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The Preschool Gig
Today I paid a visit to my son's classroom, where they are preparing for the big "Kinderconcert" field trip tomorrow at Orchestra hall. I brought in the 12-string and gave a small presentation to a captive audience of 4 and 5-year-olds. I played "Twinkle Twinkle" on the low strings, then on the high. And then on both finishing with a flourish (basically just an open E chord but it seemed to impress them). Then we all sang together while I played. We talked about how different instruments work together to make music sound better and I answered questions like if it's harder to play 12 strings, what the tuning pegs do, etc. I told them that music is for everyone, and that anybody can learn to play an instrument - It just takes practice. At the end they all clapped and practiced the two new words they learned this week - "Bravo!" , "Encore!" You can laugh at me if you want but that is the only time I have heard those words spoken aloud while I had a guitar strapped to me. My son capped it all off with "Thanks for coming! See you tomorrow!" He better hope that I come back before then. Labels: Family, fatherhood, Life, Music
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Smile, you son of a...
 Roy Scheider played the reluctant, aquaphobic police chief-turned shark hunter who killed Jaws ( No, not THAT Jaws). Scheider has died at age 75. Scheider's character Brody mouthed one of the most memorable movie lines of all time ( "You're gonna need a bigger boat") which according to IMDB was improvised and not in the script. I don't know how much if ever I will blog about the movie Jaws again so I will also mention in passing that this movie contains one of the best monologues of all time (Though performed by co-star Robert Shaw, not by Scheider). Scheider was an accomplished actor who appeared in a lot of other stuff too, but I note his passing due to the formative effect that the movie Jaws had on me. I very much identified with Brody's fish out of water (No pun intended) sense of insecurity and misplacement on Quint's boat. The conflict between Quint and Hooper reminded me a lot of the conflict in my family between my two brother in-laws. In fact it was the Quint-like one who took me to see Jaws while it was running in the theater. That would have made me maybe 7 years old at the time. That's a pretty heavy movie for a second grader to try and process. Around that same time my family had just put a temporary end to our gypsy approach to camping & fishing and had settled into a cabin on Leech lake. The cabin was owned by my sister and the Quint-like brother in-law, so much like the movie, we had the similar experience of trying to coexist in Quint's domain. And all the while I was confronted with Leech lake - this big, wonderful yet mysterious body of water, dangerous as any ocean and scary as heck to a seven year old. Local resorts and bars contained photos and mounts of enormous Muskellunge, which saturated my subconscious with fears of swimming, fishing and even boating in that lake. A bigger boat sure sounded like a good idea to me. Yet like Brody, some conflicting sense of duty and curiosity called me out on to the water to confront these hobgoblins of my mind. Predictably, around that time I went through a brief shark craze, a lot like the kids nowadays are into dinosaurs. All my reading and attention went into studying and understanding this phantom limb of my subconsciousness, voraciously eating up books as often as I could get to a library. Then snap, the informational feeding frenzy was over and I was on to something else. It's amazing how there is always something available to personify whatever fears we are dealing with. In the movie Brody went through a shark craze too, and came out the other end alive. Thanks Roy, for helping me get through mine. Labels: Family, Fishing, Lakes, Movies
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Holiday Leftovers
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Request Denied
This video was taken back in late November by tita Ciello when she visited us here in MN. Someone wasn't in the mood for singing - He purposely mispronounced the words, spoke the lyrics, etc... Labels: Car, Family, fatherhood, Friends, Video, Winter
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Happy Thanksgiving!
