Pictures from Maine

Pictures from the annual family vacation in Maine.



Where we stayed


The rental was beautiful from the outside and weirdly antiquated for, the inside. Actually, it was awesome and very "camp-esque". The owners were obviously several generation of proud Bowdoin alums.


The beach was a bird sanctuary.


A tern at low tide.


Proof that there were some crabs around but we did not see any...


The kids getting ready to use their boogie boards.


My sister, who can be a colossal PitA, at the beach.


Dad relaxing after a day at the...wait for it...beach.


TEA digging something that resembled the Keep on Arrakis (Google it, non-nerds)


TEA can rock the mustache...*


TEA getting his first tattoo. Before you call child and family services, it was henna.


The title for this image is "Sun TEA".


Yes, I got my tan on as well. Like father, like son.


TEA flying a kite at the beach.


A view of our beach



A fire on our last night...

*TEA decided to go with it instead of me. The woman at the store where we purchased them asked if I would put one on and I told her that it wouldmake me look like someone from a Chris Hansen special. She laughed and then complimented my shoes. In hindsight, and from TEA's observation, she was flirting with me. I wish I had the ability to recognize that.

Fish Fingers and Custard

While we are enjoying a leisurely breakfast (toast and sharp cheddar omelets), and TEA is still waking up, I am taking the time before we begin our day to introduce him to the most wonderful of television experiences...




Yes, I am starting him off with the 11th Doctor so that he can start watching when the show returns in the fall.

Yes, TEA is watching Doctor Who.

His first comment was, "He is kind of crazy, isn't he?"

I do so hope that he enjoys it as much as I do. More to the point, I hope that doing this to him at such a young age is not going to influence him the way that I was influenced when my uncle introduced me to Tom Baker's Doctor when I was eight.

And TEA goes to Albany ComicCon

TEA & I went to the Albany ComicCon at the Holiday Inn Turf on Sunday. While I had fun, TEA had a great time.
Here are some pictures:

TEA and a moisture vaporator. You may recognize this from Star Wars (yes, I know that young people call it A New Hope or Episode IV, but it is Star Wars...). (Notice that TEA is wearing Tony Stark's Arc Reactor under his shirt. Some of the other convention goers really appreciated it.)
The vaporator was part of the table of the Mandalorian Mercs. (The pictures of the table came out too blurry.). They had wonderfully authentic looking gear from the Star Wars Universe.

This was the display of Spa City Props & Design. TEA loved Thor's Hammer and their items were cool and appropriately cheeky.

Yes, I would like Captain America's Shield and who would not want the Batphone?!?

You can see TEA shopping and holding his hammer like a totem. It was really cool. Everything at the event excited him and his excitement was contagious.

He was ready to take the battle to anyone wiling to bring it. There were a lot of CosPlayers there, and a huge number of people dressed as characters from the Marvel Universe. TEA's interaction with the cool young person playing Loki was one of the highlights of the day for me. (And, by cool, I mean that she totally interacted with a smart and enthusiastic nine year old who was waving his geek flag proudly.)
There were things there that gave me nostalgia for the childhood that I had and the things that I coveted.

When I posted this on Facebook, a friend from Union commented that she and her brother had this on Christmas lists for a couple of years and...who didn't. This was one of the biggest playsets available and part of my heart still really wants it.

I have a thing for the Planet of the Apes movies and would love to have these. Again, geek nostalgia.

GI Joe does not have nearly as many cool clothes as Barbie...and I had the little GI Joes, not the large ones.

The creator of these models, Patrick Pigott, was signing replications of some of his licensed products and of course Uncle Dan got a model of the Emperor as well as a Tusken Raider.
Speaking of Tusken Raiders...

The masks that the CosPlayers were wearing were awesome.

At the end of the day, before retiring for a geeky lunch involving video games, TEA packed his bag with some of his new acquisitions, including some Iron Man figurines and a hardcover Avengers trade, and I was happy because I made TEA happy.

Thank Me It's Friday

(not claiming any more divinity than usual as I am making more of a reference to the Batman Begins scene where he demands that the dirty cop "swear to me"...)

• Yes, it is Friday. Are you thanking your creator because They allowed you to see the sunrise, They did not destroy the world, or because you are completely banal?

