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Hard Habit to (re)Start

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Tue, 18 Mar 2025 14:49:00 +0000

It's already been a month since my last post. Obviously, a lot has happened in between. But I realize that this is a hard habit to restart, though I want to keep it up. Reading back to years ago, it was so much fun to relive those moments that I took the time to capture. Cheer season (year) finally ended after a great run in the playoffs by the boys basketball team. Each week, they found a way to win, which kept the season alive, even if B was hoping for a 'L' to help clear her plate. The team didn't care to help her :) The last few games were held in Champaign at the State Farm Center (formerly Assembly Hall) which was pretty cool to visit. I'd never been there, and would definitely go back. This past weekend was Sadie's and both B and M (and their guys) decided to not go and just have a quiet, lowkey night at home. Good call all around.

The Bug is Back

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Sun, 16 Feb 2025 00:30:00 +0000

Interesting one this week. Some cold bug hit the household, first with B, then N, and now it’s E … and M is saying tonight that she’s afraid that she’s not feeling well. Sore throat, congestion, lots of sneezing - the works. I am the only one untouched, so hoping it stays that way. The cheer season is winding down and last night, boys basketball was at Eisenhower, so E and I hit the road after work to get to Decatur early to visit Von Maur. The drive was okay, but rainy and a little freezing, with the potential for snow. As we got to Decatur and to the mall, the parking lot was pretty slick. E and I got out and immediately decided it was too slick to hang around D-town and go to the game. We ran into Von Maur, and I found 3 ties for $42 total! And the cashier took my name and number and said he’d reach out when they marked down their ties and shirts again. We’ll see on that, but that was my best haul yet. The ride home was fine and we picked up Head West for dinner - been craving it!

Does anyone even blog anymore?

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Sat, 08 Feb 2025 12:34:00 +0000

Strange thing happened a few weeks ago. E and I were digging through our email for something and came across an old email with a link to this blog in it. And to our surprise, it was still there! And it was a lot of fun to reread those old posts and to relive moments of our lives. Facebook and Instagram replaced blogs, basically, and it’s easy to relive life through pictures and short posts, but those blog posts were great. So this is the first stab at returning to this format, many years later, to capture our life. Our three kids are much older (one’s in college!), we’ve moved, changed jobs, gotten a dog, had a few cats, gotten busier with life, but those moments I captured in this blog quickly took us back. I want to be able to do that again, so this is a shot. N is at SIUE this weekend, M is working at Wellthy and babysitting this weekend, and B has a few remaining basketball games to cheer at this weekend. It’s another weekend for an oil change for me (maintaining our fleet of cars — ugh), and then it’s the Super Bowl (KC vs Phi). Go Eagles! Gotta stay true to the NFC. N really got into football this year with her first foray into fantasy football. Even though she didn’t her league, she did retain first place all year long (as did I) - so I am doing something right.

The intermittent blogger

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 13:48:00 +0000

It's been over a year since my last posting. As I get ready to start the fall semester, there is a glimmer of hope that I can start blogging, regularly, again. It's been about 9 months since I've had a sliver of free-time, so with that sliver that I see coming, perhaps the blog can be resuscitated .... Of course, only time will really tell.

These Days

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 04:02:00 +0000

The greatest gift we could give each other on Valentine's Day was time together - a nice lunch out and general bumming around town. Love the kids to death, but time with my wife is wonderful, and it doesn't happen as much as I'd like. But that's life these days, and life is good. Real good.

We've Caught ... Something

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 02:47:00 +0000

Everyone here is sick - blah. That's one of the fun things about kids -- once one gets sick, you ALL get sick. And so it is here. It's not horrible, but it's not fun. We're all feeling pretty tired, congested, and the kids are irritable -- short naps are not a good thing. Because we have just one humidifier (really, does anyone have two?), we put the kids in the same bedroom tonight so they could share it. This is a first, and it could be an interesting night. So far, we're two hours in and no major problems.

I Gave

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 03:06:00 +0000

When I was younger, I was always struck by how my mom gave blood regularly. I don't know how or why she started to do this, but I recall her doing this often. Recently, I noticed in the local paper a need for blood donation, and it hit me that I have no real reason for not donating blood. Really, it was just laziness and apathy. So I started a new trend today and stopped into my local blood donation center and gave. It was simple. Aside from filling out a small form and waiting a few moments for a nurse, the actual giving of blood took a bit more than five minutes -- ten tops. Later in the afternoon I felt a bit tired, but nothing worse than that.

