This is Halloween from several years ago. Brian is a dinosaur and Max is a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup (which he hates, btw, ha!)
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People of the Internet, read and obey
I have a tv recommendation for you: Undercover Boss at CBS.com. It’s a reality show about the head of a major corporation doing entry-level work for a week. The episode I saw about Waste Management almost made me cry. It’s shmaltzy and uplifting in the best way. I also saw the Hooters episode. It was fine, but I suggest watching the Waste Management episode instead. Run, don’t walk, to watch this show!
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Perceptions collide!
Kevin just tweeted that this “wasn’t the most romantic V Day ever…” Huh. And here I was thinking it was nice. He got me presents that I liked, the kids got presents they liked, Kevin got presents (at least one of which he liked, heh). The kids had fun playing with their new Star Wars Lego set and spending extra time with Daddy. Brian and I had extra reading time. We had yummy steak for dinner. What could be better?\
I guess this is what happens when you’re nice to your spouse everyday. Since there isn’t any bad behavior from which to refrain, Val Day seems a lot like every other day!\
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Report cards came today!
Brian is doing well in school. The kindergartners don’t get a regular letter grade. Instead, they are evaluated on 100+ skills and knowledge. He’s right where he should be for most things, with a few he excels at and a few he’s still working on. The one “area of concern” is when the routine is changed. I guess he doesn’t handle that well. The last couple of weeks, Brian has been reading to us, which has been a thrill!\
Max received all A’s in the Core Subjects (Math, English, etc), yay! Better yet, all of his grades improved, except for the subjects he got a 99 in last quarter. His actual scores were: Language Arts- 99; Reading- 99; Social Studies- 99; Health- 98; Science- 97; and Math- 95. Max was like, “No 100s?” Kevin said, “That is just to give you something to work for this quarter.” Ha! His grades for the Specials (Art, PE, Music, Spanish) were all “Exceeds Expectations.”\
I should treat my kids for a job well done. What should it be? -
Enabling Creativity
Max and I presented today at the Telfair’s Pulse art and technology fair for “family day”. Our presentation went over some of the fun stuff we’ve done together with technology and how people can get their kids to find creative outlets through geekery. We had a lot of fun, and Max had a blast presenting (he did a great job).\
Here’s how we came up with the presentation:* Two weeks before the presentation, Max and I sat down and talked about what stuff we’ve played with he’d want to tell people about and built an outline.
* I went back later and created the actual presentation, filling in the gaps and figuring out what I wanted to say in the intro and conclusion.
* The week before the presentation, we practiced the demos and came up with the idea of having him tell me how to do everything (instead of the traditional “Mr. Wizard” style approach).
* The morning of, we went through it again and made sure he had some idea of what he wanted to say during his parts.\
I didn’t want to put a huge burden on him, since this was his first time in front of what could have been a large crowd. But, he was very involved in writing the presentation and walked me through all the demos.\
He had so much fun that he wants to present again, maybe at this year’s Geekend.\
Here are the slides if you’re interested: -
Brian is cute, and he knows it!
Brian’s school is asking the kids to earn a dollar at home doing chores and then donate the money to the school’s Help Haiti fund, which will be given to the American Red Cross. Brian and I discussed what chore he could do for his dollar. It has to be something he doesn’t normally do, but something he can do. (Duh.) We settled on wet-swiffering the bathroom. Later he piped up, “Maybe I could get an extra dollar for being so cute?”
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No mo’ babies!
Last week Max said he wanted another baby in our family. I don’t want to disappoint my kids, but seriously? Not happening. At least not if I get to be in charge. I love that my kids are no longer babies. I no longer have to worry about:
- SIDS
- Whether to get the 18 month vaccinations/Autism
- Car seats being installed incorrectly\
The lack of worry about baby-related deaths and illness has been such a relief. It’s like going on vacation, all of the time, in my brain!\
My kids can use the bathroom and dress, feed, and entertain themselves. We can go out and have fun as a family and go on vacations together. Right this very minute, Brian is reading a book to Kevin. BRIAN IS READING. \0/\
So yea. Just had to share.\
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Spelling bee!
The bad news: Shawn and Gus didn’t show up. The good news: no one died.\
Max won his class spelling bee, so he got to participate in the school bee. The winner will be sent to the regional bee to compete in the 4th-8th grade group. I went to the school bee today and cheered Max on. It lasted an hour. The coordinator said this was one of the longest bee’s they’ve had. Kids kept getting the answers right! The bee started out with 14 students. Half of the kids were eliminated in the second and third rounds. Max, and everyone else except the winner and the alternate, were eliminated in the 5th round. He misspelled “enormous.” He told me he was glad he didn’t win. The PTA provided donuts for afterward, so at least the kids got to sugar-up for their effort. -
The Coriolis Effect
The Coriolis Effect from Kevin Lawver on Vimeo.
Max and I made this little movie yesterday as his visual aid for his report on the Coriolis Effect. I figured out that it took us about an hour of work for every ten seconds of end product. I hope the boy gets an A.
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Brad Graham, The Third and the Seventh
The Third & The Seventh from Alex Roman on Vimeo.
You really should go watch it in full screen just to bask in the detail in everything. I watched very closely and couldn’t find any of the normal cheats you find in CG that break the illusion. Yes, there are things towards the end that aren’t actually possible, but they’re totally convincing. Unbelievably gorgeous and melancholy.\
Melancholy fits my mood this week. I found out on Monday that one of my favorite people and one of the first people I met at SxSW, Brad Graham, died over the weekend. Brad is (I still refuse to say “was”) one of those people totally filled with light. He makes everyone feel welcome, included and loved. He’s an infamous flirt, raconteur and wit and I loved cracking vulgar with him, usually in our now-infamous Kevin Smokler hosted dinners at SxSW.
For someone I only see once a year, and talk to only a couple of times a year, Brad’s death at 41 is hitting me hard. He’s such a life – the life of the party, conversation, etc. He’s such a fixture on both the web and at SxSW that I thought he was an immovable object – and for my own selfish reasons, I hoped he’d always be there. I love hanging out with him. He’s one of those rare comic minds that can make anything both vulgar and hilarious at the same time, being so offensive and outrageous that no one gets offended. For years at those dinners, we had people afraid they would pee their pants with laughter and afraid to take a bite at dinner. Every time I ran into Brad was an experience never to be forgotten…\
And I keep playing them over and over again in my head because those chance meetings outside the convention center, lunches and dinners with friends won’t happen again… because Brad’s gone.\
I miss him.
