Thanky-ness

     Today is Thanksgiving here in the states (Canadian Thanksgiving was Oct 10th) and we celebrate by heading to Grandma Gerry and Grandpa Jacks for dinner with moms side of the family. It's a fairly traditional gathering with turkey, mashed taters, green beans, and pumpkin pie. The fact that they live in a log cabin in the woods only heightens the traditional holiday mood. Booze helps too :-)  It's nice to get together with the family and swap stories and reminiscences. After we've stuffed ourselves silly, and had a brief nap in my father's case, we bundle up and drive over to spend the rest of the evening with dad's side of the family to consume deserts, play games, and drink a bit more. We bring board games, card games, and Wii games to whittle away the night. Eventually the evening ends and we head home (hopefully with leftovers in hand) to put the kids to bed and sleep off the feast. A good time is had by all!

     I'd like to take this opportunity to share my list of things I'm grateful for, in no particular order

     I'm thankful for family. My family is very important to me. I would not be who I am without their influence and example to go by.
     I'm thankful for friends; old and new. I'm fortunate to have many, many friends, and I love them all.
     I'm thankful for my health. Though I am currently battling a sudden and unexpected head cold, my immune system is usually pretty impenetrable. On that note...
     I'm thankful for lemon tea with ginger, honey, and vitamin C. It's keeping me functional at the moment.
     I'm thankful for my wife and kids. Yeah, they're included in the "thankful for family" bit, but these three are special. Though they may drive me out of my ever loving mind at times, Jillian and Gavin are the best thing I've ever made. I don't know how she does it, but Belinda puts up with my insanity.
     I'm thankful for "the arts". I know, it's a catch all phrase, but I'm love it all. As an artist, writer, actor, sculptor, singer, puppeteer, etc, etc, tis the arts that feed my soul.
     I could go on and on ad infinitum with all this thanky-ness, but I'll spare you the long and winding list.

     I wish you all a festive Thanksgiving full of good food and good company! If you're not celebrating Thanksgiving today, I still wish you the same; it's never a bad time for food, friends, and family.

Happy Turkey Day everyone!

Adventures in dinnertime

      Dinnertime at the Hamilton house and I'm looking through the pantry wondering what to make that the kids will actually eat. Hmmm... Got it! Boiled octopus with octopus eggs! Well, not exactly... Jillie and I made the octopi from items most households already have. Here, I'll show you.

Everybody loves hot dogs. Even the Arrogant Worms! http://www.arrogantworms.com/music/hot-dog-song/
We have hot dogs in abundance. Spaghetti is always plentiful. Olives? Yup, we gots olives. And last but not least, string cheese. Cut a couple hot dogs into sections and break a small bundle of spaghetti noodles in half.

Take your little spaghetti spears and skewer them into one end of the hot dogs in a circle. You can put as many or a few as you like, but Jillie insisted that octopus have eight legs so we stuck to realism.

these guys seem a bit stiff to you?

invaders from planet Frankfurter

Bring some water to a boil (if I have to tell you how to do that, just stop reading now. Walk away from your computer and go stand in a corner) and drop the little fake cephalopod's into the pot. Jillie made little "No! Help me!" noises as she mercilessly drowned the poor things, but you don't have to if you don't want to. Let them boil for about seven minutes. You may need to gently separate them with a spoon occasionally to prevent tentacle tangling. Once the tentacles soften up, your octopi should start swimming around. It's kind of hard to see through the steam, but ours spun in circles like aquatic wind socks.

While they boiled away to their hearts delight, I cut some string cheese into little wedges and stuffed them into the hollows of the olives to make inky eggs. When time is up, gently remove the little guys from their bath of doom and plate them up. Jillie doesn't like spaghetti sauce, so we didn't make any. You're perfectly welcome to add sauce to yours but it may make the plates look like a scene from CSI: Pacific Coast.

Jillie and Gavin devoured them with glee, nibbling off tentacles and squishing gooey yolks. Dinner and a show! Let me know if you try this with your own monkeys. Happy Eating!

Curtain call

Tonight we finished our run of "The Green Room." It's been a great journey from auditions to cast party. We had  more than our fair share of set backs; illnesses, multiple rehearsals spaces, even a last minute cast change (Carolina Rios, you rock!), but in the end we put on a great show. I've made new friends along the way and I'm really gonna miss seeing them damn near every day. I'm looking forward to auditioning for Mask & Mirror's next show, "Robin Hood: The Musical" and I hope my new friends are there with me. I've had a great time doing this, it's what I love to do, and I hope to keep doing it for the rest of my life. To Jenny, Maille, Greg, Mason, Carolina, Rod, and Arleen, you guys rule! I loved doing this show with you. I couldn't have asked for better castmates. To Gary and Pat, thank you for casting me and being a wonderful director and producer. To Sue, Michal, Chris, Deidre, Christina, Bev, and any other crew I may have missed, thank you all for keeping this show chugging along. And to Peggy Glisson, thank you for allowing us to be the first group to "test drive" your script. The Green Room is a delight! I'm sad that it's over, but happy that it happened and that it went so well. The show must go on!

