Oh Happy Day!

Oh Happy Day, Oh Happy Day!

Lex, our youngest (for those not in-the-know, Lex will be 12 months in July), is finally wanting more solid foods rather than the strained-crud they serve as baby foods. No more formula, now he gets real milk!

Today we fed him Mac n' Cheese (from a box) and tuna salad... and he loved it! Tonight we had some orzo as a side, and he loved that.

This is great. Formula runs around $25 a week for Lex, and food for the week probably runs around another $10 a week (or more). Saving approximately $140 a month on our food budget is fantastic, and the fact that Lex is loving the food we're making is beyond fantastic; we shouldn't need to adjust our menus too much as he gets older.

Heck, at this point he's less picky than I am since he likes seafood!

The best thing is watching him take a bite of whatever we're feeding him, and then watch him smile, start nodding his head, and say "Good!"

Now we just need to get through all this stuff with his blocked tear duct (first appointment with Children's Hospital is Thursday) and we'll be set!

End of Demented Rambling.

I've Fallen Behind

I've fallen pretty far behind on this blog!

Wednesday was my last day on Jury Duty. I was released after that due to a slow week. Took some time on Thursday to just enjoy the family. Friday we dropped the kids off with the other house for the weekend. That night Lisa and I watched a couple of movies. The first is called Cthulhu, and I was expecting to really like it. The trailer made it seem that it was based on The Shadow Over Innsmouth, my favorite of Lovecraft's stories.

It might have been, but I'll never know. A short way in I realized that the story was actually "Successful gay man returns home and must deal with religious father who scorns his sexual orientation." I have nothing against LGBT film or literature, but I don't appreciate disguising it within something else.

The next film was called Asylum and it was HORRIBLE. It was full of horror-flick stereotypes and had a villain who was a poor rip-off of Freddy. I mean, the stereotypes were horrible too: Tough, defensive latino girl? Abused by her boyfriend. Pretty blonde chick who acts all slutty and sex-crazed? Sexually abused by her father. Annoying jock obsessed with his looks and physique? Formerly obese loser from an obese family forced to overeat by his mother. The story was just plain uninteresting, though they got some decent gore into the film. Just goes to show - movie covers can make a film look intersting, but sometimes they're just wrapping paper over crap.

Saturday I went down to Origins to meet up with the old Athens Wargamers crowd. Well, actually the big bar on the 2nd floor of the Hyatt is more accurate, since I didn't shell out the money for a convention pass. Got to catch up with my friend Chris who now lives in Bavaria while serving as a combat cameraman in the Army. My friend Ryan was there, who I haven't seen since he moved to the Toledo area. Bruce, another old friend who lived in Athens (and still does, plus he works for the University now), caught me up on the changes to campus (Holy Shit! Athens has a Chipotle now!). Larry was there and bought the first (and only) round of beer. Kelly was there, and I probably haven't seen him 3 or 4 years. A couple other Wargamers were around, but they were doing Con stuff, and I didn't get to see them. Met a few of the next generation of Wargamers too. Good fun. Paid too much for a "Philly" cheesesteak, even if it was pretty good.

Today we picked up the kids and did some grocery shopping. I tried out a new (to me) recipe from Alton Brown for a pork tenderloin marinated in lime juice, lime zest, garlic powder, honey and a bit of adobe sauce. Then cooked the sucker over the grill until the thermometer read 140 degrees.

I took two bites and tossed it in the sink. Very disappointed. I usually really like AB's recipes, but this turned out very disappointing. The pork had a strong lime taste around the edges, but nothing on the inside. I couldn't taste ANY of the other flavors in the marinade, which was surprising because after I made the marinade I tried a little and thought it was quite good. I was really looking forward to this meal, and it just sucked. Well, not the whole meal. Lisa makes great mashed potatoes, and the steamed peas were pretty good too. I ended up eating a rice cake with the peas and potatoes, and now I have a large portion of a tenderloin that I don't want to save. The kids said they liked it, but I don't really trust them when it comes to food. They ate it all - which is good enough, I suppose - but they'll often say something is good even if they hate it. Lisa didn't seem to care for it, said the lime was too strong. I have to agree.

