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daily journal
My Dad, Ranse Stoddard As part of their 31 Days of Oscar, Turner Classic Movies will be airing The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance this evening. The film, directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart, is one of my particular favorites.  However, the film also appeals to me on another, more personal level. Growing up The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance was one of the movies I always remember my dad talking about. At least, it was one of the films that he was always trying to get me and my brother and sister to watch. He'd sing or hum a few bars of the song. Tell us about John Wayne's character or Jimmy Stewart's character, or the down-right evilness of Liberty Valance. He always seemed so passionate about the film. I could tell he really loved it. I don't remember if he ever got me to watch the film with him or if I came to the film myself years later out of curiosity. Regardless, after I watched the film, and every time I have watched it since (which is a lot), I can't help but see my dad in the character of Ranse Stoddard. Like Stoddard, my dad was/is a lawyer (he's currently a judge) who has always held the letter and spirit of the law in the highest regard. You don't solve your problems by hitting the other guy. You fight back by following and using the law of the civilized society in which we live. It doesn't matter how bad things may get, there is always a civil, rationale way to resolve the problems that descend upon us. When I see Stewart up there on the screen arguing with Wayne that he doesn't want to kill Valance, despite all of the horrible things Valance has done to him, but he wants to put him in jail; I see my dad. I don't know if The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance influenced my father to pursue a career in law. Not sure if he even knows. But I see the resemblance and influence, so watching the film is a little like understand the man behind my dad Labels: classic movies, Family posted by Brendan | 6:32 PM | permanent link
Maybe Next Christmas I know Heather loves the Snuggie she received as a gift this past Christmas, but I have to think she would have loved this even more. posted by Brendan | 2:30 PM | permanent link
New Computer  Ordered the new computer on Saturday. The new iMac could be here by the end of the week. Everyone in our house is very excited. posted by Brendan | 1:25 PM | permanent link
A Teacher's Dream Zoe is building up a reputation for being the sweetest person on the planet and a teacher's dream student.  She's no pollyanna - she will let you know when she doesn't like what's going on - but she has a pretty strong spirit. Heather has been substitute teaching a little more frequently at the kids' school this year, and subsequently is hanging around with some of the teachers more. Today, they got to talking about Zoe and one teacher offered up this to explain Zoe's demeanor in school: "You could tell Zoe to go sit on a tack and she would. And then she'd say, 'Isn't this fun!'"Yep, that sounds like Zoe. posted by Brendan | 1:18 PM | permanent link
Visiting My Dad My dad�s crazy hectic schedule for his campaign to win the primary election in DuPage County for one of the open Circuit Court Judge positions has not left him a lot of time to talk or visit with me or my family. The election is on February 2 � just a week away. He is in the homestretch. Every waking moment is given to shaking hands, smiling, and rallying enough support to win the election. So I thought we would do the next best thing and visit the giant head of my father currently on display alongside Ogden Avenue in Lisle, IL. Not quite the same as dinner at the old man�s house, but I thought it would be sufficient in a pinch.  We all thought Dad looks pretty good. He�s holding up surprisingly well considering the stress and strain of the campaign. And just like any other McKillip get together, we had to make time for group photos. Everyone spread a little closer together.  I know that compared to my Dad we all seem pretty small, so here�s a close-up of me and the kids:  Good times. posted by Brendan | 12:55 PM | permanent link
Stand Firm Against the Tide Ian will argue that "every other 10-year old had a cell phone, so why can't he have one." And Heather and I will counter with "not every 10-year old has a cell phone." Then I find this chart and start mentally working up a new counter-argument to use.  posted by Brendan | 4:48 PM | permanent link
How To Choose Which Cereal to Eat I don't eat cereal anymore. I stopped sometime back when I was in college. Found that I was hungry thirty minutes after eating a bowl of cereal, so I got to thinking eating cereal was a waste of time. Anyway, Heather and the kids eat plenty of cereal. We have got boxes of it everywhere. So while this decision chart might not be helpful for me, I think everyone else in my house could benefit from it.  [found] posted by Brendan | 11:30 AM | permanent link
My Son's Arsenal This Christmas my father granted Ian his long-standing wish to own the Nerf Vulcan.  The toy is essentially a rapid-fire chain gun that uses Nerf darts for ammo. It fires 3 darts a second. Frankly, it's awesome. After watching Ian lug this new weaponry around the house the last few days, when this comic popped up on Sheldon I had to laugh.  posted by Brendan | 6:04 PM | permanent link Happy Birthday Heather Today is my wife's birthday. It will be the 19th time I have celebrated her birthday, and I still never acknowledge her age. I only remind her that though we were born in the same year, she will always be younger than me.  Go wish her a happy. Labels: Family posted by Brendan | 9:49 AM | permanent link
Happy Birthday Declan! I hope you mom let you tear apart another birthday cake today.  posted by Brendan | 9:19 PM | permanent link
Projects With Emma I've recently enjoyed the opportunity to work on some creative projects with Emma. First up, while attending her cousin Declan's first birthday party at the DuPage Children's Museum, she and I built this fantastically massive castle out of blocks.  What I failed to capture in the photos I took of Emma's castle was the doorway Emma installed. It was tall and sweeping. I wish I had gotten a photo of it. More challenging for her and I was her Dinosaur Diorama that she had to make for school. In order to create her dinosaur scene, Emma decided that she wants to build her dinosaurs out of LEGOs. So she and I did a little research on the web to find some pictures to use as reference, and then we figured out how to piece together a bunch of her brother's LEGO to make a Tyrannosaurus Rex and some other dinosaur whose name I forget now.  (All the painting and decorating of the shoebox was done by Emma on her own. I had no hand in that.) I just hope that we haven't set the bar too high with our first school project collaboration. Labels: Family posted by Brendan | 10:47 PM | permanent link
