Holidays

Family isn't about who's blood you have. It's about who you care about.

~ Trey Parker and Matt Stone, South Park, Ike's Wee Wee, 1998

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1. I don't usually put exactly where the quote is from, but I really wanted to include the title, "Ike's Wee Wee" in the blog.

2. Elizabeth is fixated on the idea of adopting a little boy and buying him a special sweater for Hanukkah. I am not sure how familiar she is with either the adoption process or the celebration of Hanukkah. I am sure she will do her research. She has already asked, "How old do you have to be to adopt a kid?" Concerning? Yes. But at least she's still asking and not just filling out paperwork without our knowledge.

Music

"Music is your own experience, your own thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn. They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art."
~ Charlie Parker

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I wake up with a song in my head every day. Sometimes I get busy and it slips away before I realize it's there. I've started posting the song in my head on my Facebook status. Annoying to some, I'm sure (but they don't have to read it if they don't want to).

Here is the list of songs that were in my head going back to September:

September
3rd - "Where Are You Tonight?" by Tom Johnston
10th - "New Shoes" by Paolo Nutini
11th - "Please, Mister, Please" by Olivia Newton-John
12th - "Before He Cheats" by Carrie Underwood
13th - "Domino" by Van Morrison
14th - "I'd Rather Ride Around with You" by Reba McEntire
18th - "Believe" by Cher
19th - "I've Got Two Eyes" from either Sesame Street or the Electric Company (can't remember which)
21st - "My Cheri Amor" by Stevie Wonder
23rd - "Six Feet from the Edge" by Creed
26th - "It's Gonna Be a Good Night" by the Black Eyed Peas"
27th - "The L & M Don't Stop Here Anymore" by Michelle Shocked
29th - "Feeling Good" by Nina Simone

October
2nd - "Enter Sandman" by Metallica
3rd - "Saturday Night" by the Bay City Rollers
4th - "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes" by Bobby Vee
6th - "Good to Me" by Halcyon
7th – “I'm Coming Home" by Daughtry
8th - "Pocket Full of Sunshine" by Natasha Bedingfield
9th - "It's Magic" by Pilot
12th - "Are You Gonna Go My Way?" by Lenny Kravitz
13th - "Second Chance" by Shinedown
16th - "If Today was Your Last Day," by Nickelback
19th - "Fireflies" byOwl City
21st - "Someone Like You" by Boys Like Girls
22nd - "Not Meant to Be" by Theory of a Deadman
23rd - "Disturbia" by Rhianna
25th - Conga" by Miami Sound Machine
26th - "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz
27th - "I'm Not Gonna Write You A Love Song" by Sara Bareilles
28th - "Viva La Vida" by Coldplay
31st - "Jolene" by Dolly Parton

November
1st - "Wherever I May Roam" by Metallica
3rd - "She's Got You" by Patsy Cline
4th - "Fallin' for You," by Colbie Caillat
5th - "Ironic" by Alanis Morissette
8th - "Crazy Train" by Ozzy
9th - "That's the Way Love Is" by Marvin Gaye
10th - "You're Always Welcome at Our House" by the Serendipity Singers (lyrics by Shel Silverstein)
11th - "Ruby Tuesday" by The Rolling Stones (the 11th was a Wednesday)
12th - "Something More" by Sugarland
13th - "She Will Be Loved" by Maroon 5
14th - "When Something is Wrong with my Baby" by Sam and Dave (written by Isaac Hayes)
15th - "The Song that Goes Like This" by Sara Ramirez and Christopher Sieber
16th - "Already Gone" by Kelly Clarkson
17th - "Down" by Jay Sean (featuring Lil Wayne)
18th - "Benedictus" by Simon and Garfunkel
19th - "Forever Young" by Audra Mae & the Rangers
20th - "Poker Face" by Lady GaGa
21st - "Keep Your Hands to Yourself," by George Thoroughgood and the Destroyers
22nd – "Everybody's Somebody's Fool," by Connie Francis
23rd - "Sweet Dreams," by The Eurythmics
24th - "Son of a Sailor" by Jimmy Buffet
25th – “The Chicken Dance" Unsure of the artist.
26th - "Party in the USA," by Miley Cyrus
30th "Frosty the Snowman" by Jimmy Durante

