Wanderings of the Mind

The LA Times has a really interesting story talking about area 51 and giving some insider information on what happened there and why the legends of studying UFOs arose around it. 

I tend to believe this account, but I know that there's no proof that would convince die-hard skeptics.  In fact, those are the people that would claim that this is just the kind of cover-up story the government would generate if they wanted to cover up.

In any case, the stories are worth reading and are fascinating.  Feel free to make up your own mind as to the truth or misleading nature of the claim.

I've been working hard at losing weight in recent months.  I'm down about 35 pounds so far, with another 15 to go.  To mix things up, I've also grown my goatee, and I think that it's looking pretty good so far.

Apparently, these changes are pretty significant.  One of the people that I've worked with in the past came looking for me this morning.  He looked at me and asked where Sam Hozman sits.  As I smiled, he did a double take, and told me how different I look.

Additionally, just about every day someone tells me how good I'm looking, how the weight loss is attractive, or how the beard really looks sharp.  All this makes me feel like really I'm making some significant changes to my appearance, and that my efforts are paying off.  It's been a while since I've been happy with my looks and felt like I am physically attractive the way I'd like to be.  I'm now starting to feel that I'm a good looking man, and that's a really pleasing feeling.

It can be a drag to sit down a read a whole book.  Yet there are so many good books out there -- especially the classics -- that you really should find time to read.  How can you make room in your hectic schedule for that?

I'm glad you asked!  There is now a Dracula blog, posting each entry from the book on the day that the book has it happening.  So you can read the whole book for no more of a daily time investment than other blogs!  It just started up a couple of days ago, so it shouldn't be too tough to catch up.

This weekend, my car was filthy inside and out, and I decided that it was finally time to do something about it.  I emptied out all of the clutter inside, returned a bunch of the kids' toys and books to their rooms, and drove the car over to the local gas station of vacuum out the interior.  That just left the matter of the dirt on the hood, doors, and windows.

Luckily, I have two kids who think that dealing with that sounds like fun!  We got the bucket, sponges, hose, and soap out, and set to work.  They did a great job soaping up the whole car (well, at least everything 4 feet and lower).  I'd help wash, then rinse a section while they kept begging to be squirted.  It took about 20 minutes, we all got pretty wet, and we had some good fun.  Enough fun, in fact, that the kids begged mommy to wash her car, too.

I think we'll try to do this every couple of weekends from now on.  It's good for the car, and it keeps the kids out of trouble.

Recently, I've come to the realization that I've let myself avoid chances and play it safe far too often.  At the same time, I've fallen in with a rough crowd at a local karaoke bar.

The first time I went, I was just sizing up the situation, and getting my mind around the idea of singing in public.  The second time, I was ready and committed to singing.  My voice had other ideas, and was really weak, on the verge of giving out.  If I sang, I'm certain that I would have lost my voice for a few days.  But the third time was a charm.

So last night, I got to the Mint, ready to sing.  And was immediately informed by my so-called friends that the Mint now has a webcam and people all around the globe can see and hear those on stage.  That shook my resolve slightly, but I took a deep drink of my water (no booze yet -- I'm still working on losing weight), and put in my song request.

20 minutes or so later, I Lost on Jeopardy (by good ol' Weird Al Yankovic) came on, and I found myself jogging up to the stage.  It wasn't a perfect performance, but I also didn't get booed off the stage.  Nerves were pretty noticable to me, but I don't think I let them show too much.  I made it to the end, and had fun doing it.  People even applauded and asked if I was gonna sing again (and they didn't seem to be asking so that they could plan their escape).

I didn't do another song, but I am planning on heading back next Monday and doing one or more additional songs.  Not sure yet what I will pick-- maybe something by The Monkees, or The Beatles, or some other classic group.  Suggestions are appreciated.  Feel free to check out the link above sometime after 6:00 PM (Pacific) next Monday.  If I'm going to die of humiliation from a poor voice, you all might as well get to enjoy!

Stay tuned to hear of more crazy, wacky things coming from me.  I'm stretching myself, and it feels good.  This is the beginning of my doing new and unfamiliar things, and challenging my assumptions about what I like and what I want.  And I'll talk about many of them here

Usually, Spence and I start the day by playing a game in the EA game room and then heading off to his class.  After dropping him off, I'll come up to my desk, check on what's going on, and then hit the gym (which is right next to Spencer's classroom).

Today, I decided to do something different.  I suggested to Spencer that we start out by going up to my desk.  He LOVED that idea, so up we came.  He played with toys that I have while I set up my computer and checked in on what the morning status looked like. 

Then, we went over to the kitchen where we put my lunch in the fridge.  Fridays are bagel day, and I decided that I was going to pass today to contribute to my weight loss efforts.  However, I offered to let him get one (because it's hard for me to completely pass up free food!), and he was really excited by that.  He closely examined them, and decided that he wanted a poppy seed bagel.  He then chose strawberry cream cheese to top it off.  While I was starting to spread that, he saw blueberry cream cheese, and was excited by that, too. 

