Super Daddy

The Reason Rally

2012-02-09T02:30:00.000-05:00

I’m hoping to be in attendance at The Reason Rally, March 24, 2012 in Washington D.C.

Here is a small sample of the greatness that will be a part of The Reason Rally.

Dr. Richard Dawkins (Author and Founder of the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science)

Tim Minchin (Musician, composer, actor, writer and comedian)

Adam Savage (Co-host TV show Mythbusters)

Jessica Ahlquist, 17 year old girl from Rhode Island that successfully won a case (Ahlquist v. City) to take down a school prayer banner.

Cristina Rad (Activist)

For a full list of speakers/guests at The Reason Rally.

This I Believe

2012-02-08T14:28:00.000-05:00

Today is my birthday. My birthday is my New Years. This is when I make resolutions. I have made resolutions with friends on January 1st before, but the ones that are personal, the resolutions that I give more consideration to are the ones I make every year on February 8th. Of course, just as most resolutions made on January 1st, not all of my February 8th resolutions have been followed through.

My resolutions have varied from being more mindful of what I say to others to quit smoking, which next month I will be a non-smoker for two years. This year’s resolution is more on a personal level. It is more an existential resolution. I want to be more open and honest about how I feel and who I am.

I guess in a way this is my coming out as an Atheist. I do not believe coming out is something that I necessarily need, or should have to do. However, here I am doing just that. I am not doing this to be in anyone’s face, “Hey, look at me. I’m an Atheist”. Nothing such as that. I’m not like a religious zealot about Atheism. I only want to be fair, not just to myself, but to be fair to my family and friends.

I have always been an Atheist. I just haven’t been an open Atheist. My journey of being honest and open with myself about being an Atheist spans my life up to today. I have always feared how my family and friends would react. I never want to lose anyone I love because of this.

I have always bowed my head for prayer. I have made my children bow their heads for prayer. I have never retaliated over smartass facebook cartoons and quotes belittling other religions and non-believers. I have stood by and respected other’s religion and beliefs. The problem I have been dealing with, internally, for a couple years is that I am starting to resent loved ones. I am resenting them for not respecting me the same way I do them.

However, the true problem is, I have never given them the opportunity to respect me. My resentment and anger has been groundless. Now that I realize this, I know I have to be open with people. I am sure I’ll be met with a battle due to some of the things I want changed. I am prepared.

I have talked with my wife about all of this and she is extremely supportive. A couple of years ago I told my wife that I believed all children are born Atheist. I do not believe we are born with an innate idea of religion, gods, good, evil, black and white. Our religion heavily depends on our parents and extended family’s religion. Our religion depends on our geographical location of our birth. By being born in the United States, I had a very good chance of being born to a self-professed Christian family. And of course the denomination of my Christianity was solely based upon my family‘s denomination. I did not choose to be baptized. I did not choose to be a part of the Lutheran church. I was not born that way. I was not born Lutheran. I was told that I was Lutheran. I was told that I was religious. I was told that I was a Christian.

My kids are going to learn about all religions. They will not be indoctrinated with one belief. They will not be indoctrinated with any belief other than the knowledge they can choose for themselves what is right for them, and for them only. They will learn about religion, they will not learn to be a religion or not to be a religion.

Today is my birthday. I am 36 years old. I am a non-believer, secular humanist. I treat people with respect. I treat people decently. I am a good person, not because I am promised something or threatened with something to be a good person. I am a good person because that is what I know to be right; those are my morals and ethics.

This I believe…

…if you are a believer, good for you. I am happy for you. I am not trying to change your mind. I am glad you have your religion and beliefs. I do not judge you, and all I ask is you please do not judge me. Remember, I only deny one more god/deity than you do. Just as you don’t believe in Zeus, Thor, Isis, Osiris or any other 2,500 plus deities that have been worshipped as the one true god, I don’t believe in them either, nor do I believe in a satan or devil.

We Are A Star Wars Family

2012-01-30T02:30:00.000-05:00

I use to have a nice size Star Wars figure collection. Yes, I am a dork. And yes, I did say ‘use to’. I sold it years ago, before Phantom Menace came out. So, when Phantom came out I decided to buy just one new figure.

I went to the store the day they got their first shipment. Of course I picked a Darth Maul figure, everyone wanted a Darth Maul. I got my Darth Maul and put it in a box.

For the past fourteen years I’ve been packing that thing around.

My wife and I are both huge Star Wars ~~geeks~~ fans. We have introduced the kids to the Star Wars movies. We started with Phantom Menace. We thought it would be cool to watch the movies in timeline of the story. And of course Darth Maul was a hit with the kids, especially my son.

A couple of months ago I went up into the attic to find my old Darth Maul. I brought it down to give to my son. Instead, I hid it on my desk. That is until last night.

I brought the kids to the living room and had a ceremony of sorts. I presented Darth Maul to the kids. Told them about when I bought it and how long ago it was.

“Buddy, if I let you have this you have to be careful and not break it. I’ve had this for a long time and I never did open the package to play with the toy. Darth Maul has been in this package for fourteen years. Okay?”

My son burning a hole in the package with his eyes. He’s wants Darth Maul and wants to play with him now. He says to me, “You’ve saved him for me, Daddy.”

“Yeah, I guess in a way I have, son.”

May the force be with you.

Ripping My Life

2012-01-26T20:34:00.002-05:00

Ripping My Life

I’m not into material possessions, except when it comes to my music, movie and book collections and maybe my Dukes of Hazard lunchbox. I cherish those collections, especially my music collection.

While I was in college I would, from time to time, have to sell some of my c.d.’s to afford some Ramen noodles and gas. It was always stuff I bought for one song and the rest of the c.d. was awful; Sugar Ray, Smashmouth, Korn, you get the idea. Over the years I have repurchased some of those c.d.’s to try to complete the soundtrack of my life. I like owning them. I never listen to them, but I like to have them near me.

I have fought tooth and nail with the digital age of music. I swore I would never trade my physical music collection in for a digital one. But here I have been the last couple of weeks ripping my music onto itunes.

