08/29/2006
Reality Getting Real
We are starting to count down the weeks until Riley Adam (a.k.a. Riles or Ramrod) shows up on our doorstep. Although Courtney is due is roughly 9 weeks we're working under the assumption that he'll be here sooner than expected. The doctors will tell you that birthing time and ETAs are not hereditary but mothers will tell you differently. At this point we're preparing for the earliest, hoping for the best. After spending the weekend with my 10 week-old nephew I'm quite ready to have one of my own. We're lucky that Drew and Michelle have allow us to "cut our teeth" with babies on Avery. He's a perfect little guy.
Other than that life has been a waiting game. Court and I spend our time pontificating on new life situations. Sometimes agreeing and sometimes not agreeing at all but both of us are excited for whatever adventure will pop up next.
08/08/2006
What's Wrong with Baby Powder?
One of the first things Court and I did when we found out she was pregnant was run to Target and browse the baby aisles. We walked up and doing laughing and cooing at all the neat baby stuff. Blankets, clothes, butt paste...We were so excited to jump into the adventure. I picked up the biggest bottle of baby powder I could.
When we started talking to friends and family we quickly discovered that baby powder is no longer the prefered method for de-stinking a baby. I am now stuck with this gigantic bottle of baby powder and no clue what I'm going to do with it.
...Then I found this article: Get rid of ants with baby powder. I have A LOT of ants in the yard. Now granted, the article discusses using baby powder inside the house, I've got nothing but time and energy and I gigantic bottle of baby powder. I plan to run home and try this out tonight.
At the very least my front yard will smell like a baby's butt.
08/02/2006
Philosophical Quotes
Found these off of del.icio.us: Atheist Quotes. Unlike most "mine is better than yours" comments, many of them are fairly interesting and philosophical.
07/30/2006
Flashbacks
I am quite psyched for next spring's movie line up. Check out these trailers:
It's like I'm 12 again! woohoo!
07/28/2006
A Minor Touch-Up
If you're reading this post on the website then you'll know what I'm talking about. Inspired by the word "free" and "web designs" I decided to redo Computerjargon.com's layout. I ran across the Open Source Web Design site which contains thouasands of free to take website templates. This wonderful one is provided by Andreas Viklund. I give him mad props for doin' the world good with a little open source lovin'.
Although I've been a web app developer for many, many years I am very horrible at the design aspect. I can make a web app work great, just don't ask me to design one.
Most of the basic site functionality has been moved over. For those dying to comment, comments should be working. I'll be cleaning up a few little nuances along the way. Hope you enjoy.
07/24/2006
Coffee Roulette Pt 2 - The Home Game
I am groggy...tired. We have a coupon for a free drink at Caribou hanging on the fridge and I am too tired to go. I stumble into the kitchen and bang around some of cabinet doors. Through the haze I notice with my right eye that we have a coffee maker. A signal travels from my brain to my hand, slowly. It informs my right arm that it must dig for beans, dig for coffee beans like my life depends on it. Slowly yet methodically I begin the hunt for anything resembling coffee beans in the cabinet.
Bingo. I find a 1/4 bag of beans ready for grinding. I fill up the grinder and with as much subtlety as a Mack truck I grind the beans. I pause and listen for any reprecautions of my actions. No dog movement...No Courtney movement....I'm in the clear. Now, all I need to do is throw the ground beans into the maker and wait for ilfe to begin.
I am immediately struck by the curse of Jason of the Past. The Jason of the Now needs coffee but the Jason of the Past didn't think about this last time he made coffee. Now, I am faced with a full filter of grounds from weeks ago. They have been sitting in the maker ever since my last episode with coffee growing mould. The only problem with our fancy coffee maker is that the filter is fancy too. Reusable filters require cleaning, cleaning that Jason of the Past didn't want to do and cleaning that Jason of the Now doesn't want to do either.
I make haste with emptying the filter and giving it a good once over in the sink. I'm not quite sure if it's clean. I haven't opened my eyes to look. I finish and begin brewing. I go about my merry way.
Hours pass, it seems like yesterday that I made the coffee. I have enjoyed cup after cup of the good morning brew. As I polish off the bottom of the pot I think to myself, "There was something I should be doing. What is it?" I realize the paradox that I am about to become. Jason of the Now is about to become Jason of the Past. Jason of the Future, who will be Jason of the Now, will curse Jason of the Past for not cleaning out the filter if Jason of the Now, now, doesn't do it. I struggle to comprehend it all.
I pause. I contemplate. I grab the filter and clean it out cursing Jason of the Now, of the future, for making me do such a thing.
07/21/2006
A Scanner Darkly
Let me just tell you the tone of this post: I hated A Scanner Darkly; the book, not the movie, mind you.
