Yeah, baby!

I managed to make it home before the storms hit -- always a coup when one bikes to work. Seriously, it's like sailors of old -- you have to mind the weather when you're biking to work and back, and we're due for some big storms, or so they're saying. The city already got pounded the other day -- in fact, when I tried my usual routes, I had to detour, because a number of the underpasses were impassable morasses (hhuhuh -- "morasses") of icky water from overworked storm drains. I tried fording one, but when it got about a foot deep, I turned around, not wanting to get my nice oxfords soaked in city slopwater. Anyway, I zigged and I zagged, and it was alright. I never care if it downpours while I'm on the job; it's the transition points that matter, and so making it always feels good.

Tonight, I'm making a chicken cordon bleu sandwich. NOM!

Exene has the boys for the next couple of nights, so I'm thinking I'll alternately chill and exercise, not necessarily in that order. I'm in a good mood tonight. Woo hoo!

(Sandwich is ready, biting into it. MMMM.) Being able to cook is one of my not-so-secret weapons. The truth is, it's not a gimmick with me; I actually enjoy cooking, and enjoy feeding people. I'm not a fancy or ostentatious cook, but I cool pretty well. Even in the darkest days with me and Exene, I felt a grim kind of satisfaction in being able to cook a good meal with panache -- kind of like "Well, this is HELL, but at least I'm able to function within it."

I bought these great tomatoes at the store the other day -- so good. Makes me jones for a deck so I could grow my own tomato plants. That takes me back to my childhood in Youngstown, because we'd always have tomato plants growing in the garden out back. I loved that. The smell of tomato plants transports me that way. Mmmm. I'm just a sensualist!

I bought these crab rangoons and lobster rangoons at Target, of all places, and they're so good! I love crab rangoons, particularly (especially with some sweet-n-sour sauce). Really, I love anything with crab; I make killer crab cakes (that sounds funny). But anyway, crab rangoons are really good, and, surprisingly, Target's rangoons are damned good. Who knew? I'm the last person in the world to endorse a Target grocery item, but their frozen rangoons are mighty fine.

Well, this is a long enough entry for now, yes?

Shew

Man, I need to hunt around for an air conditioner. It's looking like this summer's gonna be roasting! I have to find one that'll amply cover the space in the apartment. I *could* just make use of the building's ones, but I'd like to get my own, a new one, so I can be sure there's ample coolant and what-not. Gotta take measurements on the windows, get something that'll fit them.

Daddy's Day

Hmmm. Yeah, so, don't forget: Father's Day is June 19 this year. Why not get him "Le Male?" For the Dad Who Has Everything...well, maybe not everything he wants. Send him a message in a bottle with Le Male...

And if he likes to get wet, don't rule out Le Male "Scuba..."

This is just such a brazen marketing approach, it cracks me up. Is there a comparable she-perfume out there? Like "Lahore" or something, featuring some buxom woman body perfume bottle?

Da Heat Is On

Wow, it's pretty hot today, indeed. Although there are nice breezes blowing, so that makes it more bearable. I took the boys to the park today, for a little picnic and some Frisbee and playing catch with a football. B1 throws a good spiral. We hung out there for awhile, before the boys got worn out in the heat, and we headed back home to try to cool off.

One gross thing I had to report -- there's an area grocery store that's good; near-vital for local purchases. However, there's one real liability associated with it: they have this beverage area, like sodas-n-such, which is this room you walk into. Now, thankfully, I don't stop in there, but I do have to walk past it to get to the rest of the store. Anyway, some derelict and/or psycho urinates in that room. It's insane. The room's a quiet little nook in the store, so I can see some looney tune making that their port-o-potty and not getting caught. But AUGH! The urine-stink of it is eye-wateringly bad. And it's not somebody being overzealous with ammonia, btw. It's somebody pissing in there, and it somehow not being dealt with and/or caught. It's horrifying. Thankfully, I never go in there for soda, but good lord. The store needs to radically reconfigure that room -- they need to do away with it, restructure it or something, and then tear up the tiles just clean the hell out of that room. I can't fathom how people who do buy soda can possibly stroll in there with that stench radiating outward. WTF? Fortunately, it's only in that one room, in the one corner of the place; the rest of the place is fine. Pisscasso must be caught!