I have a canvas bag of c.d.’s sitting next to my desk to take to half-priced books tomorrow. It hurts. It fucking hurts. Some of these c.d.’s are over twenty years old. I don’t mean the music is twenty years old. I mean I bought the c.d. twenty years ago. C.D.’s that withstood numerous purging in college so I could eat and get around. C.D.’s I haven’t listened to in almost twenty years. I own Natural Selection. Who owns that c.d. besides me? NO ONE and I’m sad that I’m getting rid of it. This canvas bag full of c.d.‘s sitting next to me right now contains the soundtrack to various parts of my life and I’m gonna sell it for $30, $40 if I’m lucky.

This is the second bag in as many weeks that I’ve taken to sell. At least the next time we move I should only have three boxes of music to pack now.

Pressed Between Pages

2012-01-23T02:30:00.000-05:00

“…I was devastated when we were through. I didn’t know how to live without you…
…I’ve moved on. We’re over now, I know that…
…I’m with someone else now. He’s better than you. He’s more successful than you. He’s bigger and much better in bed than you…”

My mouth dropped open as I sat there reading the letter. I couldn’t believe what I was reading. This note went on for three pages and was written ten years prior to me first reading it.

In 2003 I was sitting at Charlie Brown’s, a little dive restaurant slash coffee house on campus. The décor had not been updated since the late 80’s early 90’s Kerouac poetry coffee house era. The lighting was dim, the seating was crowded, and the stage now was host to extra chairs. The one update to the place was they served food. Very bad food. The only redeeming quality about the place was the thousands of books that lined the walls of this little restaurant. Old, obscure books that most people probably never had heard of. A lot of these books came from the University’s library, as the University library stamp made that obvious. The books were probably purchased or donated from the library when they moved to the new upscale location.

My friend and I were selecting random books off the wall while we waited for our food to come. I stood on my seat to reach books higher up on the wall. I pulled one off the shelf and sat down. I don’t remember anything in particular about the book itself. It was what I found inside the book, pressed between the pages, was a three page letter to Jeff from Monica written in May 1993.

The first paragraph of this post are excerpts taken from the letter. The ones I remember anyway. It was unclear what Jeff did to deserve such a “screw you” type letter, but I’m sure Monica felt better after writing it.

As a person who had been on the receiving end of such type of letter, I must say, I had never been given one written so well and painful to read. This letter, Monica’s letter, shot daggers through my heart. I read it as what every girl who had ever delivered their letter to me intended to say to me but could not quite put the words together as well as Monica had.

By the time I had read Monica’s letter, I had written one such letter myself. I never gave it to the person. I knew whatever I had to say was just a reaction. I had things I wanted to say, things to get off of my chest, but my words would not make a difference to the intended recipient of my letter. So, I kept the letter. That is until I read Monica’s.

I’m guessing Monica felt the same way as I did. She just had to get everything out of her mind, but knew she could never give Jeff the letter. That kind of stuff is permanent. It’s hard to erase. So, Monica wrote her letter and didn’t want to keep it. Everything she wanted to say was out of her mind, now she wanted the letter out of her life.

I was able to picture Monica taking the letter out of her pocket, randomly choosing a book off the shelf, placing her folded three page letter inside the book, returning said book to the shelf and walking off without looking back.

I wanted that type of closure.

I took my letter and did what Monica did, pressed it between pages of some old, obscure book that maybe ten years from then someone would pick up.

I don’t really have a moral to this story. The memory of Monica’s letter popped into my mind this morning. I haven’t thought about Monica’s letter or the one I wrote in a very long time. I know I haven’t thought about it since before I got married. I guess my desired outcome of getting rid of the letter worked.

Now I write on this blog. I don’t get extremely personal on here. There are times when I want to, because I always have stuff on my mind that I want to dump somewhere. I would really like to sometimes. There are things I want to say to certain people if for no other reason than to appease my desire to put a fine point on it. But I don’t.

“…I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything I said. I’m hurt. I love you. I still love you. I will always love you, but I know we will never be together again. Goodbye, Monica”

I guess if there is a moral to this it would be, don’t piss Monica off. She can write a really nasty letter that will sting you to the core.

The truth is, I don’t know how Monica’s letter got in that book. I don’t know if she put it there intentionally. It might have been Jeff. Who knows? But, I like to think it happened the way I tell the story. It brought me peace of mind when I needed it the most.

Anthony Wiggle Is A Prick

2012-01-20T11:06:00.000-05:00

There’s a controversy of apocalyptic proportions happening in Australia right now. Of course, we parents, here in the U.S. are slow to hear of this scandalous tragedy.

The Wiggles have shit canned Sam (the yellow wiggle) for the old yellow Wiggle, Greg.

Five years ago Greg left the Children’s group, The Wiggles, with an undisclosed serious illness that he needed to deal with. This left Anthony (blue wiggle), Murray (red Wiggle) and Jeff (purple Wiggle) with an empty shirt to fill. So they turned to one of the background singer/dancers, Sam, to put on the yellow shirt and “lead” the group to years of multi-million dollar CD, DVD and concert sells.

Greg is feeling better now and wants to come back to the group.

Reportedly, The Wiggles gave very little to no warning to Sam of this announcement before they went public with the news of Greg replacing him.

Anthony, Jeff and Greg appeared on The Today Show in Australia to talk about Greg’s return to the group. However, it was clear that Anthony did not really want to talk about Sam or had given him a second thought since his firing. Also, you could tell that he was beside himself with giddiness that his old pal Greg was back in the band.

Here is a youtube clip of Anthony’s part of this awkward interview

You can watch the interview with the three Wiggles in its entirety on The Today Show’s website. At the bottom of the video you will see a short goodbye video from Sam and the edited clip of Anthony’s awkwardness.

I for one will miss Sam. I’ve seen some old clips of Greg, and he just didn’t have the friendliness of Sam.

Who do you prefer, Sam or Greg? Or could you care less as long as the kids are ~~occupied~~ entertained?

Edit: I first heard about this from Glowless at Where's My Glow?.

