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Better in Virtual Life
December 28, 2007 | Filed under: Technology
I played Wii Bowling on Christmas Eve and bowled better than I do in real life (151 vs. 126/96). Now I'm wondering about the implications of being virtually better at something.
I also gave Guitar Hero and try and learned that all my years of practice with the air guitar amount to nothing.
On Watching Back to the Future
December 26, 2007 | Filed under: Saturday Matinee
I spent the two days before Christmas watching the complete Back to the Future trilogy (and I'm a little shocked that you can buy the whole thing from Amazon for $20 right now). I haven't seen the movies in a while and it was great to go back and enjoy them again.
The first one was by far the best, but I think the second two are decent, at least giving you a chance to revel in that fictional world a little more (which is what sequels are all about). It would have helped the sequels a lot if they were envisioned when the original was written (the whole 'Marty goes nuts when someone calls him chicken' plotline would have worked a lot better in the sequels if it had appeared in the original at all--instead it just showcases that the sequels were an after thought).
I loved how tight the writing and plotting were in the original. There's hardly a moment wasted in the movie--everything has a purpose and is important. That's pretty hard to do.
Continue reading "On Watching Back to the Future"Shopping at Walgreen's on Christmas
December 26, 2007 | Filed under: Society
So 8:00 p.m. on Christmas night is not the best time to find something to eat. Since we'd been gone for four days there wasn't much to eat in the house that didn't require lots of preparation (thawing chicken at 8:00 p.m. seemed kind of stupid).
So I did the only reasonable thing and drove up and down the nearest major thoroughfare to see what was open. And what's open at 8:00 p.m. on Christmas night? One Mexican restaurant, three Chinese buffets and Walgreen's. We went with frozen pizza from Walgreen's.
Walgreen's was packed with people buying last minute gifts when they really shouldn't have bothered (though I didn't see any taking advantage of the large Chia Head/Clapper display near the front).
The woman in front of me in line spent $111--at Walgreen's--on gifts including Christmas boxers that came with their own gift bag, a combo chess/backgammon game pack and some kind of My Little Pony set. I kept trying to imagine what sort of situation would require spending $111 at Walgreen's at 8:00 p.m. on Christmas. Wasn't coming up with much.
Sick for Christmas
December 26, 2007 | Filed under: Children
Lexi got sick for the second major holiday in a row and spent Christmas Eve throwing up. Not exactly the best treat to leave for Santa. She seemed better on the ride home, but proved us wrong outside of Chippewa Falls when she threw up in the car. Again. After we stopped at a truck stop to clean her up she managed to do it a couple more times before we made it home. I'm beginning to associate holiday travel with the smell of vomit.
Highlight of Lexi's sickness: Feeling like a negligent parent while cleaning up Lexi on the floor of the men's room.
Continue reading "Sick for Christmas"Christmas 2007
December 26, 2007 | Filed under: Vacation
Yesterday we returned to a snowy St. Paul and finished up Christmas 2007. We had three Christmases and one birthday party in three days. Whew. I also managed to take 381 photos, which I'm slowly trying to get online.
Maybe it's the multiple Christmases (you can add a fourth Christmas when you include the one we had with my family in Thanksgiving), or the traveling and not being at my own house, or maybe it's just the fact that I'm an adult now, but Christmas never quite seems as magical as it did when I was a kid.
Africa Bans Plastic Bags
December 18, 2007 | Filed under: Society
Apparently the entire continent of Africa is banning plastic bags. (Sidetrack: I think it's kind of weird that we refer to all of Africa as one entity--AIDS in Africa, orphans in Africa, poverty in Africa, government corruption in Africa, etc. I guess you get some of that with Europe or Asia, but it seems like we do it disproportionately to Africa. End sidetrack.)
At first it seems kind of silly. But then as you imagine billions of plastic bags floating around, I can see how it'd be quite the problem. I always try to reuse my plastic bags (excellent for dog poop), but we always have way more than we'll ever use. Seems like it should be fairly easy to ween ourselves from plastic bags. Ikea does a nice job of that by simply charging you 5 cents for each bag you use.