December
1st - "Rock Me Like a Hurricane" by The Scorpions
2nd - The Rain in Spain Stays Mainly on the Plain" by Julie Andrews
4th - "Baby, It's Cold Outside" by Pearl Bailey and Hot Lips Page
5th - "Three is a Magic Number" from Schoolhouse Rock
6th - "Watcha Say" be Jason DeRulo
7th - "Complicated" by Avril Lavigne
8th - "Time Don't Run Out on Me" by Anne Murray
10th - "Fireflies," by Owl City
11th - "Cold-Hearted Snake" by Paula Abdul
12th - "Mama Tried" by Merle Haggard
13th - "Livin' on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi
14th - "Already Gone" by Kelly Clarkson
15th - "Paparazzi" by Lady Gaga
16th - "C'Mon, C'Mon" by the Von Bondies
17th – “Falling for You" by Colbie Caillat
18th - "Get the Party Started" by P!nk
19th - "We Built this City" by Jefferson Starship
20th - "Winter Wonderland" by The Eurythmics
21st - "Over the Rainbow" by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole
22nd- “Battlefield” by Jordin Sparks

No idea what it all means except that you can tell when I've been listening to the radio with the girls and when I haven't. When I haven't I get random things in my head like stuff from Schoolhouse Rock, Sesame Street / Electric Company, or The Serendipity Singers.

Not a bad variety for a kid who grew up in a household listening to German and Irish drinking songs and '70s & '80s country music.

Winter

If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adverstity, prosperity would not be so welcome.

~ Anne Bradstreet

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Elizabeth: Hey, Mom, did you lose a yak track?

Chris: No, I still have both of mine.

Elizabeth: Okay. Bella found one on campus, and she was walkin' around at school today wearing one yak track.

Gifts

Like so many Americans, she was trying to construct a life that made sense from things she found in gift shops.

~ Kurt Vonnegut

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This is a perfect quote for this time of year. It also aligns nicely with my hatred of Jordan Creek Mall. I hate it more than other malls because the people who shop there appear to have more money (or appear to value the things that more money can provide) than those who shop at other malls.



I hate seeing people trying to "buy themselves happy."



As for the cat in the photo above... Well, she's just trying to construct a life that makes sense from things she finds around the house.

Mud

"The world is mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful."

~ e. e. cummings

Today Emily and Chad's babies will finally arrive. I hope they have as much fun in the mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful world as Maddie and Elizabeth do (at least most of the time).

I also hope that Chad and Emily like linoleum and can afford to have it installed throughout the house. It makes the mud easier to tolerate.

Rabbits

We're always on the side of the animal that's being chased. We always seem to be on the side of the rabbit or the fox and not on the side of the hounds.

~ Norman Jewison

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I'm not on the side of the animal being chased if it is a mouse, a rat, an oppossum, or a burglar.

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Elizabeth built a rabbit hutch with my dad. I put a rabbit in the hutch and went inside and told her that a rabbit had gotten into the hutch she built. I acted all excited and told her to run outside and see.

She came outside. She saw.

She was unimpressed.

Streets

Events at home, at work, in the street - these are the bases for a story.

~ Naguib Mahfouz

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When I was a kid, I used to dream every winter about a world where all children would unite. In my dream world, all the children would organize to create more time for play and creativity and fun. "How would children do that?" you ask?

Every child, in every house in town would get a plastic gallon milk jug and fill it with water. They would go to the street in front of their house and dump the water on the street. The water in front of all the houses all across town would freeze. Then, school would be canceled because the roads would be too icy for the buses.

That was my dream.

Shopping

We're rapidly approaching a world comprised entirely of jail and shopping.

~ Doug Coupland

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I don't really like shopping. I don't like people that much. I don't like being asked if I need help - I prefer to ask if I need help not have it forced upon me. Most of all, though, I hate going places and seeing people trying to buy themselves happy. To me it's almost as depressing as the time I heard a woman in a casino say, "Mom, don't go losing all the money for the kids' birthday presents!"

