A Pokemon Story

A pokémon named Pikachu was all along. Just then his friend Zor came along and they played and played; and they played happily ever after.

To Ellis, from Olivia

The Lonely Fish

A lonely fish was swimming on his own; he was sad.

Just then his friend decided to play with him. They played happily ever after.

To Dylan, from Olivia.

(Editor’s note: Spelling has been corrected and punctuation added.)

If I had listened to Jimmy Hendrix, I could have said “wow, I want to play guitar just like Jimmy!” and taken guitar lessons; been inspired to emulate him.

I could have said “wow, I want to play drums like Buddy Rich” and taken drum lessons and become a good drummer.

I could have said “hey, listen to John Entwistle. I could play bass like that” and taken bass lessons and been a bassist.

But I listened to Rush.

I simply couldn’t decide who to be like. I would listen to a song and hear Geddy slapping away so masterfully on his bass and say “yeah, I want to be a bassist like Geddy!” Then, bam!, into the next song and I’d be completely in awe of Neil’s drums. “Yeah, I wanna do that!” Then, wah-wah-wah, Alex’s guitar would lead to new musical heights. Sigh. Yup, I wanted that too.

There was simply no hope; no possible way to decide. My musical dreams shattered by three maestros.

For the record, I still listen to them and I’ve yet to grow tired of any of their songs. And I’m very much looking forward to Clockwork Angels.

(If you’re wondering, yes there is a bit of hyperbole here; I am tone deaf and have no rhythm. I never had a chance.)

I need to apologize.

For all those times you were in your workroom quietly trying to work on something and I was there — at your elbow, over your shoulder, asking endless questions – I am sorry.

Having a 6 year old, whenever I try to work on the car or on some project around the house, she is there ‘helping’. Don’t get me wrong, I love her more than anything. And, I really do like having her help me. I enjoying teaching her the things you taught me – changing the oil in the car; rotating tires; fixing a faucet.

But honestly, sometimes I just want work. Uninterrupted. Sometimes I just need to finish the project.

So dad, thank you for your patience and wisdom and everything you taught me.

And I’m sorry.

Love,
Tim

I sensed a trap.

“I don’t remember,” I replied (which is the truth). “Why do you ask?”

“Well, did you buy me all of the presents I got?” she craftily asked. The trap was truly set.

“Of course not,” said I. “We bought you some; your grandparents bought you some. Why? What’s up?”

“Well,” she said, “I’m trying to figure out if Santa is real. If you bought me all of my presents then he isn’t. But if you didn’t buy everything that was under our tree he’s real.”

“Oh, of course we didn’t buy you everything. Don’t you believe in Santa?”

“Well, I believe in him, I’m just trying to figure out if he’s real. If you didn’t buy everything under the tree …”

Luckily mom stepped in to remind the girl which presents came from Santa that we, most assuredly, did not purchase.

In prepping to actually post some content I decided to upgrade my WordPress installation. The result: a broken site template. I should have known better. I guess that means I’ll work on some site updates as well.

This does, however, give me an excuse to try posting straight from my phone. If this post makes it we will know that worked.

Fingers crossed….

Update: Ah, WordPress app creates a draft. So I can fix then post.

Update 2: And we’re back. Seems there was a permissions problem with my theme; a little jiggling of wires and duct tape and we’re back in business. And the WordPress update took, so double bonus win.

I’ve also cleaned up some things behind the scenes (not that you care, but hey, I did it). There is more cleaning to do, but it shouldn’t affect you in a negative way.

So, that’s it for now. Welcome to my new(ish) home. As always, I’m hoping to use it more…. Time will tell.

According to a police report, a tree was stolen from the backyard of a home ….
The tree may have been chopped down and taken away, the report states.

May have been chopped down? They aren’t sure? Who chops down a tree to steal it?

Happy birthday princess

Last Thursday, Olivia woke with a 100°ree;+ temperature. I stayed home from work with her. Friday afternoon, I felt the sinus congestion settling in my head. No biggie, just the run of the mill rhino virus.

Then woke up today with an eye crusted shut. Self inflicted pink eye.

Armed with a sheaf of paper after a quick visit to the doctor, I purchased my $60 worth of drugs — eye drops, antibodies for the sinus thing, and a refill on my allergy meds. In general I feel OK, except I can’t actually tell you what I’ve done today. The clock tells me it is after 3:00 pm. I know I watched a little TV. I have mucked on the computer. I have read. I can’t really account for about 4 other hours.

Hopefully the medicine will clear this crud out soon. The doctor did sideline me for two days, so I have tomorrow off as well. Hopefully I’ll be slightly more productive.