Milkface

TS was playing with her bottle. Perhaps she's secretly Hindi?

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Let The Shredding Commence

LB asked Grandpa Paul for a guitar for Christmas. Grandpa Paul, who toured Europe with a rock band straight out of high school and still plays a mean blues riff or ten, took him at his word.



That's a Washburn solid-body electric. It has a typical amp output, but also has its own integrated amp and speaker so he can play it on it own. And it's decorated with a Disney Cars theme. It couldn't be more perfect.

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Da Boid

I wanted to take a beautiful, Norman-Rockwell-esque photo of our beautiful turkey fresh from the oven, but we just couldn't wait. So here's the ravaged carcass. Man, was it tasty! Way to go, Kim, and thanks to my parents for providing the bird in te first place.

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Better Goodreads?

I love http://www.goodreads.com/. It's a beautiful site that does a great job of connecting readers with books and with each other. Many of my librarian colleagues and other bookish friends use it. But here's the problem: when I'm reading, I'm rarely near a computer.



When I pick up a book to read, or put down a book I've just finished, I'm in bed, or in the recliner, or at the lunch table at work. I'm almost never at the computer, because when I'm at the computer, I'm using it. For me, (and I suspect, most people) reading and web surfing are mutually exclusive activities.



Now, I do keep track of what I read. I do that with something that's always with me: my BlackBerry. Regular readers of my blog know it's my preferred Web 2.0 device. I'm posting this with it right now, in fact. I use a spreadsheet program called GridMagic to note the start and end times of each book I read, because it's important to me to know how much I'm reading, what kinds of books, and when. I used to post a monthly summary here on the blog, but that doesn't happen much anymore. However, I have begun sharing books with friends by doing a separate Twitter post each time I start or finish. This isn't satisfactory. I hate having to duplicate my efforts.



Of course, the perfect solution would be a mobile Goodreads. And in fact, there is one, but it inexplicably includes no facility for putting information INTO Goodreads. You can query the database to see if something's on your to-read list, but you can't add anything.



The same goes for Shelfari, LibraryThing, and other similar services I've found. This is, to say the least, frustrating.



I have an idea for a webservice that would take my tweets and put the information from them into a database or spreadsheet, or possibly take the information at a central point (like a WAP-friendly mobile site), store it and also make my tweets for me. If it would update my Facebook status, too, that would be epic. But that will take time and coding. Why can't Goodreads just make a mobile site that accepts data? Or at the very least, build that capability into their existing API?

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Birthday Celebration

TS turned 1 earlier this week, but my folks came into town this weekend, so we are having her dinner out tonight at Wasabi, which is becoming our birthday place. She had tamago sushi, and of course the traditional first chocolate.

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Stir Crazy?

LB has decided that the world is now clothing-optional. He pulled his pants down in Mardel's the other day. Not the best place for a striptease. Now he's dancing around the living room in his diaper with the nursing pillow as his tutu.

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Christmas Red

We all dressed this morning to match TS's beautiful outfit. BB even tied his own tie!

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Daughter's First School Project

TS also had "school" today, and she made these beautiful snowflakes for us!

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School At Last!

LB has been putting a backpack on and asking to go to school for months now. Today he started! It's his first day at bilingual preschool. I dropped by to peek in while he was getting ready for snack.

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A Fungus Among Us

A clutch of mushrooms grows from the hollow of a crabapple tree near our home.

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Mini And Me

BB got his first look at his great-uncle's classic Mini Cooper yesterday.

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Feelin' Punk

That's what my grandma used to say when one of us kids was under the weather. LB went to Urgent Care at about midnight because he woke up with a croupy cough and trouble breathing. The doc gave him Motrin and recommended cold air. When it happened again at 6:30, I took him outside, and it seemed to help. Not a fun way to spend Thanksgiving.

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Legacy

This rocket/plane was an outdoor swing bought for an older cousin, now 11. It's lasted through four kids so far.

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My First Research Project

BB needed to do a country study for school. He chose Guyana because our church has missions there. His poster includes two flags, some Guyanese money, and a woven placemat.

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Future Blackmail Photo

Bathtime. Photo by Kim.

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Walk Along!

TS is so close to walking on her own!

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Simple Pleasures Are The Best

I built the kids a cardboard box fort tonight. It was interesting to see the different ways they interacted with it. BB made several improvements, including building a table inside. TS was excitable and somewhat destructive. LB, normally the most energetic and excitable, simply crawled inside and stayed there, playing quietly for almost an hour!

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International Flavor

TS has her first naan at Tulsa's Kids World.

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Gratitude For Service

At this morning's assembly at BB's school, the students are honoring veterans. BB will be singing a solo.

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Guitar Heroes

LB and TS show off the souvenir squishy guitars I found at the Nashville airport

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Free Book Feeding Frenzy

Librarians just can't help ourselves, can we?

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Gene Luen Yang

Author/Artist of American Born Chinese drew his favorite character for us at the YA Lit Symposium.

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New Coat

TS is lookin' faboo!

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A Real Morning In America

My eldest son turned 9 today, and I hope that, in the years to come, he can look back and say that this was the day the world changed. This was the day America began to be good again. This was the day we made a choice to move forward in optimism toward a more peaceful and hopeful world.



In his speech, President-Elect Obama told us that we have a lot of work to do. I'm ready to answer that call. For the sake of my son, his brother and sister, and all of their brothers and sisters around the world, I hope that we all pitch in, work together, and do what needs to be done.

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Birthday Boy

That's what BB stands for today. He's nine years old! Wow.

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Weekend Update, Part Two

On Sunday, Kim's and my twelfth wedding anniversary, BB and I participated with my mom and dad in a concert by the Springfield Mid-America Singers. We sang "When I Lay Me Down To Sleep", an arrangement by my choir director Vicki Smith. BB finished the song with an a cappella solo that brought down the house!

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