I'm reading a bit more of Laurell K. Hamilton's The Laughing Corpse and I STILL can't tell if I like her series or not. I'm not sure why it isn't clicking (or failing to click) with me. The character... well, she seems like she has a lot of potential, and she has several intersting qualities... but she's overshadowed by things like the descent into trashy romance novel territory whenever she's around the master vampire of the city (I know, they're supposed to be "erotic thrillers" but still...), the obsession with proving that Hamilton is familiar with guns, and a slow pacing filled with unnecessary entries (we get that Saint Louis is hot... do you need to have her constantly moan about how uncomfortable she is wearing long sleeves to hide her gun?) that take away from some of the good parts. Hamilton also fails to explain a lot of things... a prime example is the fact that Anita Blake is on retainer with the St. Louis police department to help explain supernatural goings-ons... and apparently she can do forensics analysis too! Please... they give a plausible explanation as to why she would be considered a supernatural expert (she has a degree in the field), but not where her keen detective skills come from.

Whatever. We'll see where it goes.

That's it for now. It's late, and I don't feel like rambling any more.

End of Demented Rambling.

All the Small Things

Mental note:

When you know the night before that you're running low on gas, STOP AT THE FUEL PUMP!!!

On the other hand, if I hadn't stopped to pump gas this morning, I wouldn't have realized that I had no cash on me for parking.

So gas & the bank ended up making me almost late to Jury Duty this morning. I couldn't get into the county parking garage and had to settle for City Center.

On the plus side, a quick glance at the board showed 4 of 7 judges already in court, though one (Schneider, the case I was almost seated on) is in deliberations.

Yesterday 2nd weekers were released at lunch. With any luck today will be similar.

End of Demented Rambling.

The Cunning Mark

Holy crap.

I've gotten 11 pages written in an hour and a half (approximately).

I think I've got a winner here. Lucas Moon is getting some more attention from me.

End of Demented Rambling.

On a lighter note...

Today my goal is to get a few more pages written for Temple of Baltatharon. On top of that I want to get to work on writing The Cunning Mark (first Lucas Moon short story!) even though I haven't finished prewriting it yet. I want to start prewriting and/or writing on Five Views of Survival, an old idea I had originally intended as a short film but that I think might translate better as a story. I need to bring a Lovecraft anthology with The Thing on the Doorstep with me tomorrow so I can decide if I want to work on a new version of that book written from a different character's point of view (yes, yes, I know... I wanted to stay away from the Cthulhu Mythos, but I think I might enjoy the work).

I also want to get started on a piece to submit to White Wolf, as part of their Storyteller Adventure System line. I don't know if they'll want yet another Hunter: The Vigil story (they have more of those posted than anything else), but I like my idea and after reading some of the aweful ones they published... well, I don't think mine can be any worse!

I recently got in contact from an old friend from college, Chris Barnhardt, whom I haven't seen since he joined the military. He's in town this week and mentioned that he'd gotten some stuff of his published by Chaosium, the company who makes the Call of Cthulhu RPG. I need to find what their writing submission guidelines are... not only do they publish RPG stuff, but they also publish new Mythos short story anthologies. They could be a good resource for me.

It's a lot on my plate, but if I stretch it out through the remainder of the week I should be able to handle it. Assuming Jury Duty affords me the time.

I also got a call last night from Safelite (I think it was Safelite... the voicemail was a little garbled) regarding a sales position I applied for a lifetime ago. By the time I heard the voicemail it was too late to return the call, but I'm going to buzz them during the lunch hour and see how they feel about me coming in next week to talk to them.

Oh, and at some point I need to crank out Kill Me Please part three.

Ok. Enough blogging! Work!

End of Demented Rambling.

Save Ohio Libraries

Ok. Anyone who reads this has likely already recieved an e-mail from me regarding this issue, but it's important so I'm going to go over it again here.

Now I understand that the Governor has a tough job. A $3.2 billion hole in a budget is a big one to fill. You have to make tough choices, you have to make people angry, something has to suffer.

But this plan is idioitic. The proposed total reduction between the losses from our reduced economy and the cuts proposed by Strickland come to a 50% revenue loss for libraries state wide. Many libraries rely on state funding to keep their doors open.

So what happens when the libraries lose that money? Well you stop getting as much new material, meaning that the libraries become outdated and less-useful as a research tool. Operations are scaled back, meaning reduced staff, shorter operating hours. BRANCHES CLOSE, meaning MORE jobless competing in what is already a tough job market. And worse, valuable programs that help raise the literacy of children and adults go away.

Unacceptable.

