Friday, April 27, 2007
I Miss The Browns
Aren't these kids the cutest? Well, of course they are. I feel priveleged to see them every weekend. :-/
Yes, I am working like a dog and have been staying exceedingly busy the past few weeks, hence no new blogs. Well, tonight, I am on a role because I just updated the no fun blog and now I am writing here. I wore myself out on the other one though, so I just wanted to give a quick update...
Liska got her first haircut last week...she looks great. See above. Hagen is doing great. He is getting very close to walking and is less vocal in a bad way and more vocal in a good way..in other words, less screamapillar and more gaga googoo. Very cute!
We close on the new house on Tuesday. VERY excited about that. We will take pics when we move in and post them here so you can see what Tulsa has to offer. It rocks, baby!
So, I have started wasting my precious free time on the road by watching videos on iFilm. I was watching Dani California on Wednesday (Red Hot Chili Peppers) and started to miss the Browns terribly for some reason...I mean I miss seeing them most times, but it got really bad this week. Not sure why. So, I am trying to figure out how I can get out there...and today, I found out that EquaTerra is proposing to do work for Mattel....right there in LA. So, I am going to start lobbying to get on that project. I just have to hope it starts after the Red Cross project I am currently on ends. We'll see how that works out.
So, hi Browns! I hope all is going well. I don't know how to use a telephone, so this is the only way I can communicate. :-) Say hi to the girls for me.
much love to all!
jak
Friday, April 06, 2007
First Step
Hagen took his first step this week!!! He can stand without holding on to anything for a second and he has finally gotten the courage up to take a step forward and then face plant. Of course, I was in D.C. for this monumental event, but I got the play by play from Kat. I am thinking he will be walking by the time we get into the new house...that will make it MUCH easier to move in (yeah right! AACK!). He is a couple months ahead of Liska in this department as I keep track of these things. Liska was talking already and all Hagen can say is Duck. Very disappointing, but we are working on an experimental electric shock treatment to remedy that...we will let you know how that goes. ;-) He should be singing show tunes in no time!
As you can see from previous posts, travel was a real issue this week. It did not get any better on the return trip as I once again found myself pulling an OJ Simpson through the airport trying to catch my plane. Which makes me wonder...does the younger generation misconstrue this statement? For those of us in our 30s, pulling an OJ Simpson means running through the airport like he did in those old Hertz commercials. For those younger, it might mean I threw away a bloody glove at the airport. So, I just wanted to clarify that I was doing the running thing, not the disposing of evidence thing. Good? good.
Kat and I are getting excited about moving into the new house...have I posted the link to the house? Probably not. If you want to see it, let me know. Otherwise, I will just post pics when we take them ourselves. Not sure the ones on the internet do it justice. Anywho, we are looking for a couple pieces of furniture that are necessary to move in...First, we need an entertainment center or console piece to put the tv on...our main concern is Hagen pulling it down or getting at the buttons...he is a hands on kid like that. We are also looking at bedroom sets, but that is less important. We will end up moving our furniture into the guest suite and getting new master bedroom furniture at some point...Kat is not a big fan of my sweet Pottery Barn bedroom set. Not the style, just that I owned it before I met her. haha So, since we have a guest bedroom now and need to furnish it, it makes sense to get new stuff and make everyone happy in the process.
Liska is doing great...she is starting preschool summer camp in a couple months. These days she spends her time going to the library (she has her own library card) and playing at the park or just staying home and playing with Kat's parents...it is very cute how she has become such good friends with her paupau (Kat's mom). She is also becoming a HUGE Curious George fan. Those are the books she checks out of the library and we read to her every night. Kat or I will read her a story and then she will read it (from memory) before going to sleep. VERY cute.
OK. I hope everyone is doing well...it is near freezing here in Tulsa so I hope you are experiencing better weather wherever you are.
Much love to all!
jak
p.s. in case you missed it in my comments to the last post, I have started yet another blog for those of you who prefer to have more serious minded discussions...it is called Jak's No Fun Blog and you can find it at jaksnofunblog.blogspot.com. It will mostly focus on me commenting on politics and other worldly events that I hear on NPR or read in the paper.
