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October 28, 2005

Some Daily Cuteness

Just a small update.

Melissa has uploaded new pictures to the usual place.

My daughter has cautioned my son to "Be quite! Tata scream!" Of course that doesn't mean much. They seem to be collaborating now. She appears to have taken down gates to let him go up the stairs with her.

And I have heard my son look at me and say "Die!". That's Polish for "Give!" Die? "Die!" Oookay... so I hand him a bit of cracker. Happyness is had by all. It would be nice if we could teach them more than a couple of phrases of German and Polish... but there's really only one person in the house that speaks either language. They really need to listen to conversations to start to speak them.

Posted by paul at 01:18 PM | Comments (0)

October 13, 2005

Fake, fake, fake!

So many things available to the general public are just so... fake. What does it take to find something real?

Case in point: through the wonders of modern technology I have watched an episode of American Chopper where they made a bike to be auctioned off for charity. Being a huge celebrity deal there was a red carpet, reporters, fancy dinner, famous guests and so on. Wonderful, eh?


But that's not what I saw. I saw a prefab concrete slab building with a layer of heavy-duty carpet on it. I didn't see a really fancy dinner, I saw conference food served up on the usual round conference center tables. The stage was a steel monstrosity with some fancy burlap covering up the crossties and cloth clipped to the tables so you don't have to watch the feet and legs of the people sitting in the place of honor. There was nothing there to inspire me about the importance of the event.


I had the opportunity to go to two conferences in Orlando, FL. Universal! Disney! Downtown! There should have been PLENTY to see down there! Not really. I went to several theme restaurants, and they were all fake. Fiberglass props, industrial seating, blaring music and yet another hamburger or chicken with special sauce does not a memorable evening make. I went to a Cajun place, all decorated with garish crabs, grass and rusty toys on the walls. The only thing of any note in there was that you could order fried Conch. The rest was your standard theme restaurant.


I got to go to the Universal theme park and Disney's "Downtown" street thing. Both were more of the same, just painted fiberglass over steel rods and I-beams. It was all rather sad. Here I was in one of the vacation spots of the world, and it was all fake. At least at Kennywood Park there is some history and wonderful topiary alongside the fiberglass junk. But the rest is just... cheap.


With all of this put together, I really can't find it in myself to really get excited over most of the usual vacation or outing destinations. But, all is not lost. For I DID find something real to visit in Orlando.


You see, it is foolish to think that you can send me within 100 miles of Cape Canaveral and not have me disappear for a day! *THAT* was real. Stopping at the Hoover Dam was real. Taking the children out to pick apples at a local orchard was real. Real sticky, that is! (10-month old + apple fresh off tree = STICKEY BABY SLIME)


So what does it take? Is it possible for me to be wowed by a meal that isn't at the Waldorf Astoria? But don't expect me to enjoy New Year's Eve there, because it's the same old stage setup. I don't know. Maybe I should just stick with home cooking and historical sites.

Posted by paul at 04:47 PM | Comments (7)

October 04, 2005

I am boggled

The wife has been having a rough week, so I picked up some groceries and some Chinese takeout goodies and came home for lunch.

I picked up two sets of chopsticks. Melissa like to use them, and the oldest may have fun suffering with them for a little while too. Myself, I can use them... until my hand starts to cramp up in about 20 minutes. So I put a spoon down close and let her know that it's OK to use the spoon when she gets tired.


So I eat my "fast food". Suddenly I realize something. The three-yr-old is STILL eating with the chopsticks. In fact, I think she is doing better than I can! Who showed her this? When? I know Sesame Street shows chopsticks in use, but that can't be enough for the level of SKILL I saw!



On another note I have yet more proof that children, while still too young to read, definately acquire skills in modern heraldry. She can recognize the blazons for McDonalds, Taco Bell, Chuck E. Cheese's (even though we have never set foot in one) and two purveyors of toys; Toys R Us and Babies R Us. She even recognized a box of Dora the Explorer gram crackers through a mostly OPAQUE plastic bag. Unless there were commercials she could not have ever seen them before, because this is the first time I have ever seen them. But the dancing cries of "Dora snacks! Dora snacks!" are undeniable.



Lets post some more child definitions, shall we?