Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Milkface

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

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Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Let The Shredding Commence

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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

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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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Monday, December 22, 2008

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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Saturday, December 20, 2008

Birthday Celebration

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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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Monday, December 15, 2008

Stir Crazy?

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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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Sunday, December 14, 2008

Christmas Red

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

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Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Daughter's First School Project

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

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School At Last!

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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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Wednesday, December 03, 2008

A Fungus Among Us

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

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Saturday, November 29, 2008

Mini And Me

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

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Thursday, November 27, 2008

Feelin' Punk

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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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Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Legacy

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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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Sunday, November 23, 2008

My First Research Project

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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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Saturday, November 22, 2008

Future Blackmail Photo

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Bathtime. Photo by Kim.

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Friday, November 21, 2008

Walk Along!

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TS is so close to walking on her own!

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Saturday, November 15, 2008

Simple Pleasures Are The Best

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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

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

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Monday, November 10, 2008

Gratitude For Service

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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

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

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Saturday, November 08, 2008

Free Book Feeding Frenzy

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Librarians just can't help ourselves, can we?

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Gene Luen Yang

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

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New Coat

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TS is lookin' faboo!

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Tuesday, November 04, 2008

A Real Morning In America

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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

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

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Monday, November 03, 2008

Weekend Update, Part Two

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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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