Drew is six years old and has been taking piano for just seven weeks. Here he is playing two songs during practice today.

After the jump the Vimeo version of the same video. (I've switched from showing the YouTube version after the jump because Vimeo now requires viewers to go to their site to see the HD version of a video which I think is annoying and, so, their demotion to the second page.)

Tonight, I cooked steaks out on the grill. They looked so good I had to snap a picture. They tasted even better! My mouth is watering as I write this just remembering how good they were. I've explained before how much a good stake means to me...here's to you Spiv.

Drew had his very first piano lesson today. We think we found a really good teacher. Drew is excited about playing and very serious about practicing. It is so wonderful to hear him playing and since I'm writing about this after-the-fact, I can say how surprising it is that he is progressing so fast. Hopefully he'll have fond memories of learning to play.

The musical notes in the photograph are not photoshoped. They are the result of some Christmas lights hanging in the background and a note shaped filter which creates the bokeh effect of the same shape. I used the same technique with a star shaped filter in my New Year's Eve photos of the boys.

Tonight Mary made the most incredible potato soup...I had three bowls! It looked so good I grabbed the camera and Mary said that if she knew I was going to take a picture she would have garnished it nicer. How about that! The photo, which looks pretty appetizing to me, is just her plain old, put together an ordinary meal, style. It's good being married to someone who can cook! I hope the boys...when they grow out of their macaroni and cheese, chicken nuggets and cheese pizza phase...will appreciate what a great cook they have for a mother.

We celebrated New Year's Day by going sledding...in our front yard. When i shoveled the snow on our driveway after our Christmas Eve snow storm, I put all the snow in one place building up a nice pile several feet high.

Since it has been so cold lately the pile of snow remained and today we made great use of it as the boys sled down our man-made hill (with a little help from Daddy getting them started at the top).

As you can see, Will and Drew had a great time sledding!

Afterward, Mama made hot chocolate for a perfect start to the new year.

Tulsa was blessed with a white Christmas this year as a winter storm delivered about 6 inches of snow Christmas Eve with some parts of the state receiving as much as 14 inches. The roads were so bad we put off going to Ma and Pa's for Christmas until today. We got everyone dressed and all of our gifts packed up and we were all ready to go and I opened the garage door only to be greeted by this.

A half-hour of shoveling later, we were ready to go. Growing up in Chicago I learned to loathe shoveling snow. Today was a fun reminder that my feelings haven't changed.

Drew helped me put up Christmas lights. I've got to say for a just-turned-six-year-old, he was an amazing helper! He was able to unwind and detangle lights, unscrew burned out bulbs, find and screw in replacement bulbs and manage cords while I hung the lights up high. Drew is all about safety, as shown in the photo, he is insistent on always holding the ladder for me (or the chair when I'm changing ceiling lights inside the house). Drew really made this holiday chore a whole lot easier and fun too. I look forward to the future, when my three helpers will take on the task with me.

Drew was at school when our new piano was delivered so Will had first crack at breaking it in. Despite being the wild one of the two, our full-of-energy three year-old Will surprised us all by sitting down at the piano and gently stroking the keys in the most amazing manner.

We don't know if its from watching other people play or what, but it's totally out of character for the little guy. We weren't thinking about starting Will out with lessons for another year or so, but if his demeanor in front of the ivory continues, we just might have to get him started sooner.

While looking for some Thanksgiving pictures, Steve Chavez came upon DanzFamily.com and was inspired by the American Flag which waves proudly at the top of the page. After exchanging emails and directing him to the original iStockPhoto.com photo, he created the image above. Well done Steve!

Because we didn't have enough going on today with the Tulsa Run this morning and Halloween this evening, we made our annual trip to Pumpkin Town in between.

Will, Landon and Drew took a moment to pose with the fall scenery before heading out to enjoy the various activities. Landon saw it as an opportunity to catch up on some sleep.

After pulling each other around, Will and Drew enjoyed a wagon ride together.

Will and Drew shared the title of King of the World atop a hay bale stack. More after the jump...

Will and Drew warmed up on some wooden horses before taking on the real thing.

Will and Drew riding the ponies.

One of the most looked-forward to activities is always the inflatable slide. There was no problem for anyone climbing up this year.

Apparently, we've gown tired of sliding down the "normal" way as Drew and Will quickly experimented with alternate methods of descent. Drew was more methodical in trying out variations of forward and backward while Will brazenly thew himself randomly down the slide with little regard for the consequences. Will described his sideways tumbling method, caught here, as "crazy!"

Mama had the idea to take some artsy photos of the boys' feet.

She wasn't completely satisfied with how they came out.

But, have you ever tried to corral a five year-old, a thee year-old and a six month-old for a staged photo? I think she did a great job!

For some some reason unknowable to adults, today was Put-Together-Every-Puzzle Day and in honor of the occasion, Drew, Will and Landon proceeded to get out and put together every puzzle we own.

It's never too early to learn to pray with everyone at dinner time.

I recently cleaned out my clothes closet for the first time in a long, long, time.

In addition to some nice suits, miscellaneous shirts, shorts and pants, I had a few dress shirts that "shrunk" at the cleaners over the years.

A self-portrait taken yesterday at the baptism reception with my better half in the blurry background.

Tonight Daddy made dinner for everyone and took the opportunity to teach a little about eggs.

Everyone learned about the differences between hard boiled, sunny side up, over easy (over rough in this case) and scrambled. After tasting each, the boys decided they liked scrambled the best.

Mama and Daddy each got one of Daddy's special omelets.

Drew lost his second tooth tonight.

You can clearly see where it fell out and the two adult teeth that will take it and its neighbor's place.

When Mary was in the hospital after having Landon, she saw a recipe on the Today Show for baby back pork ribs that looked and sounded good. Tonight she made them and they were out of this world! The flavor was indescribable and the meat literally just fell off the bone. In the picture it looks like the ribs were cut in a few places, but that's just where it broke apart on its own from being moved slightly!

And, the left-over sauce makes the world's greatest sloppy joes that can only be described as gourmet!

Last Friday, Mary was admitted to the hospital directly from her doctor's office where she went to see if anything could be done about her high fever which she still had since prior to her ER visit Sunday. While in the hospital, Mary was unresponsive to the intravenous antibiotics they gave her including a powerful new one (which really burned when it was put in her IV) developed just a few years ago in response to the growing problem of drug resistant bacteria. Mary's white blood cell count continued to rise to alarming levels and if it hadn't finally started trending down Wednesday morning the doctors were going to take drastic action. Fortunately, despite none of the antibiotics working, Mary's infection seemed to have finally worked its course. She hadn't had a fever since Tuesday, her white cell count finally came down Wednesday and further today, and she was able to tolerate her new oral antibiotic.

Mary's still not feeling 100% but her four boys are all very glad that she is finally back home after her twelve days of fever and seven day spa hospital stay.

Mary's had a 102/103 degree fever since Friday along with an unrelenting and excruciating headache. Her OB/GYN, over the phone, thought it might be mastitis and prescribed an antibiotic on Friday. By Sunday, the antibiotic, along with Tylenol, had done nothing for either her fever or headache. With Mary's fever at 103 Sunday evening, her doctor told her to go to the emergency room. We dropped Drew and Will off at Ma and Pa's and Mary, Landon and I trekked off to St. John.

