You Gotta Respect the Classics

Back in the '80's I wore white deck shoes because I thought I was the coolest human being alive. My siblings used to make fun of them...and me. But I didn't care. I was cool.

Well those days were gone...

BUT THEY'RE BACK AGAIN!!!

The glory of the deck shoes, that is; not the mockery.









I promise I did not put any pressure on my son, but on our recent trip to pick our new shoes for the school year he grabbed the pair shown here.


I said they were like shoes from the '80's, and he said (I am not making this up), "You gotta respect the classics!" (a quote from "Cars"). He wore them out of the store and asked every 2 minutes if I liked his shoes, or if he looked cool in his shoes. He was so excited, and it made me giddy living that excitement through him.

And, of course, seeing the return of the deck shoe.

Wisdom is Proved Slow by Her Progress

not done

trying

getting close

not close enough

New Teacher Training

What does one do during "New Teacher Training" when one is given an entire day to work on preparing one's room and one does not have a room to prepare?

This is what I did for an hour this afternoon. It's not perfect (my left eye is particularly laughable--like Sloth from "Goonies"), but compared to frustrating attempts in recent days, it is infinitely better. Enjoy. Hopefully the Athena Bust Drawing will be done within the next week or so, so check back soon.

The Brazos

"Today we went to the river......and went up on the water fall and went down the spring. We also went cinooing with my mom and dad and brother."

The words above are Aydan's account of today's adventure. We drove about an hour south of Fort Worth to trek by canoe down the Brazos River. During our incredible, 5 hour trip we did some rock-diving (jumping, really...from 7-8 foot boulders), we climbed a rocky ledge and explored a crystal clear, cold-in-spite-of-the-95-degree-day wooded spring, we floated along being carried by the current of the river, we explored a stony beach and discovered tons of shells, we swung from a tree swing into the river while cows watched on from their nearby, verdant pasture, and we enjoyed rowing, talking, singing, and taking in all the nature and scenery. If it sounds spectacular, it's because it truly was. I laughed out loud at one point, because it was just so refreshing to be away from other people, away from any sights or sounds of civilization, and to just relax.

Just so you don't feel too left out, here are some photos, taken on Aydan's digital camera (which explains the low resolution).

"Round the World and Home Again, That's the Sailor's Way!"

And now we're back home. Heather graduated from her massage therapy program and passed her certification test. And speaking of my glorious woman, we have taken up the long forsaken past-time of working out together. We did it all the time in MN; and doing it again was the enjoyable motivation we each needed to get out of the slump we were recently in.

One more week of freedom and then back to school (sort of). These posts may have to satisfy for the next few weeks.

(A huge "Thank You" to Daddy Diggity for the external CD drive which enabled all this posting.)

Work and Play

While in OH we took in an Indians game (with a result being an intense fascination in baseball for the boys)...















...we redid the sidewalk behind my parents' house...















(Like Father, Like Son.)

...I played basketball more than I have in several months combined (much to the detriment of my right hamstring).
...and did a lot of hiking...in flip flops.



Sorry about forcing you up that hill, guys.












Some nIce shots of my dog.
(And can I just say I love my wife--she was always along for the ride. It's fun to have fun with her.)

TBDBITL

My brother Alex is runs the Ohio State University marching band. He's the man.



We had a fun time visiting his campus and checking out his band. Of course we did some messing around while we were there.

Here's the giant Q-Tip.



And me being ridonkulous.



And at the Wendy's in Columbus, 3 of the cousins had a goofy face contest.

My New Favorite Picture

I'm not sure if it's the golden tint, the candid poses or my rad dog, but I love this picture. This was taken just after I shaved off my beard.




This is before.



And here's after.



Mad props to my brother for rocking a Kip Dynamite look while I sported the Fu Man Chu. Here's proof.



Thus transpired the Asp Men's Facial Hair Family Reunion.

"I Spent Like Three Hours Shading Your Upper Lip."

I have been a bit out of touch recently, due to returning home and trying to get things in order. Mainly I have been working on the drawing you see. It actually looks better than this now; I just haven't taken the more recent pictures off my camera. I'm hoping to have it done before school starts, so hopefully I'll have the finished product soon.

And now, I shall go on to post pictures to show you what happened on the trip, and other things of interest lately.