Why My Social Influence Sucks

2012-01-12T19:58:00.000-05:00

I’m back from my vacation away from the blog and social media. It’s been a great two months away. I’ve learned a lot about this thing called blogging and social media --- in particular I’ve learned a lot about my social influence. I was doing it entirely wrong.

I was trying to gain social influence by engaging people on twitter, facebook, Google Plus, Klout, blog commenting platforms and all the latest “tools” introduced for social media, but all I really needed to do was to turn my head away from the computer. When I did that there were two smiling faces wanting to put together a puzzle with me, their daddy.

I know this is going to sound cheesy and cliché, but the only social influence that I should give a damn about is my kids. In the last two months I have worked on my social influence with my kids. It was hard to do. My social influence sucked. When things got tough I wanted to run to my laptop to hide and involve myself with the latest twitter happenings. But with a little patience, not just from myself but patience from my kids as well, the three of us have been able to influence each other. It’s a work in progress, but I’d rather be doing this than sitting on my ass on twitter trying to be witty with a bunch of people I don’t know or should care about all that much.

Please understand I do plan on using twitter in the future and I have met people through twitter that I have an interest in and care about (you know who you all are. There‘s only about a dozen of you). I’m just done using twitter as a means to beg people to “please, read my latest crap blog post”.

Lesson 1: Social influence starts at home

I’m also done reading all the arbitrary “how to be a better blogger” posts. Who the hell made up these rules anyway? All of these posts are the same shit, different blogger trying to get traffic from new bloggers trying to learn how to make it rich by blogging about themselves.

Here’s a list of what you will learn from every single “how to blog” article.

Write good content - No shit! Really? I thought I could write drivel that everyone else is writing about and make it big….oh wait…never mind.

Engage on twitter.
Comment on other blogger blog posts.
Respond to comments on your blog.
Blah, blah, blah…what the other blogger said.

Lesson 2: You don’t have to follow the rules to blogging, BECAUSE THEY ARE MADE UP.

Here’s some advice you won’t find on those shitty “how to blog” posts, write as if no one is reading.

It’s like the saying, “sing/dance as if no one is watching you”. Write as if no one is reading what you’re writing. Meaning, if you don’t think anyone is watching/listening/reading, then your true self will show. If you write for yourself and no one else, your writing will be more truthful, thoughtful and meaningful. In turn you will enjoy what you’re doing and that my friend will show through to the people that are watching/listening/reading and they will enjoy what you’re doing just as much as you are.

Stay engaged is the next lesson. Too many times on twitter I have seen a parent blogger (mostly I have seen this happen with Daddy bloggers) tweet that they are ______(insert fun activity here) with their kids.

No you’re not, dickhead. You’re fucking tweeting about it and then replying to the people replying to your tweet about all the fun you’re having with your kid.

What the hell did you do? Press pause on your kids to tweet about it. How did this thought process go?

You were wrestling around with little Timmy on the floor when all of a sudden the thought crossed your mind that the 1000 people who follow you on twitter would love to know how much fun you’re having with your kid wrestling. If you tweet about it they’ll know just how much you love your kid, how fun and great of a parent you are. And everyone will want to read your blog because you showed everyone how fucking cool you are by wrestling with your kid on the floor. “Oh my god, this could be my break-out tweet that gets me noticed. Hang on Timmy. Daddy needs to tweet this. I’ll be right back.”

Lesson 3: If you’re playing with your kids, don’t stop to tweet about it. Your kids don’t care who follows you on twitter or whether or not @DaddyDoucheBag and @MommyIgnoresHerKids10HrsADay knows that you’re playing with them.

Welcome back. I got to go and feed the kids now.

Silent Sunday: Oh, Come on. I'm A Fungi

2011-11-27T13:07:00.001-05:00

Photos by Kevin Westerman
Taken 08/11
© 2011

Silent Sunday: Split Personality

2011-11-20T03:00:00.000-05:00

UK Arboretum 10/2011 Kevin Westerman ©

Pale Blue Dot

2011-11-14T20:43:00.001-05:00

Carl Sagan

Last week would have been Carl Sagan’s birthday. Carl said it is the conceit of humans to believe that the Universe was made for them, for us and that the Earth is the center of the Universe. And that their god made them in his image. And their belief that no other life could possibly exist in the vastness of space. That is the conceit of humans.

I mostly agree with what Carl had to say about life, the universe and religion. I differ in some opinions, but that is for a different post. I’ll leave you with a few of my favorite quotes of Carl’s.

“For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.”

“Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence."

“There has been a long and painful history of erroneous claims which religions have made about the nature of the world…There is hardly an organized religion with a firm body of doctrine which has not at one time or another persecuted people for the crime of open inquiry.”

“But the fact that some geniuses were laughed at does not imply that all who are laughed at are geniuses. They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright Brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown.”

“If we long to believe that the stars rise and set for us, that we are the reason there is a Universe, does science do us a disservice in deflating our conceits?”

“We've arranged a civilization in which most crucial elements profoundly depend on science and technology.”

“Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people.”

- Ann Druyan, talking about her husband, Carl Sagan:

“When my husband died, because he was so famous & known for not being a believer, many people would come up to me — it still sometimes happens — & ask me if Carl changed at the end & converted to a belief in an afterlife. They also frequently ask me if I think I will see him again. Carl faced his death with unflagging courage & never sought refuge in illusions. The tragedy was that we knew we would never see each other again. I don’t ever expect to be reunited with Carl. But, the great thing is that when we were together, for nearly twenty years, we lived with a vivid appreciation of how brief & precious life is. We never trivialized the meaning of death by pretending it was anything other than a final parting. Every single moment that we were alive & we were together was miraculous — not miraculous in the sense of inexplicable or supernatural. We knew we were beneficiaries of chance… That pure chance could be so generous & so kind… That we could find each other, as Carl wrote so beautifully in Cosmos, you know, in the vastness of space & the immensity of time… That we could be together for twenty years. That is something which sustains me & it’s much more meaningful…

The way he treated me & the way I treated him, the way we took care of each other & our family, while he lived. That is so much more important than the idea I will see him someday. I don’t think I’ll ever see Carl again. But I saw him. We saw each other. We found each other in the cosmos, and that was wonderful." - Ann Druyan

Carl Sagan - Pale Blue Dot

Silent Sunday: Resting in the Woods

2011-11-13T07:29:00.001-05:00

University of Kentucky Arboretum 10/11
Photo: Kevin Westerman © 2011

Summer of '91

2011-11-09T15:24:00.000-05:00

The summer of 1991 was one of the best and most memorable summers of my life. I was fifteen, had a girlfriend from the city that my mom hated. I came into my own that summer.