The emergency room physician was stumped by Mary's condition which we now learned included a super fast heart rate. Mary had a couple of symptoms of several ailments but, at the same time, was missing key symptoms for each possible diagnosis. The primary concern was encephalitis, swelling of the brain. So, it was time for tests: CAT scan for her head, chest x-ray, full blood work up, urine analysis, flu test and a lumbar puncture. The results came back negative for encephalitis but showed positive for a massive infection the origin of which was unknown.

During all this Mary and her uncooperative veins were being, as usual, uncooperative. The nurse couldn't get a line in and even the IV specialist they called in couldn't get one going. Finally, the doctor himself had to put a line in Mary's neck...but, of course, not until after unsuccessfully trying on one side before putting it in the other side. So, in addition to everything else, Mary was stuck twice in each arm and both sides of her neck...fun!

Mary was given an intravenous antibiotic, a steroid and a strong pain reliever which was finally able to knock down the headache she had had for three days. Sometime after 3:00 am, we were finally able to go home with a prescription for a different oral antibiotic. As of tonight, Mary's a little better, but still not well. Her headache is controllable with Tylenol but her fever and other symptoms are still present.

Needless to say, yesterday was not a Mother's Day to be remembered.

Exactly two weeks after he first noticed something poking him in his mouth, Drew lost his first tooth. It came out at dinner when he took a sip of milk. Under the pillow it will go in hope that the Tooth Fairy will exchange it for some serious coin. What is the going rate these days?

Drew and I went on a long walk today, just under 3 miles according to the Google Maps Pedometer, all around the local community college finishing up at the local school's playground.

We saw some friendly geese at the community college.

Despite being tired from our long walk, Drew had plenty of energy to enjoy some time playing at his future school's playground.

Lots of sliding and climbing finished out our day before we headed home for a wonderful dinner.

Tonight the four of us went to see Sesame Street Live (for the third time) featuring "Elmo's Green Thumb." Elmo raised his sunflower friend, Sunny, since he was a seed and now he has out grown his pot so Elmo was looking for the perfect place to plant him. Along the way, Abby Cadabby cast a spell to make Sunny grow but it had the opposite effect and made everyone small (a concept no doubt lost on many of the younger kid). Eventually, Abby remembers the right spell (which Drew figured out) and everyone is made big again and Sunny is planted in the perfect spot.

Elmo and his friends planting Sunny in the perfect spot.

I love Oscar...he's such a grouch. Along those lines, while obviously the show was very professionally done, Mary and I both thought it was lacking when compared to previous years excellent offerings: 2008's "When Elmo Grows Up" and 2006's "Super Grover Ready for Action!"

Drew and Will during intermission. Will came dressed for the show sporting his favorite Sesame Street character...Elmo!

Is that the world's greatest iPhone home screen or what? Thanks to Drew and Will, my (our) iPhone has finally filled with the maximum 9 pages of applications. The applications very roughly break down into the following pages: default applications, search and news, reference and music, utilities and 5 and 1/2 pages of games which appeal from toddlers to children to adults. I will now have to cull through the games with Drew's assistance to see what can be deleted to make room for new ones. After the jump, a screen shot of each page for posterity.

Page one, mostly default applications, slightly rearranged, and a DanzFamily.com icon in the lower right.

Page two, SplashID one of, if not the best, secure personal information storage programs along with search and news applications.

Page three, reference and music applications. The various music applications are really amazing and I wish I had more time to enjoy them. As it is, I probably listen to AOL Radio the most to hear WBBM News Radio out of Chicago. They haven't changed their sound in decades and hearing them makes me feel like I'm still connected to Chicago.

Page four, some utilities including various dice applications that have replaced real dice in some games we play. The spinner on the Chutes and Ladders game I played as a child has seen better days and so we always use the iPhone instead. For some other games, it's just easier for Will to roll virtual dice than to toss a real one across a table.

Page five, Drew is a tic-tac-toe and checkers master. Even Will is starting to get the hang of tic-tac-toe, although he prefers the one on page seven.

Page six, I play PBJTime when I make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the boys, Crazy Mouth was an early favorite of Will, Trace is a fun game for the older crowd while Bolt is true to the movie.

Page seven, Morocco is Othello, DinoWar is the classic kids card game War that somehow just isn't as fun as slapping down a real card and picking up your wins, and DizzyBee is well enjoyed by both boys,

Page eight, some silly games for Will and other time wasters.

Page nine, awesome idea but too difficult in reality JellyCar, my current favorite LightBike which is a brilliant implementation of Tron and the last application LED Message I will post about sometime in the near future.

This is the straight and tall snowman we built yesterday. Does he look a little depressed, like he's lost his reason to live. Possibly so. Click "Continue reading" to see what happens to an Oklahoma springtime snowman who is keenly aware of what the future has in store for him.

By dinner time yesterday, we noticed our proud snowman was in need of some serious chiropractic adjustment. He had lost an eye and his nose. The future did not bode well for Mr. Snowman.

I stood watch over Mr. Snowman expecting to document his overnight demise. But, he held in there fighting against the inevitable result of poor construction, leaning just a little bit more between late-night and middle-of-the-night.

Morning brought the tragic news of the loss of all facial features and a list that would have overtaken any other snowman of weaker constitution. Mr. Snowman's nose lays tragically at his feet.

Early afternoon, just a day old, and Mr. Snowman was defying gravity being held up only by divine intervention. A few short hours later and Mr. Snowman's head and torso would separate from his lower body...the pictures are too gruesome for this family site.

[Update:]

Saturday it snowed and Snowman was born. Sunday came and Snowman died. Monday this was all that was left of him. Such is the life of an Oklahoma Spring Snowman.

I've never been able to decide on just one avatar or personal icon. Different places on the web, I use different avatars.

This is an avatar that a friend who is a professional artist created. I really like it, except i don't think it looks like me. What do you think, is there a resemblance?

This one I use a lot, in several places on the web. It's my avatar with the most forum posts associated with it. With a third kid on the way, I think I've outgrown the format, not to mention that I've moved on from the Palm Pilot (officially Tungsten T) to an Apple iPhone.

I just recently made this animated avatar from a movie I took of me flicking my favorite bobblehead. I frequently use my initials as my username, which is the reason for the DWD. I really like this one.

A Simpsons avatar I made which I hope I don't look like.

A South Park avatar I made which I really hope I don't look like.

These are two avatars I created sometime back but never used and found in a folder when looking for icons for this post. This one is me take from a family photo from 1971.

This avatar is taken from my favorite photo of my grandfather and me on his farm with with both of us wearing matching overalls.

Finally, I use this avatar in a number of places including Blogger, Facebook, TypeKey, etc.

Tonight the four of us went to the University of Tulsa College of Law, Alumni Association, annual Chilifest Cookoff. My co-worker, chef Tony, is a multiple past winner and was favored to win again but the judges took pity on the other contestants and let them take home some hardware for a change. In other words, we were robbed! Drew and Will made out better than our team, behaving like angels and taking home pockets full of trinkets and finding a surprising assortment of non-chili food items to stuff themselves with: ice cream, brownies, cookies, chocolate covered marshmallows, lollipops and probably some other stuff I've forgotten.

