Thoughts and other stuff

Cali and the racetrack

2008-07-06T15:56:00.002-04:00

Cali and the racetrack
Originally uploaded by ronpagan

We learned that Cali is not a big fan of the racetrack that the kids play with. This is a little snippet but I want to say that this went on for a good 20 minutes.

Street Art - keep it clean!

2008-06-29T08:47:00.006-04:00

I thought I would give you some cool art to look at. I love when art appears in places where you would not expect it. The two videos below are examples of that. Enjoy!

ELLIS G.- The Life of a Shadow

2008-06-29T08:39:00.002-04:00

We got a dog

2008-05-29T16:24:00.004-04:00

We got a dog. Her name is Cali. She is a Cavachon. We named her after California as a shout out to the last place we lived. Click the title to see some more pictures of her.

She is a sweetheart and the kids love her. The kids and I have never had a dog before so it's awesome.

Anyway more funny stuff later.

Indian Food

2008-05-29T16:13:00.003-04:00

If you know me at all you know that my conversations tend to end up on the ridiculous side fairly quickly. Having two kids the ages of 4 and 6 the conversation get there a lot faster. I was talking to my son the other night about going to an Indian restaurant with my wife.

Lucas: Is a bow and arrow Indian restaurant?
Me: No it's a...
Lucas: If it was they can put the food on the arrows and shoot it to you.
Me: OK it was Indian like your friend Ankush in school. It was that kind of Indian.
Lucas: Oh. I never understand that kid.

Police Officer steals Marijuana.

2008-03-27T02:41:00.001-04:00

This one is just a riot!

Death Talk

2008-03-20T14:30:00.003-04:00

My mother-in-law had to put her dog down recently. We had to explain to Maya that the dog was old and not doing well. Maya now thinks anyone older than she is will be dead soon. I was having a tea party with Maya the other day. I had this moment when I looked across the table and could see how big my little girl has gotten. I thought about a time in the future where she would take a break from her work day and meet me for lunch. I tried to tell her what I was thinking.

Daddy: “You know Maya one day when you are all grown up and have your own job Daddy will…
Maya: “Be dead.”
Daddy: “Well umm… no what I was going to say was you will…”
Maya: “Wait I farted. Let me check if I pooped… no I’m ok.”
Daddy: “Never mind.”

Why rush things anyway.

The return of Ms M

2008-03-20T14:25:00.001-04:00

While talking about making a favorite dish for her family Ms M said:
"If they could have it everyday as a Sunday meal they would."

Ms M Strikes Again!

2008-02-01T19:55:00.000-05:00

While talking to a co-worker about the power outages in her neighborhood due high winds the night before Ms M said:
“As you know kerosene is a mixture of gasoline and electricity.”

I swear I am not making this up.

Obviously Ms M is not the only person to mix up things up. Here is an exchange that happened between my brother and my father recently.

Brother: “Is your computer still giving you problems?”
Dad: “No it’s been fine but I do have to get a voltage regulator.”
Brother: “Voltage regulator? What’s that?”
Dad: “You know it regulates the voltage.”
Brother: “Hmmm…Do you mean surge protector?”
Dad: “Yep.”
Brother: “Voltage regulator! Who are you Ben Franklin?”

Deciphering Language

2008-01-21T10:29:00.000-05:00

Have you ever met someone who gets easily confused by a catchphrase? These same people will also use words in the wrong context or maybe even mispronounce them all together. I know someone who has such difficulties. Let’s call her Ms M. I find talking to her to be a challenge, in a good way. It’s like trying to solve a puzzle each day. It’s almost like she will hear a phrase and something in her brain sprinkles that new phrase with a dash of crazy. It’s not only that she will say something incorrectly; it’s the way she says it. She is over the top confident in all her opinions. With that being said let me give you two examples.

Topic: A pop star is having some financial problems.

Ms M. – “That’s on her. She should have known better. Everyone knows you have to save the rainbows.”
Confused friend – “…save the rainbows?”
Ms M. – “Yeah you never know, everyone should save the rainbows.”
Confused friend – “Do you mean save for a rainy day?”
Ms M. – “Same thing.”

Topic: Cooking

Me – “Do you cook?”
Ms M. – “Yeah I make some dishes like spaghetti with meat balls and lasagna.”
Me – “Wow, I guess you have a little Italian in you.”
Ms M.– “Well my kids like that kind of food. I guess you can say it’s their pet peas.”
I just walk away, I’m not sure there is a Ms M. to English translation for that one.

More to come on Ms M.

We get a break!