The summer of 1991 arguably had some of the best music ever.

DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince
C + C Music Factory
Extreme
Boyz II Men
Scorpions
Rhythm Syndicate
Marc Cohn
Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch
Lenny Kravitz
Bryan Adams
Escape Club
The Black Crowes
Jesus Jones
Bonnie Raitt
LL Cool J
Color Me Badd
Tevin Campell
Siouxsie and the Banshees
REM
Damn Yankees
Firehouse
Guns n Roses
PM Dawn

And of course

Heavy D and The Boys

R.I.P. Heavy D (1967 - 2011)

Ameba TV Review and Giveaway

2011-11-07T00:00:00.000-05:00

I’m very happy to offer all of you another chance to win a free 3 month subscription to Ameba TV.

Ameba is like cable for kids, with the benefits of their programming being commercial free, educational, fun and the best part is you are in charge of which programs your kids watch.

When I first got our subscription of Ameba TV I could set the kids up watching their shows either through the Ameba website or download the shows to an Ameba box top that hooks up to the TV and internet. Ameba also offered their service through Roku.

Ameba recently announced they offer their service through an additional option.

LG Smart TV

LG Upgrader

"LG’s Smart TV platform helps viewers integrate all of their digital media content seamlessly through one device—something viewers are already trying to do. Whether it is a LG Smart TV, 3D Blu-ray player or the LG Smart TV Upgrader, families can enjoy Ameba kids TV on demand and other digital entertainment services right from the convenience and comfort of their living rooms. LG Smart TV owners can get unlimited instant access to Ameba for a flat $3.99 monthly fee.” press release

Ameba also announced more shows to their already impressive library of childrens programming.

“Recently-acquired kids TV partners and programming include: NCircle Entertainment (Cat in the Hat - English & Spanish versions, Sid the Science Kid, Busytown Mysteries, Animal Atlas - English & Spanish versions) Jill Golick (Ruby Sky P.I.), Engineer Guy (Engineer Guy); HGagnon (Alien Zoo, Monkey Monkey Music, Traveling Stone); Turmeric Media (Talkie Time); Addictive2 Music (Tree Top Sisters - English & Spanish versions); Chiron Films (French Kitchen); OhmTV (Bernard, Toonimals); and Genuine Pictures: (A World of Wonders, All About Art, Music Makers and Twinkle Toes – English and French versions). New episodes and animated shorts are added every day.”
press release

Now comes the fun part…where you can win a free 3 month subscription to Ameba TV. (no LG SmartTV, LG Upgrader, 3D Blu-ray player or Roku service required. You must have internet service to enjoy Ameba TV)

The giveaway is open from November 7, 2011 through November 13, 2011 11:59pm EST.

The giveaway is open to The United States and Canada, you must be 18 years old or older.
There is only one requirement to enter.

1). You must leave a comment on this post. Tell me what your kid’s favorite fun and educational program is or just say “Hi”.

I know everyone likes to have multiple ways to enter giveaways. So, here are a few other ways you can enter.

Follow Ameba on Twitter
"Like" Ameba on Facebook
Tweet about this giveaway once a day. You must mention @Superdaddykw and @amebatv in the tweet along with the link to this review and giveaway.

After you have completed an addition entry, come back to this review and leave another comment informing me which extra entry you completed. After you tweet about this giveaway everyday, come back and leave a comment specifying you tweeted about the giveaway.

The Ameba giveaway will close on November 13 2011 at 11:59pm EST. I will announce the winner November 14 2011 by leaving a comment on Super Daddy and twitter if applicable. I will use random number generator. Please make sure I have a way to get in touch with you (email, twitter, facebook) to inform you that you have won. Good luck!

Legal:
Ameba gave me a free three month subscription to host this review and giveaway. My opinions are my own and were not influenced by Ameba or their awesome service.

Silent Sunday: Hollow Log

2011-11-06T03:00:00.000-05:00

U.K. Arboretum 10/2011 Kevin Westerman ©

The Time Of Being Still

2011-11-05T14:09:00.000-04:00

This time of year, I typically turn into the Grinch. To say I hate this time of year would be an understatement. This time of year being, the holidays.

I did not always hate the holidays. When I was a kid, I loved the holidays; Thanksgiving and Christmas was great. I got to open a lot of presents, visit with cousins, play in the snow and there was the time leading up to the parties, like decorating the tree. I enjoyed decorating the Christmas tree, especially with my grandmother (my dad’s mom). She had some of the fanciest tree ornaments. When she allowed me to help decorate the tree for the first time, it made me feel special, she trusted me with her fancy tree ornaments. I’m glad I have memories like those because the dynamics of the holidays changed when I was fifteen years old.

My parents got a divorce when I was fifteen and that is when Thanksgiving and Christmas turned into a competition. Now, I am not blaming my parents, they did the right thing by separating, it’s just that everyone turned into something or someone else after the divorce.

The holidays were a competition to see who had spent more time with my sister and me. Grandparents saying, “How long did you spend over there?”, “What did so and so get you?”, “Can’t you stay a little bit longer? You did say you stayed four hours there and you have only been here three and half.”

Now that I’m an adult and approaching 40 I wish I could say, ‘times, they have changed’, but I can’t. When I got married, the holidays were about where my wife and I were going to spend what holiday with whose family and for how long. Then Rebecca and I went and had kids. Having kids has amplified the holiday crazy to a completely new level of insanity.