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The REAL School Pics
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Pumpkin Patch
Photos from last week's field trip to the pumpkin patch. I don't have a lot to say about it, so I will get out of the way and let the pictures tell the story. One thing though, back in my day school buses did not have security cameras or 'body fluid cleanup kits.' Labels: Fall, Family, fatherhood, Life, Outside
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Picture Day
Yesterday was picture day at school. We won't get the proofs back from the 'real' photographer for a little while yet, but these are some shots I got at home before chauffeuring our young professor off to school. Some people home-school their kids. Me, I home-barber mine. It's a good thing I am starting to get better at it, or I would feel bad for charging the wife $10.00 per haircut. Next week his class goes on a field trip to visit a pumpkin patch. We're pretty stoked about it in my household, as the wife and I will be accompanying as chaperons. Labels: DIY_Hairstyling, Family, fatherhood, Life
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Welcome to the Club
   Yesterday was the wife's "American" birthday, as this was the day that she stood with 1,179 other people from 86 different countries and took the oath and became a United States citizen. Most of the people who stumble across this web journal do not know much about my beautiful wife; this is by design as I avoid putting too much information out on the web about my family. But today I will take exception, as I feel the need to tell the world just how very proud I am of her. She was born in the Philippines, on the largest southern island. Her parents are down to earth hard working people, who have gone to great lengths to provide good opportunities for their children - My father in law even spent over ten years working in Saudi Arabia when local job conditions were so poor that he would not have been able to support his family. I don't think that my wife has ever forgotten her father's sacrifices, because by his actions he opened her eyes to life's possibilities, if one is willing to step outside of their comfort zone and leave home. She finished high school at 16 and enrolled at a local college, which she completed in four years with a degree in computer science. At age 20 she found herself in the same depressed local economy that had pushed her father out of the country. Acting on her mother's advice she relocated to Manila, with the plan to live there until she either found a job or she ran out of money. She went through a season of living out of her suitcase, moving from relatives house to friends house and in and out of boarding houses. Each day was spent walking the streets of Makati, knocking down the doors of every business, looking for someone who would hire her. She was rejected too many times to count and did not acclimate to Manila well at first - On one occasion she was even accosted by a street thug, who ripped a gold chain right off of her neck as she was riding in an open air jeepney. Twice a week she would call home crying, begging her mother to let her come home. Time after time her mother would reply that God is faithful, and that he would provide for her. Finally a company expressed interest in her and hired her. Not long after she was recruited for a position in Singapore, where she spent almost a year before transferring back to Manila. One day she received a call from an American recruiter, who had a copy of her resume from her Makati days. It seemed a rather large company in the U.S. had a problem with several of their computer systems and there was a shortage of American programmers fluent in the original system language. In September of 1997 my future wife set foot in Minnesota. She has only been able to get back to see her parents one time, and has not been back to the Philippines since Christmastime of 1999. She misses her parents a lot and still talks to them at least twice a week. Her parent's faith and sacrifice has paid off, as her sister is also here in the U.S., living in Los Angeles. In December of 2000 we met and fell in love, marrying in 2002. Our son was born in 2003. In the time since we have been together I have been at her side as she went through processing for both her green card and naturalization. It boggles my mind the sheer amounts of paperwork, the money spent, the hoops jumped through and the lines waited in, just to obtain something I got for free just because of an indiscretion by my parents. So baby, congratulations on this payoff after all your hard work - Enjoy your day in the sun, because you have without a doubt EARNED this! Labels: Family, Life, Video
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First Day of School
...It happens to the best of us. Labels: Family, fatherhood, Life, Video
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Fair Play
Unlike last year this year we went to the Minnesota State Fair. The wife won free tickets to see Prairie Home Companion, performed live in the grandstand this past Friday night. It was a great show, with a lot of really good music (Including a guest performance by Patty Griffin) and of course all of the extras that come with the MSF - Overindulgence of food, a fireworks display, the odor of the beer garden, etc. One of the more amusing portions was the disbelief the wife experienced when she found out that we had to pay to get into the fair in order to redeem and enjoy our grandstand tickets. I forget sometimes that she's not from around here. Yesterday while we were driving I noted a pedestrian and commented, "That guy looks just like Willie Nelson." She looked at me blankly and asked, "Willie WHO?" Labels: Family, Life, Minnesota, Summer
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In the cold distance
"No reason to get excited," the thief, he kindly spoke,
"There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke.
But you and I, we've been through that, and this is not our fate,
So let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late."
On Saturday 08/11/2007 I went on a road trip to Northern MN to flyfish for trout.
This is what I saw.
| Friday night to Saturday morning it stormed. I drove north through the aftermath with lightning crackling through the clouds above me as I drove. The river was going to be muddy and I knew it. But there was nothing else to be done. My fishing day was my fishing day, and I had to take it come rain or shine.
