Nerdy in the extreme

Nerdy in the extreme and whiter than sour cream...
It is getting about time for another "Cast of Characters" posting to round out the fourth of S4. However gentle reader you are not going to read it today.

I will spare you the standard 'busy' line... frankly there is not much to report.

In lieu of actually posting an update (by the way we are all fine) I am pointing you towards this video from Weird Al. He has always been clever in my opinion, but it seems he is only getting better. Of course, you really have to listen to the Lyrics. I either am the person he describes, or I know him all to well. I rather suspect that my dad recognizes him too.

You might understand my outright laughter when I heard this for the first time when you realize that while studying Jazz at Grant MacEwan College my nickname was "white guy"... If you have a hard time understanding the lyrics you can find them printed here.

Hope you enjoy:

<
Steve

Busy times

Well, gentle reader, it has been a while since our last posting. Things are very busy around here with the return to school for the Boy and the return to work for his Dad. January is a very busy time at my work with most of us on the road serving the Citizens of Alberta. Suzanne and I are back to Band Practice weekly, and are looking forward to performing George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue with the band at Easter time.

I had the pleasure of visiting Medicine Hat for the first time in a long time this week. Last time I was there was on Youth Orchestra tour in about 1993. It is winter, which generally means cold and dark in Alberta; nonetheless I had a good experience. As part of my work duties I had a very interesting tour of some of the Historic Clay District. Turns out that Medicine Hat was a centre for Pottery and brick making 100 years ago, and they still make bricks there today. The confluence of easy transportation and plentiful natural gas along with suitable clay in the general area made it a perfect location for that kind of industry. Turns out they were so prolific in their production that you have likely used some of their stoneware or fine china if you have lived in North America at all... restaurants, hotels, trains, cooking supply places: you name it. I recommend the tour if you get a chance next time you are in Medicine Hat Alberta.

CONSUMER ALERT: while it is not our general modus operandi to go around criticizing the good merchants in our lives, in this case we must make an exception. Last week we indulged in a "President's Choice - Il Forno" frozen pizza - specifically the "All Dressed" version. Frankly if that was all dressed I have a hard time imagining it naked. The picture on the box was a luscious looking pizza with dripping, colourful toppings. What came out of the box was a thin crusted hunk of frozen dough with a few pathetic bits of pizza-like acoutrements scattered around. We dressed the all-but naked pizza with significant additions from our own fridge at which point it was edible. In our opinion: don't bother.

Best
S. and S.

Cast of Characters Part 3

Greetings Gentle Reader,

In the ongoing attempt to show but not show the full cast, here is "The Girl". She is a bit more than one now, and very different from her brother in many ways. It would be fair to say that while the Boy is timid, she is outgoing... vigorous even. Strong willed and fearless might be another set of appropriate words. The future is full of excitement for our family as this one grows up I am sure.

The Boy has only recently come to the conclusion that he has to share his toys with his sister, and this has promoted a bit of peace in our house. She had discovered that while her brother was larger, she had sharp teeth and was willing to use them to promote her point of view.

Favorite Food: you name it and she will usually eat it, but has recently shown preference for pasta, beans and toast. A Carb Addict? Favorite video entertainment: none yet, although will stop for a moment to watch the Teletubbies.

Best, Steve

Cast of Characters Part 2

Hello again Gentle Reader.

At this point it is probably worth introducing another cast member, however we are still having debates and paranoia about publishing photos and identifiers of our children on the Internet. If you have any thoughts about this please leave a comment to let me know.


"The Boy" is now a bit more than 4, quiet, verbally smart, and overall pretty calm. He is pretty timid for the most part, and interestingly enough has been since he was little. I don't know if other parents have found this, but I was amazed at how individual my kids were. They have had their own personalities since birth... I am sure the "nurture" part comes in as they grow up, but there is an amazing amount of "nature" going on here. Favorite food: hard to tell day to day, but has definite opinions about it. Favorite video entertainment: currently "Backyardigans Mission to Mars" and "The Grinch".

Best,
Steve