The competition is fierce for equal time on holidays. If you think a day of celebrating with everyone would be sufficient, think again. If we do not plan to spend at least three to five days with everyone on both sides of the family at each holiday, you would think that Rebecca and I had cancelled Thanksgiving and Christmas.

So, this year we did.

Our decision to stay home this year for the holidays has not been received warmly. It has been met with a some resistance from our families. However, we are happy with our decision.

We did invite everyone here, no takers so far. I am fine with that.

Earlier this week I was filled with a sense of confidence in our decision to stay home for the holidays and start our own family tradition while the kids are young and have no choice but to spend the holidays with us. I was reading “Maybe (Maybe Not)“ by Robert Fulghum, and he started to talk about Christmas. Having the holidays fresh on my mind, what he said hit home for me.

Robert talked about the Taos Indian Pueblo and how they close down to all tourists and commercial activity for a month. From December 15 - January 15 this time is observed as “The Time of Being Still”.**

“And so, in the sensible spirit of our Indian cousins, we intend being still this year. We’re not going shopping. The money we might have spent can go to some other good cause. Take the time you might have spent shopping for us and be still yourself. Think of us, who wish you quiet joy this Christmas.”-Robert Fulghum

I like that. This is how I felt about making our plans this year, but I could not quite say it as eloquently as Mr. Fulghum was able to.

I just want to be still for a holiday. Next year we might decide to travel, maybe, maybe not, but this year is mine and I will spend it with my wife and two kids comfortably and enjoyably in our own home.

I hope all of you will also have a comfortable and enjoyable holiday season wherever you are.

**According to the Taos Pueblo website, the Pueblo Closes “…when tribal rituals require closing the Pueblo. Late winter to early Spring the Pueblo closes for about ten weeks.” The book “Maybe (Maybe Not)” was published in 1993. The closure times referenced by Mr. Fulghum may have been accurate at the time of writing his book.

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Silent Sunday: Veteran's Bridge

2011-10-30T03:00:00.000-04:00

The Introvert

2011-10-25T13:39:00.000-04:00

I don’t like big groups of people. My favorite restaurant is the one that will probably close down for the same reason I like to go there; because it does very little business.

When I grocery shop I choose the store with the fewest amount of customers.

If I am forced to go into high traffic stores, restaurants, malls, playgrounds, and parties or wherever, I close down and get extremely grouchy. I’m ready to go within a few minutes.

My son takes after my wife. He’s chaos, loves to be around people, both my wife and son are extroverts. My daughter takes after me; we’re introverts.

This summer at the park if there were a lot of people on the playground my daughter would tell me it was too crowded and she wanted to wait until some left. I had no problem with that, my son on the other hand. He was ready to play.

I found this list of 10 Myths about introverts (because obviously that is what I am) on Carl King’s website. The list is from the book “The Introvert Advantage” by Marti Laney. I never thought my personality ~~flaws~~ traits could be summed up in ten bullet points. But, here I am…

Myth #1 – Introverts don’t like to talk.
This is not true. Introverts just don’t talk unless they have something to say. They hate small talk. Get an introvert talking about something they are interested in, and they won’t shut up for days.

Myth #2 – Introverts are shy.
Shyness has nothing to do with being an Introvert. Introverts are not necessarily afraid of people. What they need is a reason to interact. They don’t interact for the sake of interacting. If you want to talk to an Introvert, just start talking. Don’t worry about being polite.

Myth #3 – Introverts are rude.
Introverts often don’t see a reason for beating around the bush with social pleasantries. They want everyone to just be real and honest. Unfortunately, this is not acceptable in most settings, so Introverts can feel a lot of pressure to fit in, which they find exhausting.

Myth #4 – Introverts don’t like people.
On the contrary, Introverts intensely value the few friends they have. They can count their close friends on one hand. If you are lucky enough for an introvert to consider you a friend, you probably have a loyal ally for life. Once you have earned their respect as being a person of substance, you’re in.

Myth #5 – Introverts don’t like to go out in public.
Nonsense. Introverts just don’t like to go out in public FOR AS LONG. They also like to avoid the complications that are involved in public activities. They take in data and experiences very quickly, and as a result, don’t need to be there for long to “get it.” They’re ready to go home, recharge, and process it all. In fact, recharging is absolutely crucial for Introverts.

Myth #6 – Introverts always want to be alone.
Introverts are perfectly comfortable with their own thoughts. They think a lot. They daydream. They like to have problems to work on, puzzles to solve. But they can also get incredibly lonely if they don’t have anyone to share their discoveries with. They crave an authentic and sincere connection with ONE PERSON at a time.

Myth #7 – Introverts are weird.
Introverts are often individualists. They don’t follow the crowd. They’d prefer to be valued for their novel ways of living. They think for themselves and because of that, they often challenge the norm. They don’t make most decisions based on what is popular or trendy.

Myth #8 – Introverts are aloof nerds.
Introverts are people who primarily look inward, paying close attention to their thoughts and emotions. It’s not that they are incapable of paying attention to what is going on around them, it’s just that their inner world is much more stimulating and rewarding to them.

Myth #9 – Introverts don’t know how to relax and have fun.
Introverts typically relax at home or in nature, not in busy public places. Introverts are not thrill seekers and adrenaline junkies. If there is too much talking and noise going on, they shut down. Their brains are too sensitive to the neurotransmitter called Dopamine. Introverts and Extroverts have different dominant neuro-pathways. Just look it up.

Myth #10 – Introverts can fix themselves and become Extroverts.
A world without Introverts would be a world with few scientists, musicians, artists, poets, filmmakers, doctors, mathematicians, writers, and philosophers. That being said, there are still plenty of techniques an Extrovert can learn in order to interact with Introverts. (Yes, I reversed these two terms on purpose to show you how biased our society is.) Introverts cannot “fix themselves” and deserve respect for their natural temperament and contributions to the human race. In fact, one study (Silverman, 1986) showed that the percentage of Introverts increases with IQ.

And there I am, all packaged up nice and neat.