• It is a gorgeous day in the Northeast and you should plan to spend the evening out of doors. I will be at one of TEA's baseball games and I am really looking forward to it. Teacher Dave gave him a pitching lesson the other day and it has improved his velocity as well as his accuracy.

• I need to pick up summer clothes for TEA and he has told me that his favorite color is aqua. I should ignore that impulse of his because unless you are a Miami Dolphin, aqua does not age well in photos.

• If you are in Troy, The Ruck is given over to the beers of Dogfish Head Brewery. Their beers are very tasty and they have great pub food. (And during the day, you are going to be less likely to run into the young people and the people who give Troy a bad reputation.)

• Oh, I went to the Planning Commission meeting in the City of Troy last night. There will be more on this later. I am torn on an emotional level about the McDonald's discussion but intellectually, come on...

• Finally, TEA still thinks that the pizza at the Hill Street Cafe is great.

Whining on a Wednesday

Little League
I am happy that TEA loves baseball. (Even though he is a Yankee fan...that is okay, there are Yankee fans in my family. The deal breaker would have been had he been a Cubs or a Red Sox fan. For those of you who are not parents, you want to ensure that your child is in a position to avoid as much pain as possible.) That being said, TEA is once again playing a Little League schedule and I find myself wanting to go but...not today. Yes, this is weather related, but it also related to the herding cats aspect to managing these kids which gives me a headache even on the other side of the fence. Yes, I am whining. I own it.

I do hope that TEA has a great game and I know that there will be a cold and driving rain this evening around six.

The Troy Bike Rescue
The Troy Bike Rescue is having their Annual Fundraiser on May 19th.

If you do not know about the Troy Bike Rescue, here is a blurb from their site, "TBR is a collective of bicycle enthusiasts committed to removing bikes from the waste stream, and putting them back into use." You can find more information here.

All of this started because of a woman named Marla Singer
While I was working on some correspondence yesterday morning, after Morning Joe, I was clicking through for background noise and I came upon Fight Club on AMC. Even though I made a space monkey joke a couple of days ago, I had not really thought of the film in a long time.

I would be lying if I stated that having this on as background noise did not impact the content and quality of my correspondence which makes me even happier that I took a little bit of time to self edit before I sent them out.

Watching this film, albeit in my periphery, I realized certain things about myself that were not complimentary, however I think I exhausted my capacity for whining about myself above.

I may have become a tea drinker
I still love coffee but as part of my changing behaviors (coffee is more of a trigger for smoking than beer is for me...to quote the above movie, "self improvement is masturbation" and I know that you really do not care...) I have had to find different warm and caffeinated to keep me going through the day. I have settled on the one that will be keeping me awake for the long haul.

Stash's Chai Spice Black Tea

I have no idea how much caffeine there is in it or if this will kill me more effectively than coffee, I just know that I love the flavors and I find the nose of it to be incredible. It makes my mornings bearable.

Finally
I am going to have the chance to see and spend time with my three favorite people on consecutive days starting tomorrow. Do you know how cool that is? If you count today, as I suppose you could, I will be able to see my favorite people on four consecutive days. This is awesome.

Superb Sunday

Loving Timeline
Thanks to Facebook Timeline, this photo was commented upon on Facebook Friday and yesterday and that made me happy.

The picture is from June 2010 and it shows TEA and I playing laser-tag after we have suited up. That there were people commenting positively about what is one of the better times that TEA and I have had together made me very happy. Happy about Timeline, social media in general, and the people that are my friends.

The Worst Movie Ever


Are any of you familiar with "Judy Moody and the NOT Bummer Summer"? Yeah, I did not think so. TEA wanted to watch it on Friday night after ribs and fries and I agreed. (NetFlix Instant is great that way.) He fell asleep so we finished it on Saturday. Watch the trailer and then think on this statement from my brother.

"This movie should be subtitled, "Heather Graham needs to pay her mortgage.""

Well played, hermano, well played.

(Janet Varney is in this as well. The reason I bring this up is that I have had a crush on her for a while and last night, like a number of other women I have crushed on from afar, I found out that she had been in a relationship with Chris Hardwick.)

Being active
I thought about taking yesterday off from running and any type of long walk because my butt was really sore. (Yes, I know that some of you are going to run with that statement. Go ahead. It is a gift.) However, around five, I started feeling antsy* and wanted to get out and do something. I did a really abbreviated warm up, three miles, and then a quick cool down. (Most of my runs have been in that range. I need to take a break but I do not want a blank space on my calender.