As you can see from previous posts, travel was a real issue this week. It did not get any better on the return trip as I once again found myself pulling an OJ Simpson through the airport trying to catch my plane. Which makes me wonder...does the younger generation misconstrue this statement? For those of us in our 30s, pulling an OJ Simpson means running through the airport like he did in those old Hertz commercials. For those younger, it might mean I threw away a bloody glove at the airport. So, I just wanted to clarify that I was doing the running thing, not the disposing of evidence thing. Good? good.
Kat and I are getting excited about moving into the new house...have I posted the link to the house? Probably not. If you want to see it, let me know. Otherwise, I will just post pics when we take them ourselves. Not sure the ones on the internet do it justice. Anywho, we are looking for a couple pieces of furniture that are necessary to move in...First, we need an entertainment center or console piece to put the tv on...our main concern is Hagen pulling it down or getting at the buttons...he is a hands on kid like that. We are also looking at bedroom sets, but that is less important. We will end up moving our furniture into the guest suite and getting new master bedroom furniture at some point...Kat is not a big fan of my sweet Pottery Barn bedroom set. Not the style, just that I owned it before I met her. haha So, since we have a guest bedroom now and need to furnish it, it makes sense to get new stuff and make everyone happy in the process.
Liska is doing great...she is starting preschool summer camp in a couple months. These days she spends her time going to the library (she has her own library card) and playing at the park or just staying home and playing with Kat's parents...it is very cute how she has become such good friends with her paupau (Kat's mom). She is also becoming a HUGE Curious George fan. Those are the books she checks out of the library and we read to her every night. Kat or I will read her a story and then she will read it (from memory) before going to sleep. VERY cute.
OK. I hope everyone is doing well...it is near freezing here in Tulsa so I hope you are experiencing better weather wherever you are.
Much love to all!
jak
p.s. in case you missed it in my comments to the last post, I have started yet another blog for those of you who prefer to have more serious minded discussions...it is called Jak's No Fun Blog and you can find it at jaksnofunblog.blogspot.com. It will mostly focus on me commenting on politics and other worldly events that I hear on NPR or read in the paper.
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
I Know None of you like serious blogs, but...
So, as many of you saw a couple posts ago, my brother Brian seems to have “come around” to my viewpoint regarding the war in Iraq. And, through an informal survey of his fellow soldiers, only about 10% of those on the ground think that the war is a good idea and most feel that George Bush has a personal agenda. So, before I do a victory dance and start ranting about King George, let me make one thing abundantly clear…no matter how against the war I (or anyone I know) am, it is 100% imperative that we support the troops. They are doing their duty and will follow orders as required. They didn’t start this war, but they are doing their damndest to end it as soon as possible. To a certain extent, their hands are tied by beaurocratic bullshit (my theory, not something from anyone there) and a situation in Iraq that was not predicted by the ones giving the orders. So, I don’t want anyone to think that opposing the war and supporting the troops are mutually exclusive. You CAN do both. It is the American way.
How do we do both on a practical level? By setting deadlines on troop withdrawal? By pulling them out right now? By letting the war carry on until a yet to be communicated case for victory can be made? There is certainly no easy answer to this. My personal opinion (clouded somewhat by the fact I have a loved one over there) is that we should just bring the boys home. Would this be abandoning Iraq? Or would this be doing what the majority of Iraqs want? Would this be providing fodder for the next Al Qaeda recruitment video? Or would this free up troops to fight terrorism where it is actually occurring? It might do all of the above, but there is one thing that it will definitely do. It will prevent more of our young people from dying while defending a foreign country that may or may not even want us there.
I have often made two arguments against the War on Terrorism in general and the War in Iraq in particular (two things that SHOULD be mutually exclusive).
The War on Terrorism is akin to the War on Drugs, i.e. it is a war that cannot be ‘won’. Not that progress cannot be made, but it cannot be won. We will never completely eradicate drugs from the face of the Earth and the same can be said of terrorism. It will always be there. So, to that end, how can we ever claim victory? And “going after them” seems to be less fruitful than determining ways to make their ‘cause’ less attractive to young Arabs.
The War in Iraq is simply a shift in who dies during the War on Terrorism from rich stock brokers in NYC to poor minorities in Iraq. If you think about it, it took almost 10 years for Al Qaeda to plot the attack against the twin towers. So, over 10 years, some 2-3K people ended up dying..mostly wealthy professionals. So, we decide to take the war to them rather than spending the money protecting ourselves (a whole other rant). In effect, this has caused thousands more deaths. About 3,000 americans and perhaps hundreds of thousands Iraqis.