Winnie The Pooh Movie: A "Wonderfully Delightful" Piece of Crap

2011-10-24T03:00:00.000-04:00

This is a review of the new “Winnie the Pooh” movie or as I like to call it “Winnie the Pooh, Pooh’s Grand Adventure part 2: The Same Old Shit Happens”.

I’ve seen reviews of this movie being promoted by moms that just “adore” this “wonderfully delightful” and “imaginative” movie. Of course let’s note that these moms have some sort of sponsorship deal with Disney. So, let’s be a little bit honest about it.

Let’s recap the 1997 Pooh movie, “Pooh’s Grand Adventure”; Christopher Robin leaves a note for Pooh on a pot of honey. Pooh wants to eat honey. Pooh can’t read the note. Pooh wants to eat honey. Pooh and the gang takes the note to Owl. Pooh wants to eat honey. Owl misreads the note and tells everyone that Christopher Robin is in danger. Pooh wants to eat honey. The Hundred Acre Wood posse sets out to rescue their friend from “skull”. Pooh wants to eat honey. Along the way each character finds their specific strength. Pooh wants to eat honey. Christopher Robins appears just when all hope seems to be lost of a rescue. Pooh wants to eat honey. Christopher Robin saves Pooh from a pit. Pooh eats honey.

Description of the new Pooh movie; Christopher Robin leaves a note for Pooh. Pooh wants to eat honey. Pooh can’t read the note. Pooh wants to eat honey. The gang takes the note to Owl. Pooh wants to eat honey. Owl misreads the note and tells everyone that Christopher Robin is in danger. Pooh wants to eat honey. The Hundred Acre Wood posse sets out to rescue their friend from the “backson”. Pooh wants to eat honey. Along the way each character finds their specific strength. Pooh wants to eat honey. Christopher Robin appears when all hope seems to be lost of a rescue. Pooh wants to eat honey. The gang escapes from a pit. Pooh eats honey. And oh yeah, they’re supposed to be finding Eyeore a new tail.

Disney promoted this as a movie about Eyeore and his tail. Because who wouldn't love to see a movie about a curmudgeonly, old jackass? However, the Eyeore story line is only the set up for the main story of Pooh and the gang getting lost…again.

Winnie the Pooh is only 60 minutes long. Thankfully, I took the kids to the dollar theatre to see this movie, because I would have been pissed to shell out twenty bucks for this rehashed crap of a movie.

Putting my disgust with the lack of imagination and originality of this movie aside; it is a great movie for your kids to watch. There are no guns or fighting. Instead, the movie encourages teamwork, motivation, conquering fears and developing stronger friendships and relationships.

This movie didn’t leave a great lasting impression on my kids. When their mother asked what they did today, they said, “We went to the theatre and we saw a big poster of The Green Lantern.”

I said, “What movie did we see?”

“Uhm……” They said.

Silent Sunday: Sunflower

2011-10-23T03:00:00.000-04:00

Creating Art

2011-10-17T15:43:00.002-04:00

I set up a small studio area in the dinning room and have started to paint again. It’s been great because the kids have been extremely interested in painting and art in general.

A few weeks ago I bought a pack of 5x7 canvas boards for the kids to paint on. Let’s say their style is surrealism meets abstract; Marcel Duchamp meets Jackson Pollock. I love watching them paint; their eye movements, the intense look upon their little faces, their careful selection of colors, the way they apply the paint. You can see their minds are at work. It’s fantastic.

A couple days ago my daughter was “creating art” (that’s what she calls it) at her easel while I was painting. We had music on and she started to draw with the music. Making long strokes when notes were held, short stokes for drum beats. It was cool. She was in her own little world.

I can’t express what it means to me that both of my kids are into art.

Visit the Jackson Pollock website. Especially if you have an ipad or some other tablet. You can paint like Jackson Pollock. If you’re on a computer move the cursor back and forth, if you’re on a tablet or smartphone move your finger across the screen and you will paint just like Pollock.

Move down the screen and you will be able to change colors while painting and apply different techniques. It’s really neat. The kids love it. I love it.

Jackson Pollock video

Here are a couple of paintings I was working on this weekend.

My daughter said about the painting to the left, “Oh, this is beautiful. You did a good job, Daddy.”

I say, “Thanks, Hon. How much do you think I can sell this one for?”

“At least thirteen dollars.” She says.

The painting to the right is still a work in progress. A few mistakes I want to cover up and then add finer details to finish it.

Seriously, check out the Jackson Pollock website!

Silent Sunday

2011-10-09T09:43:00.000-04:00

In case you don't know, I started a photoblog in August that I kept current for an entire week. Well, I'm moving that blog to this one, all seven photos. I'd like to continue to post more pictures here on this blog. I'd like to pick a day to post the pictures on but I'm not one to really blog on a schedule or even plan ahead blog posts. I write a post and publish. Anyway, with that said, I would like to start publishing the photos on Sunday, aka Silent Sunday (Silent Sunday is not an original idea. I got it from Imperfect Pages). We'll see what happens, but for now here are the seven photos I published on the other blog.

Lunchtime Conversation With My Kids: Barenaked Ladies, Dinosaurs and John Lennon

2011-10-06T12:49:00.000-04:00

This is a conversation I just had with my kids at lunch today.

We’re sitting at the table eating and listening to Barenaked Ladies Greatest Hits CD. The song “Be My Yoko Ono” came on. A minute or so into the song my four year old daughter asks,

“What is this song about?”

I said, “A Woman named Yoko Ono. She was married to John Lennon.”

Daughter asks, “Who’s John Lennon?”

“He was the singer of a band called The Beatles. He died a long, long time ago. And Yoko Ono was married to him”, I explained.

(beat)

Two year old son asks, “Did a dinosaur eat John Lennon?”

I laugh, “No, a dinosaur did not eat…”

Daughter says, “Was it a t-rex?”

“No, it wasn’t a t-rex. No dinosaur…”, interrupted again.

“What dinosaur ate him?” son asks.

I say, “Guys, no dinosaur ate him. It was not a dinosaur.”