Libraries are more than just a place to do research now. For those who haven't been able to afford a computer, they are a needed place to produce reports and papers. For those who might have a computer but either can't get or can't afford internet access, the libraries are their only gateways online.

We have an unemployment problem here in Ohio. We've lost something like 280,000 manufacturing jobs. The decline of the Auto Industry is hitting us hard. Changes in health care could hit like a ton of bricks since Insurance is one of the largest industries in Columbus.

Part of the answer is finding the jobs that are available, retraining where necessary, and keeping up to date on innovations in your field. Library internet access can help the unemployed gain access to job search boards or access to e-mail, which is almost a necessity for communicating with staffing companies. They provide research tools so that people can retrain themselves at low cost by doing research into new fields of employment. They provide access to industry journals and books that newly unemployed workers might not want to risk spending money on, but that will keep them at the top of their game while seeking new employment.

Take away libraries and it becomes much, much harder for the poor to find work. If they don't find work then the State is stuck with rising unemployment expenses and a loss of taxpayer revenue. This isn't a stop-gap. It's breaking a limb to take your mind off of pain somewhere else in your body. It's stupidity.

My children LOVE going to the library. Our son, Caleb, can read better than Cassandra was able to at his age, and he loves reading. The library gives him new material to read so he's not just memorizing the same book over and over, without adding to our strained budget. When we bring him home a stack of books, he doesn't care what's in them, he can't wait to read them to us.

Cassandra loves to get books. Right now she's reading a High School Musical book that we're using to continue her practice with reading comprehension during the summer. She bought the book at the last book fair West Franklin held. At the same time she is reading Coraline (recommended by James Patterson's youth reading program) for fun. She just got another pile of books Monday, though we're making her wait until she's finished reading one of the other books before she devours the new ones. Last night I noticed Cassandra using the kitchen timer, and I realized she was setting it for 20 minutes... Every 20 minutes of reading lets her fill in a bubble on the reading chart she got from the library for their summer reading program.

Lex can't read. He loves books though. Apparently they taste good... I wish I were kidding. And he loves to turn the pages. The library has benefitted him though. It was through the library that we were able to get some of the "Baby Einstein" videos to show him. They've exposed him to classical music, fun sights, and there have been many times when all it took to stop his cries (he hates being placed in the play pen) was showing him the video cassette, and then starting up one of those 30-minute videos. Instant quiet, focused baby.

Through the library Lisa was able to indulge her forensics and serial killer interests (I don't mean she wants to BE a serial killer, rather she enjoys reading about them). She has gotten to find True Crime novels to satisfy the void left after mysteries became too easy for her. She recently checked out an e-book of James Patterson's and fell in love with a favorite author again. She was upset when she had to wait for another e-book to become available, one that is letting her read a variety of authors.

Part of my writing goes into trying to get roleplaying adventures published. As I've said before, the idea of combining one of my oldest hobbies and my career thrills me. But to do that I need books, books that aren't exactly cheap. I've kept my library as full as possible. Amazon gift cards from rewards points can stretch pretty well for this, but I have to pick and choose. Often I don't know if I really want a book, and I don't order it because I'm afraid it will be a waste. The library carries some roleplaying books. Not all, but they have everything for the 4e D&D product line. It was thanks to those books that I knew ordering Monster Manual 2 or Adventurer's Vault would be money well-spent. It was also thanks to the library that I realized that while Dungeon Delve is a fund read, I wouldn't really get any use out of it. On top of that I've gotten to read The Warrior by Jim Butcher, and Turn Coat, plus Butcher's Codex Alera series all thanks to the library. I'm trying to decide if I like Laurel K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series right now, something I wouldn't take the risk on if I had to buy the books.

This is what the library means to my family. You want to take that away from us Strickland? You think this protects and serves the people of Ohio.

I think you're making a mistake. I think you're hurting Ohio, and my family. And I think if this budget goes through like this I'll stop being one of your supporters, and I've been supporting you since 2000.

You really want that?

Want to tell the Governor and your legislator how you feel? Check out http://www.columbuslibrary.org/save_our_library for ways you can speak out.

End of Demented Rambling.

Week Two Begins!

So my second week of Jury Duty begins today. As usual, I'm already up in the 5th floor Jury Assembly Room, waiting for 9:00 AM to roll around. I have no idea if they'll even call me this week. At this point my odds are slightly lower than they were last week, depending on how many things go to trial. Whatever, I've actually somewhat enjoyed my time here. It's been great creatively, and while I miss the family I don't mind the break in scenery (if Lisa reads this her jaw is probably on the floor and she's likely thinking "then why don't we go somewhere and get out of the house!").