I had several potential entry points circled on my map, and as I prowled the back country roads I happened across a whitetail family set up near the road. They gave me all the time in the world but by the time I had the presence of mind to dig out the camera and snap a photo, they were all but gone.
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 | After exploring several of the tributaries to the Nemadji River, I finally settled on an entrance point on the river proper, where Highway 23 passes over it. There was a nice parking area that was empty, except for a fellow who was scouting for grouse hunting spots.
I wasn't much in the mood for company. It is hard enough to find a free day to depressurize once a quarter. Added to that I recently lost a cousin from complications involving a gall bladder removal. She was 43, died three days after my 39th birthday. She still is 43, and always going to be 43 from here on. I had been been easing into the mindset where I realistically know I could go at anytime, but now the 'easing' phase is officially over. |  | The river was muddy as I suspected. I spent a long time along the banks, watching for activity. It looked pretty dead. Given the lack of surface activity I started out nymphing, using a black wooly bugger with a strike indicator. After only a few casts I had two separate hits on my strike indicator. I quickly switched over to a #12 wolf adams and promptly hooked this little baby through the nose. | 
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I worked the river for a few hours and that chubby little shiner was the only luck I had. I practiced my casting. I listened to the world around me, paying no mind to the occasional bridge noise in the distance. There was no sense to be made from my cousin's death. I hadn't seen her since my mother's funeral, had scarcely even spoken to her then as there were just too many people to talk to. I had no idea that she was even having the surgery. I was not a factor in her life, nor she in mine really. And that is what the sadness is about, the guilt. The feeling that yes, we played together as kids and that somehow that childhood friendship should have carried over into adulthood. Up to now I had been able to live with the idea that there was time to make that connection, that it was ok to put it off for now. Except that now there isn't any more time. I finally crawled up a muddy bank and set back to my truck for some lunch. There was no real trail to speak of so I bushwhacked through the forest, keeping the the river in earshot. I have humped through some tough brush in my day, and this was some of it. It was definitely not a friendly environment for a chubby guy lugging a flyrod. After I ate I broke out the camera and explored for some good shots. Several attempts netted me some local insect life. Insects live hard and die fast. They don't have complex emotions like guilt and angst. They just get on about their business and make way for the next generation. The local plant life echoed that sentiment, as the air hung thick and sweet with the smell of pollen and nectar. Every plant and tree was in the midst of a giant bender, drunk to the gills on the rainwater from the previous night. The cicadas trilled from the treetops, like an alarm to let us know that September is coming. And when it does the nights will turn cold, and no insect plant or tree will wonder why nobody told them that it was coming. I didn't have much heart to try the river again in the afternoon. I packed up the truck and made my way a few more miles up 23 to a scenic overlook. I have passed it a few times and never taken a picture there. Since I had the tripod with me I did a panoramic. After that I turned to the south and made my way back to my family like a homesick puppy.
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 Labels: Family, Fishing, Fly_Fishing, Life, Nature, Outside, Photoshop, Rivers, Summer, The_Woods, Trout
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Daddy's Lunch for Tomorrow!
The title of this post was something my wife wrote on a different post-it note (Not pictured). It was meant to designate an item in our refrigerator as my lunch for the following day. I kept the post-it and used it as cube art. It inspired this doodle, obviously with a different context:  Labels: Family, Moleskine, post-its
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Belated July 4th
Happy Independence Day to all of you, 5 days after the fact. We had a great 4th - went on a picnic at Lake of the Isles and went to our town's fireworks display, which lasted for 30 minutes. Eric over at the Ethereal Garage has a good fourth of July post including a fireworks video in which you can clearly hear the devious laugh of his three year old. They start 'em young up there in northern MN! Here is a sketch I did on July 04 of the Bryant building, while parked at 31st & Hennepin Avenue. The wife was inside a nearby Famous Dave's procuring our picnic feast. I was parked facing northbound, so this is the western side of Hennepin as seen from the driver's side window.  Labels: Family, Moleskine, Summer
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Mother's Day Villain
Things I have learned:
- Waiting until the last minute to purchase a mother's day card and then failing to do so because your wallet was locked in a church on Saturday night is NOT a valid excuse, never, ever, ever. It really does not matter how amusing an anecdote it may seem like to you.
