When I found out that the pyramids of ancient Egypt were originally white but their limestone facing was taken off and reused during medieval times, I realized Peter, in making my birthday cake, revealed the secret for why the pyramids were built in the first place. After all, he’d muddled over what color to make…
Category: Daft Musings
Beach Volleyball Belgians
Kelly’s storytime hero, Andrew from Borders, instructed his fans to watch the Olympics after they began the following week. I didn’t intend to watch the Olympics, but for Kelly’s sake we did. And I am surprised at some of the Olympic sports. Kelly saw synchronized diving, which is cool, but who goes in for synchronized…
Another Breadmaker Bites the Dust
It seems that there are some household goods being made these days with the manufacturer’s expectation that the owner won’t use them for more than a few months. One example of this is Peter’s treadmill: within a month, the arms on it broke, and when I was using it, about 8 months after we bought…
John Carlson is a Poopyhead
I’m not sure all people are aware of it, but a little program on my blog (called Statcounter) shows me how often people look at my site, and quite often, what brought them to it. Mostly I write this blog for my friends and family, and, yes, for myself, but it’s nice if it serves…
Our Local Library Re-Opens
On Saturday, our family strolled down to take part in the re-opening of San Jose’s Pearl Avenue Branch library. Since 2005, we’d effectively been library orphans. It’s been hard on me, because I am quite the library rat. When it first closed, the nearest branch was the Vineland library, one of the first new (or…
I Am Older
It was my birthday on Friday. In the afternoon, Peter came by to pick me up to party the rest of the day away. Once again, he had made me an amazing birthday cake, this one in the shape of a pyramid: I thought it was because Charybis & Scylla’s next unit of history is…
How I Am Promoting English-Language Acquisition Amonst Latino Immigrants
Presidential candidate Barack Obama recently said “Instead of worrying about whether immigrants can learn English, you need to make sure your child can speak Spanish.” He’s been criticized for that comment, but I agree with him. As I’ve found, having to put up with gringo efforts at Spanish (like mine) encourages Latino immigrants to pull…
Nancy’s Seven Songs She’s Into Right Now
My friend and college roommate Nancy emailed me her list of seven songs she’s into right now. For some reason (even though she likes to write), she doesn’t have a website of her own. Here’s her list: “Down to Earth” by Peter Gabriel (from the soundtrack to “Wall-E.”) “1492,” “Hanging Tree,” “When I Dream of…
Special FX Skyping
When I went to Germany in February, Peter and I discovered Skype. It’s so much fun that it inspired Peter to buy us (as well as his parents) high-quality web cams, and upgrade my computer so it could handle said webcams. Like other technologies we’ve embraced, it’s so revolutionary that it by far surpasses other…
My New License Plate
This morning, I got up early to go to the DMV office downtown in order to pick up my new vanity license plates: Peter and I ordered it after Wizard World LA reminded us about how we feel about the big city down south. And I’ll be driving it through LA in, um, just about…