So we walked down to the game room with him holding and happily eating a bagel with 1/2 strawberry and 1/2 blueberry cream cheese.  He excitedly told everyone that he passed that he got to go up to daddy's desk and get a bagel.  I suspect that we've added a new routine here.

After a quick stop for a game of Centipede, we went up to the day care, and he took a moment to decorate bags that we are giving to each of the teachers.  He had fun drawing a picture on each of the bags, and made some pretty good art on some of them.

Not the normal way we start the day, but it was fun and I know it was special for him.  And, I was able to head right into my workout after leaving his classroom, which was a nice change for me, too.

As I documented here in the past, Spencer often has trouble staying in his room and falling asleep.  Gwen is very successful at listening to music, reading, or doing artwork, but Spence can't read, isn't always interested in coloring, and has strongly resisted some of the CDs we've tried out in the past.

Earlier this week, I decided to take another shot at finding music for his to enjoy as he goes to sleep.  The thought came to me when I heard him singing the Indiana Jones theme at the top of his lungs in his room.  I put the Indy theme, the Star Wars theme, several other Star Wars pieces (Imperial March, et al.), music from Disney's Pocahontas and Robin Hood (music that he always loves), and various calming/bedtime songs at the end to hopefully lull him to sleep.

I brought the CD up last night, and started to put it in his player, only to hear his objections.  Apparently he remembered that he wasn't happy with previous bedtime music choices. 

I quickly stopped his protests, and told him that I had music he liked on there.  Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Robin Hood, Pocahontas, and others.  I smiled as I saw his eyes start to get wide, his smile start to grow, and his resistance rapidly fade. 

Then, as the music started, he excitedly said "Indiana Jones!"  I knew he was hooked, and that my plan was a success.  Amazingly, after having already come out of his room a half-dozen times, he didn't leave it again for the rest of the night.  We'll see what happens tonight, but it seems like this plan is off to a great start.

The other day, Jennie picked Spence up from Day Care with Gwen in tow.  She let them have some time in the EA game room, and the kids discovered a classic arcade game that they really enjoyed: Centipede.  Sure, the graphics aren't quite up to the level that we are now used to, but the gameplay is simple, yet captivating.  And it's a perfect difficulty level for two game-savvy kids.

When they got home, Jennie remembered that we have some old PS2 Midway Classics titles that have Millipede and other games on them.  The kids are loving playing this at home, and they've been going through the others on the disk.  This morning, they discovered Gauntlet, and had a blast playing it.  That warmed my heart, as Gauntlet is an al-time fav of mine.

As Spence and I walked from the car this morning, he wanted to pretend we were in Gauntlet.  He was a Wizard and I was an Elf, and we were shooting the bad guys.  Oh, and he also had us shoot the food, since, in this game of pretend,  there was no spectral admonition saying "Don't shoot the food."

As Spence and I were walking over to Day Care this morning, he stopped and said "there's a piece of trash on the ground" and proceeded to pick it up.  When I told him that it was dirty and he should drop it, his response surprised and pleased me:  "But we have to save the Earth."

Yes, I let him pick it up and we then found a trash can right around the corner.  Guess what they've been talking about in Day Care this week?  It's good to know that he takes his lessons seriously.  It's a good sign for August 2010 when he starts Kindergarten!

There are many differing opinions that reasonable people have about our current president and the job that he is doing.

A co-worker of mine recently sent out a graph that I'm sure we all can agree shows one area in which President Obama is clearly outperforming other presidents.

Spence has gotten really talkative lately.  He's got a great vocabulary, and he tries hard to keep up with his sister in the number of things that he says.  This is most evident in our daily commute.  He will often chat with me the whole drive, either about things he is saying, or we will play games of pretend (usually revolving around seeing Lego game characters outside), or about his day.

This morning, there were two gems.  First, he was eating his morning breakfast (or, as he likes to call it, his snack).  This is usually a mix of some dry cereal, some crackers, and sometimes some other stuff.  Once part of today's mix was Cheez-It crackers.  Apparently, the bits of food were fighting each other to Spencer, because I heard him declare "Burrito says 'Get him, Cheez-It.'"  I'm still not sure where "Burrito" came from, though.

I've been struggling with my voice for the last day.  It's very weak and raspy right now -- on the verge of being lost completely.  I told Spence that I couldn't talk to him much in the car today, because I need to rest my voice and it's hard for me to talk.  He didn't seem to acknowledge that.  A few minutes later, he said (as he often does) "I love you, daddy."  As I always do, I responded "I love you, too, Spencer."  He got upset and said "No, you aren't supposed to say anything when I say that."  Very sweet -- he actually understood my voice issues, and wanted to help me!

