And Speaking of Fearless Zephyrs

The crazy little two-year-old convinced me to go swimming with him the other day. That kid’s a water fiend. I guess 45 degree water won’t stop him.

Quick Disney Survey

So the boys were watching Mulan the other night, and I quickly remembered that I think that movie has by far the best music of any Disney movie. It’s not quite my favorite (although it’s up there). That would probably be Robin Hood for its old-fashioned humor and classic voices (plus I just love the story). So leave a comment telling me your favorite Disney movie, and which one you think has the best music (if they are different).

-S-

Zephyr and Connor at the Park

This one is short. It just shows how fearlessand trusting Zeph is and how fun it can be to toss Connor around

Zephyr Loves the Barenaked Ladies

Here’s the first of a couple videos:

It’s a video of Zephyr singing Barenaked Ladies. There are a couple of Barenaked Ladies songs that I have sung to Zephyr at bedtime since he was very little. One of the is “When I Fall.” When I decided to dust off and tune the guitar because I haven’t played it in ages (be kind, I’m a bit rusty), I decided to play that one so Zephyr could sing along. As you can see, he had a blast. Now I need to learn how to play “Light up My Life.”

Enjoy!

Winter Wonderland

Hi all. We just got back from a trip to Minnesota over my Winter Break. It was phenomenal. Brie says she felt like she had gone home for a time. The weather was around -10 degrees when we got there, and fluctuated between 20 below and 40 above while we were there. The “bitter cold” really wasn’t all that bad unless the wind was blowing. Even with wind, it wasn’t so bad with a leather jacket or something else to cut the wind. Honestly, all you folks who have moved from Minnesota to this brown desert because it is “too cold” up there are a bunch of whiners. When the air is still, -20 there feels like 40 here.

They say the heat here is a “dry heat,” I think the cold here is a “dry cold”. Brie and the boys are able to cope much better with below freezing temperatures there than the overnight chills here. It’s just a matter of layers. I think the Minnesota natives that move here are just too lazy to shovel their driveway every couple weeks. It has nothing to do with the cold.

Plus, the boys had a blast playing in the snow. In the Summers here, you can either stay indoors or go swimming. In the Winters there, you can stay indoors, have a snowball fight, build a snow man or a snow fort, go for a walk (as long as you remember your layers), or walk to the nearest fishing hole (no more than 20 minutes walk in the land of 10,000 lakes). We had a really great time. We’re looking forward to Jenny’s wedding in June, but we also hope we can make Winter or Fall visits a semi-regular occurrence. The boundless life of spring and and a hot, lazy summer will no longer feel the same without a frosty, winter-wonderland with which to compare it.

We had a really hard time coming home, although no small part of that was due to the boundless hospitality of Uncle Charlie and Aunt Pat (and the rest of the Roth and Darnauer clans). We love you all and hope to see you soon.

Below are a couple videos. There is also a picture gallery if you click on “Pictures” to your left (or click here if you are reading this on a RSS feed). Enjoy!

Spencer

update Brie just told me (while warming her hands by sticking them in my shirt, “I think I need to go back to Minnesota to defrost.” What did I tell you about a “dry cold”?

O Winter! ruler of the inverted year, . . . I crown thee king of intimate delights, Fireside enjoyments, home-born happiness, And all the comforts that the lowly roof Of undisturb’d Retirement, and the hours Of long uninterrupted evening, know.
–William Cowper (1731 – 1800), Task (bk. IV, l. 120)

30

Yes, I’m 30 now. Conventional wisdom says I should feel old, but I don’t. It doesn’t help that I put together a list of things I wanted to have done by the time I turned thirty. I don’t have the list, and I don’t remember everything on it, but here’s a sample.

* Learn how to take apart and put back together an old engine
* Earn a black belt in some kind of martial art
* Visit Ireland

Okay, so I’ve done the last one, but most of them are left undone. And yet, it doesn’t really bother me. I finally feel like I’m going somewhere. I have a career instead of a job, and it actually challenges me intellectually. I have the chance to live a comfortable life soon, without living paycheck-to-paycheck. I have a loving wife, and two wonderful children.

Life is good.

Rest in Peace, Titus Magnus

I’ve been meaning to write fr awhile now. I have lots of things to write about . . . family vacation to San Diego . . . turning in my Comment . . . starting my Summer Job . . . the list goes on and on. Unfortunately, it takes a tragedy to get me writing. Our cat, Titus, passed away on Saturday. This is a tribute to him.

I found Titus seven years ago. I was working at a residential treatment center for teenagers, and took some of the kids out to lunch for making all their goals for the week. When we got back we heard some meowing and a kitty came out of the dumpster begging. Some of the girls gave him some chicken, and I didn’t think much of it.

