Happy Father's Day

Even If It Is Trendy

Dad kicked Ben's ass once. Ben Vining. And literally. He did an excited little dance across the room and kicked Ben right in the butt. Ben had a piece of paper taped to his back, with the name of a celebrity on it, from a game he played with his church's youth group, but Dad just assumed it said Kick Me. Because really, how often does anyone have a piece of paper taped to their back that says anything other than Kick Me? Dad saw an opportunity and seized it. And it was awesome. It became a trump card of story telling for a while. Has your dad kicked Ben in the ass? No? Then clearly he is not as cool as mine.

I remember being crushed when Dad was disappointed in me for not keeping up with Tai Chi. Which was weird, because my typical response to disapproval is to say Fuck 'em. If you don't like what I do, as I do, bugger off. It's an attitude that may have something to do with me now alternating between apologizing to my parents for just about anything I've ever said, and disclaiming responsibility for anything that ever happened before I became Sam's problem. I went into the computer room, and Dad had two Tai Chi swords. Actually there were four or five, but only two were not made from old pipes. But I thought he only had one, and I said as much. He said "I bought that for you back when I thought you'd keep practicing with me." And I was just devastated. No idea where my defiance was then, but it sure wasn't there to prop me up. I thought about it for weeks. Still don't know why that one got me. I was a brat about chores, fucked up my college education, and I suck at being employed. I guess I had come to terms with all that? Shoulda kept up with Tai Chi though.

He did trick me into eating those dog crackers. And I got him back, getting him to knock back a handful of Pop Rocks without knowing what they were. But if he's looking at the ceiling when I walk into the room, I pretty much fall for it every time.

And there's a smile I have, for enjoying people being ridiculous. Aaron calls it my cheese-dick smile, but he mostly see it when I catch his hypocrisy, and he knows I've caught him; He's naturally not a fan. I remember a version of it. Dad has a smile that says "Ok. I'll let that slide. But you'll figure it out eventually. And I could say I told you, or See, that's what I meant, but I won't have to, because you'll figure that out too." You see that smile, and you know you're missing part of a joke. It's not bad, because the jokes not on you so much as it is you. And what can you do? You'll get it eventually. Mine's not that complex. I haven't been a dad long enough to have a paragraph smile. But I think I've gotten up to "Oh yeah?" Baby steps are still steps in the right direction.

Shopping for him is impossible, along with the related fields of recommending books, music, or movies. But I can tell him the latest thing it's taken me 28 years to learn, and at least get a smile for it.



Cat: Pretending to sleep on the back of the couch
Soundtrack: Carolina Chocolate Drops - Hit 'em Style

New Shelves

The Livingroom Edition
yea homonyms

before

after

with stuff

Yea! New shelves! Sam beat me to the punch, and already posted these on FB. I took the pictures; She edited them.



Cat: Upstairs, seeing what the ruckus is about
Soundtrack: Link Wray - Jack the Ripper

Three for Three

In Which Friends Visit

susan

planning ahead

enjoying some delicious water

ruggedly handsome

I didn't take any of these, but I wanted to update my blog for a third time, and maybe even record a little of Neal and Susan's visit.



Cat: Complaining next to me
Soundtrack: Loney, Dear - I Am John

Playing With Lenses That Don't Fit

Photo Toys In Action

bzzz bzzz bzzz

bzzz bzzz bzzz

Pretty sharp for just holding an old close up attachment to the front of my lens. This bumblebee was just hanging out on our railing. One of our clients gave us a Pentax and some screw-on close-up lenses. So I just held the Pentax attachment to the front of my lens. It made for a very narrow depth of field, but I was able to get much closer to the bee.



Cat: Avoiding Ben
Soundtrack: Kiki's Delivery Service

We'll See What Happens

The Cats And Weedwhackers Edition

a satisfyingly aggressive way of weedwhacking

So, my awesome parents gave us some yard tools. Which is good, because there is an unending amount of landscaping and upkeep. I've been trying to get done what I can with Ben around, and so I wanted tools that are safe-ish. I bought a rotary mower and my parents gave me a golf club style weedwhacker. Ed and Heidi, our neighbors to the southwest, think I am crazy, and point it out every time they see me working on the yard. They keep encouraging me to buy some powered tools. Ah well.

our back steps, top soil, flower pots, and a ball

the southwest vine

Our shared fence has a grape vine on it. Ed said last year it took over the whole fence, and so he trimmed it back last fall. It seems to be doing really well. And at the south end of that fence, Ed's brother Jim planted some sugar snaps, and we've already munched on some of those.

look at that face

looking a little absent minded

doin' a dance

high fives

The cats desperately want to be outside. Too damn bad. The two times we've let them out, they've thrown up for the next twelve hours. File that under Shit I Don't Need. So that's Tommy trying to convince me he deserves another chance.



Cat: Passed out on the back of the couch
Soundtrack: Bob Dylan - Rainy Day Women #12 & 35