How is this the right answer? Do you think, maybe, that if we spend billions of dollars protecting our borders and our points of entry (airports/seaports), fewer people would have died and we would worry less about what danger color we were living under? Let me ask you this…if you believed that your family was in danger of being the victim of someone coming to your house and doing you harm…would you buy a top of the line home security system or would you roam the country looking for people that might be bad guys and shoot them down one by one? Well, if King George really wanted to protect his American family, maybe he should go out and buy a top of the line defense system for our country and stop going around the world shooting people and getting our people killed in the process. I am tired of it.
My two cents….would love to hear yours. And if you do comment, I promise to go back to lighter fare. J
Much love to all!
jak
How do we do both on a practical level? By setting deadlines on troop withdrawal? By pulling them out right now? By letting the war carry on until a yet to be communicated case for victory can be made? There is certainly no easy answer to this. My personal opinion (clouded somewhat by the fact I have a loved one over there) is that we should just bring the boys home. Would this be abandoning Iraq? Or would this be doing what the majority of Iraqs want? Would this be providing fodder for the next Al Qaeda recruitment video? Or would this free up troops to fight terrorism where it is actually occurring? It might do all of the above, but there is one thing that it will definitely do. It will prevent more of our young people from dying while defending a foreign country that may or may not even want us there.
I have often made two arguments against the War on Terrorism in general and the War in Iraq in particular (two things that SHOULD be mutually exclusive).
The War on Terrorism is akin to the War on Drugs, i.e. it is a war that cannot be ‘won’. Not that progress cannot be made, but it cannot be won. We will never completely eradicate drugs from the face of the Earth and the same can be said of terrorism. It will always be there. So, to that end, how can we ever claim victory? And “going after them” seems to be less fruitful than determining ways to make their ‘cause’ less attractive to young Arabs.
The War in Iraq is simply a shift in who dies during the War on Terrorism from rich stock brokers in NYC to poor minorities in Iraq. If you think about it, it took almost 10 years for Al Qaeda to plot the attack against the twin towers. So, over 10 years, some 2-3K people ended up dying..mostly wealthy professionals. So, we decide to take the war to them rather than spending the money protecting ourselves (a whole other rant). In effect, this has caused thousands more deaths. About 3,000 americans and perhaps hundreds of thousands Iraqis.
How is this the right answer? Do you think, maybe, that if we spend billions of dollars protecting our borders and our points of entry (airports/seaports), fewer people would have died and we would worry less about what danger color we were living under? Let me ask you this…if you believed that your family was in danger of being the victim of someone coming to your house and doing you harm…would you buy a top of the line home security system or would you roam the country looking for people that might be bad guys and shoot them down one by one? Well, if King George really wanted to protect his American family, maybe he should go out and buy a top of the line defense system for our country and stop going around the world shooting people and getting our people killed in the process. I am tired of it.
My two cents….would love to hear yours. And if you do comment, I promise to go back to lighter fare. J
Much love to all!
jak
Monday, April 02, 2007
Reason Number 200 why Flying is for the Birds
A strange thing happened on the way to Memphis…due to inclimate weather, we were diverted to Little Rock, Arkansas. While passing the one hour on the ground to refuel and await the weather to clear, I was reminded of the following classic dialogue from the movie Airplane! A bit obscure, but after spending the good part of the summer of 1982 watching it on HBO about 200 times, you start to pick up lines other than “I am serious…and don’t call me Shirley.” So, to set the stage, this is the two PA announcers from the airport instructing drivers where to park, pick up passengers, etc…background noise, but a real gem in the annals of comedy writing:
Male announcer: The white zone is for immediate loading and unloading of passengers only. There is no stopping in a red zone.
Female announcer: The white zone is for immediate loading and unloading of passengers only. There is no stopping in a red zone.
Male announcer: The red zone is for immediate loading and unloading of passengers only. There is no stopping in a white zone.
Female announcer: No, the white zone is for loading. Now, there is no stopping in a RED zone. Male announcer: The red zone has always been for loading.
Female announcer: Don't you tell me which zone is for loading, and which zone is for unloading. Male announcer: Look Betty, don't start up with your white zone shit again. There's just no stopping in a white zone.
Female announcer: Oh really, Vernon? Why pretend, we both know perfectly well what this is about. You want me to have an abortion.