More thank you's...

Thank you to my family and friends who came to see the show, I love you all. Thank you to my wife Belinda for putting up with my absence so I could go to rehearsals, I love you tons! Thank you to EVERYONE who supports the arts in their community, without people like you we couldn't do the things we do. And one last quick thank you to Drea Ferguson, my high school theater teacher. Okay, I think I'm done now. If I've forgotten to thank you, I'm sorry, I'm getting old and tired and my memory isn't what it used to be. I think I may have hit my head a few too many times; I hear ringing and I can taste colors. I think I should go lie down. G'night folks!

     Hello internet, it's been a while, how ya doing?

     A while back I told you about Mask & Mirror (http://jaxxonblogspot.blogspot.com/2011/06/mask-mirror.html). Well, a few months ago I went to auditions for M&Ms first production, "The Green Room" by Peggy Glisson. I was amazed at the amount of talent in the room! Needless to say, the auditions went really well and I went home feeling good. I was surprised when just a few days later I got an email from Gary (the director) asking me if I would accept the part of Jason in the show. I immediately emailed him back telling him; No, that part is unacceptable, I refuse. Just kidding! Of course I said yes, I'd take the part. Shortly after that, the cast met at the directors house to do our first read-through and it was pretty evident from the start that we had a great cast. Seriously, I love this cast! We're a few weeks into rehearsal and every single one is a blast. We all make each other laugh, sometimes to the point where Gary has to shush us. :-)
The show is about a community theater and their production of "The Untimely Death of Mr. Frumberg". All the action takes place in the green room of the theater. The cast is still reeling from their horrible dress rehearsal the night before as they prepare for opening night. Along the way, there are mixed signals, mis-communications, and missed cues. It all works out in the end, but only everything that can go wrong goes hilariously wrong.

      Tonight we spent the first half of the evening taking head shots and promotional pictures in costume. I can't wait to see what the photographer got, but I couldn't resist snapping a few on my phone.

Arleen (as Eileen, the maid) and Jenny (as Candy, the ingenue)

Maille (as Morgan, the put upon costumer) strangling Jenny

Mason (as Chris, the long suffering stage manager) giving Arleen some tips

Arleen getting into character

Greg (as George, the seasoned professional)

Me (as Jason, son of the president and inexperienced actor)

Allison (as Natalie, Jason's fiance and first time actress)

The show will run the first three weekends of November at Calvin Church in Tigard. That's the 4th, 5th, 6th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 18th, 19th, and the 20th. Shows are at 7:30 pm on Fridays and Saturdays, and 2 pm on Sundays. I'll post more pictures as rehearsals progress. Come see the show, we're gonna rock the socks off of it. G'night folks!

     A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away (i.e. a quarter century ago, on the banks of the Tualatin river) my family created the single greatest celebratory event EVER. A day on which we gather together with friends and family to barbecue, enjoy a cold beverage, and to play Full-Contact Volleyball. This is the story of how this day of all days was conceived.

     Many years ago my dad's brother,uncle Matt, was coming home after being discharged from the army. At the same time my uncle Drew was getting ready to leave for grad school. To celebrate, we held a "Welcome Home/Farewell" BBQ at my grandparents river property. They set up a net for volleyball and, being wrestlers and all around rough and tumble guys, they stretched the rules and the game turned into a contact sport. The following summer, many of their friends asked if we could do it again, well, who are we to spoil the fun? The next year they figured, what the hell, why not make this a yearly event? My dad, uncle Drew and uncle Matt were talking it over at McMenamins and came up with the name "Ragnarok" after the Norse myth. So, here we are, twenty six years later, into our fourth generation and we're still going strong. Ragnarok has become the event of the summer. There's a certain ceremony to things, we take it very seriously.

We don't have many rules to our Volleybrawl, but here's the gist of it

1. There's no such thing as a net violation. If you touch the net, no biggie.
2. It's okay to go under the net. You can push opponents away, just make contact above the waist and try not to let the other team catch you
3. No referee. Any disagreements over a point is "disputed in force" i.e. the team left with the ball after a big scrum gets the point
4. No running or "keep-away" with the ball. Enjoy the scrum, don't run from it. (and stay away from non-combatants)

     At it's core, whether you're a player or a spectator, a scrummer or not, a child or a child at heart, Ragnarok is our day to have fun and let go and have fun. I plan to keep Ragnarok going for years to come and then pass the torch onto my own children. It's the greatest show on Earth, the most wonderful time of the year, and the end of the world as we know it!

