Super Girl (age 6) (A.K.A. she-who-is-not-having-a-birthday) just finished dancing around the living room to this:
I wish I was that cool when I was six...
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Nine Years So Far!
Our oldest daughter, Action Girl, turns nine today. I'll save the usual cliches about how much our lives have changed and how wonderful our lives became when she joined us (valid as they all are!) and just say what a wonderful and interesting person she is becoming.
Action Girl is a talented, capable, and curious girl. She has a group of wonderful friends who appear to appreciate her. Recently, she figure-skated to second place finish in her club's competition and will be going net month to the provincial competition.
Most important she is a loving girl, who cares about family and friends, including herself. We really couldn't have hoped for more than that nine years ago today.
B.
Action Girl is a talented, capable, and curious girl. She has a group of wonderful friends who appear to appreciate her. Recently, she figure-skated to second place finish in her club's competition and will be going net month to the provincial competition.
Most important she is a loving girl, who cares about family and friends, including herself. We really couldn't have hoped for more than that nine years ago today.
B.
Friday, January 29, 2010
J.D. Salinger: January 1, 1919 – January 27, 2010
When I was 16 or 17, Cather in the Rye was the greatest book I could imagine anyone ever writing. Salinger inhabited the main character, Holden, in a personal, psychological, and accessible way. Holden's struggles with his own psyche compete with his contempt for the "phoniness" that consumes so many of his fellow teens and virtually every adult in his life. Despite writing in the late 1940's the themes
As Holden returns from the boarding school from which he has just been expelled, his descent to his breakdown is as riveting as the the journeys of the Odyssey or Heart of Darkness.
No, I no longer believe Cather in the Rye is the the greatest thing ever written. Its just as important to me to know that 20 years after I first met Holden, Salinger's story is just as raw and riveting. I spend a great deal of time with youth at their most vulnerable and angriest moments. There's a great deal of truth in that burgundy little book.
A hundred years from now, people will still be wondering about how much of Salinger is in Holden and vice versa. Incidentally, if Holden was even more "real" than he is, he'd be in his mid-seventies by now.
B.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
First Looks: Apple iPad (16GB/32GB/64GB) - With Full Interface Videos | iLounge
First Looks: Apple iPad (16GB/32GB/64GB) - With Full Interface Videos iLounge
Okay, at first I was pretty skeptical, but now the idea of being able to read the web like a book is really intriguing me!!
Click on the above link for great pics ad a review.
B.
Okay, at first I was pretty skeptical, but now the idea of being able to read the web like a book is really intriguing me!!
Click on the above link for great pics ad a review.
B.
First Looks: Apple iPad Keyboard Dock | iLounge
First Looks: Apple iPad Keyboard Dock iLounge
I want this! This ability makes an iPad a whole lot more appealing to me!!!
B.
I want this! This ability makes an iPad a whole lot more appealing to me!!!
B.
Friday, January 22, 2010
History I Remember....
Thirty-two years ago today, the remians of a Soviet satellitle, including its nuclear fuel source carshed into the Canadian Arctic. Yes, I was just a kid but I remember this for a couple of reasons. First, my dad was still in the Air Force and it made an impression that these were his people cleaning up this mess. Second, it was just the neatest thing in the world that toxic space junk was falling on OUR country. Well, I was very young... Keep that in mind.
Here's an intersting link to the story in the CBC Archives- Soviet nuclear satellite crashes in Canada.
B.
Friday, January 15, 2010
CBC News - World - A pariah history, some promising starts and now this
Haiti's modern history is one of the unfulfilled hope and dashed dreams of a vibrant people. This article taught me some things about Haitian history that make me even sadder. Here's an excerpt:
Haiti's on-going background level of poverty has been persistent. But understanding why one country stays poor while others grow rich is a surprisingly difficult task, even for development experts.
Fixing the problem is even more difficult.
It is not as if foreign donors haven't tried to set the country on the right track, says Yasmine Shamsie, a Wilfrid Laurier professor who specializes in international development and security efforts in Haiti.
"Yes, there have been true attempts," says Shamsie. "Countries like Canada and the United States really want to solve these problems."
Many development experts blame Haiti's problems on its long history as a pariah state, going back as far as the debt Napoleon forced onto the former French colony as the price of independence in 1803.
People had to pay for the land and the slaves they had "stolen." The stolen slaves, of course, were Haiti's own citizens. They had to buy themselves...
Read the rest here:
CBC News - World - A pariah history, some promising starts and now this
Haiti's on-going background level of poverty has been persistent. But understanding why one country stays poor while others grow rich is a surprisingly difficult task, even for development experts.
Fixing the problem is even more difficult.
It is not as if foreign donors haven't tried to set the country on the right track, says Yasmine Shamsie, a Wilfrid Laurier professor who specializes in international development and security efforts in Haiti.
"Yes, there have been true attempts," says Shamsie. "Countries like Canada and the United States really want to solve these problems."
Many development experts blame Haiti's problems on its long history as a pariah state, going back as far as the debt Napoleon forced onto the former French colony as the price of independence in 1803.
People had to pay for the land and the slaves they had "stolen." The stolen slaves, of course, were Haiti's own citizens. They had to buy themselves...
Read the rest here:
CBC News - World - A pariah history, some promising starts and now this
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
CBC News - Canada - Why our schools are failing boys
RE: the below link/article. I'll write some more about this later...
Its accurate to say that I have some strong thoughts about some of these issues as a male in a non-traditional role.
CBC News - Canada - Why our schools are failing boys
B.
Its accurate to say that I have some strong thoughts about some of these issues as a male in a non-traditional role.
CBC News - Canada - Why our schools are failing boys
B.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Sunday, January 10, 2010
The Magic Kingdom, Early on Christmas Day
The Magic Kingdom, Early on Christmas Day
Originally uploaded by Binky's Photos
That's rain in the air.
Walt Disney Worlding
On the 29th we returned from a wonderful (almost) week spend at Walt Disney World. As you can imagine this was a both a great year and a difficult year to be “away” for Christmas. Great because its been such a difficult time and difficult because it was my Dad’s first Christmas without Mom since the late 1960’s. He went to his sister’s home, about a four hour drive from here.
We had such a wonderful time, I’m not sure I can accurately describe it. When you travel with people you love and who love you so very much back, its hard not to have a pretty great time. I’ll let some pictures help with the story from here.
B.
Wednesday, January 06, 2010
Will 'Avatar' Keep Breaking Records? A Box-Office Analyst Weighs In
I planned on seeing Avatar tonight but it sold out before my buddy and I could get tickets. In a "have a cracker instaed of a cookie" move here's an article about its record-breaking status.