kidspeak

Aug 11 2010

A Camera, Old Guitars, New Computers, and Godzilla

“I’m going to put stickers on it so they know that Bundle, the greatest helper in the world, likes to put stickers on things!”
— Lucy, explaining the thinking behind plastering something with kitty cat decals

I got my own cheap point and shoot camera off Woot so that I don’t have to pilfer Jill’s all the time. I thought I’d test it out by taking a few pics.

The guitar in these pics looks really cool but doesn’t play that well. It’s just a few years old, a cheapie Fender Telecaster, probably made in Malaysia or something.

It’s been relic’d to look like an old tele that’s been around the block a few times. When I was younger I thought telecasters were totally lame, thought they were ugly. Through the years they started growing on me. Today, I think they’re really quite the lookers. I love that stripped down, minimalist look. Like strats, the older and more beat up they get, the better they look.

samsung_008
samsung_009
samsung_012
samsung_011

samsung_010

These two pics are of the keyboard that came with our new computer. Computers are the total opposites of guitars. The worse they look, the worse they are. I usually try to get rid of my computers (especially desktops) after a set numbers of years.

samsung_003

samsung_001

Godzilla. ‘Nuff said.

samsung_004

By mike • by Mike, Misc • 2 • Tags: , , , ,

Aug 7 2010

It’s What’s for Dinner (for a While)

“I’m a sardine cartoon!”
— Lucy acting silly at the kitchen table

“Here’s my house
With furniture and a mouse”
— Lucy singing as she plays with her dollhouse

2010.07_2679_beef

A while back I read an article on “cowpooling”, where people join together to buy grassfed beef directly from a rancher at a reduced price. The article mentioned a group, the Bay Area Meat CSA, that helped do this.

So I started checking out the site on a regular basis and eventually decided to join seven other people in agreeing to buy 1/8 of a grassfed cow from a bay area source. The price we paid covered the rancher, the butcher, and miscellaneous associated costs.

So, last week I picked up my 1/8 of a cow, which came out to around 50 pounds of frozen steaks, roasts, and hamburger meat. I’d already arranged to sell half of it to my sister, so my eventual haul was around 25 pounds of grassfed beef for about $122, which averaged out to a little less than $5 a pound a really good deal.

I think we’re set for a while, but I’m sure I’ll be placing another order sometime in the future.

By mike • by Mike, Misc • 2 • Tags: , , , ,

Aug 6 2010

Summer (part 2)

“Shhh…I’m baking.”
— Lucy, while making banana bread with her mom (and wearing apron and chef’s hat.)

Part 2 of the summer pic series…more beach, boating on the lake, painting with auntie, and playing at the park.

By jill • by Jill, Relatives, The Kid, Time Capsule • 1 • Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Aug 3 2010

One Cat, Many Computers

“Welcome to bundle’s
The place to be
when the cats are barfing

Welcome to bundle’s
Washing away the barf
Cleaning up the barf

Welcome to bundle’s
When the cat barfs up!

Welcome to bundle’s
Where mommy gets it on her hands!”
— Lucy improvising a song while her Mom cleans up after a sick Wubert

We got a new (actually a refurb) computer last week, a 27″ i7 iMac, to replace the system I sold to my sister. I ordered it last Thursday afternoon and it actually arrived the very next day, so Wubie and I were psyched to bust it open and fire it up.

This was probably the 4th or 5th computer Wubie and I have opened together. We started with a G3 Blue and White back in 1999 when Wubie was a youngster. Wubie’s a teenager now, about 70 in human years, so he’s a little creakier now than he was back then (but then again, so am I.)

I’m hoping he’ll stick around for a few more system changes. It wouldn’t be the same (or nearly as fun) without him.

Here’s a photo collage of Wubie and some of the computers he’s “inspected” over the last 10+ years:

One Cat, Many Computers

By mike • by Mike, Geeky, Video, Wubert • 7 • Tags: , , , ,

Aug 2 2010

Happy Birthday, Gma Vita!

LUCY: “WAAAAUGH! Wubie bit me!”
MOM: “Let me see that. Oh, I think he broke the skin!”…(continues to inspect the ‘wound’)…“Unless that’s just dirt.”
LUCY: “I think that’s just dirt.”
— Conversation overheard following the latest cat vs grubby kid confrontation

Happy Birthday Song for Gma Vita from Mike C on Vimeo.

We had a get-together at Gma Vita’s place on Saturday to celebrate her birthday. Jill snapped a few pics, which you can view in the slideshow below. She also shot a video of us all singing “Happy Birthday” (see above).

It was great seeing (almost) everybody. The newlyweds, Michael and Michelle made it, especially nice since they’ll be moving to South Carolina next month. Cindy, Patty, Mario, and their families were also able to make the trek over.

Though the covered deck in the backyard is now but a memory and Gma Vita’s sunroom still a work in progress, we managed to make do with the shade provided by the old walnut tree.

Patty and Michael had just gotten back from a visit with Sam and family in Oregon. We were a bit jealous that they got to see the newest addition to the family!

Hopefully, we’ll all be able to get together again soon (including those who were missed this time around).

By mike • by Mike, Relatives, Video • 4 • Tags: , , ,

Aug 1 2010

July, 2010 Collage

July, 2010 Collage

A few Lucy quotes from July:

“I can dance beautifully—and that’s why I’m a cool ballerina.”
– Lucy, describing her dancing style.