Cool

It's supposed to warm up significantly the next couple of days, although right now, it's nice and cool. We'll see how it goes.

Grateful to have a Monday off. I'll celebrate by doing laundry in a few. Hahah! Exene'll drop the boys off at some point this morning. We'll do something fun, weather permitting. It still looks like it wants to rain, and what's a Memorial Day without rain, right?

I was sketching out the premise for the new piece I'm going to be working on. It's going to be hard to classify, but, if I do it well, should be coolly memorable. I may have to do a fair amount of research on it, to get it right; that's always a tightrope for me, whether to write the story and add in the details in subsequent drafts, or whether to try to anchor the story at the outset in the right details and proceed from there. I'll figure it out.

Typhoon

Lordy, a bit storm blew through the city; I got soaked running errands, but, fortunately, the boys stayed dry, thanks to my adroit planning. But still, I got totally nailed by the cloudburst. Now they boys are with Exene (who also apparently got caught in the storm while she was running); B2 actually conked out ahead of the storm, as he so often does, when a low-pressure front moves through.

The boys were cute last night -- B1 wanted to play an "immune system" game, so I ad-libbed a game of "Lymphocyte & Germs" with him and his brother, using colored blocks. The boys both enjoyed that, which amused me. B1 loves that kinda stuff, and I actually know a lot about it, so I tried to put that to work crafting something they could enjoy.

Now I'm just chilling out (after having dried off) and am cooking up some crab rangoons. NOM NOM NOM!

Overcast

So, Exene dropped the boys off over here at 5 a.m. (!!) because she was running a 10K. I agreed to it, since I always enjoy time with the boys, naturally, but that was damned early. She's training for a triathlon this summer, apparently. Anyway, today's a very drizzly kind of day.

The boys are happy to be with me, as always -- B2 is conking right now, has a little bottle of hand sanitizer in one hand, and his blankie in the other. That amuses me. B1 is telling stories as he plays.

My brain is going a mile a minute and nowhere fast. There's stuff I should do, but I'm not doing it. Something about overcast days, they just sap productivity in some respects. It's supposed to be progressively warmer as the weekend advances. We'll see.

I had an idea for a new story, which I duly jotted down on some paper. I need to get back into my routine, work on that. I've not written squat in several weeks. Not from a lack of ideas; I've just had a lot on my plate. I'll get back into it.

I watched "Kick-Ass" the other day, enjoyed it. It's an amusing movie, although the conception of superheroes in it is decidedly unheroic -- that is, they are more like murderous vigilantes who basically butcher whomever they're going after (except for the feckless, clueless title "hero" -- although, when he truly becomes a superhero, at least by the standards of the movie, he butchers with the best of'em). Anyway, the willingness to kill (and use guns) is one of those lines in the sand with superheroes -- clearly, it's a nod to the realities of such activity, but at the same time, it's so unheroic as to call into question the whole enterprise. It's like when the Joker asks the veteran cop (rhetorically) why he uses knives when he kills, instead of guns. Kind of like that. Anyway, Mark Strong is good as the villain, and the movie is definitely entertaining, although it's nowhere close to a kids' movie, obviously...

Big Daddy clip

One of my favorite clips of the movie, actually. It captures the spirit of it nicely. Cage is great as Big Daddy, and Chloe Moretz is great as Hit-Girl.

Anyway, the movie's pretty damned fun. I'm glad I (finally) saw it.

Blah Blah Blah

Yeah, so let's think about today. I've been boring-blogging for awhile; just a lot in my head, haven't had time to put stuff down, or perhaps worse, I make a mental note to do so, but then forget to do it, and the thing is lost.