So, I am trying to figure out what I want to do today. What I really want to do is go for a hike but the weather does not look conducive to it. I should go for a run, which is probably what I am going to do. (I have not even thought of the route. Maybe RT 7 to McChesney and out that way, but...it is cold and wet outside. Oh, and if someone says "What about a treadmill?" they will be dead to me like the others.) I am looking forward to the weather being consistently good so that I can cross train effectively. For now, I am going to do some yoga and meditate about how awesome coffee is. Any ideas, please text me.

If the weather was a little nicer, I would go for a bike ride. Thanks to Google Maps, it would look like an 8 Bit Adventure.

Awesome, no?

Read more about it at io9.com

Nook Tablet
Do you want your Nook Tablet to act more like a Tablet and less like a Nook but you do not want to root it? There is a way to Dual Boot it. FAU, I am thinking of you as I am posting this, but @danap2170, you should try it too.

TEA and Vacation
TEA and I were supposed to go to Florida next week for spring break. See what I did there? Past tense. There are a number of reasons for this but the one that it overriding is that TEA does not want to fly. Going to Florida generally requires the use of an airplane, though there are other ways to do it. Now, I thought about pressing the issues, but I was afraid that his fears would lead to a panic attack on the plane and that would me a) vacation was ruined and b) TEA was traumatized, and here is where my fear would come in...I would be more concerned with spring break being ruined than with my son who was having a panic reaction. I do not ever want to be that dad.

The Great Beer Walk of 2012
I have been doing some asking around and I am trying to gauge the interest for this. It would, in all likelihood, be in either Troy or Schenectady on a late spring or early summer Saturday afternoon. Any preferences?

Waking up as a proud papa...

Time with TEA
My right hand is sore this morning. Really sore. A lot more sore than I anticipated it being. TEA and I had a catch yesterday (Okay, going off topic here but this is another reason that the whole having children late in life is a bad idea. Can you see yourself having at catch in your late 40s or early 50s? Would that be fair to your little one? Sorry. I know, I killed that damn horse years ago.) before we went out for pizza. TEA had his glove and we were using a real ball and like last year, I was not using a glove. For the first time, that I can remember, TEA was throwing consistently hard enough that I need to use a glove. He has had pop before and has stung my hand but I think we have moved past the whole "I don't need a glove" stage. This does make me happy.

The Best Anchor in the History of the News
(H/T to Ari)

Batman!

Did you see the picture of Batman being pulled over on the side of the road last week? Did you make a joke about it? Did you wonder what it was about?

The story is a lot more awesome than you could imagine.

Batman is a real hero.

Union Hockey
From USCHO.com:

If an excellent staff is one major value in a recruit’s decision-making process, Union seems to have it. The program’s other primary selling point is a top-notch education. The institution placed in the top 30 nationally in Forbes‘ 2011 rankings, and 40th among liberal arts schools in the vaunted U.S. News & World Report assessment.

Great hockey team, better school. Yeah, we are awesome. Go U!

Finally
Thank you to All Over Albany for linking to me yet again. You guys are awesome!

Pizza with the Boy

TEA wanted pizza and suggested NWBB. I suggested The Fountain. I won.

One of the things that we have been doing is playing video games. Last weekend, I discovered that there was a version of Oregon Trail (in HD) for my tablet and knew that I would have to have it. For TEA...not that I haven't been loving it.

(Off topic for a second, but this is my safe space and I really don't care what you think, bloggies. I hate using the word discovered to refer to things that I recently learned of. I mean, if I really discovered it, shouldn't I be wearing a Conquistador outfit and claiming it for Spain?)

FAU had suggested that this would be the case. He is wise.

Anyway, I love that TEA loves something that I played when I was his age, and this is a generational thing as his mother and stepfather are just a little too old to have played it in school on the TRS-80 or the Apple IIe. I also love that he likes hanging out with me and getting pizza often enough that the great service staff at the Fountain expects us.

Update on The Terrible Mistake

Yesterday, TEA and I were supposed to go to the movies to see The Phantom Menace in 3D.

When were arrived at the multiplex, and were queued up in front of the ticket dispenser (I prefer them when I can, but then again, I prefer small locally owned theaters.), TEA asked could we see a different film. I was elated.