(beat)

Daughter says, “You said he died a long, looong time ago. Was it really a little time ago? Dinosaurs lived a loooong, loooong time ago.”

“Yes, yes. It was a little time ago.” I say.

(beat)
(beat)
(beat)

“Did a lion eat him?” daughter asks.

I know defeat when I see it. I say with a heavy sigh, “Yes, a lion ate John Lennon.”

(beat)
(beat)
(beat)
(beat)

Daughter looks up and takes a big swallow of her food and asks, “Was it a boy or a girl lion?"

(facepalm)

Son asks, "What is this song about? Dinosaurs? Who's uku nunu?"

* In case you don’t know a beat is a method acting term for pause.

Link Award

2011-10-04T13:11:00.000-04:00

James at Luke, I Am Your Father passed along this Award to me. I haven’t felt compelled to take part in an Award meme in a long time. I am honored that James thought of me and included me in his list. It’s always nice to be recognized.
This meme allowed me to take a look back at all my old posts and give them some new link love. I was supposed to sort them by the following list. It was tough to choose some of these over others, but here they are.

Most Beautiful: A Sandbox Love Story
I wrote this one this past Summer about my son falling for a little girl at the park. My son is what made this post so beautiful.

Most Helpful: Room To Grow, Letting Her Be A Princesses
This one was most helpful to me. My wife and I worked so hard to make sure our daughter was not inundated with all the pink, princess stuff. But she gravitated towards that kind of thing anyway. This post helped me to let go, grow and allow my daughter to do the same.

Most Popular: Dear Facebook, It’s Over
This was a break up to letter to Facebook after Google+ come out. This is my most popular post that is not a review.

Most Controversial: The Socialist Breast
If I had a “most controversial” post I guess it might be this one.

Most Surprisingly Successful: Mom Is Better At…
This is the first post that really took off for me. (besides my
SAHD post) It was retweeted a lot by people that I didn’t interact with. It felt good.

Most Underrated: A Memory Of That Very Moment
Well, I think all of my post are underrated…just kidding. This was probably the toughest one for me to decide on. I have a lot of posts from the beginning that haven’t been read by very many people. I have a connection to quite a few of them, but this one is pretty good…maybe…I don’t know.

Most Prideworthy: Healthcare: Milla’s Story
This post was published as a guest post on another site. That site has since closed down and been revamped. I wanted this post to be here on Super Daddy for the personal nature. Also, as a reminder that I have a long way to go to make things right.

Now I have to pass this meme along to seven others. I really only have about 10 - 12 blogs that I try to keep up on and James’ blog is one of those. However, I was able to narrow it down to these seven. There are many great blogs out there, I just don’t have time to read them all. So sorry if I left you off this list. In no particular order…

Mommy This and That

R.J. Antley

Fox in the City

Martyr-hood

Thoughtful Pop

Where’s My Glow

Lick The Fridge

Healthcare: Milla's Story

2011-10-04T09:19:00.000-04:00

This is a guest post I wrote for Daddy Yo Dude Unfiltered. John, the author of Unfiltered, closed that site down last month. So I wanted to republish this post here because it is very personal to me and I need to reference to it for my next post.

　

Originally published October 2010 Life was grand summer of 2007. I had a wonderful family, a great job that afforded us to save money. Late August 2007 my wife and I decided to buy a house. We contacted a realtor and started looking at homes. Three days later the company I was working for filed bankruptcy. So, we stopped looking at homes and a good thing we did. Two weeks later they announced they were going out of business. January 2008 my company locked their doors. I didn’t file for unemployment because I though I’d have a job within a couple of weeks. A little over a month later I filed for unemployment. A couple months later I still didn’t have a job, so we decided to get Medicaid for our daughter. Here’s the story of the trouble we had getting my daughter proper healthcare treatment.

June 26th 2008 I purchased ground beef from Kroger.

July 10th 2008 we found out that there was a beef recall due to E. Coli for the beef I bought. Of course we had already eaten this beef.

July 12th 2008, Milla woke up sick, fever of 103 and above, and diarrhea. After a couple hours and a half dozen diaper changes we called the pediatrician’s office. I talked to a nurse and told her what the symptoms were. I also told her about the recalled beef. She told me it wasn’t E. Coli but a virus going around. The nurse didn’t want to make an appointment, she told me to call back in a couple days if my daughter wasn’t any better.

July 13th 2008, more of the same.

July 14th 2008, more of the same and Milla stops eating and drinking. We called the pediatricians office to make an appointment. I talked to another nurse. I told her all of the symptoms, how long it had been going on and I told her about the beef with E. Coli. Once again I was told it was not E. Coli and just a virus. No appointment made.

July 15th 2008, Milla is really sick. Diarrhea and throwing up. I called the pediatrician’s office again. I told this nurse the exact same thing, including about the E. Coli. She told me the same thing as the other two nurses. I told her I wanted Milla to be seen by a pediatrician today. She said “If you really want to.” We saw a familiar Pediatrician. Told her everything and yes about the beef. She said “no it’s not E. Coli. It’s a virus going around.” She did not do even one test and sent us home.

This same pediatrician saw Milla the year before for a fever and a runny nose. She ordered every test there possibly could be. I know this to be true because I have Milla’s medical records. There are three pages of tests from that visit.

July 16th 2008, Milla is really sick. She hasn’t had anything to eat or drink in two days. I called again and told the nurse the same things. Got an appointment. Different pediatrician. We told him everything…the same thing. Once again, not E. Coli, but a virus. I asked him when we should start getting concerned about Milla not eating. He said in a condescending tone, “Last Thursday. Come on, do you feel like eating when you’re sick?” Then he gave Milla a lollipop. She held it to her nose and smelled it. He said, “Oh she’s fine. If she hadn’t done that I’d be worried. So she’s not that dehydrated. She’s fine. Just give her fluids.” We said, “She’s not eating or drinking and when she has tried to drink she has thrown it up.”

“Well, if she throws it up, wait two hours and try again.” he says as he’s walking out of the room. Visit done…no tests…but at least Milla got a lollipop she wasn’t going to eat.