Instrument of battle

    I sit up late, back bent, eyes focused, working on a task I take very seriously. Ragnarok is coming and the embattled warriors require something to wield. It is my job to inscribe the sacred words. Like the dwarf, Eitri, who forged the mighty hammer Mjolnir for the god Thor, I think of little else as my hands go to their craft. Meticulous detail and precise placement are my goal; anything else would be a disservice to the sphere over which I toil. With pen in hand, I carefully and slowly trace out the letters. It is a job I enjoy. It is my duty and my pleasure to perform.

    Once done I sit back and take in my handiwork. Tomorrow we lay the field and hang the banners, tonight I am the wordsmith.

This summer so far...

     It's going to be an action packed summer this year, full of trips, events, and goings of on. There's the usual summer activities, like birthdays and holidays, not to mention Ragnarok (more on that later), but we've also a wedding in Reno and a big-time camping trip. Probably the biggest thing going on this summer is right here in our apartment everyday. I'm watching my nieces, Olivia and Gwyn, while school's out, so I've got a seven y/old, a five y/old, a four y/old, and a soon to be two y/old.

     I figure the only way I'm going to survive, let alone retain what little sanity I still have, is to treat it like school. I've got a schedule for the whole day, science projects lined up, art projects to keep them busy, and even field trips. Once the girls get used to following the schedule instead of running amok, like most summers, I think it's gonna work well. So far we've gone to the Oregon Zoo and the Tualatin Commons fountain. The zoo was fun. We took the bus to the MAX (Portland's light rail system) in so we wouldn't have to deal with shitty parking. We spent most of the day there and let the kids run out all their energy. On the way back, we figured Gavin would crash pretty hard but he stayed up the whole time. He loved looking out the windows. Jillian and Gwynny on the other hand both conked out within minutes. All in all, a day well spent.

Ride 'em Dinoboy! (and Dinogirls)

Tuckered out

Too tired

Bright eyed and bushy tailed

Yesterday was our first day of "Uncle Nicks Super Science Summer School". The day started out with some fun science experiments with friction. You can do it too if you want. All you need is two paperback books of fairly equal size. I grabbed Merchant of Venice and Julius Caesar

Take the books and interlace the pages, kind of like shuffling a deck of cards only slower. It can be a bit of a pain in the ass if you pick really thick books. When you're done, it should look something like this

 Then all you have to do is grab each book by the spine and pull them apart. Here, watch Gwyn give it a go...

That's the trick, you can't pull them apart, even two people pulling can't get the books to budge. Each overlapping pair of pages has it's own friction and when you have that many pages pulling at the same time, the friction is compounded. Mythbusters did this experiment with phone books. Here's their results http://youtu.be/hOt-D_ee-JE. Try it, it's fun! After Gavin's nap, we tried some experiments with bubbles and surface tension, but my bubble solution was crap and our bubbles never lasted, so no pictures. Stupid bubbles.

     When Belinda and Christina got home we packed up and headed to Tualatin Commons to play in the fountain and cool off. Gavin didn't quite grasp the concept of "Walk or you'll slip" so I strapped his backpack/kid leash on him and followed him through the water. The kids had a blast and, once again, fell asleep pretty quickly, rarely a bad thing.

     Today, we went on a nature walk down by the river and saw some deer tracks (and deer scat) and watched some newly hatched spiders. We were going to eat lunch there, but there were too many bugs for girls liking so we hoofed it to Jurgens park nearby. After lunch I brought out my science toys and we played with the Bernoulli blowers, paper helicopters, and Wright Fliers. Now we're chilling out at home, watching Avatar: The Last Airbender. Not sure what we'll do tomorrow, but I'm sure it'll be fun!

Mask & Mirror

     Last night, I went to an informational meeting at the Tualatin Library for Mask & Mirror Community Theater. Mask & Mirror is a new troupe, specifically focused on encouraging and developing community theater in the Tualatin/Tigard area. It was a good meeting, really straightforward and informative, and I signed up on the spot. I think good things are going to come from this. I figure it can't hurt. I've done work with a couple other non-profit groups, some worked, some didn't, but these guys seem to really have their act together (hehe, I punned). I found out about M&M from my Grandpa Dewey who found out about it from the Tigard Times (http://www.tigardtimes.com/news/story.php?story_id=130818408561353900). I've had the itch to get back into theater regularly since my return to Hadassah last year, but haven't had much luck finding anything nearby. If you live in the Tualatin/Tigard area and are looking to get involved in theater; whether it be on stage, backstage, off-stage, or even ushering, I suggest giving Mask & Mirror a try. They're on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mask-Mirror-Community-Theatre/211350792224516) and they'll have a booth at the Balloon Festival this summer.

     I'm looking forward to getting back into the swing of theater and I'll post details of any upcoming shows or events here.

R.E.M.