But in the middle of the blizzard, if nothing else is open, there will always be someplace you can go to shop. Of course, if you're shopping for a snow shovel, ice remover, or a space heater, you'll be out of luck.

Paths

I am open to the guidance of synchronicity, and do not let expectations hinder my path.

~ Dalai Lama

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Dear pedestrian in this photo... I know we got a lot of snow the night before this photo was taken, but if you're going to walk in the road, walk toward oncoming traffic and walk closer to the edge so cars don't smack into you.

Sometimes you need to worry less about the obstacles on the path in front of you than about the speeding cars (or hungry animals or angry villagers) coming up on you from behind.

Albums

Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.

~ Plato

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This photo reminds me of a 1970s record album cover. If I were writing this album, the title would be: "Sisters of Autumn."

Here are a few of the tracks that I would include:

* I Love Love and My Love Loves Me

* Don't Forget

* Sisters of Autumn (title track)

* Windy Chipmunk Heaven

* The Meadow Song

* Time Tells and Alarm Clock Bells

* Breezetime

* You're Amazingly Amazing

I would hope that K-Tel would distribute, but if not, I would try to work with some other label.

Dedication

The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand.

~ Vince Lombardi

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Elizabeth decided to try out for a role in "Pirates of Penzance." She ended up with the role of "pirate." My main hope is that she is not a method actor.

Home

The teacher who is indeed wise does not bid you to enter the house of his wisdom but rather leads you to the threshold of your mind.

~ Kahlil Gibran

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This image is on my facebook from when we moved into our house. The caption reads, "Some people wallpaper over light switches. Some people don't like that."

Anyway, my job offers me the chance to talk with and read many things from students and involving students. I was amused by something I re-read in going back through my notes recently. In the information a student discussed the "aggressive manor" in which s/he was confronted.

It made me realize how grateful I am not to live in an aggressive manor.

Tape

Duct tape is like the force. It has a dark side, a light side, and it holds the universe together.

~ Oprah Winfrey

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One thing I found as a hall director is that students like to be taped to the walls with duct tape.

A couple of suggestions, though:

1. Don't do this activity on a painted wall.

2. Don't let students put tape around the tapee's throat.

3. Wearing sweats or some other covering instead of taping bare skin is more comfortable for the tapee -- particularly when the activity is over and the tape is being removed.

Bowls

Fill your bowl to the brim and it will spill.

Keep sharpening your knife and it will blunt.

~ Lao Tzu

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This is a singing bowl that I have. I wanted one for a long time. You use the wooden thing (which probably has a name, but I call it "wooden thing") and when you stir it around the outside rim of the top of the bowl, the bowl's vibrations sing.

The purpose of the bowl is to clear away bad energy and to make spaces safer and cleaner and healthier. I have thought about bringing it into work or places where I'm doing projects to put good energy into the environment. And then I have imagined someone walking in on me and reporting me for using a singing bowl or being weirded out by the singing bowl.

I don't think our culture is really ready for 8th Century A.D. Tibetan technology.

Breakfast

Marriages are all happy.

It's having breakfast together that causes problems.

~ Irish Proverb

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The other day Maddie asked me what I eat on my poptarts. I was confused. I don't even really pop my poptarts, assuming that the pop comes from the fact that they pop out of the toaster. Anyway, I told her I didn't put anything on them. she pointed at the two poptarts in the photo. I thought they were Elizabeth's and she had created some special sugar-syrup for her poptarts (because that's the kind of thing that Elizabeth does). But, no. They were Chris' poptarts and had butter on them.

Maddie and I were both kind of grossed out.

Calendar

Don't be fooled by the calendar. There are only as many days in the year as you make use of.

~ Charles Richards

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This is the calendar thing we do for the girls' grandparents every year. We put notes in th boxes or pieces of candy or whatever. I think this year we might put a live mouse in one of the boxes.

At least it's not like Brad's Advent Calendar. The ants hijacked it over Thanksgiving weekend. No chocolate for you, Brad! I bet it's karma because you're such a jerk.

(For those of you who don't know Brad, he's really not a jerk at all -- which is why this is funny. Though now that I've had to explain it, some of the humor has fallen away).