey, Sunday afternoon

No baby yet... Adrianne is feeling OK. She's starting to wonder if this will go all the way to Oct. 7th.

No soccer for Evey this weekend as she had a bit of a fever Friday night. 

We'll keep you posted if there is any baby news!

Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G

GOALLLLL!!!!

BIG news… Evey scored her first goal! Indeed, she scored it last Saturday on that rainy, drizzly morning.

It came late in the game… in fact, it may have been a golden goal, as both sides stopped playing immediately after the goal.

A low cross came from her left halfback. Evey timed her run perfectly, staying onside. The ball skipped once, Evey put her right foot out, made good contact despite the slippery conditions, and the ball spun into the lower right corner of the net! GOOOOOAAAAALLLLLLLL!!!!

OK, it didn't happen like that at all. It actually happened like:

Coach Kevin assembled the Yellow Giraffes. It was about time to pack it up as the rainy weather had all the parents fidgety.

Coack K declared, "Guys, let's get Evey a goal!" The kids fumbled around with the ball until Coach K finally propped it up right in front of an empty net. "Evey, kick it in the goal!" coach shouted. Evey kicked it, but it missed the goal. He got the ball back and teed it up again. The other kids all were confused, but continued bumping into each other and falling down as they are wont to do. Evey wound up and kicked this one into the back of the net! The kids all went wild with a goal celebration! Evey celebrated, but she didn't really understand... that she had just SCORED HER FIRST GOAL!!!

I had a smile ear to ear. It literally was the highlight of my weekend. I couldn't have been more proud.

I should mention, Evey was the only girl on the field for either team. It didn't slow her down. She had a nice game, getting more kicks in this week.

And another update... yesterday Evey was declared HAPPY FEET PLAYER OF THE WEEK again, making for back-to-back weeks, and three of these awards total. I even got an email from the coach about her skills. Here it is:  

Meg and I love working with Evey both at Leagues and at Lawrence Montessori, her enthusiasm is great and she always listens to us. I'm actually training with Meg to do weekly classes and came along to Lawrence Montessori last week; Evey did awesome there so I know she can do very well at Leagues as long as we encourage her! It seems like she has been practicing at home too, so whatever you guys are doing there, definitely keep it up -- I'm confident that she will keep improving with each week!

WOW! We're so proud of her... GREAT WORK EVEY, my SOCCER STAR!!!

BABY UPDATE: Adrianne is doing well, but nothing to report yet. She has an appointment tomorrow so maybe we'll learn something then. The due date is still Oct. 7th. If he goes the whole way, that's cool, we just hope for a healthy baby. The only complaint Adro has is some trouble sleeping, and occasional belly pains. But she's getting lots of back rubs.

OF NOTE: Today would have been my Dad's 65th birthday. We got the family together on Tuesday to do a toast to my Dad.

It's interesting how much has changed in a year. Last year, my Dad's birthday was reason to get a melancholy drunk on. This year, I was hopeful we'd be celebrating the birth of my son on my Dad's birthday.

My Dad certainly is not forgotten, but there were some serious strides made in 2011 to accept that Dad is gone and we're going to have to move on without him. Still miss him like crazy, but I think my brain finally understands the reality of it all. Here's to Boyd, who I know was watching Evey first goal on the sideline with me!

Player of the week -- again!

Evey was named the Happy Feet player of the week again! We are so proud of her.

She's been playing Saturday mornings and doing really well. She hustles and plays the whole game. In fact, her last game, she was one of only two players on her team still in the action! The rest had all dropped off like flies.

No goals yet... she seems too polite to kick it sometimes... but she's getting better each week.

Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G

Evey and Daddy's "Dark Knight"

This is a Seth-and-Evey collaboration, the first(?) of what I hope are many to come. Evey wanted me to draw something she could color. My favorite thing in the world to draw is Batman, so I fired one out for her.

She did all the colors, added the wings, and included the flower. She even added a "mom and dad" to it. Awesome!

The other day she asked me to draw my dad ("Pappa" to Evey) so she could color him. Well, I took it seriously and drew my best interpretation of my dad with a blue crayon I could accomplish. She took one look at it and said, "This doesn't look like Pappa!" and turned the page.

Oh well. At least she was thinking about him. I think I kinda nailed it, but 4-year-olds can be tough art critics.

I haven't posted/scanned/photographed enough of Evey's art in the past couple months. She's gotten really good at coloring, but more impressive to me, painting. She paints flowers, rainbows, girls in dresses, etc. I really need to sit down with her and show her some things, I think she'd pick them right up. She's a little artist. And she does get frustrated when things don't turn out the way she wants them... something I can relate to when it comes to art!

Big Sister School

Evey attended a class at LMH a few weeks ago where she learned the ins and outs of being a big sister. We got to see a real little baby, as well as a fake little baby (pictured), we watched a video, saw the hospital room where momma will have baby brother, etc.