- Mother's day morning:
- You wake up early - GOOD.
- You let wife sleep in - GREAT.
- You go downstairs to make breakfast - EXCELLENT.
Now, with that kind of momentum, DO NOT turn on that little tv you have in the kitchen. You're just begging to get caught up in some fishing show or that big fight at the end of Rocky III, the one that you have already seen 20 times.
It is a TRAP, and you WILL end up gulping down coffee and gobbling croissants, trying in vain to get to church on time. Turn off the TV, get the waffles cooking and ask yourself why on earth you would want to sabotage yourself in such a fashion. Wipe that smirk off your face, because it is NOT funny and you WILL find yourself wishing that you were dead.
- If after church you should give your wife the option to "Choose wherever she wants" to go out to eat, NEWSFLASH: THAT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE 'HAVING A PLAN.'
Now I acknowledge that some women may not feel that this one is such a terrible offense, as they may relish the freedom of dining at a restaurant of their choice, so your mileage may vary.
But regardless of whether or not your wife allows you to fudge on this one, it is not an excercise in the proper use of initiative. Sooner or later she is going to realize that she chooses where or if you guys go out to eat all other 364 days out of the year and she is going to resent the fact that you did not take charge of this thing and just pick a place to take her to, for crying out loud. And then, brother, you will be brought up on charges for SHODDY HUSBANDRY, and you will be on trial for your life.
It's the equivalent of driving 5 over the limit: Technically you could be cited at any time. You could take this passive approach for years and never get a complaint. But just when you think you have an understanding with the authorities, BAM! You are in a world of hurt that you never even saw coming. Hedge your bets! Have a flight plan! Make your reservations well in advance if you need to. Don't let this pathetic tale become yours.
- When you are confronted with the terrible truth:
- Learn from your mistakes.
Resolve to buy the card a week in advance. Tie a string around your finger or something. (Bonus Tip: Get a couple years supply on clearance and stash 'em)
- Do not make excuses.
you're busted, pal. And by the way - An explanation is just an excuse with one of those little pine tree air fresheners tied to it. So don't go splitting hairs. Make it a little easier on yourself.
- Admit that you are a mangy, low-down dog.
Lay on your back, wave your legs in the air and WHINE. Yelp when your sides are kicked. It's your only hope of getting back into the pack.
- Say that you are sorry.
If you can't say it, then you don't mean it.
If you don't mean it, then you can't say it.
If you've been making excuses, offering explanations, fighting to maintain your pride or dignity, or worst of all not learning from your mistakes, then saying I'm sorry will not mean anything to her. It is better for you to go off to work, think all day about what you have done and tell her sorry right before you leave to go pick her up. I'm sorry, Honey. Labels: Family
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E-Z Rider
 | Little guy rides up and down the sidewalk, Mom chases. Still working on the steering part, but it will come eventually. |
Labels: Family, Life, Summer, Video
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Snow Days
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Homebody
While waiting for the coals last night I walked around
my house and this is what I saw.
Click on photos to enlarge (Open in new windows)Still have a few minutes to kill.
Snow on the mountain is taking nicely.
Bleeding heart, offering up some late-season blooms.
The planter has grown a beard.
I never knew...
That plants can smile.
Meanwhile, in the garage...
My collection of retired ice fishing utilities. I used an old tobaggan as a wall hanging and attached the various items that I have collected over the years, including a swedish spoon (That actually was what I used for drilling holes for my first two winters), an old Jon-E handwarmer with vintage fuel can, various jigsticks and an old single-mantle lantern (needs a new generator and pump seal)
My Bike.
An old Trek Elance 400 that just turned 20 this year.
The child's bike.
Garage sale special, 2 whopping dollars. SCORE!
The wife's bike.
Even cheaper: Free from a friend, including the brain bucket.
Labels: Family, Flowers, Food_and_Recipes, House, Life, Summer, Yard
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It wasn't Fair
It's not that I have anything against the Minnesota State Fair< | | |
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