Do You Like This Post: Yes or No? Emma has reached the age where writing notes and passing them along becomes a popular pastime. I don't date contemplate how much note writing goes on at school (I imagine a lot), but at home Heather and I receive our fair share of hastily scratched off notes from Emma. Usually they are short, with a brief "I love you" followed by a request to answer some question. Examples: "Dad, I love you. What do you have for lunch?" was slipped into my messenger bag one morning before I left for work. "Dad, thanks for driving. Can I pick the next show: Yes or No" was passed along to me while we were traveling back from Ohio last weekend. The notes are usually fun stuff and are always good for a smile. The best note I�ve seen so far was an epic (relatively) script that Emma produced and left for Heather right around Thanksgiving.  Not sure if Heather took the time to answer all of those questions. I�m also perplexed by the inclusion of the color question in amongst all of those questions about pets. But who am I to dissect the mind of a 7-year-old girl. I�d rather enjoy the notes for as long as she will write them for Heather and I. posted by Brendan | 1:07 PM | permanent link
I'm Getting Old I returned home late Monday night and found Ian was still up churning away on his homework. He had had basketball practice after school and more than his usual load of homework, consequentially he was up beyond his regular bedtime trying to finish up his school work. Ian is easily distracted, so sometimes it will take extraordinary efforts from Heather and me to keep him on task when there is a deadline involved. In Monday�s case, that deadline was trying to get him finished and into bed before 10 o�clock. He had wandered down into the kitchen and started asking a question about something that had no relevance to his homework, school, or sleeping � so I cut him off and planned on redirecting right back upstairs with a firm declaration that he was running out of time. I don't recall exactly what I said, but it was along the lines of, "That isn't important right now. You need to hunker down, get focused, and finish your homework so you can get to bed. It's already 9:30." Ian stopped dead and looked at me. "'Hunker down', what does that mean", he asked while giving me one of his more confused looks. "Hunker down? Who says that?" I dismissed his questions with a wave of my hand and sent him back upstairs to his room to (finally) finish. While he was climbing the stairs I started thinking myself. Where did I come up with 'hunker down'? I can't remember ever using that phrase before. Even if I had, it's not really that strange of phrase, is it? Why did Ian seem so confused by it? I've heard that phrase used for years. Then I suddenly felt old. It was like when my sister called me out for naturally and conversationally using one of our Dad's favorite phrases. Talking like your dad means you're turning into your dad, which means you're getting old. I don't care how cool you may think your dad is; he's always old. Talking like him is one of the first steps in getting old. Now with my little turn of a phrase, not only was I feeling old because I was obviously using the vernacular of old people but my son was recognizing my oldness and highlighting the generational gap in his confused face. I guess it's going to be all downhill from here on out. Jeepers, this sucks. posted by Brendan | 1:25 PM | permanent link
The Holidays Can Begin Our kringle order is on the way . . .   posted by Brendan | 9:24 AM | permanent link
De-cluttering Myths Gretchen Rubin tries to make the practice of de-cluttering your space easier with her "Eleven Myths of De-Cluttering" blog post. In our house, one of the big struggles in de-cluttering comes down to her fifth myth: 5. "I can�t get rid of anything that I might possibly need one day." How terrible would it be if you needed a glass jar and didn�t have one? Do you have gigantic stores of things like rubber bands or ketchup packets? How many coffee mugs does one family use?I want to throw everything out. Everyone else in our house always seem to come up with a reason why we should keep things. Labels: Family posted by Brendan | 11:28 AM | permanent link
Happy Birthday to Me  posted by Brendan | 12:11 PM | permanent link
The Great Talker Pretty much from the moment I met Heather I knew she was a talker. While I would be overwhelmed by it initially, I have grown comfortable with her gift for gab. In fact, I like to sometimes joke that she can carry the conversation for both of us. So it was only natural that our children might inherit Heather's talkative streak. Ian certainly has. He can � and will � talk your ear off on whatever book he�s just read or video game he�s played or cartoon he�s recently watched. He rivals his mother in his ability to fill up dead air with his ideas, observations, and questions. Emma tends to follow after me - the silent type. She can, like me, get on a roll from time to time and talk you up and down the room, but she tends to keep to herself most of the time. Though she may loosen up when she�s really comfortable. And then there's Zoe. Even though she is the youngest person in the house, she has already outpaced Heather and Ian in the ability to speak at length about everything without taking a break for air. She is a mini-marvel of gab. It wears me out just listening to her. I can't imagine having the energy to keep your jaw moving that much and still have the reserves to run around outside with friends, color 400 pieces of paper, write three songs, construct paper towel Halloween costumes for your stuffed animals, and recreate a small town out blocks and Littlest Pet Shop toys in the basement. It's no wonder that out of everyone in our house, she falls asleep the quickest and sleeps the longest. And that�s her in Kindergarten. What's going to happen when she's 15 and has ten times the amount of things to talk about? She might end up carrying the conversation for the whole family. posted by Brendan | 4:50 PM | permanent link
Who Doesn't Love Football in the Mud Time may have tampered with my memory, but the way I remember things is that when I was in third or fourth grade I asked my mom if I could play football and she was adamantly against it. Feared I would be crippled or blinded or victim to some other horrible physical tragedy. So I stuck with soccer and learned you could hit people almost as hard as in football, and you didn�t have any of those pads getting in the way. Anyway, because of my experiences as a child and my love of the game of football, I knew that if Ian (or Emma or Zoe for that matter) ever expressed an interest in playing organized football I would be 100% behind them.  So I was excited this past summer when Ian came to Heather and me to announce his plans on playing for his school�s football team. They have a 5th/6th grade team and a 7th/8th grade team which play against teams from other nearby Catholic grade schools.We signed him up, geared him up, and I�ve had a wonderful time watching him play out one of my unrealized childhood dreams. (The others childhood dreams being turning our house completely upside down so that the ceilings became the floors and my mom installing a fully functioning McDonald�s kitchen in our house from which she would prepare all meals in perfect McDonald�s fashion.) If this first football season wasn't enough to make me envious of Ian�s football career, last night � the last practice of the season before Saturday�s final game of the season � sealed the deal. It had been raining all day. Their practice fields were soaked and muddy. It was the last practice of the season. This is how he arrived home:  I don�t know if the kid knows how good he�s got it. posted by Brendan | 1:20 PM | permanent link
