toddler vocabulary

As Bekah and I are working hard to improve Christian's vocabulary. We are particularly proud of phrases like "I'm thuggin'," "OK, sounds like a plan" and "what did Christian do???" He is one of the few three year olds that I know of that actually uses the word "actually" in proper context. As an example, while in Seattle, my sister-in-law told Christian to "look at the birds" - to which Christian replied "actually, those are seagulls." (We're also working hard on animal recognition)

As his vocabulary grows, there are a few phrases we would like him to stop using. Like referring to Psuchen as "the dang dog" (my fault). Or, when being scolded for wrong doing, telling us "don't say that."

But there are always new (and bigger) words to learn. Tonight, as he stared down the 64 ounce Costco sized container of animal crackers, Christian asked "I want all of them, Mama."

"You can have three," Bekah said, "but you can not have all of them."

"Why?" he asked.

"Because," my turn. "That would be called gluttony."

God forgive me if my son grows up thinking that gluttony is what happens if you eat all of the animal crackers.

obvious advertising

I saw this sign while walking throught the Silver Lake Mall last night:

Spend More

Get More

Really!?! You mean I have to spend more to get more? I thought I would get less stuff if I spent more. Boy was I wrong.

thank you G4TV for making me feel old

As I attempted to fill out my entry to win one of the Xbox 360s that G4TV was giving away last night, G4TV.com gave me one error as I submitted my entry form.

"Your birthday is incomprehensible."

Hello Master Chief, goodbye Nic

Halo 3 comes out at midnight tonight. If I disappear for the next week, you know where I am.

TrekEarth

I've posted a few photos to TrekEarth.com, and for a long time, no one would leave comments or feedback on my pictures. That a bit depressing - but understandable considering I'm only an amateur photographer and many of TrekEarth's members consider themselves to be professional.



Then, yesterday morning, I got a wonderful surprise - my first comment. And it was a positive comment. Figures the picture that received the first comment was a picture of an out house - but I'll take what I can get.



Click HERE to see more of my work on TrekEarth. And thanks for reading.

Thank you Larry Craig

Airport travel has become increasingly awkward since the Larry Craig scandal began dominating news headlines. As I sat in a stall in the Denver airport, between Concourse A and baggage check, I began wondering about the guy in the stall next to me.

What would I do if the guy started tapping his foot? Do I have a wide stance? Should I move my feet closer together? What if shuffling my feet closer together was misconstrued as a bit of my own toe tapping? What if the guy next door was an under-cover officer? What if the guy was Senator Craig?

Aaaaarghhh!

Using the restroom has never been this stressful before.

how not to be a conservationist

Most airlines provide in flight reading material: brand specific magazines chocked full of advertising, travel tips, and destination focused articles. Every time I fly I bring a book or two to read. Yet, as soon as I am seated, I can’t resist digging through the pocket on the back of the seat in front of me to see what treasures I can find.

The magazine provided on my Horizon flight to Denver covered the explosive growth and development in the west Puget Sound area, a locale I spent much time exploring as a youth. The development along the Bremerton waterfront looks exciting, and I can’t wait to see it. The changes in Bremerton will be a must see destination the next time I am in Seattle.

Changes on Bainbridge Island were also covered in Horizon’s in flight magazine. There is a new conservation park on Bainbridge Island; it looks like a great place to observe native flora and fauna. And there’s a restaurant at the park – everybody likes restaurants! What makes this conservationist restaurant so cool is after you are done eating, they place all of your uneaten food on a scale to see (by weight) how much food you wasted…

WHAT?!?

Are they encouraging gluttony? I thought they were conservationists! By telling customers how much their wasted food weighs, the restaurant sounds like a parent lecturing a child about starving children in Africa because the child did not finish their broccoli at dinner. And wouldn’t they want to send the leftovers with you in a to-go box so that the extra food would not go to waste? Once the food is scraped onto the scale, there is no way I would want to take home the leftovers. It’s as if wasted food is destroying our environment. Don’t they realize that food is biodegradable? What kind of conservationists are they?

tidbits

What was Tuesday's biggest news story? The sales rivalry between Kanye West and 50 Cent, or the 6th anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks? How sad is it that I even need to ask that question?

I would like to thank Denver's channel 2 news broadcast for their coverage of Britney's VMA performance. That was three minutes of my life that I will never be able to gain back.

p.s. go Kanye.