Evey did great! She is now certified to be a big sister. She was a good listener through the entire class. The other little girl in the class was a chatterbox. I'm pretty sure they made her return to try big sister school again, because she couldnt've learned shit with her mouth flapping non-stop like that.

Yep.

Happy birthday, Momma

Happy birthday, babe. Pretty soon we're going to have a family of four. Thank you for that. All of my good karma of the last seven, eight years... I feel it is largely attributed to you. Can we please keep this going until you put me in the ground? That's my plan. I hope you're down with it.

-Seth

Meeting Asher, and all kinds of awesome

The Jones family had the privilege of meeting Asher Heiman recently. Evey even got to hold him, which really excited her.

We kept asking Evey if she could believe we'd soon have a baby boy the same size in our family. She'd smile. She so doesn't know what she's getting into. ...neither do I.

Asher's a real sweetheart. It's cool that the Heimans just had a son, and the Rockholds are also expecting around the same time as us. This could be a formidable group of Jayhawks in about 19 years.

***

Evey fell asleep on my chest the other day, enabling me to turn the channel to the old sci-fi movie "Forbidden Planet" on TCM, a movie I'd somehow never seen before. I looked over at Adro, then looked down at Evey. I whispered to Adro, "Just think... here in a few weeks, it'll be even numbers... instead of 2-on-1, it'll be 2-on-2!"

Adro looked over the top of her glasses at me and said, "More like 3-on-1."

***

Someone smelled something in the living room tonight. I don't think it was me, but I've learned that I don't have to be cognizant of it to be guilty of it.

"Dad farted," Evey told Adro.

"I did not!" I said.

"Mom, he did. I saw the smoke come out of his butt."

***

Me and Evey went outside to do some yard work a few days ago. My garden looks like hell... I had to pull out some serious weeds. Frustrating.

Anyway, I had Evey watering some plants. She ended up playing in the hose. Then she needed to go to the bathroom, so I sent her inside.

While she was inside, she changed out of her wet clothes. She was chatting with Adrianne.

"Mom," Evey asked Adrianne, "When am I going to be awesome, like Daddy?"

***

Want to get a free hat, and donate $1 to charity? Click over to www.golfdom.com/iuow and vote for your favorite film. They're all short films based on water conservation. It would be much appreciated!

Air Hogs

My Mom bought Evey and I an "Air Hog" recently. We took it out to test it this weekend.

I asked Adrianne to come out with the camera because I figured either me or Evey was going to get hurt. Somewhat surprisingly (based on these photos) it was Evey.

I thought the Air Hog would fly down the street. That's what I was prepared for. Turns out it BOOMERANGS and does a loopty-loop right in front of your face. Don't I look tough trying to avoid taking one in the nose?

Turns out this thing was a blast. Evey isn't big enough to throw it yet, but she would try, and then giggle every time I chucked it and ducked it.

Don't let the one photo fool you where the Air Hog seems to be peacefully sailing around us... most times this thing went up, then right back at me. I felt the wind come off it more than once.

But then our fun ended when Evey tripped and scuffed her knee. I was going to string-trim a few spots in the yard while Evey played with the Air Hog and had pulled out the extension cord. She got tripped up by the cord. Dangit!

Still, a good time, and we'll get it out again. I figured it'd disintegrate after a few wrecks, but it held up pretty well.

I really like the first photo. It reminds me of a photo my sister and Dad would have taken back in the mid-70s. I'm wearing a sleeveless shirt (classy!) and Evey's hair is wild and she's dressed like, well, a little kid. I think this will be a photo I'll cherish for a long time. Someday, I'll show it to Evey and say, "This was right before your little brother came along and started hogging all the attention!" Thanks to Adro for coming outside and shooting a few pics!

Good and terrible

GOOD:

Evey was named "soccer player of the week" at her "happy feet" soccer class this week. ALRIGHT EVEY!!! Way to play some soccer! Kick it, girl! You make daddy proud!

TERRIBLE:

Evey came running into the living room this evening.

"Oh my gosh, guys!" Evey shouted, sounding like a valley girl. "There is something bad... terrible... in the bathroom."

"What is it, Evey?"

"There's poop. On. The. Floor."

"What?!?"

Sure enough, Evey somehow managed to get a streak of poo on the floor. Unless I did it during the day and I just totally somehow didn't notice. Maybe I was too enthralled by the new issue of Esquire? I don't know. It's a mystery.

Soccer, good. Poo on the floor? Terrible.

Building blocks at the library

Brought Evey with me his afternoon for a few errands. Squeezed in some time at la biblioteca. Next stop, lunch at Casa Agave with Teresa.

Was in Charlotte Monday and Tuesday for work. Got to catch up with Lervik for an afternoon, which was nice. My performance at pool was not-so-nice.