I Guess it's Time

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 03:29:00 +0000

We decided to branch out and add a 2nd cell-phone line to our plan, so I stopped in the local cell-phone store and inquired about doing so. I learned we could do that, get a free phone, and we were due a free phone upgrade (it had been 55 months since we got our original phone). Now, we're not the most cell-phone dependent people, but, a free new phone is a free new phone. The clerk informed me that he had never seen anyone go so long without upgrading .... good to know.

That's our old phone on the right and the sleek new one on the left. Wowee!

Soooo Long ..... again.

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 02:27:00 +0000

Why it continually happens with this blog, I'll never know. The peaks and valleys of writing here cause me to think about ending the writing, but I always come back ... eventually. And, I am writing here again. It's cold today, just hovering above zero, and I spent much of my day driving, back and forth up to Bloomington. The snow blew across the road, causing the road to disappear at times, but it was never much worse than thick fog, until I got up to Bloomington - the roads were far worse there. But the new tires I got for the car really made me feel more comfortable in the bad conditions. And, I made it back home, so all is well. But that's the problem with taking classes up at ISU -- the spring semester. The weather is never bad in the fall, but in the spring, there are always a few nights when the roads get ugly, or the weather just makes me nervous, continually, about driving up and down I-55. This me thinking about when I was younger, 18 or so, and my friend Mike Alfini and I drove into Chicago to go record shopping, at stores like The Dummyroom, and Reckless Records, in terrible weather. There must have been at least three inches of snow on the roads, but we went anyways -- invincible. I can see the icy water puddles that gathered at the curbs, and the piles of snow that piled up in the curbs. But I have no clue what records I bought. None at all, and I am 99% sure I don't even own them any longer. But we made it downtown and back, safely, just as I did today.

Vote Him In

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 14:41:00 +0000

Come on .... enough is enough. Give Ron Santo what he deserves -- to be a Hall of Famer.

College Tuition Gets More Expensive

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 03:08:00 +0000

I heard this same story three times today, and not once did anyone explain it well. It's no secret that college tuition can be expensive and that tuition at some schools costs much more than it does at others. It is also no secret that some schools increase their tuition yearly. But when ABC news reports on just how expensive tuition is getting and how it is putting a college education out of reach for some folks, it irritates me ... not that they're wrong, but that they are implying that colleges are increasing tuition without much care for who it hurts. The fact is that increasing tuition is often a college's last option to allow it to continue to function at its normal level (number of classes offered, variety of classes offered, high-quality faculty, safe facilities, ...). College administrators are not dumb; if tuition becomes too high, they lose students, which means that they will get less assistance from the state. And THAT is the problem: states continue to cut the budget for higher education institutions. And, those same colleges are working hard to continue to offer the same education to its students when the resources of that college are shrinking. In order to continue to do what they do, they need to supplement the money that the state is no longer offering them with money from somewhere -- which is often tuition. But, again, this is a last resort, and one that is not taken lightly. Since I have taught at the college-level, I have never heard of a surplus of money coming in from the state. For the last seven years, each school I have taught at has talked about hard times and budget cuts. But more and more students show up, so we are doing more with less. So when tuition is increased, it's not about making a profit (there might be some exceptions to this, but not in the community college realm, at all); it's in an attempt to keep the lights on and help students get what they need.

the A.R.M

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 03:31:00 +0000

We coulda been a statistic -- seriously. You hear about all of these people who are running into trouble affording their monthly mortgage payment, and as I listen, I can't help but thinking about how lucky we are that we got out of our trap when we did. In our previous house, which was our first, we were in a trap-mortgage, which I believe was a 7-year ARM (adjustable rate mortgage). That means that after seven years, the mortgage company would adjust (raise) our interest rate. And, to make matters worse, we had a home equity loan to make up the difference of what we had been short for our 20% down-payment. That, we learned over the months, was not a fixed rate, either. Our payment on that was higher each month, which was tons of fun. Fortunately for us, we sold our home when the market was high, and we made money to have a solid down-payment on our current home, and our mortgage is fixed -- for the next 25+ years. But when I think back to our previous situation, I get sick. We always knew we would refinance, but never thought that the market might be so bad that refinancing wouldn't really be possible. I feel for those who weren't/aren't so fortunate.