The weekend was, overall, a good one. It started on Friday for me since I didn't need to report to the court house. Lisa's mother and grandmother (the Marys) came to stay the night Friday, so the kids were really excited. Lisa's mother (we'll call her "young Mary") bought the kids a small swimming pool, and they loved it. It looks like a whale and can spray them as they're in it if the water is hooked up. Lex loved it too, walking around like he owned the thing, trying to swim, etc. It was a good visit. They left at about 5:00 PM Sunday, and we were kind of at a loss for what to do next. We had planned ribs for dinner, but both Lisa and myself had forgotten to get them out of the freezer, so there wasn't an opportunity to thaw them and let the rub get in. Slight change of plans, and dinner was leftovers, which were still good since Lisa had made a double batch of her awesome Kicking Cajun Alfredo (courtesy of Guy Fieri) Friday night, plus some homemade garlic bread that was just as good cold as it was warm (despite what Cassandra thought).

Sunday was Father's Day, and it was a little bittersweet. I met my parents at their house and went to see my grandfather. After a couple of strokes right after each other at the end of February/beginning of March his mind has finally gone. Some days are good, some... well, some aren't. I hadn't been over to see him since getting the news. I've gone through one family member not knowing who I am, I don't long to experience it again. But this might have been the last Father's Day, and I know it was important to Dad even if he didn't say so (important to me too). My Aunt Sally and Uncle John were there, so we got to see them. Grandpa wasn't really with things however. They've upped his dosage on one medication and he fell asleep. I suppose that's ok... it avoided a potentially difficult situation. It was good to see him.

By the time I got home I was feeling ill. I don't know if it was from the visit, the heat, a drop in my blood sugar, or what. All I know is I was naseus and not feeling good in general. Lisa wasn't feeling well either. The kids made me Father's Day cards while I was gone, so that was a welcome treat (I had prepared my self for the Marys' visit to overshadow Father's Day). Lisa had helped Lex make me a card that had his very first hand prints on it, so that was great (not to take away from Cassandra & Caleb's cards... I just wasn't expecting one from Lex). Apparently Lisa had to stop him from trying to stick paint-covered hands in his mouth! That boy wants to eat everything in sight! What do they say about Cancers, they're ruled by their stomachs? Lex proves that one!

We were supposed to go to a Summer Solstice ceremony my friend Joe's Druid Grove was putting on. It started at 3 and by 2 I was still feeling ill. I looked at the temperature and realized it was supposed to reach 85 with a 52% humidity, and we decided that it just wasn't a good idea to go. Even if I handled the heat ok, Lex probably wouldn't, and the ceremony would take place right during his feeding time when he'd be guaranteed to be cranky. I was disappointed, but I think it was the right decision. Of course our dinner plans had been the potluck after the ceremony so we kind of messed up with that... but fortunately Pizza Hut is very forgiving. Lisa was thrilled when I suggested we order mediums instead of our usual larges... hey, every little bit to help lose weight, right?

I got a present for Father's Day. Sims 3, something I'd been looking forward to but Lisa was iffy about it. I had reservations about whether it would even run on the laptop (the processer isn't technically up to specs), but my fears were unfounded. The only issue I had was that my video driver was VERY out of date (it was an '05 driver!) so I had some .dll issues that forced me to restart the laptop a couple of times. Fortunately Intel had an updated '07 driver on their website that fixed the issues, and the game runs quite nicely now. I'll review it sometime after I've played some more, but in short I like it better than Sims 2 (which is Lisa's baby). It fixes a lot of the things that made me get bored with the previous versions... plus my first Sim is an Evil Insane Bookworm who is trying to become a professional author and now has 3 books to his name while he works part time at a bookstore!

(No, I didn't pattern him after myself... I just wanted to try the traits out and I had enjoyed writing books in Sims 2 instead of getting a career.)

I also got in touch with an old buddy from college through Facebook. I haven't seen him in years; he joined the Army as a Combat Documentation and Production Specialist, and he lives in Bavaria now (he says it makes Athens, OH look like LA). He's here for the week to attend Origins, so I think I'll try to find a time to go to dinner with him or have him over or something, depending on what his schedule will allow.

End of Demented Rambling.