Today was lovely-sunny but cold -- the whole week's been frickin' cold, but that's supposed to end (for the moment) this weekend, when temperatures are supposed to leap, and it's going to be frickin' hot. But at the moment, with it being around 45 degrees, it's hard to see that. But it's Chicago, it's May, it happens. Blah blah blah.

I bought some rubber stamps at the MCA today, including one with "BLAH BLAH BLAH" on it that I particularly liked (since I tend to say that, when suitably motivated). It's done like a DRAFT stamp. My favorite detail of it is the tiny "blah" checkbox on it. I love that. The Department of Blah.

Anyway, I love it. I enjoy stamps, and this one just caught my eye. I'd like to send notes to people with that stamped on them, just for fun. Blah blah blah!

One of my favorite lyrics from the Sex Pistols, the tune, "Liar," has Johnny Rotten singing "I don't need you/Don't need your blah blah!" The idiocy of that line always cracked me up, made it memorable. I'd post it, but the Net is being glitchy right now.


I saw somebody who looked like somebody today -- it was uncanny, the resemblance. Even the same anti-smile. Surreal, really. Just weird when one sees something like that, to the extent that you have to do a double-take. The tyranny of geometry.

Looking forward to the long weekend, have to admit. I may take the boys out on a Memorial Day picnic, weather permitting. They'd love that. I may take them grocery-shopping tomorrow, get a bunch of stuff, so we'll be stocked for the weekend, and then a picnic on Monday. That sounds like fun, once thing I do know how to have.

Hmm

I like Campari. I also like Salma Hayek (okay, she's got a reputation as being majorly high-maintenance [putting it politely], but she's very juicy). But somehow, Salma Hayek shilling for Campari is perplexing to me. What does Salma Hayek have to do with Campari? And the ads are kind of odd the way the Burger King "King" ads were odd, too...

For example, the above ad makes me think that Salma actually bludgeoned her Eurotrash lover/boy toy with the Campari bottle (or else she drugged him), and you were walking in with some ice (because you guys were going to have a three-way, of course)...

and she's staring at you, trying to make up some story about how he's just sleeping with his eyes open, that he's not actually dead. All of the ads are willfully off like that. It's the kind of thing where I might be tempted to reach for a bottle of Campari, only to hesitate, with a kind of David Lynch icy jazz soundtrack coming up, some odd stranger appearing, some film noir fugue state intruding on the moment, giving me pause. Because she will kill you...

In fact, she just called you up, so you can join Eurotrash Victim 1 and Glamour Boy 2 (who she's ensuring is dead by gouging him in the eye with her hand).

It can't rain all the time...

It rained all last night. Distant thunder, softly pattering rain. Cool temperatures, so it was good sleeping weather, at least, although I slept fitfully last night, woke around 1 and around 2 for no apparent reason. Lots of odd dreams -- inside a convoluted El station (I think I've dreamed about this train station before, honestly -- this massive, labyrinthine train El station I have to wend my way through); the boys and I in this mall that had this neon-banked walk-through video game that had this neon mummy that would chase you quasi-comically as you ran down the corridors, bouncing and bounding on these barricades to escape. B2 and I were on this one, and he stumbled at one point, and I said to the mummy we had to do it over. The dream had it first that it was a digital neon mummy, but then I saw that it was an actor playing that role, and while he was like "Okay" I could tell he was tired, didn't want to have to run through the corridor again, so I felt sorry for him, doing this thankless gig. And then I dreamed I was at a lackluster party, and I suggested we do improv to liven things up, but I insisted that only people who knew how to improv participate, so a half-dozen of us (including an unaccountably youthful Bill Murray) wrangled this improv performance in the midst of the party, which slyly subverted the languid party and livened things up, although then more people arrived to the party, not realizing that we were doing improv, which made the party more like this massive performance art piece, weirdly enough. Trippy dream(s) last night.

I was a little down last night, but I think it was mostly just me being tired. I usually cheer up when I've had some sleep, although I don't like that my sleep was interrupted last night, for whatever reason.

Krav Maga, etc.

This scene from SIMPSONS never fails to slay me:

"No groin, no Krav Maga!"