I haven't gotten the official total but there seemed to be about 35 or so teams competing in the Chilifest Cookoff.

There were a number of student teams competing including several representing various conservative and liberal student groups. Can you guess whether it was the Republican law student group or the Democrat law student that was giving out free copies of the United States Constitution at their table? Hint: it was the group which actually cares about and respects the Constitution and not the group which considers the Constitution an impediment to the implementation of their dream of a government controlled socialist utopia.

Our team was the Beverly Chili Billies:

~ To the tune of the Beverly Hillbillies theme song ~

Come and getcha a taste of Bodacious Chili
Made by the cook of the Beverly Chili Billies
His recipe is full of surprises
With tons of peppers and exotic spices

Hot it is, tasty, Bodacious Chili

Next thing you know you'll be grabbing for your beer
And steam will be a comin' out your ear
ACAC is the place ya oughta be
To sample our Bodacious Chili

Chilifest - 2009
Chili, beer and lots of fun

The Beverly Chili Billies!!!

Have you ever tried to make a Model-T-esque jalopy (actually a 1921 Oldsmobile) out of construction paper and aluminum foil?

I missed last year's cookoff because I was in Chicago. We cleaned up the 2008 competition winning Best Traditional Chili and Best Overall Chili with our Pirates of the Chilibean entry.

I did a much better post explaining the logistics of the competition in 2006, when we won the Tournament of Champions.

Just some pictures taken with my iphone on a partly cloudy day.

The pictures don't really do justice to how beautiful the clouds were reflecting off the building highlighted in a rich blue background. Either that, or I just appreciate when I can escape outside to go next door for a sandwich.

Of course, I couldn't pass up a flag shot.

All four of us are sick. After a week of the boys both being sick, Mama took them to the doctor today and they are both on three medicines. Hopefully, with the assistance of modern medicine, lots of fluids and the rest that the weekend brings we'll all be feeling better.

Not nearly as bad as the record breaking December 2007 ice storm, Tulsa was hit yesterday with a quarter to half inch of ice across the city.

Mary captured these cool photos showing how the ice collected on just the underside of the leaves of our holly bush.

It doesn't take feet of snow to shut this town down, just a thin coating of ice and it's panic city. Check out the links below for memories of "The Big One."

2007 Tulsa Ice Storm Blog Posts:
Dec. 10, 2007: Tulsa Ice Storm and Power Outage
Dec. 12, 2007: Tulsa Ice Storm - Pictures Update
Dec. 13, 2007: Keeping Busy & Warm

Momma made a dozen soccer ball cupcakes, with some helpful hints from Aunt Donelda, for Drew to take to school to celebrate his birthday. Drew's teacher said the cupcakes were the class's favorite snack this year. It was the only snack that every student ate completely. Afterward, Drew said the cupcakes were dee-licious!

Drew's pre-K class and his first ever field trip! All eleven classmates are in the picture...and one little extra tyke, Will.

I think they are learning here that the tree is sad because it's never gotten the opportunity to become someone's home, or furniture for people to sit on or eat off of, or a fence to keep trespassers away, or a big strong utility pole so people can have lights and air conditioning, or...for a lucky few...a chance to hit one out of the park from home plate. Perhaps someday Mr. Tree will get to be something really wonderful and no longer be just an unharvested renewable crop.

On our last trip to Goltry to clean out my Grandmother's house, we finally found the last of my grandfather's firearms, his 1966 Remington 1100, 12 gauge semi-auto shotgun.

First introduced in 1963, the Remington 1100 shotgun is still in production today and is the best selling semi-automatic shotgun in American history. The Remington Society of America has a great history of Remington Model 1100 Autoloading Shotguns.

I took the shotgun to a trusted gunsmith who detail stripped it, replaced the o-rings and the trigger spring, lubed everything and reassembled it. It's in great shape. No rust or excessive wear, but the gunsmith said it was no safe-queen. Grandpa had used it a good amount.

I put 100+ rounds through it without incident. The recoil isn't bad, but the 1966 stock has no recoil pad. By the end of the day, I'm not too proud to admit, my virgin shoulder was sore!

The most prominent story I remember involving the shotgun was when my Grandfather's rooster attacked my father. Grandpa thought that was the funniest thing, the city boy being attacked by a little old rooster. It wasn't too long after, the rooster attacked my Grandfather. That wasn't funny. Grandpa walked to the back porch, got his shotgun, took aim, and put an end to the rooster.

Previously, we played what was essentially beginner "What is it?" Now, it's time for the advanced version. Same set up as before, while cleaning out our parents home, my sister came across the item below. We have no idea what it is, nor do we even remember it. Since, we've never seen it, it's probably 30-40 years old and maybe older. It likely came from overseas, but your guess as to exactly where is as good as ours. China?

It's about 2 1/2 feet tall and made entirely of wood. It is far too fragile to be any kind of cane-like steadying device.

It has a two inch deep hole, which would fit a dowel rod or cigarette (but probably not a cigar), in the back of its throat. Given the shape of the top of the mouth, my best guess is that it was designed to hold incense. However, the ashes would not drop into the base, which would make it a very large, poorly designed, incense holder. I don't really think it's an incense holder, but that's all I can think of.

The off-center base. There are no tell-tale markings or anything anywhere which would give an obvious clue as to its origin or function.

Anyone have any ideas?

[Update: possible/probable answer in the comments.]

On one of our trips this summer to the clean out my grandmother's home in Goltry, we finally found my grandfather's handgun. It's a 1953 Star Second Model F Series .22 long rifle caliber.

Star Bonifacio Echeverria, S.A., went bankrupt in 1997. However, a terrific website about Star Firearms is maintained by an individual which is an excellent resource about Star firearms. From the website, I learned the pistol is a Second Model F Series manufactured in 1953 as indicated by the marking in the right-middle above, as well as the meaning of the other proof marks on the pistol.

I took the pistol to a trusted gunsmith who did a detailed disassembly, cleaned, lubed and test fired it. When I picked it up, he even politely offered to purchase the gun but, of course, it's not for sale at any price. I took it to a range and it shoots like a dream. My grandfather and I never got to shoot together, but holding and firing his handgun, it's almost like he's there with me.

Mary and I went to see Phantom of the Opera Sunday evening at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center. We saw Phantom when it first came to Tulsa in 1996 which neither us can believe was twelve years ago. It seems much more recent. As it was before, the performance was incredible. I'm by no means an "opera person" but it doesn't take the ability to tell Puccini from Spontini to appreciate Phantom.

Last time we sat much farther back, while this time we were in fourth row seats which allowed a phenomenal close up view of the performers and sets. We both tried to find things that were different between the two performances, but it was very difficult. A subsequent review of the programs showed there was very little difference to be found, but Mary believes the way the performers worked their way down to the subterranean level was different.

My only, admittedly personal and uneducated, criticism was that the actor playing the Phantom in 1996 (Thomas James O'Leary - IMDB) made the character more sympathetic and tragic than the actor playing the Phantom this time around (Richard Todd Adams). Through some combination of sitting closer, different performers and seeing it for the second time, the Phantom character seemed more angry, bitter and less sympathetic this time around. But, still, no less enjoyable. I wouldn't mind catching it again in another dozen years.