Keep your dial tuned to this blog channel for more exciting entries in the long-running show What Did The Boy Say Today?

This is soooo much better of a reference than Merriam-Webster of any of those other tomes:

My First Dictionary

I spent some time in Dolores Park today with Tim. It was a lovely day -- sunny and near 80 in the city. We sat down, talked, and enjoyed the myriad of sights, some of which can only be found in The City.

• Almost being run over by an off-road ice cream cart not once, but at least twice.
• Being visited by a friendly dog who stopped by to say "hi" to me. His responsible owner started to pull him away, noticed that I was trying to pet him, and let the dog come back over to me.
• People in skimpy outfits juggling, hula-hooping, and using batons.
• A stereo bike pedaling past with music blaring too loud to continue our conversation as he went by. People cheered the song, and it seemed like the right thing to do.
• A dog happily bounding away -- leash trailing behind -- followed by the owner desperately chasing and yelling "come."
• And, as I drove home, I noticed the Crème brûlée cart coming into the park.

I've been active in the PTA for the 3 years that Gwen has been in school.  I've been elected Treasurer for this upcoming year.  But I think that tonight I just made my biggest personal investment in the organization.  I initiated a cleaning of the PTA closet.

We are lucky to have been given a room in the school, roughly 8' x 15' to store the stuff that the PTA has accumulated over the years.  Games for our annual carnival, decorations for various holidays, old organizational records, snacks and sodas for fundraisers, arts & crafts supplies, and lots of other stuff.  The room had gotten so jam-packed that all of the floorspace was pretty much covered up, and it would take at least 15 minutes to dig back to whatever you might need, if it wasn't right in the front -- and it seemed like nothing that was needed was ever at the front!

Tonight, 6 members of the outgoing and the incoming boards got together and tackled the mess.  We spent 3 hours, filled up at least 6 trash cans, identified 5 boxes worth of stuff to donate to the school office or to Goodwill, and got 5 boxes filled with paper to recycle.  We grouped like things together, reordered what was where, and discovered a few treasures that no one knew were in there. 

By the end, we ended up with at least 1/2 of the floor space visible in the room (or it will be once the school office is open to accept the donations and to take the recycling), and it's possible to actually rach all four walls in the room.  My back is a bit sore, but it feels good to know that our year will start out with things more organized, and to know that I'll be able to find whatever I may need in that closet.

It used to be that when I'd drop Spencer off at daycare, he'd want me to play with him, read books to him, and anything else he could think of to prolong the drop-off.   It got to the point where it could take 15 minutes to get out of there, and I'd leave with him upset and needing the teacher to help distract him. 

One of the many perks of working at EA is that we have a few nicely-stocked game rooms around the campus with a variety of arcade games all set to "free play."  This comes in handy, as I've worked out an agreement with Spencer where he picks one game to play in the morning, and then doesn't fuss when we get to his classroom.  He lives up to the bargain, and it's now rare for me to have to do more than say "hi" to the teacher and then give Spence a few hugs and kisses.  He knows the routine, and doesn't fuss.

Sometimes we play pool (or a Spencer-created version thereof), air hockey, pinball, or other games.  His favorite is the various racing games, all of which are arcade ports of EA driving games.

He's actually gotten pretty good at them.  He can handle the car customization screens with no help, and has mostly mastered the steering wheel.  He'll run into things, but that's usually on purpose because it's fun, and not because he can't avoid them.  Some of the sharp turns cause problems for him, but who doesn't have a challenge negotiating a hairpin curve in the rain at 120 MPH?

He's gotten good at hitting at least a checkpoint or two on even the hardest tracks, and can make it pretty far on the easy ones.  On the last few days, he's actually even finished the race on an easy course, coming in 4th or 5th (out of 6).  Sure, I need to use the gas pedal for him, but he can handle the power boost, and we have a great time together!

I don't think I'm quite ready for him to take over on the daily commute (especially when I hear himlaug as he takes out bus shelters with his car), but it's great to see him have fun and be successful with a driving game.

Earlier this month, we had the second regularly-scheduled parent-teacher conference for Gwen's school year.  Earlier this year, she had some areas to improve upon (handwriting, for one), but was very strong in most regards, especially the scholastic ones.

This time, she's improved almost across the board, and continues to excel.  She's developed some issues with listening attentively (which isn't much of a surprise), but she's corrected almost all issues from earlier in the year.  Additionally, she now meets grade level (end-of year) standards in many areas, and is progressing appropriately in all others. 

Along with the mid-term report card, we got her STAR reading assessment (taken in early February), and it lists her as having a reading level equivilent to 4 months through Sixth grade!  She's in the 99th percentile for second graders.  And the result sheet is brilliant in helping us to understand this when it says "if this student had taken the STAR Reading test numberous times, most of her scores would likely have fallen between 99 and 99."