TEA's suggestion: Journey 2: The Mysterious Island

In as few words as possible, here is a description of the film...

Troubled child gets a message, Stepfather bonds with a trip to Palau, hilarity and terror ensue, the find grandfather, they escape the island.

That being said, the Rock is fun to watch. He does not have much range but he is fun. Michael Caine delivers yet another performance by mail, and Vanessa Hudgens is really cute (and thankfully, 23).

Some of the 3D effects were worth it and...the most important thing...is that TEA loved it.

Pictures from Union College

HJ77, TEA and I were on campus on Saturday.

The good news is that TEA loved it. The bad news is that the 'Skellar was closed.

TEA wants to go there. Now, that is scary on a number of levels.

Wow...what a day...

I have other things that I should be doing right now, at 12:30 on Thursday morning, but I just watched an incredible 5 minutes of baseball. I watched Boston lose and then the Rays win. Things like this do not happen, but...it was fun to watch. I feel for HJ77 and my friends and family who are Sox fans, I am happy for friends and family who are Rays fans (yes, I have both friends and family who root for the Rays) and I am excited that one of the New York teams is going to be playing in October. (Karl Ravich's line from SportsCenter: "We started September complaining about a lack of drama. We were idiots.")

It was an odd day. I was struck with hyposomnia again, and feel asleep between 4:30 and 5:30 am, waking at 7:30 to respond to a couple of e-mails and texts and forcing myself out of bed at 9. I ran some errands, and had a meeting before meeting my father for lunch and then helping him out with his new social media project. Yes, my father is now on Twitter and has his own domain. He is entering a brave new world, without all the good soma.

Then I picked up TEA from school and we spent the afternoon and evening together. First stop, the comic book shop (Earthworld, in case you were wondering. They are wonderful there. The staff is amazing and helpful and they love that TEA asks questions and answer in a non-curmudgeonly way.) where we picked up a number of #1s of the new DC reboot, including the third re-print of Justice League (Green Lantern asking Batman what his superpowers are is hilarious in a very geeky way.) and Batman #1.

Then to Junior's so TEA could get wings and a pizza and I could get a salad (Hey! I had a late lunch.) and we could relax. While we were enjoying our meal, the table behind us was populated by a "family" that was having an intervention and there was a kerfuffle. "I was able to pay for this while I was in jail" was an overheard statement. I just handed the waitress my card without seeing the check so we could get out of there post haste. Why Junior's?

Having left Junior's early, we needed to kill a little bit of time before seeing the movie we had been trying to see together for almost a week, so we went to Tierra Coffee Roasters for a coffee and hot chocolate respectively ("Mom wouldn't mind if I had a decaf." TEA likes coffee. Good for him. It is one of the best things in life.) and we looked at comic books, and I fired up the netbook to check a couple of things. It was a strangely adult moment of the two of us and it made me feel really proud to be his father. He is turning into an incredible young man.

Then the movie...

Dolphin Tale

It was a good family movie and it had me in tears more than a couple of times. Yes, there are some great actors who were wasted, but ultimately it is a film about the challenges we all face, that there are losses that we need time to recover from, and there is a subtle indictment of the efficacy of our two wars and the toll that they take on our young men and women and their families.

Yes, TEA made fun of me for crying. It is his right. He is nine.

After the film, I took TEA home and then got involved in a computer issue with him that was...well...a little involved and less than complete. Something to address at another time.

Now, I am home and trying to figure out if sleep is worth it seeing that I have things to do and not a lot of time to do it.

Because I have a personal life...

When TEA and I were watching football on Sunday, I casually asked TEA if there were any cute girls in his class that he may or may not be interested in.

He gave me a look.

"What?"

"No, Dad."

"What do you mean? There aren't any cute girls in your class?"

"Dad!"

"What?"

"There is my life outside and part of my life that is personal."

"Excuse me?"

"But Dad..."

"TEA, I am your father and you can talk with me about anything. You should talk to me about anything."

"Okay Dad"

"So, I am asking if there is anyone that you think is cute. I am not teasing you, I just wanted to know about what is going on in your life."

"No, Dad. Not really."

"Not really?"

"No, Dad, there isn't."

"TEA if there is anything I can talk about it is awkward interactions with girls."

"Yeah, Dad, I know."

What does that mean? He knows?

This moment in parenting theater was brought to you by "I Really Love My Son".