*cackle*

Another fog rolled in today, after a morning of storms. My feets are achin' a bit. I blame my wide frickin' feet.

Suede is touring in Europe and Asia; I am really hoping that they hit the States, although, to date, no proper US dates announced. I'm really, really hoping they do a US tour, because they're sounding great.

Psychopaths Among Us

I've known a couple likely psychopaths/sociopaths. They're scary folks! Although I reject the notion of painting psychopaths as crazy; I think psychopathy is a behavioral disorder, versus de facto insanity. It's like how people often use "psychotic" when they mean "psychopathic." Behavior disorders like psychopathy and narcissism are of an entirely different character. For example, while your average crazy is likely to be dysfunctional, psychopaths tend to rise to the top, just because their ruthlessness, lack of shame, and indifference to others greases the wheels for somebody out to claim a piece of the action atop a hierarchical organization.

Windy

I'm a bit worn out; the winds were very strong and contrary today, and it was frickin' cold. That makes the bike ride home a grim exercise in determination, versus the usual sunny sojourn it's supposed to be. A headwind is always a challenge, and at the end of the day, more so. What made it worse was I wasn't prepared, didn't wear a jacket. Whoopsie! It was colder than I expected!

Jack the Bulldog was out savaging one of the pavestone bricks in the park, as he usually does. Love watching that dog go, barking and growling at that brick he uses as a chewtoy. I need to film that dog in action, as it's super cute to watch him go. The boys love Jack.

Tonight I'm just relaxing. Maybe I'll do some reading. I was going to tack on some additional exercise, but decided I'll punt that in the wake of the slog home on my bike.

I really need to work something out to bring my camera with me; haven't quite sussed that out, yet, logistically, since it's a bit much for my bag to carry.

Hell, yeah!

Atheists Have Better Sex Than Believers.


Bahah! I think it's likely because religious folks are likelier to have sexual hangups and/or guilt associated with their sexuality, something that doesn't come into play with atheists, who are more chill about stuff and, correspondingly, more fun. A sure-fire way to have a pile of sexual hangups is to come from some kind of doctrinaire, authoritarian, disciplinarian, old-time religious household!

I've been biking to work, which is nice, since summerish weather is trying to appear again, although I don't know how much life the ole' bike has left in it -- I'm tired of having to get that rear tire realigned every year, get the spokes fixed. I've done that several years in a row, and it's to the point where the fixes are more than the value of the bike. I figure if the sucker finally fails, I'll get a newer, cheaper city bike, something that can negotiate the ample potholes with aplomb! I don't even need something with many gears -- that way, if/when it gets stolen, I won't have to sweat it.

Moz

Happy Birthday to Morrissey. It was a real toss-up for me, which song to pick for a solo Moz birthday tune, so I went with the one on the link.

Great summer weather today -- 80 degrees and sunny and yet not super-humid, yet, which makes it extra-nice.

Nah

I decided to punt the grocery-shopping; I've got a summer cold, and the prospect of trekking around today wears me out. I'm just going to lay low and try to get some rest.

Oh, and did you notice: the world didn't end. Not that it'll deter the loonies from finding a new line in the sand to declare when the world is ending. Can you imagine how much better those people's lives would be if they actually focused on living and enjoying each day, rather than carping endlessly about the end of the world (and, inherent in that hateful ideology is the glee they anticipate at being "saved" and able to look down on the suffering of the rest of the world's people, the damned -- like box seats to the Apocalypse -- that is a key component in that sick Rapture fixation, that sizzling slab of Schadenfreude, as tantalizing a reward as any, apparently, for the blighted souls who believe in it).

Yeah, okay...

So, today the boys enjoyed a trek to the zoo with their aunt and uncle, who were in town for their anniversary. The boys enjoyed seeing them, and vice versa. The weather was rainy and what-not, but just a light drizzle. I have a bit of a summer cold -- my first cold in a long time, likely from work.

Tomorrow I'm going to take a car to the grocery store and Target with the boys; they always love those trips, since it's like an urban adventure for them.