Going Google-crazy with Gmail Video Chat!

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 02:21:00 +0000

If you haven't heard, Google now offers a video-chat feature via Gmail. And, it works really well. Really. Well. I am a big fan of iChat, but have had connection difficulties at times when talking with my wife while I am at work and she's at home, and we often resort to calling each other to finish a conversation. But over the past two days, using Google's video chat, we've had no problems. Earlier today, I even connected with my brother in Indianapolis, and I got a short tour of his spare bedroom/computer space. Very cool. If you have a webcam and a Gmail account, check this out at Gmail Voice and Video Chat.

The Perfect Storm

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 02:20:00 +0000

I haven't written anything at all about my fantasy football team this year, but after 10 weeks, my team is 10-0. Yes. I am undefeated. Every week, I have been okay with the prospect of losing, but it hasn't happened. This week, things have gotten to be a bit more challenging; my top player, Clinton Portis, is out, most likely, with an injury ... and I play the 2nd place team. But I have balance, and depth on my side, so I am pretty confident. Only time will tell.

Pumpkin Creation 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 18:40:00 +0000

This year, for Halloween, we carved our first pumpkin. N drew the face, and I cut it out. She got a little upset when she saw me cutting out the eyes, mouth, and nose that she so carefully drew, but once I put a candle inside and lit it, she got the idea ... and was very impressed with our handy work.

Tuesday, Nov. 4

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 19:32:00 +0000

With the election of Barack Obama to the Presidency, I have been thinking about exactly what to write and how to commemorate such a historic event. One of my best friends, Eric, sent me this piece that he wrote following his experience of attending Barack's celebratory gathering in Chicago's Grant Park. I have known Eric for over ten years now, and have read much of his writing, but this piece truly captured what I believe being there must have been like. Thanks, Eric, for the guest blogging!

_________________

Yes We Did!

On the corner of Madison and Michigan Avenues in downtown Chicago hangs a small brown sign designating historic Route 66. Depending on whether you are travelling east or west, that point is either the beginning or end of a journey.

On the evening of Tuesday, November 4, that point was both for Senator Barack Obama. It was the end of a grueling two-year campaign and the beginning of his tenure as President of the United States. It seems fitting that he began his next journey at the endpoint of the road that connects America – as Obama himself noted, “The road ahead is long.”

Twenty-four hours earlier, I received an electronic ticket for the Democratic party’s Election Night Event in Grant Park – the hottest ticket in town, and perhaps the country, reserved for only 75,000 people. Friends, family, city workers, and police officers all warned us to stay away. The City of Chicago had put together its largest riot response plan ever, not wanting to repeat the missteps of the 1968 Democratic National Convention in the same location.

Standing in line to vote on Election Day, my fiancée Jessica and I debated how the city and the nation would react to the results. We also decided that regardless of the potential for trouble, we wouldn’t miss what we felt was a once in a lifetime chance to be part of history. After all, we lived less than a mile from the rally site and had watched the preparations for weeks. By that point, our hour long wait to vote was over and we cast our ballots with high hopes for the outcome.

The gates to the rally were set to open at 8:30 p.m. so there was no rush to be first in line. But under the pressure of rapidly growing crowds, city officials began letting supporters in around seven. At the same time, east coast results were flooding the newsrooms and it appeared that Illinois’ junior senator was moving full speed ahead toward a win.

We grabbed our coats and headed into the night. With most streets closed to traffic, our neighborhood was eerily quiet For the first four blocks of our walk, we were totally alone. But as we neared Grant Park, we began to hear the roar of the crowd. Michigan Avenue’s triple-wide sidewalks were jammed with supporters, shoulder to shoulder, in front of a backdrop of the city’s iconic skyscrapers draped in red, white, and blue light. The crowd easily surpassed those gathered to gawk at the marathoners a few weeks earlier, with the electric mood resembling a New Year’s Eve in Times Square.

A shortcut through the south end of Grant Park landed us at the event entrance. Under different circumstances, a crowd that dense may have spelled disaster, but not this night. Pressed up against one another like books on a shelf, the crown calmly moved toward the entrance, taking an occasional opportunity to cheer on continuing election results reported from cell phones and Blackberry’s. Four security checks and 30 minutes later we entered Hutchinson Field, the center of worldwide political attention, if only for one evening.