Male announcer: It's really the only sensible thing to do, if it’s done safely. Therapeutically there's no danger involved.
Absolute classic. And this was from 1980!
So, on my way to D.C. again, but starting out the week in Philly. Checking out the facility that publishes all the Red Cross training material. Did you know that the American Red Cross trains 47,000 people DAILY? That’s right. First Aid, CPR, even Babysitting classes. For more information, visit http://www.redcross.org/. ;-) Another public service announcement to ensure I hit my court-assigned community service hours from that unfortunate incident during the Natty Five 9s last tour.
By the way, major props to Greg’s “blade of grass” comment on my last post. If you haven’t read it, go back and do it now. You won’t regret it. Brought a smile to my face. For those of you who have seemingly dropped off the face of the Earth, i.e. are no longer posting, I can only assume it is due to my lack of consistency as opposed to the rather obvious fall-off in quality of my posts. I will try to get back to daily posts, but you will just have to deal with the lack of pictures. Maybe I will post them ad nauseum on the weekends or when we get our cameras out of storage…whichever comes first.
Another note on not posting…my freakin’ brother Brian has time to post in between battling insurgents and water balloon toting kids…what is your excuse? That is what I thought. If you think you are too busy with your pedicures and manicures and your “jobs”, chew on that for a while. I know my posts are long and, for the most part, self-indulgent, but that should not stop you from seeking some semblance of fame by commenting on my now world-famous blog. (it is like airports that have one flight to Canada or Mexico claiming to be “International”…I have a reader in Iraq, so I am now World Famous). Don’t make me beg people!
OK…back to your lives. I have much more to say (mostly because I am bored sitting on this tarmac still), but will wait until tomorrow so as to make this post less of a novel.
Much love to all!
jak
Male announcer: The white zone is for immediate loading and unloading of passengers only. There is no stopping in a red zone.
Female announcer: The white zone is for immediate loading and unloading of passengers only. There is no stopping in a red zone.
Male announcer: The red zone is for immediate loading and unloading of passengers only. There is no stopping in a white zone.
Female announcer: No, the white zone is for loading. Now, there is no stopping in a RED zone. Male announcer: The red zone has always been for loading.
Female announcer: Don't you tell me which zone is for loading, and which zone is for unloading. Male announcer: Look Betty, don't start up with your white zone shit again. There's just no stopping in a white zone.
Female announcer: Oh really, Vernon? Why pretend, we both know perfectly well what this is about. You want me to have an abortion.
Male announcer: It's really the only sensible thing to do, if it’s done safely. Therapeutically there's no danger involved.
Absolute classic. And this was from 1980!
So, on my way to D.C. again, but starting out the week in Philly. Checking out the facility that publishes all the Red Cross training material. Did you know that the American Red Cross trains 47,000 people DAILY? That’s right. First Aid, CPR, even Babysitting classes. For more information, visit http://www.redcross.org/. ;-) Another public service announcement to ensure I hit my court-assigned community service hours from that unfortunate incident during the Natty Five 9s last tour.
By the way, major props to Greg’s “blade of grass” comment on my last post. If you haven’t read it, go back and do it now. You won’t regret it. Brought a smile to my face. For those of you who have seemingly dropped off the face of the Earth, i.e. are no longer posting, I can only assume it is due to my lack of consistency as opposed to the rather obvious fall-off in quality of my posts. I will try to get back to daily posts, but you will just have to deal with the lack of pictures. Maybe I will post them ad nauseum on the weekends or when we get our cameras out of storage…whichever comes first.
Another note on not posting…my freakin’ brother Brian has time to post in between battling insurgents and water balloon toting kids…what is your excuse? That is what I thought. If you think you are too busy with your pedicures and manicures and your “jobs”, chew on that for a while. I know my posts are long and, for the most part, self-indulgent, but that should not stop you from seeking some semblance of fame by commenting on my now world-famous blog. (it is like airports that have one flight to Canada or Mexico claiming to be “International”…I have a reader in Iraq, so I am now World Famous). Don’t make me beg people!
OK…back to your lives. I have much more to say (mostly because I am bored sitting on this tarmac still), but will wait until tomorrow so as to make this post less of a novel.