Multiple Readings When I was younger I would often read multiple books at a time. Sometimes it was out of necessity, like when I was in college majoring in English and taking multiple classes that dealt with studying novels I might be reading Vanity Fair, by William Thackeray, one of the novels by J.M. Coetzee, and All The Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy all at the same time. Other times it was because there was a book that I wanted to read for my own enjoyment while I was also reading school assigned books. Regardless of the reason for having multiple bookmarks nearby, I wouldn't actually be reading all of the books at the same time. I would be reading one for awhile, put it down. Pick up one of the other books, read that for a day. A sort of cycle through the books. Ian does the same thing. I see him with two or three books going at the same time. He leaves them in different rooms of the house so he always has something to read nearby. Recently, however, he taken this practice to the next level. He is now laying out 4 magazine in a 2x2 square on his floor and will read all 4 magazines at the same time. He works his way top to bottom, left to right, reading all pages in all four magazines, then turning the pages and repeating the process. If he's already reading multiple novels at one time and is figuring out how to read 4 magazines simultaneous at age 10, I have to think that by the time he's 20 he will be reading four book simultaneously. Labels: Family posted by Brendan | 10:08 PM | permanent link
We Never Did Rent That Film Again The Empire Magazine blog recently had a post about those movies that you shouldn�t watch with your parents. Writer Chris Hewitt presents some compelling arguments that there are movies that, whether it is because of the subject matter, the violence, or the sex, you just shouldn�t sit down with your parents in the same room to watch. At the end of the post Hewitt asks readers to submit their own suggestions for film experiences best not shared between parents and children, and I got to thinking about how I would answer. The first film that sprang to mind was The Name of the Rose, a Sean Connery / Christian Slater who-done-it set in the 14th century. Why?  My dad rented it for my brother and I to watch with him one weekend when we were probably middle-school/early high-school aged. I don�t remember much about the film accept for the scene that got my dad out of his seat like his pants were on fire.I don�t think my dad realized The Name of the Rose was a rated �R� film. He probably thought he was getting a mystery/thriller about monks in the middle ages starring James Bond. But when Christian Slater and the peasant girl started getting acquainted in a carnal fashion, my father discovered his oversight. He leapt over the coffee table to hit the fast-forward button on the VCR and frantically used his body to block my brother�s and my view of Slater and a young female engaged in - now - high-speed copulation. A few moments later we were back to monks and hair-shirts and my dad riding the VCR remote with an itchy trigger finger. When you compare this film with the others that get mention Hewitt�s post and the comments section The Name of the Rose is insanely tame, but for a few moments that night I don�t think my dad could have thought of worse film to be watching with his teenaged sons. And thinking about it always makes me laugh. posted by Brendan | 4:57 PM | permanent link
The Next Martin Scorsese? Or maybe John Lasseter? This past summer Ian took a class through the Park District that allowed him to learn a little about digital film making. This is the the end result of Ian and his partners' work in the class. posted by Brendan | 10:13 PM | permanent link
The Next 10 Begins Ian�s tenth birthday was yesterday, which means today Heather and I start on our second decade of being parents.  It�s been an interesting first 10 years of being parents. I think Heather and I have managed to navigate fairly well and without inflicting too much emotional damage on our children. (And I think if you asked, Ian, Emma, and Zoe they would agree with that statement.)The first ten years were about figuring out how to deal with new things like changing diapers, reduced sleep, and reduced privacy. It was about teaching your kids how to walk, talk, and being gracious when Grandpa gives you the exact same present for the third Christmas in a row. It was about learning how to live with kids. Ian broke us in, and things became easier with each subsequent child. The second ten are going to be about figuring out how to turn these kids into adults. That scares the crap out of me. What I see ahead is maturing bodies, more complex social situations, driving lessons, authority challenging, hormones, middle school, hormones, high school � did I mention hormones? Ten years from today I will have a 20 year-old son, a 16 year-old daughter days away from her 17th birthday, and a 15 year-old daughter. I never liked teenagers when I was one. How am I going to handle having a house full of them? Labels: Family posted by Brendan | 4:55 PM | permanent link
5 Things I Think It's a special Family Vacation edition of "5 Things I Think" Last week Heather and I loaded the kids into our van and drove over 1,200 miles to Port Canaveral, FL so we could board the Disney Wonder for a 5-day cruise with her family. When we were done with the cruise, we drove back � stopping one day in Chattanooga, TN. 5 Things I Thought About the Drive There and Back Again Although, the ads for these "spas" did break up the monotony of seeing another Cracker Barrel billboard.  Florida has the stupidest tollway system. They have a turnpike you pay to enter as opposed to exit. They also have a tollway that doesn't appear to have any logic to where toll booths are placed or the amount charged. Then they have two different E-ZPass type systems � one for the turnpike and one for the tollway � and nether is compatible with the E-ZPass system being used by 13 other States.I hate Florida's roads. It made me want to take a driving trip out to the Smoky Mountains 5 Things I Thought About the Disney Cruise I couldn't figure out how they didn't pass out from heat exhaustion. And yet the danced and sang and kept a huge Disney smile the entire time. Maybe they're heavily drugged.  The Trio � best dessert idea ever. Every night at dinner there would be a number of dessert options to choose from. The one I noticed the first night, and then enjoyed on subsequent nights, was the Trio. It was a sampling of three of the desserts all on one plate.Why have to lock yourself into choosing just one tasty treat when you could enjoy three. Labels: 5 Things I Think, Family posted by Brendan | 4:34 PM | permanent link
Loose Teeth Update A quick update to yesterday's post: "Emma Has Two Loose Teeth" She now has two missing teeth.  Heather has all the details. Labels: Family posted by Brendan | 4:55 PM | permanent link
My Mom is Sixteen Now my mother is actually sixty years old, but I am beginning to believe that she might actually only be 16 - more specifically, a 16 year-old babysitter. Case in point. My mother came over Friday night to watch our kids while Heather and I went out for dinner to celebrate our anniversary. My mom did the typical grandma/mom/mother-in-law things:
Sounds like a teenaged babysitter to me. But maybe that�s the price we pay for getting free babysitting. If Heather and I had employed a real teenager to watch the kids we probably would have dealt with the same and also had to give them money at the end of the night. posted by Brendan | 12:35 PM | permanent link Pure Evil It's been a while since we took a swing at the legal profession. Here's a nice one from today's Last Kiss.  posted by Brendan | 9:27 AM | permanent link
Emma Has Two Loose Teeth And she can make one of them really wiggle. This video was produced with special love for her Grandpa McKillip - who always enjoys seeing crazy stuff like this. posted by Brendan | 8:51 PM | permanent link
Anniversaries Never Were What They Used to Be Today is Heather's and my fourteenth wedding anniversary. My opinion has always been that a wedding anniversary is really only for the two people who got hitched. It isn't a date or an event I expect anyone else to celebrate, let alone remember. However, as our children grow older and become more aware of Heather and my relationship with each other, it is amusing to see how they respond to things like our wedding anniversary. For instance, yesterday night at dinner our approaching anniversary had been mentioned or referenced in some context. So it was part of the conversation.  At one point Zoe throws up her arms and declares, "I'm excited that tomorrow is Mom's and Dad's anniversary! It's going to be great!" in as sweet and honest a way as only a 5-year-old girl can pull off.When she didn�t see her brother and sister follow with like enthusiastic remarks, a slightly embarrassed expression spread across her face. With her head slightly lowered, she sheepishly asked Heather, �What do you do on anniversaries.� I thought it was great that Zoe was so excited for our anniversary. I imagine she thought it was going to be a big occasion like a birthday or some other celebration - possibly there would be cake or presents. I felt a little bad for her when he idea of what her Mom�s and Dad�s wedding anniversary was so quickly dispelled at dinner last night, but I guess it was better to manage her expectations then instead of disappointing her today when there isn't a table full of food or presents and all sorts of revelry. Labels: Family posted by Brendan | 4:08 PM | permanent link
Not Sure If I Should Be Concerned About This Ian has discovered Wikipedia, which means he has begun to mine the depths of . . . err. . . information available at this colossal online encyclopedia. What has he learned so far? That there are pages upon pages of entries in Wikipedia dedicated to video games. So now he is not only able to dazzle Heather and I with his collection of arcane trivia related to the video games that he owns and actually plays, but he can also educate us on the obscure bits of trivia surrounding the video games of the 80s and early 90s that he's never even seen. The boy's ability to absorb, retain, and recall information never ends to amaze me. Sometimes I hate the Internet. Labels: Family posted by Brendan | 10:15 PM | permanent link
Glimpse of the Future Will this be Ian and I in 20 years? BEDFORD, Ohio � An Ohio man who argued with his grown son over a messy bedroom said he overreacted when he called 911. Andrew Mizsak called authorities Thursday after his 28-year-old son � who's a school board member in the Cleveland suburb of Bedford � threw a plate of food across the kitchen table and made a fist at him when told to clean his room.Probably not. I always follow through on my threats. Ian would have ended up spending the night in the clink if he threw a plate of food at me. (And for the record let it be known that I didn't go for the obvious impact legal prosecution for throwing plates of food over arguments concerning dirty bedrooms has on the political aspirations of a grown man living in his parent's basement joke.) posted by Brendan | 5:10 PM | permanent link
Hey! I Know That Guy I was reading through Chicagoist and saw a post about a young child being left in a car that was towed. Chicagoist ran an excerpt from the AP story and I recognized a name in it. Luckily it wasn't the parent's who left their kid in their car. Rather it was the police spokesman, Daniel O'Brien. He's my cousin. CHICAGO (AP) -- A Chicago mother who left her two-year-old son in a car and a tow truck driver who towed the vehicle away have been arrested.This news mention of my cousin got me to thinking. I know he's in the Chicago police news affairs department. I wonder how many other stories he's gotten mentioned in that I missed. So I searched Google. Looks like he's getting a fair amount of print space for himself as a police spokesman. That's it. Just thought it was cool running across my cousin like that. posted by Brendan | 9:55 PM | permanent link
I'm a Godfather I was honored when my sister asked me a few months back to be godfather to her first son, Declan. I�ve seen the sort of special relationships that my own children have developed with some of their godparents and I know how my Dad has tried to remain closely involved in his own godchildren�s lives � not to mention my own relationship with my own godmother who just might be the most fantastic godmother/aunt/person ever. Being a godparent is such a unique opportunity. I really hope to make the most of it. The baptism took place yesterday at a church near my Mom�s house. Unlike any baptism I�ve been to over the last ten years, which are usually huge group baptism of a dozen children or more, Declan had the ceremony all to himself. This was great for everyone who attended, especially the great-grandparents from both sides of the family. With it only be us in the chapel, I would have thought photo taking would have been a snap. Unfortunately, that didn�t seem to be the case. Take for example this photo that my Aunt Kathy emailed out to us this morning.  It clearly shows baby Declan at the moment of baptism, the water being poured over his head while his godmother holds him over the baptismal font. You can see my sister (Declan�s mom) clearly in the background. Now this is where the photo composition goes all screwy. Not only is Declan�s Dad�s head cut off, but I don�t even make it into the picture. Luckily, there was another photo emailed out today that captured me at the moment Declan was being baptized  Patrick, your plane tickets to Vegas and a ride to the airport will be arriving later today. Oh yeah, I�m going to enjoy this godfather role. Labels: Family posted by Brendan | 1:13 PM | permanent link
Memories of Medieval Times Our trip last week to Medieval Times was everything that I expected, and some things that I didn't. To be sure, the show of battling knights was as cheesy as I remember from the last time I went nearly twenty years ago, but it also remained equally as much fun - especially with Ian, Emma, and Zoe there. They had a blast watching the show, eating their meal with the hands, and partaking in the pre-show activities. With everything that went on, my two favorite moments don't have anything directly to do with the spectacle of Medieval Times. My dad, Heather and the kids drove up separately while I met my sister, brother-in-law, brother, and friend in downtown Chicago. Thanks to after work traffic, ur trip out of the city took forever; so Heather, Dad, and the kids enjoyed the pre-show activities without us. Dad snapped these photos of the Ian, Emma, and Zoe while they were waiting to go into the arena.