You know, my big beef with those Rapture dickheads is that they bilk their followers out of millions of dollars -- the leader of that particular cult has a church of over $100 million, and squeezes nearly $20 million a year out of his followers for this nonsense. False fucking prophets -- that has always been a lucrative profession. Now they'll have to come up with some new date (the guy was wrong the last time he said the world was going to end, back in 1994, and he's wrong this time, too -- but you just know his followers will keep on giving). That's the thing about messianic cult leader types -- when reality doesn't fit their delusions, they just keep on blundering on, as it reality were some kind of negotiable irritation they can ignore. That people follow them and give them money is worse, still. That's why I ridicule them -- charlatans and frauds, manipulators and controllers; they're all the same, with the same empty ambitions.

Otherwise, today was a nice day, and the boys were all huggy and sweet, enjoying their time with me. I just got'em bathed and in their jammies. They're ready to go.

Rapture Capture

Perfect for my 1000th post. Look what happened to ME today...

ICU

Rapture Ready?

All you tinfoil cap-wearing folks, here's your soundtrack (near-perfect, really)...

Villainous Villainess

I figured out the perfect movie move for Gwyneth Paltrow -- villainess! I doubt she's got the moxie to ever make that move, but she should, because her icily patrician, "rich girl next door" bearing, and those dead eyes would make her a perfect (and classic) villain. It's a far cooler move than her whole "country music starlet" thing she's doing these days...

Yeah, so...

...Comcast came Monday, but I had missed their confirmation call when the tech had gotten to my place, so I missed them, had to reschedule. Tonight, I made sure that things went well.

Some of my family is in town, and it was nice seeing them. The city is all foggy, so it was kind of nice. The boys enjoyed seeing some relatives on my side of the family -- they hadn't seen them since the road trip last year (or was it the year before? Lordy, I lost track) to the mountains down south.

Things are going pretty well, all around. I've been having some odd dreams of late -- various people I know have had walk-on parts in my dreams, to the extent that I kind of jolt in my dream, like my subconscious kinda goes "Whhhha -- ?"

Once the weather gets reliably good, I'm going to bike to work again. I like working in my fitness routine into my commute that way.

FINALLY

Comcast finally came through, replaced their faulty modem, so my computer at home is, again, Net-compatible. I know you've all been worried, wondering when my sparkly self would return. Bahah!

I have to mentally backtrack, since I'm many days behind, obviously!

DSOL

Thanks to some hi-tech glitchery, my DSL connection at home is screwed. So, I decided to make an entry using my iPhone, just out of spite. Love how a problem occurs on a Friday and they cannot get to it until Monday. Woo hoo.

C'est Magnifique!

This is a stitch...

Religious Cleansing

Oh, my. "Yes, a Rolex watch will take away the demons...."

3 accused in Fla. with evil spirit cleansing scam
By Associated Press

Three women are accused in Florida with scamming people out of thousands of dollars by promising to cleanse them of evil spirits.

Federal prosecutors in Fort Lauderdale say 36-year-old Polly Evans, 32-year-old Bridgette Evans, and 22-year-old Olivia Evans are facing federal fraud charges. Court records Monday did not list lawyers for them.

Prosecutors say they promised people they could get rid of evil spirits through religious cleansing. One person was told a Rolex watch was needed to remove demons. Prosecutors say at least $59,000 was scammed from victims in the U.S. and the Caribbean nation of Anguilla.

Bridgette Evans, who is Polly's sister, is being held without bail in South Florida. Polly and Olivia Evans, who are mother and daughter, were arrested in Texas and will be extradited to Florida.

And speaking of evil spirits, the Kardashians are influencing baby names.

iKnow, Right?