It was great to hear convincingly that she's thriving in school, and yet she still has some things to work on improving.  I am proud of that girl, and will work on helping her grow her weaknesses.

This year is only one quarter of the way through, and already it has packed way too many things in for my liking.  Sure, there have been highs to go with the lows, but so far, it's just too much to take.

In this year alone, the following things have happened:

• I've lost my cousin
• My dad has spent time in the ER, the hospital, and is still trying to heal and recover
• A co-worker has lost his uncle
• A good friend has lost his father
• A co-worker's mother has suffered what sounds like a stroke
• A co-worker's daughter has suffered an extreme case of asthma, causing an extended hospital stay
• Multiple marriages around me have been severely strained and tested.

On the bright side, there are at least 4 babies of friends or close co workers so far, and a couple of other pregnancies, so there is good there, too.

But I'd really like to have a stretch without constantly hearing and having to deal with serious bad news.  That goes for me and for those to whom I am close.  I'd like a bit of time at even-keel, when I don't feel like I'm repeatedly bashed by storm after storm of difficult news.  Is that so much to ask for?

Since grandma and grandpa finally got to go back home last month, Spence has resumed his early morning visits into our room in the morning.  At 4 or 5 AM, he'll come down and either talk to Jennie or try to crawl in bed.  We can often get him to go back up, or we can lead him back there.  Either way, we both tend to wake up and it will take awhile to fall asleep again.

Today when I picked him up from day care, his teacher said that some of his friends are having trouble staying in their cots at naptime, so they made charts.  Each kid will get a sticker when they keep themselves from getting up during the nap.  Spence wanted to get into the action, so he suggested that he make one for when he stays in his bed all night.

It didn't sound like his teacher led him into this.  It was all his own idea.  He was even excited to tell me about it when I picked him up.

Tonight we had reasonable success.  He got out of bed once to use the bathroom (which is OK), and once to stall (which isn't).  But then he stayed in.  If he doesn't come in the room before I get up tomorrow, I'll support his sticker on the chart to his teachers.

If only every problem could solve itself so nicely.

Three weeks ago, I finally gave into my gadget lust and bought Wii Fit.  I wasn't sure if I'd like it, but it seemed different and interesting, worth the chance, and it was what all the cool kids are doing.

So far, Jennie and I are enjoying it.  We've done the body test almost every day, and are entering our other activities (like dancing or time in the gym) in the "Fit Credits" section.  This all appeals to me, as it's an easy way to track how much I'm doing and what the results are.

And the results to date are nice.  Jennie's seeing a nice downward trend on the weight graph, and so am I.  I've lost 8 pounds in 3 weeks.  Since I've twice met  a goal to drop 4 pounds in a month, I'm more than doubling my intentions.  In fact, if I look back at where I was to start the year, I'm probably down about 15 lbs in 2009.  I've gone from a BMI rating of "obese" (That was hard to have the Wii Fit tell me, even though I knew it was coming)  to solidly into the "overweight" range.  I plan to work my way down into the middle of the "normal" range, so there's still a lot to go.

I don't think that Wii Fit itself is responsible for all this success for me.  I know I've been very good about working out at least three times each week, and been very careful about limiting my food intake.  But I've also been augmenting that with Wii Fit activites and been motivated by their charting system.  So I know it's helping me mentally make progress.

Some of the parts of it are silly.  It calculates your "Wii Fit Age" based upon your success with a couple of balance challenges.  My age fluctuates between the upper 50s and the 30, depending on what twich I may make while trying to stand still.  And some of the training activites seem more like pure games than something that will improve balance, flexibility, strength, or help you lose weight.  But it's fun to mix all of these together, and none of them seem actively detrimental.

So, I still have a lot of weight to lose to get where I want to, but I've made enough progress that I wanted to publicly brag.  And maybe fish for some compliments or encouragement. 

Children are unpredictable, need to be cared for and protected, and it's a tragedy if something happens to them.  I don't think there are many people out there who would disagree with these basic statement, right.  Maybe the exact degree of each, but the principles themselves are part of our shared societal values, right?

Why, then, are people such idiots around elementary schools at the start of school?  At Gwen's Elementary, there's one stree that runs along the legth of the school, and that's where people drop off their kids.  In the last few days, I've seen parents run across the middle of the street with their kids, parents double park (blocking the lane) to let the kids mosey out of the car, people go through crosswalks while kids are in them, people double park when there is lots of room to pull over to the curb right next to them, people not let cars out from the curb lane, just to then sit and wait while other cars are stopped in front of them, and other stupid behavior.

Is saving a minute in the morning really worth modeling selfish and dangerous behavior for the kids?  Is the danger of putting a kid in a position to be hit by a car that couldn't see them worth not walking to the nearest crosswalk?  What is wrong with people?