The photos were captured using my Dad's iPhone, so they're not the highest quality, but I think they are fantastic. The grainy photos capture my kids being themselves - not hamming it up for the camera or holding a pose forced upon them. They look natural and real - like my kids. Maybe it was because I wasn't there to enjoy that part of the Medieval Times experience with them, and these photos give me a glimpse at what was going on, but I'm glad my Dad sent me those photos. The other memory I am walking away from our trip to Medieval Times is seeing Zoe honesty become smitten with a boy. For the show we sat in the Green Knight's section. The Green Knight was the "bad" knight, the one who wanted to fight everyone and was overall a nasty guy. When he spoke during the show he always used a angry, menacing voice. After the show all the knights come out and sit on thrones for the audience to come up and snap photos, talk to them, and in general act goofy. We were all milling about trying to get a closer look at the Green Knight and the others when Heather suggested to Ian, Emma and Zoe that they might want to get the Green Knight's autograph. Ian and Emma begged off the suggestion, but Zoe thought it was a perfect idea. She immediately turned and started making her way through the crowd to get herself up in front of the Green Knight. Once she had his attention, she stepped right up and asked for the autograph - which he graciously provided. A short time later, while we were all still talking, I noticed that Zoe had wandered back close to where the knights were all sitting. The crowd around the knights had thinned out, so Zoe had found a spot on a bench where she could sit and stare directly at the Green Knight without any obstacles. She sat with her Green Knight autograph firmly in hand while staring intently at the man who had signed it for here. She hardly ever took her eyes off him. As I went over and sat down next to her, she turned to me and said, "I know what the Green Knight's voice is really like. He was talking mean during the show. But now I know what his voice is really like." She then turned and went back staring at the Green Knight. I put my arm around her and gave her a hug. She never stopped staring. It was even difficult to get her to leave, she kept wanting to turn around and look back at the Green Knight. I don't know what it was that captured her fancy, but the girl was smitten with the Green Knight. It sure was cute to see when she is only 5 years-old, but I imagine my reaction my be entirely different ten years from now. posted by Brendan | 9:51 PM | permanent link
Heather Would Smash My Potatoes Remember last week when I brought up the Pearls Before Swine comic and poked fun at how I might handle a similar situation. Well the wife kidnapping storyline came to its conclusion today, and I imagine it would end in similar fashion for me.  Pearls Before Swine has become my favorite strip being published currently. It is well written, well drawn, focused in its approach, and displays an overall creative energy that is lacking in many current comic strips. Labels: comic strips, Family, Fun posted by Brendan | 4:54 PM | permanent link
Hey. It's a Joke If Heather ever happened to be kidnapped - not that I want that to happen, but let's just pretend for a moment that it did - I can imagine there being a scene at our house not unlike what occurred in today's Pearl Before Swine.  And that's only because I like messin' with my kids' heads. Labels: comic strips, Family, Fun posted by Brendan | 10:24 PM | permanent link
5 Things I Think And if none of them are named McKillip, why don't they explain the origin of the name on their website? I'm curious. That�s just not right. Aaaaah!  Trop50, the 50% less sugar orange juice "beverage" from Tropicana, may be the worst tasting liquid I have ever ingested that wasn�t intended for medicinal purposes.I'm not sure if I'll be able to forgive Heather for bringing that into our house. I think she received this sorry excuse for a drink for free from the store. Who is this product for? The sugar and calories from your orange juice isn't going to kill you. Cut the sugar and calories out from someplace else. Ugh. My tongue hurts just thinking about Trop50. Starting this May, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will be screening each of the 10 Best Picture nominees from 1939 to celebrate the 70th anniversary of what is probably Hollywood�s greatest year. Ten great pieces of film making, plus animated shorts from 1939 and chapters of Universal�s Buck Rogers serial from that year as well, all up on the big screen. And the series ticket is only $25 � that�s $2.50 per movie! That would be a fantastic ten weeks. But then I realize that�s only one reason for being in California and I can always come up with five or ten reasons to stay in the Midwest. Labels: 5 Things I Think, Chicago, classic movies, Family, oddities, Rant posted by Brendan | 1:08 PM | permanent link
Evap-or-what? I was always a good student in school, so I delivered my assignment to Emma on Thursday as she requested. If you recall, she had surprised me with a question Sunday night, "Can you dry out water," and then gave me three days to consider my answer.  Following her instructions, I wrote my answer down ("Yes, you can dry out water"), sealed it in an envelope, and handed it to her.She excitedly ripped the envelope open and pulled out the slip of paper. She read my answer aloud before charging up to me declaring that I had gotten the answer correct. Then I learned the inspiration for Emma's puzzle for me. A little over a week ago her class had put some water into a small class cup. The cup was set in the window of their classroom in a spot that would get the most sunlight. Thursday the class had checked the cup and learned that much of the water was now gone. It had "dried up." Emma asked me how I came up with my answer, particularly if I had put a glass of water out by a window for a few days. I told her that I didn�t put any glass of water out; I just thought about the problem for a few days and wrote down my answer. I think I impressed her with my keen scientific reasoning abilities. Heather asked Emma some questions about the water evaporating. Emma's response was along the lines of "What's evap-or-what?" So the classroom experiment might not have been the resounding success that the teacher may have hoped for, but at least I know Emma had some fun learned some basic scientific concepts � even if she can't remember all the terms. When Zoe saw all the attention Emma and here question for Dad had generated, she decided to try and jump into the action. "Daddy," she said, "I�m going to ask you a question and I want you to write it on piece of paper and put it in an envelope and give it to me. Okay?" "Sure, Zoe, what�s the question?" "Can you dry out a balloon?" I don�t know how I�m going answer that one. posted by Brendan | 1:17 PM | permanent link