I picked up an iPhone today; it's been about three years since I got my first cell phone (I held off for the longest time), decided that I should treat myself, get an iPhone. Like all Apple stuff, it's slick, cool, and incredibly obtuse -- it somehow manages to be easy to use while also stonewalling you. Maybe I'm just so used to PC-based computer tech that I run into a bit of culture shock with Apple products. It's like having a semi-helpful acquaintance who insists "No, really, it's so much better if you go THIS way." and you tell'em "But I want to go THAT way." and the "helper" is like "Well, you COULD do that, but why would you? THIS way is so much better." Seems like all Apple products are like that. I already miss my lil' old phone, although it had been dropped enough times that, while faithfully serving its purpose, it was showing wear and tear. Maybe I'll get used to it, or maybe not. I'm glad I gave the iMac we had to Exene, honestly. So much behind-the-curtain stuff with PCs is more accessible than the cryptic, "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtains" mumbo-jumbo of Apple stuff. We'll see how it goes.

Predatory

Happy Birthday to Kevin Peter Hall!! (he played the Predator)...



His first screen role was the monster bear in "Prophecy" (which scared the hell out of me as a kid -- seriously, I resolved to NEVER be in a sleeping bag like that because of this movie)...



Of course, I can laugh about it, now. But as a 9-year-old, it was scary as hell!

Viva La France

Here's a great shot of the tiny, beautiful, late Marie-France Pisier...

Splinter, Triangle, Pix, Batteries

Just a quiet Sunday night for me -- trucked the boys to Exene's, where they were, as always, reluctant to be. I watched "Splinter" -- an indie horror/monster movie. A nice effort, I have to say, and a nasty monster. Not a perfect story, but it managed to hold onto its tension nicely, despite this. I liked the quiet implications of the monster, without it being made implicit. I think that was a nice move on the part of the filmmakers, and the movie overall was a good effort, although very indie, so small-scale, although well-shot, so you didn't feel it so much. I also watched "Triangle" the day before, which was a UK horror (?) thriller (?) that was perhaps a more intriguing/disturbing movie with a curious plot twist in it that was rife with possibilities. I won't go into it, as it would spoil the movie, but it went into a very odd place, and kept getting more tangled, which compelled me to watch it to get a sense of where it was going. The writer(s) surely had fun with it.

Speaking of having fun, I've mentioned how much I am enjoying my new camera, right? I bought a couple of quads of rechargeable AA batteries, so I can always have the sucker ready to go. The thing uses four AA's at a time, so I went with the rechargeable batteries to keep the batteries out of landfills!

"Herr Schiller! Sie haben eine Möwe auf den Kopf!!"

HMD

Happy Mother's Day to all the good mothers out there, doing their thing. I know our patriarchal culture devalues the hard work you do, but as a hard-working single dad, I get it, I understand. Stay strong!

I bought a new dining room table and chairs for the boys and me. Looks sharp! I also bought a new vase for my clementine sapling, giving it room to grow further.

Peaceful

The other day, I was walking about, had the boys where they needed to be, and it was a lovely, sunny-yet-cloudy day, big puffs of towering clouds breezing through, sun shining, trees budding, and I felt the most wonderful sensation of peace. I had my camera with me, snapped shots as they came to me, and just felt at ease. Weirdly, it's like, post-Exene, at 41 years of age, my true life in Chicago is beginning (despite having lived here since I was 23). There was just this strong sense of rightness and "alrightness" about it. I'm alive, I'm free, I'm healthy. Life is good. I'm more prone to brooding than fretting, anyway, but I was just surprised and pleased by the sense of peace I felt. Things are going to keep getting better for me. I think I was sorely tested the past few years -- a lot came my way at the same time -- and I not only survived all of it, I think I actually emerged better than I was going into it.

I know these shots are, perhaps, kind of foreboding, but they were from that day when I felt such peace, so I'm posting them. The beauty of the sky really did hang brightly over the darkness on the ground, and the contrast heightened the beauty of both.

Trees

I planted some lemon tree seeds with my boys this morning, so my clementine sapling will have some company. B2 insisted on planting a cherry pip, too, although I doubt I can get that to grow. I have a green thumb, but we'll see how it goes. The lemon trees should grow fine. The boys were fascinated by the process, which is cute. I love when kids get all absorbed in stuff like that. And if the seeds sprout, so much the better.

