super-cooper

Kids are amazing little buggers, especially when they are your amazing little buggers. One of the most amazing things about having kids is that you can actually learn from them. Yeah, imagine that. Something I have learned from our boys is that it really is the little things in life that make it all worth while. Take for example, donuts. Last summer, we flew from our humble little home in northwest Arkansas to Seattle to visit the wife’s sister and boyfriend, and we took the boys. We stayed in this crappy little motel downtown right near the Space Needle (location, location, location). It was cheap, and we figured “Hey, all we’re going to do is sleep there, right. How bad can it be?” When we got there, the little one was asleep in the car so the wife and the big one went in to “check it out”. Upon return, the wife said that “…it’s not that bad”. I later realized that it was one room barely large enough to hold the king size bed all four of us were to sleep in for a week. Oh, and the bathroom only had a shower, no tub to give the boys a bath in (although they found showers to be quite a novelty that week). Now, if I was going to go back to Seattle, I probably would choose another place to stay. Granted, it wasn’t that bad; it was clean, the staff was friendly and helpful, and did I mention the donuts? No? Well, if you asked our boys if they wanted to go to Seattle tomorrow, they would INSIST on staying in that hotel. Why, you ask? Well, the donuts, of course. Every morning the staff would put out this huge spread of donuts, pastries, muffins, and bagels, and once the boys found out about this, they would shoot out of bed every, yes every morning and want to go get donuts. At 6 AM. So we would go to the lobby, my wife or myself barely awake, the boys still in their pajamas, and get donuts. Lots of donuts. Way too many donuts. About an hour later, our room looked like a donut factory where some sort of explosion had taken place. Sprinkles here, frosting there, donut detritus everywhere (hey, that rhymed). Yeah, if we go back to Seattle with the boys, I think we all know where we will be staying.

Tags: boys, retrospect, travel

“How ya doin?”

A pretty simple, generic greeting, wouldn’t you say? Most people have their own generic greeting. Some use the timeless “Hey.”. Others use the classic “What’s up?”. Me? I use “How ya doin?”. Always have, probably always will. The thing with generic greetings is that they are just that - generic. They’re not really meant to be meaningful, and if stated in the form of a question, they’re not really meant to be answered. For example, if someone asks you “What’s up?”, you should respond with something along the lines of “Not much”; don’t really tell them what’s up.
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Tags: conversation, retrospect

The Wife and I were in Mexico on our honeymoon last year. One evening, we were at the resort bar, sitting outside on the patio, and this older (60’s) American (and judging from what they talked about the entire time, obviously very wealthy) husband and wife were sitting behind me. Part of their conversation went like so:

Jack’s Wife:

What ever happened to old what’s his name?

Jack:

Who?

Jack’s Wife:

*Tries to describe "what’s his name" to Jack.*

Jack:

Oh, he moved to Montana.

Jack’s Wife:

MONTANA? But he’s a hairstylist, people in Montana don’t get haircuts, they cut their hair with hacksaws. And they kill their food with their bare hands.

Jack:

*Laughs*

Jack’s Wife:

Jack, there’s no speed limit in Montana.

Evidently Montana is inhabited, at least in the mind of Jack’s wife, only by hacksaw wielding animal killers that haul ass in their cars with no regard for how fast they are going. Well Jack’s wife, I have to say, I’ve spent a few summers in Montana myself, and I’d have to admit that you really aren’t that far from the truth.

Tags: conversation, retrospect

While attending Mississippi State University and earning my Bachelor’s Degree in Geology, I attended the Summer Geology Field Camp of the University of Arkansas during the summer of 1999. The following tale is a write-up I did for the Geology Department newsletter at State after we returned. It’s amazing what you can find on those old ZIP disks that are lying around in boxes. Read more »

Tags: retrospect

Here’s another find. My fishing license from the summer I stayed with my grandparents when I was 16. All my grandad and I did was fish. And fish. And then fish some more. Those were the days. I just realized the license only cost $19 for a non-resident annual license. Wow, you can barely get a resident license anywhere for that these days. And how ’bout that “funky-fly-trying-too-hard-to-have-a-cool-signature” signature?

Tags: retrospect

Finds like this are one of the many joys of being a packrat all of your life. I found this in a box packed away when I was younger; my fathers late parents 50th wedding anniversary announcement.

Tags: retrospect

Mexico. On our honeymoon. At breakfast. A conversation between the wife and I:

Some time passes, we eat our wonderful breakfast. I make a trip to the men’s room just to get a peek at Sizemore. I come back from the men’s room.

Some more time passes. I attempt to casually get another peek at him, just to make sure it really is him, by doing the old stretch-and-look-over-the-shoulder move. I fail. Sizemore (yeah, I really think it’s him) spots me. Then it happens.

Breakfast ends. I keep reminding the wife that Sizemore is on the loose and he’s got her number. She isn’t worried. Long story short, we saw him later that day on the beach, and no, it wasn’t really Tom Sizemore, although that guy sure as shit looked like him.

Tags: conversation, retrospect

Hurricane Ivan roared into the Gulf Coast during the wee hours of Thursday, September 16, 2004. The eye went ashore around Gulf Shores, Alabama, not far from my sister in Perdido Beach. My sister and brother-in-law fared okay; they of course lost power (and probably won’t get it back for weeks) and had limbs down, but none through their house, and the storm surge didn’t affect them since the eye virtually went right over them. Our parents to the east in Milton, Florida, however, didn’t fare as well. Shit, that’s the understatement of the year.
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Tags: retrospect

Today would have been Priss’ 5th birthday. Part of me wonders would have I even remembered her birthday if she were still here today. Perhaps not. We sometimes tend to take things (like having someone you love around for another year, a.k.a., birthdays) for granted. You think the ones close to you will always be there. As if they’re 10 feet tall and bullet-proof. And then they’re gone, and you’re left in shock. You know, the old saying that Poison Cinderella ruined with that crappy-ass song of theirs: “You don’t know what you got ’til it’s gone”. Probably the one thing Poison Cinderella ever sang that’s true. Priss died in February. February 6th. Six months ago. Hard to believe it was that long ago and I still miss her this damn much.
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Tags: retrospect

Note: This post inspired by Timmy’s “Ode to Smelly Hat”

We’ve been together for many years now, you and I have, eh? I got you from a Town Pump gas station in the-middle-of-nowhere Montana back in the summer of ‘99 (no, not the summer of ‘69, that would be a crappy Bryan Adams song). Who really knows how many cups of Joe you have so graciously kept warm for me. You’ve been there for the good times, and hung with me through the bad times; never once complaining, even when we stopped at that truck stop in Mitchell, South Dakota during the summer of 2002. Remember that coffee? That was, quite possibly, the worst truck stop coffee we ever had, huh?
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Tags: retrospect