Reality Me

Category: Daily Life

Ramblings, often stream of conscious, journaling the events of my life.

  • The root of frustration

    There are somethings that are important to me
    That I am incapable of explaining to anyone else
    And I cannot acheive on my own
    But for which I can get no help.

  • Irony

    I never had a cavity my whole life until I went 3 years without going to the dentist.

  • From the mouths of babes

    Dad: "Evan, do you want to take a nap?"
    Evan, 11 months: Shakes head no.

    Could have been a coincidence, but it was funny!

  • Rocky Hill Clown Day – a big success!

    A friend from the Knoxville Juggling Club joined me to teach the Rocky Hill Elementary first grade how to juggle. All of the children did well. There were about 3 that I wish I could work with weekly; they would turn into amazing jugglers!

    My friend has the pleasure of practicing 45 minutes a day. His work is astounding! We were able to pass clubs around the children and do several duo tricks.

    Clown Day is a special treat for Rocky Hill Elementary because for the past 26 years or so Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus has sent clowns to the school when they come to town. All the first grade dress as clowns and 12 stations are set up in the gym for circus type activities including a station to learn juggling. Now, most first graders are on the cusp of having the dexterity for juggling. We have roughly 12-15 minutes to teach 8-12 children at a time how to juggle. Rocky Hill has always impressed me with their integration of special needs children. These first graders could include children with Downs Syndrome, Autism, wheel chairs, and other challenges. We work to make sure that all children of all capabilities have fun at the juggling station (although, I never saw the wheel chair student yesterday so I think the teachers made the wrong assumption that he couldn’t participate).

    (more…)

  • From the mouths of babes

    Mom: Asks Tommy to decide between two things.
    Tommy: Growls
    Mom: Further prompts for a decision.
    Tommy: Remains silent.
    Dad, slightly melodically: "Tommy, if you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice."
    Dad: Chuckles under his breath.

    Parenting is fun, particularly when the children haven’t got a clue.

  • From the mouths of babes

    Tommy moans.

  • Rocky Hill Clown Day

    Today is Rocky Hill Elementary’s Clown Day. This year Ringling Brothers came during Rocky Hill’s spring break so they missed their annual visit by the clowns. This year Daisy the Clown and Marty the Magician will be entertaining the children. I will do a brief juggling performance and then spend much time trying to teach 2nd graders how to juggle.

    This event is always fun and will leave me hoarse and sore. Should make for an interesting time tomorrow when I juggle for Children’s Mental Health Week at the zoo! Tomorrow’s event is from 10am-2pm. Michael Messing will perform magic from 11am-noon (although I think he will end at 11:30). I will juggle from noon to 1pm and, for those that have seen my show, this year will be different!

    The Comedy Zone is having a family day tomorrow. I was supposed to arrange to do a 10 minute juggling routine but never made contact with the right person. However, it is a smoke-free, rated G event for anyone looking to do something with the family after spending the day at the zoo–because if there was ever a day to spend at the zoo it’s tomorrow!

  • Frozen

    I have so much that I need to be doing at this exact moment that I can’t do anything at all.

  • Wishes come true and I bet reality comes crashing down

    Boyfriend and girlfriend make a bet. At stake? A threesome! Looks like boy wins but I bet their relationship doesn’t last a week afterwards. Win the battle, lose the war.

    So, here’s the story… I said to my girlfriend that any stupid website could get tons of hits, simply because people are bored all the time. She said that I was an idiot and couldn’t make a website that could get tons of hits if I wanted to. After a long argument (mostly centered around the fact that she called me an idiot) we made a bet:

    If I could not make a website to get 2,000,000 hits, I would agree that I was an idiot; however, if I could make a website to get 2,000,000 hits, she would have a menage a trois (that’s a threesome to you non french-speakers) with me and another girl. I thought she was kidding at the time, but then she said she was so sure of herself, that she would even put it in writing.

    At the time of this post–2,010,891–if you can believe the counter. The impressiveness of it is that not 9 hours ago it was around 600,000. Looks like it is going up at the rate of about 100 hits per second. By the time I finished typing this the numbers reached 2,031,379.

  • I lead, er, herd, some scouts

    Tonight’s den meeting was a blast! I really enjoy watching the scouts have a good time. We made 2 liter bottle rockets! They worked great.

    We used this design (may have to view it via Google Cache). Another good link and a variation (check out the launch mechanism on that one!). You can even add a parachute. I want to build the pvc launch pad.

  • Finally! Where do you buy that car?

    A vehicle that fits our family.

  • Time for rest

    When you fall asleep in the middle of typing a line of code, it’s time for bed.

  • Parenting – The Ultimate Test of Mental Fortitude

    So how do you react when your 9 year old child disappears for 2.5 hours? You know he went to a friend’s house but he didn’t come home on time and you are certain of his location because the friend’s house appears empty.

    So he returns home and you try to remain calm but long ago the emotions built yup and you want to give him what for! But you hold it together while he describes that he went to another friend’s house; a friend you don’t know and who’s parents you’ve never met.

    Simple rule at our house: Let us know where you are. That is, if you change houses, tell us; call, shout, come home first, send a smoke signal but let us know and make sure we got the message.

    Here is where parenting becomes art. At the moment a child stands before you and like wet clay on a table, he begs to be molded. At this time, a child that was self-initiated to find himself something positive to do with his time waits to see if you teardown his self-confidence and instill the seeds of doubt with regard to making his own choices. So do you 1) yell and scold or 2) tell him "good job" and ask that he call home next time. Sometimes, with emotions churning, it is hard to do the latter and so wrong to do the former.

  • Definitions

    lec·ture Pronunciation Key (lkchr) n.
    1. An exposition of a given subject delivered before an audience or a class, as for the purpose of instruction.
    2. An earnest admonition or reproof; a reprimand.
    teach Pronunciation Key (tch) v. taught, (tôt) teach·ing, teach·es v. tr.
    1. To impart knowledge or skill to: teaches children.
    2. To provide knowledge of; instruct in: teaches French.
    3. To condition to a certain action or frame of mind: teaching youngsters to be self-reliant.
    4. To cause to learn by example or experience: an accident that taught me a valuable lesson.
    5. To advocate or preach: teaches racial and religious tolerance.
    6. To carry on instruction on a regular basis in: taught high school for many years.
    nur·ture Pronunciation Key (nûrchr) tr.v. nur·tured, nur·tur·ing, nur·tures
    1. To nourish; feed.
    2. To educate; train.
    3. To help grow or develop; cultivate: nurture a student’s talent.
    par·ent Pronunciation Key (pârnt, pr-) n.
    1. One who begets, gives birth to, or nurtures and raises a child; a father or mother.
    2. An ancestor; a progenitor.
    3. An organism that produces or generates offspring.
    4. A guardian; a protector.
    5. A parent company.
    6. A source or cause; an origin: Despair is the parent of rebellion.

    [Source]

  • I juggled..punish me now.

    Last night I juggled with the Knoxville Juggler’s Club. Excellent people! Very talented jugglers. I had a blast and when I came home I permitted myself some tv time with the wife, helped the beligerent 7th grader write an important speech for student council elections, then took a cat nap that lasted most of the night.

    Now comes the punishment. My body isn’t sore like last time…at least, not yet. But I woke to find my Linux development server being uncooperative. Doesn’t want to find the network. Could be a bad nic. With the deadlines I have this week I can’t afford a moment’s downtime! Muuuurph!

    Update: Dev server seeing network again!