My favorite food of my mother's growing up was her Imperial Chicken which we called cornflake chicken. Our best memory is that she said she got it from a military wives' cookbook but it may have been an Amoco wives' cookbook or maybe even a commercial cookbook. It's simple and easy to make and tastes great!

Ingredients:

• 6 large to 10 small pieces of chicken, with or without skins
• 1/4 stick room temperature butter or margarine
• 1 cup Kellogg's Corn Flakes, crumbled fine
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/8 cup parsley flakes, crumbled
• 3/4 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon, or less, pepper

Click "Continue reading" for step by step preparation instructions.

Crumple the corn flakes in a medium sized mixing bowl. My mom used to crumple the corn flakes by hand but you can use a potato masher. It's best if you don't grind them into dust however. I may have over-ground them a little this time around. Mix all of the dry ingredients being sure to also crumple the parsley flakes.

Let the chicken and butter/margarine come to room temperature and pat the chicken dry.

When my sister and I were kids, my mom always made corn flake chicken using legs and thighs with their skins on. Sometime, after we had grown up, we all became more health conscious and started using skinless/boneless breasts. The recipe will work either way to make delicious chicken.

Coat the chicken all over with butter and then all over with the corn flake mixture.

Put the chicken in a large baking pan, lightly sprayed with cooking oil. We used glass here but my mom always used an oven broiler pan. Don't overlap the chicken in the pan. Sprinkle any remaining mixture over the chicken.

Cook in the center of a preheated oven at 325 degrees F. for 1 hour.

Enjoy!

I flew up to Chicago for the weekend again. Worked on cleaning out my parents home and saw the Police in concert. More on the latter later this week. I love looking at the different cloud formations when I fly. There's just something about looking down at clouds, it seems like there is a greater variety up in the sky than from out usual vantage point here on terra ferma.

Saturday evening Mary and I went to the Petroleum Club for the wedding reception of a friend of Mary's she knows through Kappa Delta. Normally, I'm not a big fan of people running off to some exotic location to get married and then inviting friends to a hometown reception later but, in this instance, it totally made sense. J. Anna and Michael met in Cancun, Mexico, eight years ago and that is where they recently got married. Additionally, he is from New York and she is from Tulsa, so either city would have been difficult for one group of friends or the other to attend.

The reception was beautiful with everything you'd expect at a wedding reception. Additionally, they had a photo booth where guests could get their photos taken. It was a great addition and a hit with young and old alike. After the jump, see a more natural set of poses of Mary and me.

We're clearing out my parents' house (mostly Aunt Donelda is clearing it out) and we came across these two items. (Ignore the USB drive, I just threw it in for a size comparison.) The first item appears to be some type of handle. Maybe something would be attached to the end, except for the fact that there is no indication of any wear anywhere on it. It looks like the end could be used to push something, while the middle portion could hook something.

The second item, has what clearly appears to be finger grips on one side and a full length rectangular opening, half way deep, on the other side. We have no clue what either of the items are. Also, there was no evidence they are in any way related or go together.

Anyone have any ideas?

Tonight we all went to see Sesame Street Live - When Elmo Grows Up. In the show, Big Bird helps Prairie Dawn to put on a pageant about growing up.

Bert wants to be a forest ranger when he grows up. Cookie Monster wants to be a brave firefighter. Telly wants to be a baseball player. Grover wants to be, Police Officer Grover.

The newest Sesame Street character, Abby Cadabby wants to be a Fairy Godmother. Baby Bear wants to be a train engineer. Rosita wants to be a Spanish language teacher. And, Elmo...well, Elmo wants to be everything!

Oscar advises Elmo to "Stick with something you love," which of course results in a round of "I Love Trash." Both Drew and Will had a great time! Drew didn't remember seeing the Sesame Street characters before, two years ago, when Super Grover lost his superness.

Finally, I can't help but mention the creators of Sesame Street--corrupted by political correctness--labeled the recent release of early Sesame Street episodes on DVD for "Adults Only." I won't even try to explain, as it makes no sense...read it for yourself.

Today we all attended the Tulsa Youth Orchestra's Play-A-Thon at Woodland Hills Mall. A good friend and former coworker has two children in the TYO which is celebrating its 45th season, a daughter who plays the violin in her fourth year and a son who plays the clarinet in his third year. Both, Drew and Will enjoyed watching and listening to the orchestra. Drew's favorite was when they played The Empire Strikes Back.

For twenty-ish years, nobody knows exactly how long, the Tulsa Kappa Delta Alumnae Association has had a Bunco Party and Silent Auction for its annual Shamrock project to benefit the local Parent Child Center of Tulsa and the national Prevent Child Abuse America. The event is well attended especially by the Tulsa area Red Hat Society and raised over $2000 for worthy charities this year.

Since Mary is active in the Alumnae Association, I have attended the annual event for the last 10+ years. Finally, I figured a way out of playing bunco...tonight, for the first time ever, I emceed the event.

Will enjoyed helping set up for the event and playing with the door prizes like these shamrock glasses.

Drew's coloring within the lines has really improved lately. Using his favorite color, Drew did a terrific job of first coloring the dark red portions within the lines, probably because he was pressing harder and concentrating on a smaller area. Then he colored the lighter red and continued doing a pretty good job on that too. And, Drew named his creation...Crayony.

One morning, sometime in November, Will was carrying around the television's remote control. Moments later he was empty handed. When we went to turn on the TV, we couldn't find the remote...a-n-y-w-h-e-r-e! We looked under everything, we looked in everything, we even crawled around on our knees pretending to be a one-year old just to see if we were missing something that only the view of a toddler would reveal. Still, no remote. It wasn't too great a disaster since I had previously procured an extra remote control from Cox for just such an occasion. But, the mystery was annoying.

When we'd ask Will, "Where's the remote?" He'd just giggle and make the hand gesture in the picture as if saying, "I don't know?"

We've been limiting Will's pacifier use during the daytime and, a week or so ago, we were in bed after a nap and asked Will, "Where's pacie?" Without hesitation he pointed to the space between the bed and the headboard. There was no pacie there but, way down deep, between the box spring and the headboard was the remote control. Yes, we'd already looked there and Mary had even changed the sheets, but it was so far down that it escaped notice. Nothing like little ones to keep life interesting.

Drew played a record amount of handheld, battery operated, Leapster during the power outage. Will found a surprising amount of enjoyment just watching big brother exploring and setting new records.

Tuesday night we got the fireplace roaring...real tough to do when it's a gas fireplace and you have starter logs, five-year old wood so dry it doesn't crackle and an electronic lighter...backwoodsmen we are not.

Notice the warm clothing as we sat in front of the warm fire. Prior to the picture, Will had been wearing a full head, under the chin buttoning, stocking cap.

Here are some photos we took of the ice storm while we were without power earlier this week.

Our mailbox covered in ice. There is no ice near the door of the mailbox because, despite the ice accumulation on trees and most everything else, the roads never got too bad and so mail delivery was uninterrupted.

One of our crape myrtles covered in ice and icicles dripping from the top of our pergola.