The more I think about it, banning plastic bags starts to sound pretty rational and wasting plastic bags for the two things you bought at Target sounds kind of silly.
Go See Juno
December 18, 2007 | Filed under: Saturday Matinee
A little more than a month ago I asked if you could do a funny movie about adoption. The answer? You bet your sweet bippy.
We went to see Juno last night, the adoption-related movie penned by the former stripper and Minnesota native, Diablo Cody. And I can say that all my fears about the movie not living up to the hype were unfounded. It's better than the hype.
It's laugh out loud hilarious, it has a great story, it's honest and it's real. They don't make many movies like this one. At times it felt like Napoleon Dynamite, except instead of being so funny because it was awkward and bizarre, it was just funny.
So in case I haven't been clear yet, go see Juno.
Cute Things Lexi Does
December 12, 2007 | Filed under: Children
- Along with sucking her thumb, putting her hand on her stomach is one of her new comfort measures. It's come to the point that she doesn't like wearing clothes that restrict access to her tummy. This has led to wearing footie pajamas to bed that are zipped up only halfway--to retain tummy access. The other night Abby struck a compromise and put Lexi in a T-shirt and half-zipped footie pajamas--allowing unfettered tummy access but also keeping her warm.
- She recognizes the way to church and starts saying the names of her teacher and all her friends in Sunday School--whether we're actually going to church or just happen to be going in the same general direction.
- In Sunday School she's apparently the official greeter, welcoming each kid into the class by name. The teacher has commented that this has proved helpful with some of the more shy kids.
- One week at church her friend Zack showed up and both Lexi and Zach ran to each other with open arms. Then Zach and his older sister Hope held Lexi's hands while the three walked down the stairs to Sunday School.
- After receiving a blessing during communion Lexi always gives an enthusiastic, "Yeah!"
- Says 'Ethiopia' at random. A few weeks ago I came down stairs to get her up from a nap and she was jumping up and down in her crib saying "Ethiopia!"
- She anticipates when she's in trouble and says what you're going to tell her to do before you do it. Like when she's supposed to be napping and is instead jumping up and down, as soon as you open the door she says, "Lay down?" When she starts twisting in her high chair and trying to stand up she says, "Turn around sit down."
Wait, that last one isn't very cute.
And just so you don't think she's an angel, she's also perfected a nice, high-pitched scream for when she doesn't get her way. Like the other night at Noodles when I took her leftover macaroni & cheese ("mac-cheese"( away so we could go and she just screamed. Until we were safely out of the restaurant and into the car when she promptly stopped.
High School Students Actually Read
December 10, 2007 | Filed under: Reading is Fun
This article about a high school book club should brighten any writers day. Apparently more than 100 students are a part of a book club at Edina High School that meets once a month at 7:45 a.m.
Not only do they have high schoolers reading books, but they have them getting up early to talk about books. There is yet hope for the future.
Adoption Interviews: Frank Johnson
December 5, 2007 | Filed under: Adoption
Frank Johnson (not his real name) is a manager at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (where I used to work). Frank and his wife Sarah have eight children--Bill, 30, Leslie, 27, Curt, 24, Jenny, 22, Kristin, 9, Mary, 7, Tara, 6, and Sam, 5 (whew). Kristin and Sam were adopted domestically through Christian agencies when they were each one day old, one in Texas and one in Florida. Tara and Mary were adopted from a home for abandoned babies Uganda when they were 3 and 4 respectively. Frank is 57 years old and lives in Huntersville, N.C., and notes that if you're married to a saint like he is, adoption is a lot easier.
1. What motivated you to adopt?
Jesus said we were to take care of them. Plus, we had a desire to expand our family and have more children.
2. What differences have you noticed between adopting domestically
and adopting internationally?
The main difference is that the older children from an institution have definite attachment issues, as well as other baggage, while the domestic children were able to attach to us comparatively quickly. Process-wise, the domestic system is fairly cut and dried, and the international scene is pretty rough and tumble. Expect a lot of changes and surprises along the way.
Continue reading "Adoption Interviews: Frank Johnson"