I've Been Given an Assigment While helping my oldest daughter, Emma, with her bath this evening, she presented me with a problem to solve. Or maybe it's a riddle. I haven't quite figured that part out yet."Dad," she instructed, "I'm going to ask you a question and I don't want you to answer it now. I want you to wait and think about it." I've learned that when you 5 and 6-year old daughters start delivering orders, it's best to sit and listen attentively. No use trying to fight it. They have instructions that they are intent on presenting, and no force on earth will stop them in their mission. I sat back and listened attentively. "Before dinner on Thursday", she continued, "I want you to write your answer down on a slip of paper and hand it to me. That's when I will tell you if you are right or wrong." "Are you ready?" My mind scrambled as I tried to anticipate what sort of question a 6-year old girl would pose to their father that they would want him to take four days to figure out the answer to. Was she going to ask for a pony for her birthday? Was she going to suggest selling her sister so we would have enough money to buy a pony for her birthday? Was she going to ask me about Santa Claus? But these guesses, and many others, were wrong. My assignment: "Can you dry out water?" Seems straight-forward enough, but judging from the gleam in her little eyes I suspect she's plotting a twist to the answer this Thursday. So now I have to figure out how I'm going to play her game. posted by Brendan | 8:14 PM | permanent link
Country. Why'd it Have to be Country? I love my wife. Love her bunches. I love her enough that I�m not bothered by her conservative political views or misplaced devotion to reality TV programs.  I�ve learned to take in stride her rabid support for the Ohio State Buckeyes and her unique organization habits.I can even overlook that she mispronounces the work �insurance� and �strawberry� (She puts the emPHASis on the wrong sylLABle) But recently she has taken up an activity that I�m not sure if our love can overcome. She has declared herself a county music fan. Now, there isn�t anything wrong with country music. All forms of music are art and certainly can be appreciated. However, I have yet to be able to comprehend how anyone can listen to more than two country music songs in a row and not go a little batty in the brain. All those twangy voices and steel guitars, it gets to be so, so . . . country after a while. And every song is a little story about how a guy met a girl, or woman killed her husband, or something cute and wacky that kids say. Ugh.  Again, I�m not saying there�s anything wrong with country music. After all, country music does have the highest per capita number of attractive female singers of any music genre. But unfortunately there are no pictures on radio. So I�m still left with the music. Is it me, or is tuning into a country music radio station feel like listening to a series of Ford Truck commercials being played back to back to back.And now Heather is becoming a fan. The radio in our van is being left on US-99, Chicago�s (only) country music radio station. The stereo in the family room is set to US-99. She�s even using the last of an iTunes gift card she received lately to bolster up her country music collection. Obviously I can�t change her, but right now I don�t know how I will live with a country music spinning wife. This could be the biggest challenge to our marriage since the 2006 Fiesta Bowl. posted by Brendan | 8:40 AM | permanent link
5 Things I Think I love seeing these quality direct-to-DVD animated movies from DC comics, but this rash of new releases has got me thinking. When Warner Brothers Animation announced this deal back 2006, one of the three original projects was Teen Titans: The Judas Contract. The other two project were produced (Superman/Doomsday and The Final Frontier), but still no Judas Contract. The Judas Contract is one of the all-time great DC Comics stories. What happened to that project? It looks like everyone is reading/linking/sharing it, and for good reason � he makes some interesting and insightful observations. We are in the middle of a media delivery revolution on scale with the invention of the movable type printing press and no one really knows how this digital revolution will ultimately impact the newspapers. How else do you explain the need for Chicago Tribune movie critic Michael Phillips to write a commentary arguing why parents shouldn�t take their children to see the Watchmen. Just because a movie has a guy dressed up in a goofy custom swinging from buildings doesn�t mean it�s exactly kid-friendly.  It�s so small that I think young kids will easily lose it, plus the controls are now contained in a tiny little touch bar on the headphone cord. Instead of the uber-intuitive touch-wheel, Shuffle users have to adapt to the morse code-like tappings to control the music. Plus, Apple dropped all the cool colors that the second generation iPod Shuffle came in. Those colors were one of the things that Ian and Emma thought were do great about the Shuffle. Labels: 5 Things I Think, Animation, Apple, DC, Family, food, iPod, News posted by Brendan | 6:13 PM | permanent link
Open Letter to My Mom Mom, I know my kids love you and you love my kids. That makes me happy. It also makes me happy to know that you want to share your love of music with them. I think that's great. But if you ever take them to a music program again where they are handing out cheap plastic kazoos for the kids to bring home, I may have to disown you. Love, Your Son posted by Brendan | 11:04 PM | permanent link
Two Angry Camels in a Car Sometimes driving with my kids in the car feels like this: posted by Brendan | 10:20 PM | permanent link