One of our Autumn Blaze maples covered and dripping with ice. You can easily imagine larger trees covered in hundreds, even thousands of pounds of ice.

From the PSO (Public Service Company of Oklahoma) website, some additional photos taken of the ice storm:

A not uncommon heavily tree-lined Tulsa street showing the extent of ice damage.

And, when ice covered trees interact with power lines, the result is both downed trees and downed power lines.

All emergency services worked overtime during the power outage. Thanks to everyone who left their own darkened homes to make repairs and to keep the city safe.

Just a quick post from the Danz Family underground bunker beneath the darkened city of Tulsa, Oklahoma. For those not aware, we are experiencing the worst ice storm/power outage in the history of Tulsa and possibly the state. Reported power outages in the Tulsa metro area peaked at 255,000 about 10:30 p.m. tonight and there are more than a half-million homes and businesses state wide without power. Phone lines are also down and cell phone service is spotty due to the power outages affecting the cell towers.

Tulsa International Airport was shutdown with power outages, three local hospitals were on backup generators and one of the city's two water treatment facilities is without power. Estimating a week to ten days to get everyone's power back on, although a majority of people should have power much sooner. A state of emergency has been declared for all of Oklahoma's 77 counties.

We lost power ourselves sometime shortly after midnight Sunday night/Monday morning and our phone went out later Monday morning. Not being ones to look to the government to take care of us, Mary was prepared with plenty of batteries, candles, non-perishable food and all other items we might need for an extended power outage. All the laundry was done and the kids were bathed in anticipation of the coming storm. Drew is keeping busy with battery operated handheld games. Additionally, he is keeping four glowsticks nearby at all times which we got last night in our drinks at my firm's annual Christmas dinner. Will is taking everything in stride and doesn't appear to be fazed in the least. The building I work in has power but no internet connection because the internet provider has no power.

Oh, and I’d just like to quickly thank those individuals with large trees who bitch and moan, and do everything in their power to thwart the power companies from trimming back their trees which have grown too close to power lines...thank you...from everyone in Tulsa and across the state...thank you for caring so much about your precious trees. We can all certainly agree that your precious aesthetic sensibilities are far more important than a reliable power grid.

Pictures will be posted when power is restored. That's all for now, we'll keep everyone advised.

[UPDATE - Tuesday, December 11, 2007:] Still no power and no land phone. More businesses are coming back on line but there are still over 200,000 homes/businesses without power in the Tulsa metro area. Today was the first day since Sunday that the total number affected has gone down. Had a nice roaring fire in the fireplace tonight. We do have hot water so we can shower and do dishes. The boys are bundled up as the temp hangs in the upper 50's in the house. Mary's parents, Ma and Pa, have power, so if it gets too bad, Mary and the boys can always go there. I'll stick around and house-sit though. What did people do a hundred years ago? We've grown so soft and lack both the skills and equipment to live without our modern conveniences.

[UPDATE - Wednesday, December 12, 2007:] Our power and phones were restored this morning making our outage about 55 hours...it seemed longer. Most of the people who lost power have not had theirs restored yet, so our thoughts and prayers are with them. The power company expects to make great strides tomorrow as crews from all over the region are in town and starting to make repairs. Uncle David came over this evening to watch some TV and enjoy some warmth. When he got home, he found his power was restored too.

Now we're restocking and preparing for the storm that's supposed to come this weekend.

This past Sunday, I spent 8:00 am to 5:00 pm at The Defensive Shooting Academy of Tulsa taking their Basic Handgun Marksmanship course.

The course was taught by Marshall Luton (left) with the assistance of Tammy, Mike and Eric (left to right). Marshall and his instructors are all incredibly skilled in the use of firearms and evidence a true love for sharing their knowledge and experience. Their courses are attended by police, highway patrol, SWAT teams, D.E.A., F.B.I. Secret Service, Navy Seals and other military special forces. Their students come from all over the country and overseas.

Marshall and his instructors offer just the right mix of technical instruction and hands on manipulation while always maintaining a good sense of humor. I really liked the fact that they didn't just tell how to do something but also explained the reasoning behind it.

At all times, safety was the first priority. Weapons were checked multiple times before handling and dry firing. Here, Marshall is demonstrating a finer element of trigger control (with my firearm). The morning class room instruction was instrumental in improving my grip. I was able to immediately notice increased control and confidence. Most importantly, with their instruction, my front sight finally settled down instead of randomly floating around.

The afternoon allowed for plenty of live fire exercises designed to slowly increase each shooters' confidence and skill level. Here you can see my much improved grip, although my left hand could be rotated forward a little bit more. By the end of the afternoon my shot groupings had gone from soccer ball, actually more like a vertical loaf of bread (prior to the course), to tight little tennis ball groupings.

More after the jump.

I'm old-school and my weapon of choice is a Smith & Wesson, .357 Magnum, 686 Plus revolver with a 4" barrel. The "Plus" means it is a seven shooter rather than the standard six. Made out of stainless steel, it has some heft which helps to reduce recoil as well as, to me, just making it feel "right." Also shown are two speed-loaders filled with training rounds of .38 Special ammunition.

After a day of shooting, it's time for a good cleaning.

Plenty of spent brass laying around at the end of the day. Time to head off to the range to turn new skills into old habits.

We're *sniffle* number one *sneeze*, we're number *rubs eyes* one...

According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA), Tulsa, Oklahoma, ranks as the number one worst place in America for allergies.

Tulsa topped the list with a score of 100, while Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, was second at 95.52 and Fort Myers, Florida, a distant third at 91.57. No one can hold a candle...or tissue...to Tulsa.

While Mary and Drew were Christmas shopping they came upon a Salvation Army bell-ringer. Mary gave Drew a dollar so that he could give it to the bell-ringer. Afterwards, Drew asked Mary for another dollar so that he would be ready next time they saw a bell ringer. Mary gave Drew the dollar and Drew put it in his coat pocket and zipped it shut. But, the next time they saw a bell ringer, they were all caught up in the Christmas rush and forgot about the dollar Drew had in his pocket.

We went to Chicago to spend Christmas with Ma Danz and Aunt Donelda. While there, the discussion turned to all things "Chicago" and Drew mentioned that his Cubs hat was too small and said he needed a new one. Remembering the dollar he still had, Drew volunteered that he would buy it with his "one money." Unfortunately, in all the hustle and bustle we weren't able to stop by a place which sold children's Cubs hats before leaving Chicago. Ever since, Drew has continued to mention how he wanted to buy a new Cubs hat with his one money.

At church today, all on his own, without even a mention, Drew said that he wanted to put his one money in the offering basket. Of course, he decided this after the basket was already coming down the row. To his defense, I don't think he sits high enough to see it coming any sooner. Mary held the basket while Drew worked to open his zippered coat pocket which had been safely holding his one money since December. The usher waited patiently, while Drew retrieved his one money and placed it in the offering basket. He then sat back with a smile and a look of accomplishment.

Momma and Daddy couldn't have been prouder.