2008-01-14T13:53:00.000-05:00

Well actually Maya got a break. Maya broke her arm over the weekend. She fell off a chair and landed funny I guess. She is a tough cookie. She watched tv for a bit then took a nap. When she woke up she was complaining that her arm still hurt. Laurel took her to the hospital. Since Maya was laughing and having a good time with the doctors and nurses everyone was surprised that the x-rays showed a break. This is the second time Laurel has had to take Maya for some emergency medical attention. The last time was because she shoved a bead up her nose. We hope this trend doesn't continue.

Turtle Loving Zombie Boy

2008-01-07T16:28:00.000-05:00

My brother Rob told me about this video. I love how the kid is so expressionless at the start of the interview. Anyway hope you enjoy. I guess I am making the assumption that anyone outside of Laurel is reading this.

10 degrees out but the wind chill factor makes it feel like hell

2008-01-03T11:08:00.000-05:00

My blood has really thinned out. Living in L.A. for almost a decade has made me a real wimp when it comes to the cold. My wife got me a weather station for Christmas. It’s one of these gadgets that can tell you the temperature outside as well as inside. It also tells you the amount of sunlight you can expect and what shape the moon will take that night. The best feature is the weather guy icon. He changes outfits based on the weather. So if it’s a hot day out he is in shorts. If it’s cold day he has a coat and scarf on. The first thing I do each morning is go down to the kitchen and check up on “weather boy." This morning the outside temp read 14. I turned on the radio just in time to hear “… with the wind chill it will feel like zero.” Holy crap! Weather boy was there with his hat, coat and scarf on. Just smiling away like some sort of maniac. Oh well I guess it will make me appreciate the spring that much more. The kids love the snow they went sledding yesterday. We got over 10 inches the night before.

Keep thinking warm thoughts. Keep thinking warm thoughts. Keep thinking warm thoughts.

Where is the love?

2007-11-01T15:03:00.000-04:00

Lately Maya has chosen to show me her mean side. This photo was taken at a recent pumpkin picking trip. See that little face (click on the photo to get a close up) lately that is the only one that greets me. I know it's just a phase but it's still stinks. She doesn't want a morning hug or a goodbye kiss. She wouldn't even blow a kiss to me the other day. What the dilly?

Cool Sites

2007-10-07T22:20:00.000-04:00

Here are some sites that I find interesting, I hope you do too.

THEIR CIRCULAR LIFE A day in the life of a railway station and other places. You can control the time of day you want to see.

Flickr Related Tag Browser Enter a tag name of a photo set you are interested in and this site pops up a cool way to browse that set.

New York City Map Take an artistic virtual trip to New York City. See the sights and hear the sounds.

Better Living Through Design Use the dropdown on the banner on top to pick specfic items you are interested in. If you have someone that is impossible to shop for this is a great place to get some new ideas.

That's all for now. I 'll add other sites I like later.

Peace out!

Yanks lose again

2007-10-06T15:38:00.000-04:00

It's unreal! Every time I go to a Yankee game they lose. Maybe it's not every time but it has to be somewhere above 80%. It's not bad enough that they lose but I am always behind enemy lines when they do lose. There is nothing like a whole stadium losing their minds with glee while you are bumming out. Ugh. I know this is a boring post but it's the only thing on my mind right now.

Ear Hustle: God fearing folk

2007-10-04T21:02:00.000-04:00

So like I said I work with a bunch of characters. Right out side my office are the most entertaining bunch of ladies. They have some the funniest conversations I have ever overheard. They call it ear hustling. I don't often hear how the conversation starts but that makes it even more ridiculous. Here is the latest ear hustle:

God fearing lady 1: Girl you better get yourself to church.
God fearing lady 2: I know that's right!
Non believer: I can't keep being at church every week. Come on now.
God fearing lady 1: That's why you going to hell.
Non believer: Shiiiit, I know god don't hate me that much.

Here we go

2007-09-30T11:18:00.000-04:00

First off...

Well I have to tell you that I'm loving life in the Midwest. I have lived on both coasts, in the two biggest cities of this country. While home will always be New York I have to say that I am really digging Cleveland. I just love the pace and being close to my wife's family is awesome. The kids have the cousins near so they get to visit often. Everything is so cheap here! I had a burger with fries and a coke for under five bucks! Word up that's good eatin!

The Gig
I love it as well. I won't go into to much detail here about who I work for or what I do. I will say that there is a cast of characters. I will tell you more about that crew later. Let’s just say that I have worked with different types of people in my day and I find this group to be the most entertaining.

Future Postings
In future posting I will write about work, family and other stuff. Hopefully it will keep you somewhat entertained. This will be the first of... well let’s see how it goes.