Cheeks Received the birth announcement last week for my newest nephew, Declan. I took one look at the photo and thought, "That kid is all cheeks."  Labels: Family, photography posted by Brendan | 10:33 PM | permanent link
Pirates in Chicago  There�s always something interesting to see at Chicago Field Museum of Natural History, but for the next eight months there will be something especially interesting � booty.Pirate booty, that is. Between this Friday and late October, The Field Museum will be showcasing the National Geographic's exhibit "Real Pirates: The Untold Story of the Whydah from Slave Ship to Pirate Ship". The exhibit is intended to shed light on how pirates operating along the Caribbean trade routes during the 18th century lived, and uses the salvaged remains from The Whydah, a pirate ship found buried under 30 feet of sand with almost all of its items intact, to help with that education. The clothing, weapons, tools, and yes � treasure, found on The Whydah make up the majority of the exhibit. There is even a life-sized, partial recreation of The Whydah that visitors can board and walk around on.  Taking in "Real Pirates" at the Field Museum sounds like great fun to me, and I think some other people in my house would agree with that opinion. I don't think it would take much effort to organize an expedition downtown to visit the museum and these pirates. Sure, this exhibit might not have caught my attention as much if Johnny Depp hadn't recently swaggered through two enjoyable (and a tiring third) pirate movies, but now seeing those movies makes it even more fun to visit the museum and see this exhibit. Now I can learn how closely the Pirates of the Caribbean movies reflect real pirate life. I can figure out where they stretched the facts and where they are on point. A little geeky maybe � but can you really be considered geeky when you�re talking pirates?I don�t think so. I don't think there's anything geeky about pirates. So I see a trip to the Field Museum in our future. posted by Brendan | 5:54 PM | permanent link
Am I Too Busy Chasing Zebras? Today's Pearls Before Swine made me feel like a bad dad.  I hope I'm not spending too much time worrying about the zebras I'm not killing. Labels: comic strips, Family posted by Brendan | 10:44 PM | permanent link
His Name Ain't "Sometimes Cookie Monster"  My initial reaction to reading Sunday�s installment of Sheldon was, "No, he must have some of his information wrong. No way they would do that to Cookie Monster."But a brief scan through Cookie Monster�s Wikipedia entry backs Sheldon�s statement up � at least the part about Cookie Monster promoting healthy eating. He still eats cookies, but now they are a "sometimes food." I always take whatever I read on Wikipedia with a healthy dose of skepticism, but there are enough outside citations to confirm the fact that Cookie Monster has indeed abandoned his pro-cookie agenda. This startling revelation makes the Cookie Monster DVD Zoe brought home from the library this past week so much more fun - and important - to watch. The DVD collects classic sketches starring Cookie Monster at his anarchy-producing best; before he became a soul-less tool of the establishment forced into teaching children the sort of responsibility and moderation they should be getting from their parents. I would hate for Zoe to grow up thinking Cookie Monster thought cookies are a "sometimes food." Labels: comic strips, Family, Fun, Rant posted by Brendan | 10:30 AM | permanent link
Watched Iron Man Finally watched Iron Man this past Friday and thought it was fantastic. A great action flick and a well crafted film.  However, what impressed me the most about the film was it's ability to tell a entertaining story in a make-believe world convincingly. So convincingly, in fact, that Iron Man won over someone expecting not to like the film.My brother-in-law had given me the film for Christmas, but I hadn't found time to sit down and watch it. As January was quickly winding down, I became more antsy to put the DVD in for a proper viewing. So with nothing planned for Friday night, I asked Heather if she wanted to watch the movie with me. "Okay," she said, "but you won't be upset if I get up and leave if I don't like it, will you?" I told her I would not be upset - I was going to watch Iron Man that night regardless of her interest. We started up the movie. When she stuck around to see how Tony would escape the rebels in Afghanistan, I thought she may be hooked. When she would only look away, but not leave the room, when Pepper helped Tony replace the device in his chest that kept the shrapnel away from his heart, I figured she was on her way to enjoying the movie. When she was laughing at the antics of one of Tony's robots I knew she was hooked. Two hours later she was sheepishly admitting to me that she had enjoyed Iron Man. Iron Man might not have as much armored fighting action as a comic book loving fan like myself would have liked seeing, but it hits the right balance between action, story, and character. That's what will make this film a great movie to watch over and over. Labels: Family, iron man, movies posted by Brendan | 1:14 PM | permanent link
Time-Lapse of a 9-month-old at Play Elizabeth and Patrick, this is just around the corner. posted by Brendan | 8:54 AM | permanent link
Kevin, I Have a Project For You Your nephew Declan needs a pair of Mii Mittens.  Get to work. posted by Brendan | 8:29 AM | permanent link
I Love Me My NCAA Football �09 for the Wii Every Christmas Santa leaves a family gift at our house. Usually these gifts are board game or something of the like, that we can all enjoy together. This past Christmas, Santa, in his infinite wisdom, left us two Wii games - Disney Princess: Enchanted Journey and NCAA Football �09 � understanding how difficult it would be to pick one game that the entire family would get excited about.  (It also helped that Santa found one of these games as a heavily discounted used version.)I�ve helped Zoe a bit with navigating the worlds of Disney Princess and had fun, but in my opinion Santa is my favorite pal for life because he left us NCAA Football. Besides having a blast playing games as team mascots (which really can be a lot of fun if you pick the right mascots), I�m currently building my college football dynasty as the coach of Notre Dame. In one season I�ve taken the Fighting Irish from an unranked team to #5 in the BCS standings and have the nation�s #1 overall defense. My opponent�s average rushing yards against us is a negative number. On offense, my running game can�t be stopped and our passing attack is gain confidence. We are a beast, and my recruiting class looks strong. After closing out the regular season with an upset of #2 USC, I won Coach of the Year honors and will playing #9 Tennessee in the Fiesta Bowl. I�ve read the comments and reviews that have been written about NCAA Football �09 for the Wii, and they�re not too nice. Most of the reviewers don�t like the graphics, they don�t like the controls, they spit on the All-Play feature which allows anyone to play the game regardless of gaming skill level. Basically, the bulk of the reviewers don�t seem to like the fact that EA Sports tried to re-imagine NCAA Football for the Wii and the Wii�s main demographic � casual video game players and families. The Wii version of NCAA Football is clearly not for serious gamers. Good thing I�m not a serious gamer. The graphics might be more cartoony than on the Xbox and the controls might be simplified from what you get on the Playstation, but I don�t care. I�m having fun building and running my team and Ian and I can play each other regardless of game skill level. posted by Brendan | 12:33 PM | permanent link
Mein Bruder  I always wondered what my brother would sound like if he spoke fluent German.Or Italian Or Russian Or . . . hell, go see him speak in bunch of different languages. Then watch the original English version. The video size and resolution is much better. posted by Brendan | 4:38 PM | permanent link
Send In The Nuns Heather usually helps the kids with their homework after school, but last week I was home sick for a couple of days and was called into duty. Emma � who is in first grade � was learning about the concept of a �parish� within the context of the Catholic Church as part of her class� religious education. She had a worksheet where she was instructed to use the letters in the word parish to describe many of the things a parish does for the community - Church and otherwise. By the time Emma came to me for help, she had answers written down for �P�, �A�, and �R�. She was stuck on what she could write about a parish that began with the letter �I�. I thought for a moment. �Oh,� I said, �you could write down �Inquisition.� That starts with �I�. Do you know what an inquisition is?� Heather overheard my suggestion, made a counter-suggestion (something about inviting others to join or something like that), and my time helping with homework came to a quick end. posted by Brendan | 1:29 PM | permanent link
Leaving the Kids Alone While reading through the glutton of inaugural news coverage, I stumbled upon this short passage in an article about a kids inaugural ball that was thrown on behalf of Malia (10) and Sasha (7) Obama and Vice-President Biden�s grandchildren. The concert was headlined by Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers. Malia stopped dancing after it appeared she noticed onlookers snapping pictures of her with their cell phones, but she quickly rejoined the fun after some coaxing from 10-year-old Finnegan Biden.I know a lot of people are excited about having a young family � especially one with young children � in the White House for the next four years. Nothing personifies hope and optimize for the future quite like children. However, I can�t help but feel for Sasha and particularly Malia because they will be hitting those awkward tween years while their dad is in office. It�s difficult enough as it is growing up in a regular middle-class family. I can�t imagine how Malia and Sasha will be able to enjoy the simple types of fun other kids their age enjoy while being the President�s kids. Maybe being the protective father to three children close in age to the Maila and Sasha influences my feeling on the matter, but things like seeing Malia snapping photos with her digital camera at Sunday�s inaugural concert on HBO or reading that passage about Malia becoming self-conscious while enjoying herself at another concert highlights those concerns for me. Hopefully President Obama and Michelle will be able to carve out some level of normalcy for their children and the gawking press and public give the girls the distance they need to just be the kids that they are. posted by Brendan | 4:24 PM | permanent link
Bumper Given our history and my routine of waking up so much earlier than everyone else in the house five days a week, I always suspected that if it happened at home I would be the one to learn the news first. And that�s exactly what happened this morning. There on the couch, laying in almost a natural fashion, was our cat, Bumper, dead. She had died during the night while sleeping in her favorite spot our family room couch.  It�s not that it was a surprise to me � Bumper had been sick for over a year. We came close to having her euthanized Her time with us wasn�t long after the diagnosis � a day or two. And by quietly dying in her sleep at night she provided Heather the release of having to decide/discern when Bumper�s suffering had reached a point that euthanasia would be appropriate and needed. The last thing Heather or I wanted was for our cat of 14 years to be suffering needlessly. Small blessing, I guess. Bumper has been our children�s first and only pet to this point, so we will see what sort of impact her death has on them. They all knew that she was very sick � even before the cancer diagnosis � but I�m not sure how ready they were for her to actually die. And I�m not sure how they will respond to losing their first pet. I expect Emma to take Bumper�s death the hardest. She may have talked as freely about getting a dog after Bumper died as one would talk about getting pink shoes after your black ones wear out, but she loved Bumper nearly as much as Heather. I guess I will wait and see. Heather speaks loving of Bumper in a post she published this morning. Go read it. As for me? Well, Bumper and I had a sort of falling out these last few years. Too much time living together I think. But she was still one of the nicest, friendliest cats I�ve ever known. What I will miss is not having anyone to talk to when I�m all alone in the house. She was always a good listener. And I will always have this memory. Labels: Family posted by Brendan | 1:07 PM | permanent link |
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