NOTE: This post is about the January 2007 Tulsa Ice Storm. For posts about the December 2007 Tulsa Ice Storm see:
Tulsa Ice Storm and Power Outage
Tulsa Ice Storm - Pictures Update

An ice storm has hit the Midwest. It started yesterday here in Tulsa and is continuing today. The city is shut down with almost no one on the roads. Thousands are without power and it's all just supposed to get worse tomorrow. When I went out to get the mail, hats off the to Post Office for getting it delivered, there was no difference under my feet between the ice covered grass and the ice covered driveway/street. We're staying home all warm and well and hope you are too.

[Update:] All the schools in Tulsa were closed this week. A few main roads are pretty clear but most of the main roads in Tulsa are still packed with ice. And, the side streets all look like this:

This is in front of our house and is typical of neighborhood streets a week after the ice storm, still packed solid with ice from curb to curb. Actually, its all ice from door to door.

In church yesterday, one of Drew's shoelaces came undone. Mary was about to tie it but Drew insisted, "No, I'll do it." And so, for the first time ever, Drew tied his own shoe laces.

And, he did a great job too. It made it all the way home and wasn't about to come undone by itself!

The last two weeks Drew, with a little help from Daddy, has been working on painting his room, getting it ready for him to move out of his crib and into his new room with a big-boy's bed. Like most projects, it didn't wind up to be as easy as first imagined. Click "continue reading" to see various stages and the final result.

After repairing some nail holes and other blemishes, we brushed in the edges around the top half of the room and then rolled on one coat of paint on the ceiling and two coats on the upper walls...easy enough.

Painting the bottom blue brought the first sign of trouble. It required five coats of paint before it finally covered without roller marks. Little did I know that paint is a product of bizzaro-world where light paints cover easily while dark paints which are full of pigment but little "base" don't cover well. This is why there is a thing called "base/primer coat"...who knew?

After contemplating taping with the assistance of a laser and/or a level, I went with a simple verticle stick measuring from the carpet up and made marks the same height all along the walls where each tape line would go...this was one of the smarter things I did. Next, the tape was placed over the painted portions to block in the final red stripe. (If Drew had had his way, the entire room would have been his favorite color, red...so we settled on a red stripe instead.)

Next, skipping what I actually did, the thing to do would be to paint over the soon-to-be red side of the tape with the color that the tape is covering so that any bleed-though would be the same color of paint. In other words, paint the bottom edge of the top tape line with light blue and the top edge of the bottom tape line with dark blue.

The red stripe took seven coats before it fully covered everything underneath. With so many coats of paint covering the tape, simply pulling it up creates a very jagged line due to the thick latex (rubber) paint ripping unevenly. However, a little precision work with a straight edge and a box-cutter created a surprisingly sharp crisp edge. The final result, not a bad looking boy's room.

For what it's worth, the paint was Behr Premium Plus interior satin enamel acrylic latex, color Saltwater, California Poppy and Deep Royal (top to bottom).

A few weeks ago the southwest view from my office was a sea of near-uniform green. Today, with the fall leaves changing color, nature's incredible palette is on display before being put away for the winter.

In the background is the CityPlex Tower previously part of the Oral Roberts City of Faith Medical and Research Center (1981-1989). Now an office building, its 60 floors and 648 feet make it the second tallest building in Tulsa and Oklahoma behind the Williams Center/BOK Tower at 667 feet.

Now that's a fire, Burger King's got nothin' on me...

Most weekends, and sometimes during the week, we grill out on our trusty Weber gas grill. Tonight it was steaks and with the help of a little flare-up they had that extra-carcinogen goodness. There's just something about grilling out yourself that makes the food all that more delicious. We've tried all kinds of assorted rubs, marinades, and various combinations of seasonings, but nothing seems to beat good old salt and pepper for the best flavor.

My mom grew up fairly poor on a farm in rural Oklahoma where they raised their own animals. My grandfather maintained that while they didn't have a lot of money, they always ate well with lots of meat at every meal; breakfast, lunch and dinner. When we visited, it seemed like we had steaks every night. I think about my grandfather almost every time we grill out. He would have loved tonight's meal.

I can't be the only one who's ever thought about what they'd do different if they were world dictator. So, with a colorized Charlie Chaplin in The Great Dictator (1940) as inspiration, here's the first five (technically six) things I would do if I were world dictator:

1) No more night baseball games at Wrigley Field. This abomination has been going on since August of 1988 and I still can't get used to it.

2) I'm tired of opening a package of food, following the instructions to the letter and the result not looking anything remotely like the picture on the package. I would require manufacturers to take a random box of their product from store shelves, cook it as instructed, photograph the result and post it on their package without retouching. No more disappointments when removing food from the microwave.

3) Driving...I got a million in this category, but lets go with something not too controversial: right hand turn lanes. If there is land available at a stop light, then there must be a right hand turn lane built. OK, I can't resist a little controversy...no cell phones while driving, no exceptions, not even alleged hands-free versions. If the call is so darn important...pull over. I could go on for ever...

4) Government...another million things I'd do. First up, semantics and the elimination of baseline budgeting. You can't begin to solve complex problems if you don't start with accurate nomenclature. Baseline budgeting allows a person who plans to gain 100 pounds next year but only gains 75 to tell everyone they lost 25 pounds. Or, for a government program to automatically grow by 100 million but if it only grows by 75 million, the politicians tell us it was cut by $25 million. It would be the first small step to fixing the fiscal problems of our government.

5) And last, but not least, if anyone advocates for the elimination and death of another group of people, that person is terminated. The world doesn't need any one or any group of people calling for the elimination or extermination of anyone else.

What would you do if you were world dictator?

I went to the eye doctor this week and I just wanted to say one thing:

One looked just like two. Three looked just like four. There was no freaking difference!

We can looks at planets thousands of millions of miles away and stars trillions and quadrillions of miles away and know more about them than an ophthalmologist can determine by examining my eyes without my assistance. Why must he rely on my subjective evaluation of minute shapes which are more affected by whether I just blinked than anything he was doing with the phoropter? Eye doctors already use electronic devices to measure the curvature of your eye for contact lenses, can't they go the last mile and fully automate the process so I don't have to pretend that one is better than two and not just smaller and darker?

I also ordered some new eyeglasses...the frameless type, which cost more than glasses with frames. How does that make any sense?

It's spring in Oklahoma and that means tornado season. We had a tornado warning this evening with circulation forming and starting to drop down above us less than a mile away. Fortunately, nothing more came of it. It all passed pretty quickly and, by the time I thought to snap some pictures, all the really scary clouds had already passed.

When I was taking pictures of the clouds, I asked Drew what they were made of. He said confidently, "white." The other day, he colored a sheet of paper all brown. Mary asked him what it was and he responded, "brown, it's comfy." He's very fond of it. Days later he asks, "where's brown?" We find it and he puts it where he can see it before going back to whatever it was he was doing.

Tonight we attended the Tulsa County Bar Auxiliary's Barristers' Ball at the Southern Hills Country Club. The advertisements for the event said that it would be held outdoors under a tent. While I'm sure the enclosure may technically fall under the definition of a "tent," one doesn't often expect a hermetically sealed air-conditioned environment with chandeliers, plush carpet and no hint of anything resembling tent poles.

Themed "Have Your Cake and Eat it Too," the event included cake-decorating demonstrations and a silent auction of handcrafted artisan desserts and baking and cooking related items. There was also a putting green, great music and delectable food and drinks.