Horoscopic

The ONION's horoscopes always crack me up. Several of these had me laughing out loud...

Aries Sleep will elude you as you wrestle all night with existential questions of mortality and meaning as well as a couple of random wrestlers.

Taurus You'll start to think the people who want you to choose between hugs and drugs have set up a false dichotomy after discovering you can actually have both at once.

Gemini Remember, only you can give yourself permission to be happy, although the people in charge of giving you permission to use the bathroom may have something to say about that.

Cancer You had no idea the love life of the nuthatch was so vigorous, so obsessive, and so likely to result in the death of people like yourself who just like to watch birds do it.

Leo You hate the phrase "We're through the looking glass here, people," but you'll have to use it anyway this week when you and a bunch of people go through a looking glass.

Virgo The stars hate to be the ones to tell you, but the problem with you is certainly not that you love too much.

Libra People will say you've hit a new low even for you, which is depressing, as they clearly haven't been paying attention to a thing you've done.

Scorpio You'll score a bunch of great stereo equipment and furniture from your neighbors, who happen to die when you go into their house and stab them and take all their things.

Sagittarius You'll finally give in to a persistent coworker's desire to, as he puts it, "spread you wide open, throw your feet up on the mantel, and really go to town," but to your great dismay there seems to be sex involved.

Capricorn You knew that moving to the suburbs would expose you to a whole new kind of culture shock, but you had no idea there were people who didn't get drunk to mow the lawn.

Aquarius Romance will bloom in your sign this week, coating everything with a thin layer of pollen and making a mess before germinating into the overripe and rotten fruit of routine.

Pisces There will be no major changes in your life this week, which given the fires and barracudas, is pretty terrible news.

Rearrangement

I rearranged the boys' room today, with the "help" of B2 (to his credit, he did help to the extent his youthful attention span allowed). B2 was thrilled to see me moving their bunk beds and dressers around. For me, the main reason was to clean the various nooks and crannies of their room, a classic, old-school Spring Cleaning kind of operation. But also, I just like to move things around. I figured the way I have it set up, it'll make it work better as the summer months kick in. The boys' room is already the most comfortable room -- warm in winter, cool in summer -- but this'll make it even better.

Speaking of arranging things, this blog amuses me:

ThingsOrganizedNeatly.

B2 amuses me -- he's such a natural lil' athlete. He's quick, strong, nimble, fiercely competitive. He's a true natural, one of those kids that I can just tell will be able to speedily pick up anything he wants to do, and make it look easy. And he's precocious and charismatic, a natural performer. He's going to be total trouble when he's in school. I can already tell. But the smart ones always are.

B1 is sweet, very honorable, protective of his little brother. It was cute -- walking back from school with the boys, a little girl saw B1 and turned around, said "Hi" to him. I asked him who that was, and he told me, and I said "Is she from your class?" and he said "Last year." One of his fangirls! It was cute that she made a point to turn around and say hi to him. He was pretty casual about it.

PBF

I loved Nicholas Gurewitch's "The Perry Bible Fellowship." Such a demented sense of humor. I'm bummed that he's semi-retired, because his work was so good...

Rad...ish

I saw this in a window I passed on the street, and had to capture it...

Bloody Great!

I saw this truck today, loved it! I can just imagine a Bela Lugosi-type voiceover for it -- "Ve have a stake in your floors! It would be a grave mistake not to go vith us!"

Arthurian Mythos

My boys enjoy "Arthur" on PBS, and it's a cute show, I'll admit. I actually enjoy it, too. One thing kind of merits a bit of deconstruction, though: namely, Arthur's best friend, Buster, and his family situation. Buster's folks are divorced, one of those little "real life" details they have in the show. They don't make a big deal about it. Buster's got a mediocre brain, at best. But what makes me curious is how Bo Baxter and "Bitzi Lynn" got together to begin with. First, their character sketches...