“Some of the ballerinas are nighttime ballerinas and some of the ballerinas are cat-toy ballerinas and some of the ballerinas are friendly ballerinas. I’m a princess ballerina.”
– Lucy, explaining the various types of ballerinas.

“What are you doing here, Wubie? Screwdrivers are not for cats!”
– Lucy, instructing Wubie to stay away as she tries fixing the fridge handle.

Can ya believe it’s August already? Sheesh. Since July’s in the books, here’s an end-of-the-month post/collage about it. Some notable happenings from July, 2010:

By mike • by Mike, Friends, Relatives, The Kid, Time Capsule, Wubert • 3 • Tags: ,

Jul 25 2010

Lucan

“Hey, stop calling me Lucan! Call yourself Lucan!”
— Lucy’s rebuttal upon being compared to a 70s TV character

Occasionally the kid lets her freak flag fly and expresses her general disagreement with the concept of clothing by running around in her underwear shouting, “I’m half-naked! Can’t catch me!”

Picture a 3′ 3″ blur of hair, undies, and attitude. She basically looks like a miniature caveman with a Pampers sponsorship running amuck. Invariably, I’ll start calling her Lucan, no doubt because the most accessible (and least cluttered) filing cabinet in my brain is labeled:

“Old TV Show/Comic Book/Movie/Music (60s-80s) Trivia—VERY IMPORTANT!”

Lucan was a short-lived TV show in the ’70s that my little sister and I watched semi-regularly. It told the story of a dude who spends his childhood out in the forest and is raised by a bunch of wolves. He eventually gets reclaimed by society as a dirty, snarling, crazy-haired wild-child (the Bundle connection). He then grows up as a guinea pig in some government-sponsored research lab until his inevitable escape. Action and stuff ensue (at least for the season it was on). I’m actually startled by how much of this I’m remembering.

IMG_5990IMG_5991
Lucan Attacks!

Anyway, like a lot of useless info, the tale of Lucan is permanently embedded in my brain, probably hunkered down in my hippocampus, shooing away frivolous thoughts regarding the placement of car keys, wallets, and PIN codes.

So this is why I call the kid Lucan. And the funny thing is: this kid, all of 42 months old, takes much umbrage with this label. “Stop calling me Lucan. YOU’RE LUCAN!” she’ll yell as she dashes away from the 30+ year TV show aspersion. I get a kick out of that.

By mike • by Mike, Geeky, The Kid, Time Capsule, Video • 2 • Tags: , ,

Jul 22 2010

Obon dance

“Wubie crushed my wand — no magic show for him!”
— Lucy’s response after she waved her ‘magic wand’ (stick with a ribbon) in front of Wubie one too many times (he destroyed it).

We went to the SJ Obon with friends recently and had loads of fun, especially Lucy…she got to dance in her first Bon Odori.

Lucy went to her first Obon fest way back in 2008, when she was still a baby. Grandmommy had suggested we go, she had cut out a clipping from the newspaper for us, and urged us to go that very day (it was a Sunday and we had been visiting her in the hospital). We went and had a lovely time. Shortly thereafter Grandmommy got out of the hospital, so we all went together to the Palo Alto Obon fest. That was about a month before she passed away in September, and it was our last big outing together.

The Obon festival is held to remember ancestors and loved ones who are gone…so it seems appropriate that we keep going in memory of Grandmommy. (Posts from last year’s visits here and here.) If she were still here, she would surely be dancing with us!

By jill • by Jill, Friends, Relatives, The Kid, Time Capsule • 2 • Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Jul 22 2010

Summer (part 1)

“Phalaenopsis, phalaenopsis…pretty flower, pretty flower… “(to the tune of Frère Jacques)
— Lucy’s song after visiting the orchid farm

We’ve had a pretty mild summer, a few hot days here and there. On the hot ones we head out of town…to the foggy city or to the cool beach. Here are some snaps from our summer so far, mostly beach pics. Stay tuned for part 2…

By jill • by Jill, The Kid, Time Capsule • 4 • Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Jul 17 2010

Academy of Sciences

Lucy: “Tell me a pretend story about how Wubie doesn’t like Christmas lights and it’s Christmas.”
Jill: “Does Wubert get a present?”
Lucy: “Yes, a catnip mouse…but he doesn’t like it!”
Jill: “What would he rather have?”
Lucy: “A sardine sandwich!”
Jill: “OK. Wubert gets a sardine sandwich. Did he get a present for you?”
Lucy: “Yeah, a poop! Yeecch!”
— A conversation overheard in the car

Academy of Sciences from Mike C on Vimeo.

I’ve been cranking out the videos lately in an attempt to get caught up with the mountain of footage Jill and I shoot on a continual basis. So with that said, here’s another gem from my “Getting Caught Up/Making Room on the Drobo” series.

Jill shot this video in April when she, the kid, and Auntie Laura visited the Academy of Sciences. It’s full of penguins, fish, stingrays, and seahorses, with a couple of squirrels thrown in for good measure.

It also features a little kid having a most fun and memorable day, courtesy of her mommy and auntie. Check it out and see if you can spot where Jill encounters the elephant butt.

By mike • by Mike, Relatives, The Kid, Video • 0 • Tags: , , , , , ,

« 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18