I picked up the book once I saw the movie was close to release. I was quite excited to see the movie because 1. it was done Richard Linklater of Dazed and Confused fame 2. It had a trippy sci-fi twist to it and 3. it was done with Linklater's acting/animation technique. I spent the last week burning through the book so I could enjoy the movie. But after finishing the book, I think I'll skip the movie.
From here on down, there may be spoilers.
The story follows a guy named Fred who is an undercover cop working his way through a drug ring. His drug-addicted alter-ego, Bob Arctor, lives with 2 drug-addicted friends. They spend their time getting stoned and paranoid about the world around them. In the end life goes to hell and Fred/Bob enters rehab.
Did you catch the sci-fi part of the story? Yeah, neither did I. If you skip a paragraph in chapter 7 you might have missed it. When I started reading it I was hoping it would be a story about cops and drug addicts in an altered time period, much like Snow Crash and Neuromancer. Nope. Darkly was written in 1977 and is based in 1994. So the most amount of sci-fi that happens is everything is recorded on cassette and crack houses are bugged with "scanners" a.k.a. cameras. The book is dated at best.
But Darkly isn't known for it's sci-fi feel, but more for it's gritty tale of despair as Fred slips away from reality and more into drug addiction. After reading books like Trainspotting and A Million Little Pieces (say what you will) the description of addiction in Darkly just doesn't cut the mustard. It's too simplistic, too knee jerky. One minute Bob knows his name, the next he doesn't.
I was hoping to enjoy the book and be disappointed with the movie. I mean, that's the whole purpose of reading the book before the movie, right? The movie versions ALWAYS suck. But after finishing the book I'm not too sure I want to see the movie, even out of curiosity. I think I'll pass on it.
07/20/2006
Coffee Roulette
At work we have pressurized coffee pots, the kind that you push down on a handle and coffee is dispensed through a spout. Since they are not traditional coffee pots there isn't a way to see into them to know exactly how much coffee is left in them. The pots also are heavier than traditional pots so even picking them up doesn't tell you too much. Every time you push on the handle you are risking being the one having to make more coffee.
Because of this I find a lot of almost empty pots. The person right before me pushed the handle 3 times without running the pot dry. I played the game but only got two pushes in before the pot ran out.
I have seen many folks avoid an almost empty pot just so they won't have to make the next batch. They divert their choice from coffee to a pop or water. It tends to be quite comical.
But, as most coffee drinkers know, the most annoying part is being the only one willing to brew more coffee. We have five pots at work, 3 regular and 2 decaf. I have seen days where I have drained all three pots trying to get just one single cup of coffee. grrr..
07/19/2006
Luther the Devil
Last night Court and I went to watch our friends play in Minneapolis. It's the second time we've seen them own the stage at Lee's Liqour Lounge. Every time I see them I am in awe of their raw talent. I've tried so hard over the years to figure out how to play music. I understand rhythm, I can read sheet music, and I know the fingerings, but I have always lacked something. Watching them play as if it were a simple extention of their being was simply amazing.
07/17/2006
The Road to Babyhood
Seems like I should be keeping you better informed with baby stuff. When we spend most of our days thinking, planning, and scheming for it I tend to forget that not everyone else is as entrenched with it as we are.
Court is 6 1/2 months along, or entering her 7th month, or just finishing the full 6th month. It's all confusing, really. We tend to just tell people that we're 25 (or is it 26?) weeks along. Things during the second trimester have been very easy. The only arguments we have are whether Courtney is having a craving or just wanting something different to eat.
We've gotten all the big stuff out of the way. Procured a crib, organized the baby room, and remodeled the addition so we have somewhere to play with the baby. For all intents and purposes we are ready for this whole baby thing to start.
We've had some lively conversations over names. We've now agreed on Riley Adam. Originally Riley was written off because of a family friend being named the same but it was put back in the pool a few weeks ago. My only reservation is the inevitable nickname "RAMrod" (See the movie Super Troopers for the reference). After that burns off I'm sure his actual nicknames will be along the lines of "Ri" and "Riles", which I can tolerate. I do plan lots of "Little Man"s and "Boss" name calling. The nickname is quite important to me. It's gotta be good.
Courtney is much, much smaller than I thought she would be at 6 1/2 months. I didn't know what to expect or when to expect it with the whole baby growth thing. All I hear are stories of women gaining 50 to 75 pounds, on bed rest, unable to move. This pregnancy thing has been quite easy on Court. She has a little round tummy that's quite cute. She's not waddling yet, but the backpain does have us stopping frequently to stretch out and rub her back. The amount of bathroom breaks have increased dramtically within the last two weeks. On average, Court has to stop every 30 minutes after drinking a glass of water.
I spend most nights pushing on Court's tummy trying to find Riley. He's supposed to be about a pound and a half, and with Court so small, I thought it would be easy to find him in her tummy. Not so much. He's very elusive, I guess. But every once in awhile we're able to find a little knee, or an elbow that we can poke and prod at.
So there you have it. M2 is well on his way. He's due to show up around October 27th.