Bitzi Lynn Baxter: Buster's mom,who is divorced. She is the editor-in-chief of the Elwood City Times. She's overprotective of Buster and a frantic character, but has settled down a bit in later seasons. (In the early Arthur books, she had blonde hair, although the later books and TV show depicted her with auburn hair.)

Bo Baxter: Buster's father, who is divorced. He is a pilot. Buster flies with him around the United States in the spin-off Postcards from Buster series. In Postcards from Buster, he is shown with short brown hair and glasses. However, during his few appearances in earlier seasons of Arthur, his face is noticeably hidden from view, for instance behind a newspaper. His physical appearance has changed several times, and early appearances was partially concealed by various methods, such as Buster on his shoulders or Bo meeting him appearing as Santa Claus.

Now, Bo's a charter pilot -- he tends to fly small gigs for high-profile clients, so I understand this literal jet-setter's motivations, how he might be gallivanting around the globe, leaving kids in every airport. But what's the story with Bitzi Lynn? How'd she manage to win over Bo Baxter to begin with? I mean, look at her...

Bitzi Lynn Baxter, MILF??

I don't know what to make of that. Maybe Bitzi Lynn was quite the bad bunny in her youth? What's the back story, there? She tends to be quite the nervous nellie on the show, so it's hard to see just how she'd have much appeal, there, much in the way of game. Unless Bitzi Lynn is a real hellcat in the sack once she gets behind closed doors? I mean, Bo married her, at least for a time. We're not sure how long they were married, only that they were, and that they had a kid -- or was Buster an "oops" kinda baby? Was Bitzi trying to be the air traffic controller to Bo's high-flying pilot? Was she trying to ground him?

And with a name like Bitzi, it makes me think that maybe she was a groupie or something -- maybe she and Bo crossed paths when he was piloting a rock band around or something. I mean, Bitzi's kinda cute in a librarian/schoolmarm kinda way, but with that frenetic personality of hers, what's her big secret? How was she able to rope Bo in (even if only temporarily)? And what's more, who broke things off? Was it Bitzi or (in my opinion, more likely) Bo? I'd like to have seen pictures of Bitzi in her youth, to get a better understanding of how she got herself in that situation with Bo. Sadly, there's only a tiny picture of Bo available, so I had to blow it up...

Bo Baxter, with a kind of shit-eating grin going on.

I have this image of Arthur and Buster as teenagers, biking beneath a bridge and seeing "Call Bitzi Lynn! Night or Day!" spraypainted on one of the bridge supports, and Arthur asking "Buster, is that referring to your MOM?"

Way to Gohio!

Ohio had not one, but two of the "20 Cities You Don't Want to Live In...Yet" -- Cleveland and Dayton (5th and 10th, respectively). Way to go! Alas, Youngstown didn't make the cut. I guess there's bottom of the barrel, and there's gazing into the abyss, where cities are concerned. Still, it's kind of a downer that Flint and Detroit are on that list, but Youngstown isn't. It's worse off than Flint, Michigan? Yikes.

May Flowers!

I love how the color turned out on this one...

Mild

Had a great day with the boys, and great weather, too, which made it nicer. We played catch in the park, and the boys ran around, up and down hills, from tree to tree. B2 lost his first tooth yesterday, and, of course, the Tooth Fairy left him a coin under his pillow, which thrilled him. He was asking about the Tooth Fairy, and I said she was like a pixie, only shyer and nicer. He was so excited to find that coin, he climbed his bunk to wake his big brother to show him. A dollar coin, naturally, since that's "gold." Haha!

I took the boys grocery shopping today, as well as a trip to Target to get'em a few new pairs of jeans and some shirts. I had bought'em school clothes in the fall, but they're growing so quickly, I needed to get'em a couple of backup pairs.

The boys are getting so brotherly, it cracks me up -- they're inclined to tussle, wrestling their way across the apartment. It amuses me, since B2 is still much smaller than B1, but is feistier and fiercer than his big brother, who puts up with it until he reaches a point of no return, then goes after him. Cracks me up, watching them go -- it's like the cartoon equivalent, the dust cloud with arms and legs everywhere!