Everyone had a great time and it all went to support several worthy charities: Lakeside Home, a residential treatment facility; Wright Elementary for Partners In Education; and the Tulsa County Bar Auxiliary Memorial Scholarship Fund.

I was wondering if I could possibly care less about the Academy Awards. Hmmm...nope, not possible.

Hollywoods' utter failure to mention at last year's Oscars, or ever since, the murder of Dutch film director, Theo van Gogh, by an Islamic radical because he made a film that dealt with violence against women in Islamic societies has forever solidified the entertainment industry's utter irrelevance to anything but superficial self-aggrandizement.

I could go on and on about the worthlessness, hypocrisy and outright damage to society that Hollywood does, but I'll have to leave that for another day.

Do you use any of these phrases? If you do, please stop, it's annoying.

Ante Meridiem (before noon) in the Morning
Antilock Braking System System
Alternating Current Current
Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line Line
Annual Annual Percentage Rate
Automated Teller Machine Machine
Beginner's All-Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code Code
Computer-Aided Design Design
Certified Certified Nursing Assistant
Cable News Network News Network
Common Task Training Training
Digital Audio Tape Tape
Detective Comics Comics
Direct Current Current
Demilitarized Zone Zone
Disk Operating System Operating System
Digital Video Disk Disk
Employee Identification Number Number
Emergency Medical Service Service
Estimated Estimated Time of Arrival
Government in Nature in Nature
Greenwich Mean Time Time
Grand Old Party Party
Graduate Record Examination Examination
Global Positioning System System
Graphical User Interface Interface
Human Immunodeficiency Virus Virus
High Occupancy Vehicle Vehicle
Hypertext Markup Language Language
Instrument Meteorological Conditions
Individual Retirement Account Account
International Standard Book Number Number
Integrated Services Digital Network Network
Internet Service Provider Provider
John Ellis Bush Bush
Liquid Crystal Display Display
Light Emitting Diode Diode
Network Interface Card Card
Personal Computer Computer
Personal Identification Number Number
Please Repondez S'il Vous Plait (Please Respond If You Please)
Personal Time Off Time
Random-Access Memory Memory
Surface-to-Air Missile Missile
Scholastic Aptitude (Assessment) Test Test
Small Computer System Interface Interface
Standard Industrial Code Code
Ultra High Frequency Frequency
Universal Product Code Code
Very High Frequency Frequency
Vehicle Identification Number Number
Wide Area Augmentation System System

Tonight the University of Tulsa College of Law, Alumni Relations Committee, held their annual Chilifest Cookoff. 34 teams representing law firms, corporations, government offices, law student organizations, faculty and administration entered an incredible array of chilies. The teams competed in six categories, Best Overall Chili (Res Ipsa Loquitur), Best Traditional Chili - beef with or without beans (Stare Decisis), Best Non-Traditional Chili - other meat, vegetarian, etc. (Inter Alia), Most Creative Recipe (Sui Generis), Best Presentation (Attractive Nuisance) and the Tournament of Champions - pitting past winners against each other. The judges were primarily members of the state and federal judiciary.

The team from my employer went with a Redneck theme.

Our chili was made by my coworker Tony who combined beef brisket, pork and ground beef for an out of this world beanless chili. Besides an incredible flavor, it had a delicious aroma, perfect texture and just the right amount of heat. Click "continue reading" to see how our team fared.

With 34 teams, it was impracticable for each judge to taste each chili. So, the competition was set up for teams of judges to rate 11 or 12 chilies each and then send their highest recommended chilies on the the Appellate Judges who would then determine the winner. Here the judges are being sworn in before the tasting began.

There was pretty huge crowd at the Allen Chapman Activity Center, known on campus as ACAC and affectionately pronounced "ack ack."

Entertainment was provided by a live Mariachi band.

Our team was easy to spot in the crowd.

We won second place for Best Presentation thanks mostly to Ed who, with no prior notice, ad libbed a great tale on stage about our bobcat mascot.

Finally, at the end of the evening out team's chili was announced the winner of the Tournament of Champions! I'm on the left giving Tony his well deserved props. (Click here to see Tony when he won the 2002 Chilifest Cookoff.)

The following are all titles of well-known Christmas carols. Can you guess what they are? Answers appear after the jump.

          1. Quadruped with crimson proboscis
          2. 5 p.m. to 6 a.m. without noise
          3. Miniscule hamlet in the middle east
          4. Ancient benevolent despot
          5. Adorn the vestibule
          6. Exuberance directed to the planet
          7. Listen, aerial spirits harmonizin
          8. Monarchial trio
          9. Yonder in the haystack
          10. Assemble, everyone who believes
          11. Hallowed post meridian
          12. Fantasies of a colorless December 25th
          13. Tin tintinnabulums
          14. A dozen 24-hour yule periods
          15. Befell during the transparent bewitching hour
          16. Homo sapien of crystallized vapor
          17. I merely desire a pair of incisors
          18. I spied my maternal parent osculating a fat man in red
          19. Perambulating through a December solstice fantasy
          20. Aloft on the acme of the abode

          1. Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer
          2. Silent Night
          3. O Little Town of Bethlehem
          4. Good King Wenceslas
          5. Deck the Halls
          6. Joy to the World
          7. Hark the Herald Angels Sing
          8. We Three Kings
          9. Away in a Manger
          10. Come All Ye Faithful
          11. O Holy Night
          12. I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas
          13. Silver Bells
          14. The Twelve Days of Christmas
          15. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
          16. Frosty the Snowman
          17. All I want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth
          18. I Saw Mama Kissing Santa Claus
          19. Walking Through a Winter Wonderland
          20. Up on the Rooftop

A friend bugged me for not having posted in a week. All is well. I've just been busy with work, the holidays, and playing with Drew.

Ya gots to have priorities in life...and bloggin' ain't one of dem.

I looked out my window at work today and saw some interesting contrails, so I grabbed my cell phone and snapped a picture.

I got nuthin' to post. Actually, I have quite a lot but I just haven't had the time to do any posting in the manner that I prefer. So, this is an easy post in honor of Drew's love for Pooh and Tigger--out of nowhere he'll say "Bounce!" following by jumping up and down.

I've had this cellphone pic sitting around for a while...bugging me.

Is it me? Or, is there something wrong with this picture? A little girl who looked to be just three or four years old, no higher than my SUV fender, riding her bike with training wheels...alone. I saw her ride down three different streets before finally turning into a driveway. She was by herself the whole time and I never saw any sign of a parent or anyone looking after her. I'll just add this one to my list of things I'll never understand.

The freakishly talented Sean Gleeson has completed the logo for the Okie Blogger Round-up 2006. Everything for the Round-up is still in the planning stages except for the location, Oklahoma City Bricktown. If possible, I'll be in attendance and hopefully live-blog the event similar to January's Okie-Blogger Bash.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of the Hurricane Katrina victims.

Some 35 years ago, my family used to live in Metairie, Louisiana. I was only in kindergarten but I still remember our address: 4605 Senac Drive, it had a nice rhyme to it. Just last week, I had mentioned to my better half how, someday, I wanted to go back and see the house. I don't know if that will be possible now.