Happy Birthday, TEA

TEA, as you start your tenth year, I want you to have a wonderful year. A year full of sports, superheroes, Jedi, & fun.

You are a great kids and I love you. I cannot imagine my life without you.

Happy Birthday!

Bullet Pointing a Thursday

• I woke up from a dream.  The dream was where someone was telling me a joke.  I forget the dream and who was telling the joke, but I know the punchline..."Jessica Tandy's Sex Tape".  Great, no?  Try to get that image out of your head.
• Tomorrow is TEA's birthday.  I am picking him up from school and taking him out to dinner tonight.  We are going to his favorite place, which so happens to be the New World Bistro Bar.
• Shopping for a nine year old is fun.  Mostly because when I am looking at the things, I ask myself, "Would I want this one?"  Then I get the better one that I would like to have.
• I have failed to find a transcript from last night's GOP Debate.  I have watched some coverage of it, and read some quick recaps but I have failed to get a clear idea of who the winners (apart from Mittens) really were.  Any suggestions?  Should I bother?
• I am not going to complain about the rain, especially as friends are being flooded out.  Again.
• I missed Chrissie Hynde's birthday yesterday.  I will rectify that.
  

And TEA rides an instrument of torture...

TEA, HJ77 and I went to Funplex in East Greenbush yesterday for a round of mini-golf (which I was taking far to seriously) and after the game/match/contest of wills, TEA decided that he wanted to ride the Space Ball which is either a flight trainer from Space Camp or something that is used to get Al Queda members in check at Gitmo.

Here is the video...

While I would hate the ride, listen to his voice...he is having a great time, and that is awesome.

And bouncing is what TEA does best!

TEA on the Bungee Trampoline at Funplex.








Doesn't he look like he is having fun?


It looks fun, doesn't it? Too bad that I am too big for it.

90s Nostalgia - The Suggestions

So, I asked for advice yesterday about music for TEA and the interwebs provided.

• Apart from "I Wanna (Sexx You Up), most of the suggestions were appropriate
• Oh, I chose which song represented the band.
• It was curious that U2 was not mentioned.
• I think Bell Biv DeVoe's Poison may be an important lesson for TEA...i.e. "Never trust a big butt and a smile."

Bell Biv Devoe


Paula Abdul


The Fresh Prince (of Bel Air)


Violent Femmes


INXS


Digapble Planets


Portishead


The Cure


The Bangles


The Charlatans UK


Matthew Sweet


Beastie Boys


New Order


Faith No More


Color Me Badd

(Thank you to Erik, Joy, Andrea, Tracy, Sean and Mike for offering suggestions)

90s Nostalgia

Nostalgia is a combination of two Greek words meaning "returning home" combined with "pain or ache". (I read this while in Boston last weekend and it stuck with me.)

Earlier in the week, Lux sent me a piece from Slate about showing the 1992 Reading Festival performance of Nirvana at this year's festival.



The Slate piece bothered me...for a couple of reasons...some of it is an inside baseball thing about Slate being contrarian when it comes to the general mood, and part of is how they will happily borrow ideas from New York Mag and slag them at the same time.

Mostly it is because the early 90s were different, because...well...they were my formative years. This is when I was a late teenager and young twenty-something. I have been spending a lot of one on one time with TEA lately, and I have been consuming his media in an effort to understand him and I am struck how different his view of the world is than mine it.

Then...I got to thinking about how to introduce this era to TEA.

TEA is too young for Nevermind, and too young for Ten (Do you think that Jeremy would cause nightmares?)

Lux and I had a conversation about hot to introduce TEA to my music and what would be appropriate for him, and all I could come up with is "Squeeze".

But...I know I am leaving bands out...

What late 80s or early 90s band would you introduce TEA to?

A Great Day with TEA

TEA and I had a great day together yesterday. There were comics (yay for the staff at Earthworld for being so patient and kind to someone who will be a good customer for years), cheesecake (If you have not had cheesecake from Cheesecake Machismo, what are you thinking?), the exploration of an old Dutch house (and very special thanks to Ms. Lee for such a wonderful tour) and pizza and root beer! It was such fun.


TEA at Cheesecake Machismo


TEA (wearing a beaver felt hat) and Anya (the best tour guide ever) at Fort Crailo


TEA waiting for his pizza to cool while reading a new comic book at the Hill Street Cafe


"This is the best pizza ever!"