With the crowd pouring onto the field, we wisely chose seats on grassy rise a few feet above the crowd, affording us a unique view of the entire field and a clear sightline to the stage where we hoped our next President would soon appear.

CNN continued to report election results over the next hour, with the crowd wildly cheering each Obama victory. Just after 10 p.m., CNN announced in rapid succession that Obama had taken the electoral vote in Virginia and California, making him the next President of the United States.

Covered in goose bumps, we knew we had made the right choice to attend. We shared the moment intimately with strangers who had travelled from around the country. Blue-collar men and women hugged the likes of Oprah Winfrey. Grandparents explained the social significance and shared high fives with their grandchildren. Whites, African Americans, and every group in between shared in tears of joy at the prospect of a new hope for America.

We watched John McCain’s concession speech intently on the jumbo-trons. While boos could be heard from the Arizona crowd nary a sour word was uttered by the Obama supporters. Kudos to the Chicago crowd for their respect of McCain.

A faceless voice from backstage announced, “Final sound check for the next President of United States,” and the elation started anew. And soon the crowd closely resembled a giant wedding as 75,000 people danced in unison to Stevie Wonder’s Sign, Sealed, Delivered and Sweet Home Chicago.

President Elect Obama and his family’s entrance was met with a welcome for the ages, something Jessica compared to what the coming of the second Messiah might resemble. I put my arms around Jess because she was shivering, but learned that she was shaking from nervous excitement rather than cold. Quite a reaction from someone who had never previously voted or cared to pay attention to politics.

The crowd grew pin-drop silent as the next leader of the free world began his remarks – the droning of the government helicopters overhead was the only background noise. His choice of “Hello Chicago” instead of “Hello United States” made the moment even more personal. As Obama reached his now iconic “yes we can” portion of his remarks, the crowd echoed him, as if in prayer – perhaps one for a better America where all men really are created equal.

The walk home was the exact reverse experience of our trip to the park – the magic of the evening dying into the quiet streets of our nearby neighborhood. By the time we arrived on our block, we were once again alone. As we lay in bed, having just been part of what is destined to be one of the country’s most historic moments, the only reminder of our participation was the sound of the helicopters, still overhead, late, late into the night.

So Dark So Soon?

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 15:42:00 +0000

Yesterday was the day I planned to cut the grass, hopefully for the last time this year. I started cutting at 5:30, after we ate dinner, and was barely through with our tiny backyard when I noticed that it was getting fairly dark. And as I continued cutting, the darkness grew, and within 45 minutes, all sunlight was gone -- it was dark, and I was almost finished ... but not quite. I ended up finishing the front yard in the dark, with the help of the streetlights and our front porch lights. As I was cutting, I kept thinking of the impending Daylight Savings Time, that I usually cherish. But this year, with the help of M, who has been waking up between 4:15 and 5:00, DST should be extra fun. As you enjoy your extra hour of sleep, think of me, who will be awake between 3:15 and 4:00 a.m. Sunday morning.

Two months later...

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 17:48:00 +0000

At first, I tried to patch things up myself. It was the Thursday night that the NFL season began, and I was sitting in the living room watching the Redskins get beat up by the Giants. And in the corner where the ceiling meets the wall above the fireplace, I noticed a shadow that seemed out of place. And then, the shadow slowly began to move, trickle actually, down the wall. Huh? I got up to check it out, and yes, we had water coming in from the outside where it was steadily downpouring. After a few calls to my dad and father-in-law asking for advice, we felt hopeless. We set up a few fans and a dehumidifier and waited. It rained most of the night, but in the morning, the interior damage wasn't that bad. I had to get a ladder in order to get up on the roof, but I did, and saw ......... nothing. There was nothing out of the ordinary, but I knew the lead was somewhere by the fake-chimney that we have for our gas fireplace. I patched all around where the chimney and roof meet with caulk, and hoped that would seal the deal. But, a few weeks later, during the remnants of Hurricane Ike, we got soaked. So we called in professionals, and today, they took down the fake chimney and are patching up our roof. But, of course, it is now raining. So the job is postponed, but at least we are now dry.