If you are considering making a donation, here are links to the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army. The Red Cross can also be reached at 1-800-HELP NOW (1-800-435-7669 and the Salvation Army at 1-800-SAL-ARMY (1-800-725-2769).

I started a new long-term project today. I don’t know to what extent I’ll make it public in the future. But, since this blog is mostly for my own and close family and friends’ amusement, I just wanted to mention it. Unfortunately, it will be another demand on my time which might affect blog posting. Time will tell.

Your Blogging Type is Pensive and Philosophical

You blog like no one else is reading... You tend to use your blog to explore ideas - often in long winded prose. Easy going and flexible, you tend to befriend other bloggers easily. But if they disagree with once too much, you'll pull them from your blogroll!

OK, I have to admit the above result was obtained after I tweaked an answer. But, the first result was so unbelievably far off it wasn't worth posting. Hat tip Dave.

I haven't been posting much lately as I've been incredibly busy. There is so much I'd like to post about but probably won't ever get around to because I just don't have time to do a proper job. Some of the topics include:

* Kelo, the worst Supreme Court decision in many many years;

* the Discovery Channel's Greatest American program in which the audience selected Ronald Reagan to the obvious disappointment of its host Matt Lauer;

* the absurdity of a high school drop out giving medical, psychological, and pharmacological advice to a person he barley knows let alone ever examined;

* the slore named after the capital of France who has absolutely no redeeming qualities other than being a slore and the immoral media who hypes her;

* and speaking of bad court decisions and the immoral media, I absolutely don't understand a judge/system that allows a child raping pedophile to go anywhere near his/her victim after just a few years in jail regardless of whether the victim is in denial about being the victim of a habitual child molesting pedophile. There is nothing surprising about a young man suffering cognitive dissidence and suppressing the fact that he is a rape victim and living in the fantasy world that he's really in a healthy loving relationship. I refuse to mention the name but the pedophile's initials are MKL and there are no words to describe my feelings toward the media who promoted their marriage and described it in terms of inter-generational love. Bull-f***ing-s**t! It's a child rapist and a victim and should not in any manner be promoted no matter what kind of ratings it brings. Sicker yet, if that's possible, one of the shows hyping the marriage was ET, as in Entertainment Tonight, who by definition must find something entertaining in pedophilia. (I've got duct tape wrapped around my head right now to keep it from exploding.) I guess the moral of this story that the court system and the media are sending to all would be child rapists is that you have a green light to do as you please...just be sure to get your victims head so twisted around that he/she thinks they love you and then you can marry them after your slap-on-the-wrist prison term;

* the San Antonio Spurs won the NBA championship but, for the first time ever, I didn't watch a single game of the playoffs. I just don't enjoy watching the NBA anymore. My interest peaked during the years of Bird and Magic and with Jordan and the Bulls. But, the last year the Bulls won the playoffs (1997-98) was the same year Latrell Sprewell was allowed to choke and punch his coach with near impunity. Now days the league has allowed the game to devolve into a hit-n-run forum for spoiled wanna-be hip-hop gangstas. Why bother with a properly executed pick-and-roll when you can just travel and hack your way to the basket. Actually, I have no problem with the league's choice to allow the NBA to become what it is...it's a business decision plain and simple. If showcasing athletes without class playing a game where finesse takes a backseat to brawn brings in the most bucks, so be it...it just won't be my bucks.

There are other items I want to purge from my consciousness, but at least you get a flavor of what's bouncing around my head. Posting should continue to be light for the next week or so, until things settle down. Have a great 4th!

In case you missed ABC's 20/20 program titled "The Price of Fame," I can sum it up for you very simply:

white* trash + lots of money = white trash

Of course, there's the ever popular corollary:

lousy parents + lots of money = messed up kids

There...now you pretty much have seen the show and you've saved 59 minutes and 45 seconds of your time.

[*Appropriate substitutions may be made.]

This week at the office included a rainbow (actually a double-rainbow but the second one was too faint to be seen with a mere camera phone pic), wild turkeys that flew in for a visit, a car accident and pear trees in bloom:

Yesterday, Tulsa received its first snowfall of the year as the city was softly blanketed with between one and two inches of snow--the perfect amount--plenty enough to look pretty and to remind everyone what winter is all about, but not enough to have to shovel! I grew up in the Chicago suburbs and if I never have to shovel lake-effect snow again, that will be fine by me.

He is a photo I took with my cell phone out my office window yesterday afternoon:

I did a search for "math of blog explosion" and "blog explosion math" on both Google and Yahoo and all four resulted in nothing…not a single entry. I tried some other searches but couldn't find a good analysis of the numbers behind the workings of Blog Explosion. However, there are plenty of bloggers who have posted…shall we say, less than accurate comments about how BE works.

First, Blog Explosion requires the use of free credits to balance things out. For example, imagine if there were just three BE surfers. In one day they all surf each other's sites. They each surf two sites, times three people, equaling six visits. But they only earned the right to receive one visitor each. The equation is short three visitors. It is balanced out by letting each surfer win one credit. The equation is also balanced out by people who buy credits instead of earning or winning them. BE cannot stop giving away and selling credits. If it did, the whole system would collapse.

No doubt, winning credits also serves the purpose of getting some people to surf longer than they would normally as they are enticed by the chance of the big win and encouraged along with the occasional little tidbit. But, how much and how often credit wins are given out is determined not by the mood of BE but, rather, by the number of credits that are purchased. It is only indirectly controlled by BE by setting the price of credits. BE only has a finite number of credits to sell and give away, the amount of which is equal to the sum of what everyone earns. If too many people purchase credits, not only do they risk running out of credits to sell but they lose the ability to give away credits to encourage surfing. The solution is to simply raise the price of credits which, if my memory is correct, has not happened.

Some people have commented lately that there has been a decrease in the number and frequency in which credits are won and that the number of banners you can purchase with one credit has dropped from the originally 1 credit = 50 banners to the current 1 = 30. [Edit, now 1 = 25.] What prompted this entry was some of those people attributing this to some evil or underhanded motive by BE. Not coincidentally, the blogs of those who attributed such manipulation to BE tended towards the liberal side: corporations are bad, I'm not responsible for my life, I need the government to get through the day, etc.

I believe nothing could be farther from the truth. I believe, other than the setting of the price for purchased credits, that BE is on autopilot. The decrease in winnable credits is easily explained by the fact that people are likely buying more credits with actual cash having tired of surfing for 50 credits an hour (60 theoretically, but closer to 50 in practice) but still addicted to the traffic that BE brings to their sites. The increased number of purchased credits has simply decreased the number of credits that can be won.

As to the credit/banner exchange rate, that's almost certainly just the result of supply and demand. BE probably had a big cue of banner placement requests. It doesn't matter if the ratio goes down to 1 credit for 5 banners...by definition, the amount of banners is always set at the right amount if there are no pages coming up without banners and no huge cue of people waiting to have their banner placed.

This has admittedly been incredibly superficial. If anyone knows of a more in depth analysis, please let me know.

For those with children, you probably already know this. For those without children, I'll let you in on an amazing revelation that is known almost exclusively by parents.

The ABC song is sung to the same tune as Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

Mary noticed this the other day which was immediately followed by a short duet of me singing the ABCs and her singing Twinkle Twinkle.