Was in Atlanta the week before for the PGA Championship. It was an excellent trip for me, check out some of the interviews I did at www.golfdom.blogspot.com. interviews include Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell, Jim Furyk, Lee Westwood, among others.

Excited this weekend for Buzz Under the Stars 2. Incubus, Bush, Jane's Addiction (among others) at LiveStrong Park. If you are going, let me know, so we can catch up for a beer. Right now it's four of us... my sis and bro-in-law and Danny P. I'm jonesin' for a concert right now since apparently they allowed Lollapalooza to go on without me.

Adrianne and Evelyn are doing well. The nursery is all finished, clothes folded and in the drawers. We are all really excited or Baby Brother to get here. Due date of Oct. 7th, but doc thinks he'll be here early.

Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G

Do me a favor?

If you still have Thursday's Lawrence Journal-World, save me the sports page... I wrote the Gary Woodland story on the front page, and I'd like to mail a copy to dear ol' Mom.

Thanks!

Nice photo from a nice golf course

That I visited recently. Somewhere in Georgia.

We took Evey to get her haircut on Sunday. I got a lot of great photos. They're on my small camera, once I download I'll share.

We met the Kaminskis -- all four of them now -- for lunch and then the haircut. Those two girls are really cute together.

Evey said something that made me feel good after we parted ways with the Kaminskis. "I like Sadie," she told us. "She laughs a lot!"

It's good to laugh together. Evey realizes this, even at the age of four.

That's a man, man!

Ok, now I like the sonogram tech. The worm turns.

Our son got an "A-plus" review from the tech. Currently 4.2 pounds. Good looking heart. Practicing breathing. Big head. And, excitingly, both of his balls have dropped. Which is exciting because mine didn't drop until I was about 17.

That's a picture of his equipment, by the way!

Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G

Baby sonogram 8/5/11 and a God complex

This is a pic of the girls right before we go in for another sonogram.

We're 15 minutes early for the sonogram because the sonogram tech won't do her job if you're 1 minute late. I once got here 3 minutes late, and Adrianne was already well into the process.

This, as you can imagine, doesn't sit well with me. Sure, lady, you can see inside women's stomachs, but that doesn't mak you God!

Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G

Captain America OK, not great

Took this pic of Evey in the Camaro the other day.

Took Adro to see Captain America this weekend. I thought it was OK. I'd heard some rave reviews of the film... the movie wasn't bad, but it was middle-of-the-road as far as these superhero films go. Thor was better. And this doesn't come within swinging distance of Iron Man.

The effects on Chris Evans, making him look skinny and short, were impressive.

For me the story never really got going until the end.

Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G

What a jhrag

Evey is already making plans for her birthday cake.

"Mom, Dad, do you know what I want on my birthday cake?"

"No, kiddo, what do you want?"

"Guess! It start with a, "juh," "juh."

"Hmm... could it be... you want a... GIRAFFE on your birthday cake?!?"

"Nope!"

"No? OK... what animal is it that starts with a 'juh?'"

"A 'juh'-RAGON!"

Palladia ROCKS!

We've added the best station to our TV package since MTV2 was still playing music videos...

It's called PALLADIA. http://www.palladia.tv/

It's mostly live music with a few music videos here and there. I'd even say they skew to alternative rock a bit... for example, this last weekend they introduced an hour-long performance of Soundgarden at last year's Lollapalooza (I was there in person, you know, but hey... good to see the TV version!)

Just now I watched Silversun Pickups performing for 30 minutes unplugged! Bad ass! I can't even find this on YouTube, or else I'd post a clip. I know Hendren hates Silversun because of their androgynous lead singer, but damn, that guy can play some guitar, too!

I also recorded Austin City Limits with Pearl Jam and Kings of Leon.

This is the station for ME!!!

Good pic of me and Grandma and Grandpa

This photo is from a few years ago.

Quick Grandpa Nick story:

My sister just got this shiny new red Dodge Daytona... I'm telling you, this was a hot shit car back in 1987. And my sister was appropriately proud of her new wheels (her previous car was a junker Pontiac Sunbird, dull yellow, the interior was all plastic and I could carve my name pretty much anywhere in the car with a fingernail.)

She parked her car across the street from Grandpa and Grandma's house. Grandpa had this huge conversion van. We had friends coming in town from Indiana to visit...

Grandpa had to run an errand, so he's backing his giant van out of the driveway. Our friends Larry and Mary arrived at the exact same time. Apparently Larry pulling up distracted my Grandpa... he kept backing up to get out of Larry's way, until... CRUNCH... Jessica's new prize got backed into.

So Sis is freaking out, Grandpa is pissed, Larry is like, "Hey, everybody... bad timing?" And Larry gets out of the car and mumbles to me, "Dammit, I saw that was about to happen, but... I didn't honk because I didn't want to give Nick a heart attack..."

And Grandpa looks at him and says, "Next time, give me the damn heart attack!"