A Great Saturday

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 11:24:00 +0000

Yesterday we got out of the house and hit the local farmer's market in the a.m. And it was great. We're big fans of Fall over here, and the seasons are finally feeling like they are really changing. So we decided to head downtown and venture over to the farmer's market. The day started off a little rocky, with a crying child, but settled down shortly after a walk around the block. I picked up a cup of coffee that was Pumpkin Spice-flavored, and it was pretty good. We also got a few small pumpkins, some apple cider, apples, various vegetables, and a mum that I transplanted into our landscaping. Before we knew it, we were getting close to lunch-time, so we packed everyone back up and headed out. Great day, great weather, and the start of the greatest season!

A daily guide

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 14:48:00 +0000

The blog here at *insert title here* is going to take a change in direction and instead of focusing mainly on the personal, I am going to try to use the blog as a productivity tool. Warning: this could be a very short experiment, or it could work. I plan to list what I need/want to accomplish for the day along with any commentary that fits with those listings.

today:
-read 12 papers and comment on them (update, during the fire drill, I read three!)
-read chapter related to Cultural Studies and Composition
-avoid fire drill by taking laptop to car and grading in there (that's dedication, no?)

As of 1:50, I have finished grading my papers, but I haven't read the chapter yet. I am now off to a meeting for the Honors Program.

Back on Campus

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 18:24:00 +0000

Yesterday began the new semester, and, I'll start another on Monday. Weird, I know. I started the class I am taking this semester, ENG 402: Teaching Composition yesterday. On Monday, I'll start teaching my own classes: composition. It's strange to me to think that I have been teaching FYC (first-year composition) for about eight years now, and I have never taken any formal graduate-level courses (aside from the three that I have now taken as part of the PhD program), and yet I teach all writing classes (and love doing so). In the MA program I was part of, the only real glimpse of rhet/comp that I got was as a T.A. working with students in the Writing Center. But my coursework was all in literature. Oddly enough, I have yet to really have an opportunity to teach a literature course (not that I am at all interested in doing so now -- I am firmly in the rhet/comp camp and have no desire to teach anything lit-related). But as I start this class, 402, I will begin to fill in many of the holes that exist in my mind and my education about the teaching of writing. There is a LOT to read, and a LOT of smaller writing to complete, but it's gonna be great.

Where Did You Go?

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 17:59:00 +0000

Not too much to write on lately, mainly due to my working hard at getting the classes I am teaching in the fall up to speed. The summer break is nearly over, well, it is pretty much over, for me at least. Sure there's a week left, but I start a class early next week, and we have an orientation-type day next Friday to kick off the new semester, so the summer is officially over. But I'm okay with it - really. It hit me today that the fall semester is going to start soon, which refreshed in my mind what I love about academia ... the fresh start. No matter how well or how poorly a semester goes, it is almost nearly over as soon as it begins. So in a little over a week, I get to start fresh with new students, new ideas, new goals, all tied together in a new semester, and as I get more and more prepared for the semester, I get a bit more excited for it.

4:15 a.m.

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 11:10:00 +0000

Over the past week or so, our youngest daughter has developed a new habit: waking up shortly after 4 a.m. We're not sure how or why this started, but I really miss the old days of sleeping until 5:00. Wow. Never thought I'd think that 5:00 was sleeping in! I do today!

Internal to External

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 10:49:00 +0000

A few days ago, I completed the transformation. I took a 300 gb hard drive out of our desktop (or, our defunct desktop) and inserted it into a hard drive enclosure, which made the formerly internal hard drive a nice external hard drive that we can use to back-up our laptops. The process was simple,
and we now have a LOT of storage space!

I got this model from Circuit City, but you can pick one up anywhere.

Drumming ... again

noreply@blogger.com (Jason) — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 17:23:00 +0000

Last weekend, like a bolt of lightning, it struck me. I could rebuild my drumset by buying the missing pieces off of eBay. So a few days later, I pulled out my practice pad a a pair of sticks and began to work on my endurance ... namely, stick control. It's been years since I have played drums with any regularity, but I took lessons, played in bands, and on my own for about fifteen years growing up. For about four days in a row, now, I have been working on the pad for thirty minutes a day. The plan will be to do this until I can reassemble a full kit. After digging through a few boxes of parts, I have a bass drum, two toms, a cracked crash cymbal, a ride, and a splash (with three cymbal stands). After saving up a bit, I'll start searching eBay for a set of hi-hats, a hi-hat stand, and a crash cymbal that's not cracked. But, the fun will be to play. And for now, playing a bit on the practice pad is a lot of fun.