Odd

If you've ever read Dante's Inferno, you might find my results to this quiz interesting.

The Dante's Inferno Test has sent you to Purgatory!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:

Level	Score
Purgatory (Repenting Believers)	Extreme
Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers)	High
Level 2 (Lustful)	Low
Level 3 (Gluttonous)	Moderate
Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious)	Moderate
Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy)	Moderate
Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics)	Very Low
Level 7 (Violent)	Moderate
Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers)	Moderate
Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous)	Very Low

Take the Dante's" Inferno Hell Test

overheard

Little girl: What did you want to be when you grew up?

Older man (presumably father): A couch potato.

Older woman (presumably mother): That's what they call laziness.

My non sequitur son

I have come to appreciate the fact that toddlers can be some of the most random creatures to walk this planet. However, Christian occasionally says something completely absurd that catches me off guard.

I asked him several times this morning is he was hungry or wanted breakfast. Each time he said "no."

Bekah suggested that he would want breakfast if I took him to McDonald's. So, she asked, "Christian, do you want to go to McDonald's?"

"No," he replied as he looked through an Elmo coloring book, "I can't. The dinosaurs."

I sometimes wonder how a three year old's brain works.

when bad is better than what was

If your situation is improved because something goes wrong, should that be discouraging or relieving?

Since the bad is better, one must assume that what was was horrible. And one might be discouraged that things were so bad in the first place.

However, one must also find encouragement that progress is being made. And while the situation is not yet good, is is better.

If an improvement is bad, could it be considered good? And yet we hope for the best.

If bad improvements are still bad, what kind of comfort can we find? Is it a compromise or an extension of grace when we see good in the bad?

Apples to Apples

Apparently, in a game of word association, my wife thinks charging rhinos are melodramatic.

Thanks for a wonderful month

The month of August has been challenging – both personally and professionally. However, life in the blogosphere has been outstanding. You, my readers, have given Rants, Raves, and Random Thoughts its best month ever, this last December was the record holder. This month’s page views completely (695) blew away December’s total (567) earlier this week, as did most of my other stats. I ended the month with 146 unique visitors, 415 visits, and 695 page views. Now I realize the numbers of visits and page views I’ve received greatly pales in comparison to some bigger and better blogs. And I realize that most of my readers are family and close friends. But, considering I only do this part time – I’m ecstatic. All I can say is thanks for reading. I truly appreciate it.




Moving on… er… I mean looking back. Remember my post about flowers? Well I had no idea what any of them were, and I posted the pics in hopes that someone could identify what each flower was called. Most of you were able to sniff out the rose, but the rest remained a mystery. They would still be unknown to me if it wasn’t for Alice Rankin of Alice’s Garden Spot. She identified most of the flowers for me. According to Alice, the picture’s identities are as follows: top picture could be a petite day lily (she’s not sure), 2nd picture is a Stargazer Oriental Lily, 3rd picture is (as everyone knows) a Pink Rose, 4th picture is an Echinacea (Coneflower), and the 5th picture is a Canna. Thank you, Alice. The plant in the final picture remains nameless.

Also, I must thank you all for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers this week. I took a couple of days off from work. My wife went shopping, and her sister came up to visit from Boise. We’re all doing better. Speaking of Bekah’s sister – she is in town this weekend. We’ll be hanging out with her for the next couple of days, so don’t expect any more postings here or on HBO until she leaves.

Again, thank you for making August a superb month.

PS: Tell all your friends about me

scandalous

Why is it, the politicians who most ardently oppose gay rights end up involved with gay sex scandals?

First was Spokane Mayor Jim West. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, google the phrase "mayor jim west." Nine out of the first ten search results cover (or at least mention) West's scandal. Not just geek bloggers out to out the former mayor but (mostly) credible sources like the Spokesman Review, Seattle PI, Seattle Times, CBS News, MSNBC, and PBS's Frontline. What made the West scandal so enthralling was his noticeably anti-gay agenda.

Now we have Senator Larry Craig. Vocally against gay rights. Rumored to be gay. Involved in gay scandal. Becomes nation wide news story overnight. He has become the object of political cartoon mockery, the voters in Idaho want him to resign, the Republicans deny ever knowing him, the Democrats just point and laugh, the gay community cry "not him, anyone but him," while simple folk like me think not again.

Who's next?