Much love to all!
jak
Sunday, April 01, 2007
A Return to Normalcy
So, it is evident you people can't handle serious posts, so I will go back to doing fun ones. I guess I will have to vent somewhere else. Maybe buy a dog to kick around. Oh wait..I forgot about Hagen. Who needs a dog? Actually, Hagen has started to assett himself a little. Liska has been pretty brutish with him and he has reached the end of his rope. It cracks me up because the two of them seem like an old married couple. Liska will push all his buttons for a while and he will put up with it, but he has started to say "enough woman! I want to play with my toys in some peace for Pete's sake! sheesh." He has head butted her a couple times and tried to bite her. Then today, Liska was in the back seat singing non-stop and out of nowhere Hagen screeched as if to say "Enough with the singing! My god, all day, all night you yap yap yap...can't a man enjoy his formula in peace for two minutes? Is that too much to ask?" Liska obviously got the picture because she piped down.
A few updates for everyone who is interested...we are closing on the house in Tulsa on May 1. We will post pics once we get settled in. We are all very excited about that. My job is going well...I am consulting for the American Red Cross and have been travelling to D.C. on a weekly basis...though last week I was in Fort Lauderdale visiting the Broward County Chapter. Interestingly, about 100 Haitian refugees landed ashore while I was there and the Chapter went into full response and I ended up making about 30 sandwiches for the refugees. Pretty cool. Did not get to deliver them personally, but I am sure they enjoyed them. I got some grief from my coworkers who reminded me that the Red Cross is getting billed $350/hour for my time and I was making freakin' sandwiches...I told them I realized that and they would not believe the pressure I felt to make a damn good sandwich...so, add Sandwich Artist to my resume/skillset. :-)
On another, unrelated note...I know that a lot of you have asked what prompted the move from California to Tulsa. I mean, it seems like a big move from city life to country life...And, we have told everyone it was for a better standard of living or because Kat's family lives here and my family is closer...or the support system Kat has while I am away working. But, it came to me today why I had to move here...why I was drawn here. It is because I look skinny here! This place is full of fattys! Unfortunately, our friends are in good shape, so I have decided I need to buddy up with some of these fatsos and start hanging out with them so I look even skinnier...sort of a "Porker Posse". Who needs to diet when you can be surrounded by people twice your size? I will no longer feel guilty ordering queso and bacon cheeseburgers when the group with me is ordering two chicken fried steaks or bringing in their own bucket of chicken and just asking for a side of ranch to dip it in. Yes, life is looking up!
OK. I hope everyone enjoyed their April Fools Day. I strongly considered doing an April Fools post, but didn't quite see how it would differ from any of my half truth posts, so I opted out. Didn't want to confuse anyone.
Much love to all.
jak
A few updates for everyone who is interested...we are closing on the house in Tulsa on May 1. We will post pics once we get settled in. We are all very excited about that. My job is going well...I am consulting for the American Red Cross and have been travelling to D.C. on a weekly basis...though last week I was in Fort Lauderdale visiting the Broward County Chapter. Interestingly, about 100 Haitian refugees landed ashore while I was there and the Chapter went into full response and I ended up making about 30 sandwiches for the refugees. Pretty cool. Did not get to deliver them personally, but I am sure they enjoyed them. I got some grief from my coworkers who reminded me that the Red Cross is getting billed $350/hour for my time and I was making freakin' sandwiches...I told them I realized that and they would not believe the pressure I felt to make a damn good sandwich...so, add Sandwich Artist to my resume/skillset. :-)
On another, unrelated note...I know that a lot of you have asked what prompted the move from California to Tulsa. I mean, it seems like a big move from city life to country life...And, we have told everyone it was for a better standard of living or because Kat's family lives here and my family is closer...or the support system Kat has while I am away working. But, it came to me today why I had to move here...why I was drawn here. It is because I look skinny here! This place is full of fattys! Unfortunately, our friends are in good shape, so I have decided I need to buddy up with some of these fatsos and start hanging out with them so I look even skinnier...sort of a "Porker Posse". Who needs to diet when you can be surrounded by people twice your size? I will no longer feel guilty ordering queso and bacon cheeseburgers when the group with me is ordering two chicken fried steaks or bringing in their own bucket of chicken and just asking for a side of ranch to dip it in. Yes, life is looking up!
OK. I hope everyone enjoyed their April Fools Day. I strongly considered doing an April Fools post, but didn't quite see how it would differ from any of my half truth posts, so I opted out. Didn't want to confuse anyone.
Much love to all.
jak