July 17th 2008, Milla can’t move. She’s not sleeping well. She can’t walk, she is so weak. We called back to the pediatrician’s office. I tell the nurse everything we’ve been going through…and the E. Coli. I told her I wanted a straight answer about when we should be getting concerned about Milla not eating. Because everyone has told us not to be concerned because she just doesn’t feel well. She told me if Milla didn’t eat breakfast in the morning to call back.

We took Milla to the ER at St. Joseph East that evening. This is where we met Dr. Anderson. He took us seriously and listened and immediately started running tests. He came back and told us Milla was severely dehydrated and she had kidney failure as a result of HUS (Hemolytic-Uremic Syndrome), a strand of E. Coli. He transferred Milla to UK Hospital. Milla went right to PICU (pediatric intensive care unit). Within minutes of Rebecca and I arriving at the hospital a DR. came out to talk to us. We were informed that Milla would not have lived through the night. Her kidneys were not the only organs failing. Her liver, spleen and pancreas were all starting to shut down. She went into surgery the next morning to have tubes for a catheter and tubes for kidney dialysis inserted in through her abdomen. She was unconscious for several days. When she woke up they had to strap her arms down so she wouldn’t yank the IVs out of her. Seeing my 19 month old daughter lying there with all of this happening…I was angry. How could this happen? Letting a baby suffer because her parents had the damn poor man’s insurance.

We found out the pediatricians decided not to do the E. coli tests because we were on Medicaid. It’s not that Medicaid told them not to run tests, they decided not to run them on their own. Medicaid has caps on how much they can be charged for tests and procedures. Apparently, the E. coli test is one of those. The pediatrician wasn’t going to be paid the full cost of the test so they decided not to perform this test, even though they still would have made money, just not the full price tag they wanted. We never had trouble with Medicaid, we had trouble getting pediatricians to do their jobs. There’s a stigma associated with Medicaid patients; they’re lazy, unemployed, uneducated people sponging off the government. Maybe a few are, but most have fallen on hard times and are doing the best they can to take care of their families.

When we had Blue Cross Blue Shields the pediatricians took their time with us. They sat, listened, took notes and acted concerned. They just couldn’t do enough for us. Then we show up with Medicaid and they rush us out the door and don’t want to do enough for us.

I’m in favor of healthcare reform. Physicians need to be held accountable for the treatment they perform for patients. They need to be paid on the basis of how well they do their jobs and treat their patients, not for the cost of a test they run on a patient. I can go on and on, but I will spare you my soapbox rant.

Milla was on dialysis for 8 days and was recovering nicely. She was finally moved from PICU to a regular room at 10 days. August 1st we got to bring her home.

My daughter’s scars will never let us forget.

I would like to thank everyone who helped us through that summer.

Also, thanks to Dr. Anderson at St. Joseph East
Thanks to UK hospital, Dr. Bernard and Dr. Chisti and all the nurses in PICU, Ashley, Tara and many more. Thank you!

For more information on E. Coli http://www.cdc.gov/nczved/dfbmd/disease_listing/stec_gi.html
For more information on HUS http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000510.htm

Troll Hunter Movie Review

2011-09-29T11:18:00.000-04:00

André Øvredal

Troll Hunter is a Norwegian mockumentary, written and directed by André Øvredal. What Øvredal has done is bring Norwegian folklore to the big screen in this fantastic indie film.

Otto Jespersen

Three college students trail a suspected bear hunter into the mountains one night to film him poaching bears. Instead, they learn he is a secret government Troll Hunter. Hans the Troll Hunter, played by Otto Jespersen, allows the three college filmmakers to follow him as he tracks and destroys the Trolls for the Government.

In order to protect everyone, Hans asks the three filmmakers if any of them are Christian. It seems the Trolls can smell the blood of a Christian. This is where Øvredal delves into centuries old Norwegian history and folklore.

Trolls have been apart of Norwegian folklore dating to the Viking age. In the mid 1800’s the stories and myths were collected and put in books. There were drawings of the Trolls, whom resembled humans more than monsters and beasts. Trolls wore clothing and talked, they were in fact nice Trolls. In these stories, Trolls and humans coexisted peacefully.

When Christianity came to Norway the churches, in order to make Christianity the dominate religion and to rid of all Pagan traditions, reinvented the Trolls as mean, ugly, cruel beasts that kill and eat humans. One particular change the churches told to scare people was that Trolls could smell the blood of a Christian. The Trolls said, “Fe Fi Fo Fum, I smell the blood of a Christian”. Sounds familiar, huh? This is where the “Fe Fi Fo Fum I smell the blood of an Englishman” comes from. There have been other variations of this as well.

Troll Hunter is a wonderful film. This movie has it all; comedy, horror, suspense, fantasy, mythology, folklore and is documentary-esque. The fact that it is in Norwegian and you have to read English subtitles does no deter from this film at all. However, if you are not a fan of reading subtitles and would like to see this film, do not worry, it is already slated for an American re-make.

Chris Columbus (director of two Harry Potter movies) purchased the rights to Troll Hunter from André Øvredal within a month of the films release.

According to deadline.com Columbus had this to say, “Troll Hunter was a visceral, thrilling, cinematic rock and roller coaster ride of a movie. Visually, there are scenes in this film that American audiences have never seen. We want to introduce an international audience to this amazing moviegoing experience,”

I fear the American re-make is going to be a horrible reflection on the original. Troll Hunter is Norse folklore. It needs to be set in Norway and in Norwegian. The American re-make is just going to be some dude hunting trolls in the woods. There is no context for Americans when it comes to trolls. Sure, we have read about the troll in “The Three Billy Goats Gruff” but we don’t have that connection with this type of folklore. Seeing this movie as a Norwegian film brings that folklore to life. Even though I had to read the subtitles, I felt the connection the actors had to this story. The actors, the set, the story is what make this movie great, is what gives this movie its magic.

Troll Hunter is out on DVD and Blueray, get it, watch it and enjoy!

http://www.trollhunterfilm.com/