When I moved to the graveyard shift shortly thereafter, he would come sit on my lap when I went out front for smoke breaks. After a while, he would follow me up to the dorms and hang out with me when I was on duty. Eventually the nurse noticed and she said he was a health risk. She was going to call animal control. Now I’m not (wasn’t, I guess) a cat person, but I wasn’t going to let him be put down. So I called Brie and told her I was bringing home a new friend.

Titus quickly became part of the family. He followed me everywhere at first, but soon took to everyone. You couldn’t sit down on the couch without a Titus jumping on your lap. Connor was only 1 or so when I brought him home, but Titus was very patient with him. Hell, he put up with everything. He’s the main reason Zephyr is so good with animals. He never ran away, like the other cats did, when Zeph would come trundling up to pester him. He would sniggle Zeph as Zeph snuggled him, giving the baby a gentle, remonstrative “rowr” if Z became too rough. He was the perfect cat for kids.

But having grown up in a dumpster, he never outgrew romping. He spent more time outdoors than in. One day, he didn’t come back. He never spent more than a few hours away from the family, so we knew something was up. I won’t go into details, but I found him later the same day. I’m glad I did, because now at least we know what happened, and I get to keep his name tag.

So long, Titus. You were an awesome kitty, and you will be missed.

The cat could very well be man’s best friend but would never stoop to admitting it.
–Doug Larson

Allie’s Wedding

On Monday, April 7, my sister in law, Allison, married her true love, Bruce Preston. The wedding was a lot of fun, if a bit warm. Connor had his first sip of champagne, and I really wish I’d taken a picture of the look of disgust on his face when he did. Zephyr simply could not be dragged off the dance floor, and made everyone smile. Below is a video clip of Zephyr dancing with the beautiful bride, and another one of him cutting a rug by himself. There are also several pictures available here.

Bruce, we’re glad you were feeling better for the honeymoon.
Allison, you truly were the most beautiful bride since Brie’s wedding
Here’s hoping your days are filled with happiness, and your nights are . . . well . . . filled.

STP & Family

Here Comes the Sun

Over the winter, I took to jumping in the pool when I got frustrated. It started sometime in December when I was working on my Moot Court brief. It’s been a rough semester, so I continued it. I must’ve jumped in the pool 50 times over the last couple months–just a quick jump, and glide to the other end letting the frigid shock run down my spine. I’d climb out the steps, shiver as I toweled off, and feel much better.

Now the shock–well it isn’t a shock. It’s more of a . . . startle. February is hardly over, and there’s diminishing returns everywhere. It’s going to be a long summer.

Bursting with Pride

I know every parent thinks their kids are brilliant, but sometimes I have to wonder. This is an actual conversation I had with Connor (my oldest son) tonight. As a backdrop, we were watching a History Channel special on the seven wonders of the world.

Connor: Are they talking about petroglyphs?

Dad: I think so. What are petroglyphs?

Connor: It’s writing carved in rocks a long, long time ago.

Dad: WOW! That’s exactly what petroglyphs are, how do you know that?

Connor: It’s one of my spelling words.

Dad: Do you always learn what your spelling words mean?

Connor: Yes, but we learn other words too. Like “typical” means what usually happens.

Dad: So you have vocabulary words too?

Connor: How did you know what they’re called?

Dad: We had vocabulary words when I was in school too.

Connor: Were there dinosaurs when you were in school.

Dad: Ha ha. Yeah, there were a few.

Connor: Na uh. ’cause then you’d be extinct.

Dad: Were there sharks when there were dinosaurs

Connor: Yes

Dad: Are they extinct?

Connor: No

Dad: Then why would I have to be extinct if I went to school with Dinosaurs?

Connor: Dad, Sharks were in the water when the asteroids hit and the lava came, so the rocks and lava couldn’t hurt them.

Dad: Crocodiles live on land most of the time.

Connor: Some must have been in the water when the lava came, so some of them survived. People used to live in the water too until some came on land and grew legs.

Dad: Do you learn this stuff in school.

Connor: Some of it, but there was a show about Earth a long time ago when you let me stay up late and watch the Discovery channel last week.

There you have it. Who says kids shouldn’t stay up late, and who says television rots the brain? I wish I was that smart!

“Men fear thought as they fear nothing else on earth — more than ruin — more even than death…. Thought is subversive and revolutionary, destructive and terrible, thought is merciless to privilege, established institutions, and comfortable habit. Thought looks into the pit of hell and is not afraid. Thought is great and swift and free, the light of the world, and the chief glory of man.”
–Bertrand Russell (1872 – 1970)