Just woke up from the strangest dream I've had yet. I'm trying as hard as I can to retain it, but it's getting difficult. My waking brain keeps trying to impose logic on the crazy and the details get fuzzier the longer I'm up. As far as I can remember, there were huge surreal buildings everywhere but one in particular was where all the action happened. The walls, floors, and ceiling were predominantly yellow, and people were keen to avoid the yellow-ness whenever possible. Damn it, I'm losing it. It was far easier to hold onto the details of dreams before I had kids demanding attention in the morning. I remember the whole dream had a running soundtrack based entirely on They Might Be Giants. Everyone was very compliant and worried all the time. After multiple attempts to get them riled up, I finally found out why they were so sedate; if you instigate trouble a giant face appears in the yellow space and forces you into submission. I'm trying to remember the rest of it, but it's been too long. I remember running from the faces avoiding yellow like there's no tomorrow, the whole time being serenaded by the dulcet tones of TMBG. It was a race to the ground floor and supposed safety. It came down to me and one other guy barreling down the the last flight of stairs and into the foyer. I made one last desperate slide into the front doorway while a plexiglass barrier slammed down in front of the other guy, dooming him to a yellow doom, of doom. Relieved to be free of the faces, I step outside and see yellow everywhere. Then I woke up. There was way more to it, but I've lost it now. Suffice to say, it was intensely strange, even for me.

If I wrote for television

    Raise your hand if you've ever seen CSI, Criminal Minds, or anything in that vein. I expect most of you have your hand in the air (at least, you would if this were a live conversation and I could actually see you).

This doesn't count

     Me too. I enjoy trying to figure out the patterns and motives and all that jazz. I even like it occasionally, rare though it may be, when the killer/psycho/bad guy wins. Call me sick if you want, but there are times when a depressing denouement can be satisfying. I've seen episodes where the victims fight back and sometimes get away, but they always do it so inefficiently, and usually after the villain has gotten the better of them already. More often than not, after a crime spree or series of dead bodies has been finished, the villain gets caught at the end and is either brought to justice or is killed in a confrontation with the heroes.

     Yay for the good guys, you got your man/woman, whoopie.

Although ~this~ is pure awesome


     What I'd like to see (and it may already exist and I just haven't seen it) is this; the evildoer has broken into another home to murder or steal or whatever his modus operandi is and it turns out he's picked the wrong people to mess with. Honestly, if I'm by myself, in another room, and I hear a window shatter, the first thing I reach for is something to beat the living hell out of whoever just broke in. I'm more than willing to lodge a steel T-square in someones skull to protect my family. 
     Picture if you will; a man with a wicked looking knife breaks into someones home. Just another kill in his state wide murder spree. Cut to the kids, sleeping peacefully in their beds, blissfully unaware. Back to the intruder, creeping through the back room, knife at the ready, inching ever closer to his objective. Now cut the the mother, lying in her bed, her back to the door. Onto the man with the knife again, licking his lips in anticipation as he navigates the darkened living room. He slowly turns a corner to face down the hall and finds the husband standing at the other end, halfway in the door. He knows he's been seen and rushes towards his prey before it can run away and gets a chestful of buckshot courtesy of the homeowners shotgun that he had kept hidden behind the door. End of bad guy. Someone calls 911 and the rest is credits. Don't misunderstand, I don't advocate killing or vigilante retribution. And I would never shoot someone unarmed or in cold blood, but in self defence?

Hells yes.

     You may not agree with me, but I would like to see it, or something like it. Bad guy never saw it coming. Justice is served, after a fashion, and the family is safe. Yeah, it's a bit of an anti-climax, but it would be a scene that makes you shout "Yeah!" and pump your fist in the air. Just my thoughts on the matter, you can choose to disagree. But you have to admit, it would be dramatic.




P.S. When I picture that scenario in my head, the would-be victim turned savior looks an awful lot like my father. I can't imagine why... ;)

Jillian's first ER experience

As some of you may know, Belinda and I have spent the last two evenings in the ER with our daughter, Jillian. She woke up, 5am, Wednesday morning, vomiting. Good thing I happened to have a bucket on hand. All day, nothing would stay down in her stomach, not even the smallest amount of water. Pretty soon, the nausea was joined by it's good friend, diarrhea. Good thing we happened to have some leftover pullups that still fit her. We kept trying to keep her hydrated, but to no avail, everything would just come back up or keep going down. If you've met Jillie, then you know that she's boisterous, talkative, and a veritable ball of energy. Not anymore. Listless and pallid, she just layed on the couch with her glassy eyes glued to the middle distance like a zombie that had given up on the after-life. We decided it was time for the professionals to take a look at her. I stayed home with little brother Gavin while Mommy and Tia took big sis to Saint Vincents pediatric ER. The doc checked her out, and decided it was time for intravenous fluids. Unfortunately, she was so dehydrated that the veins in her arms weren't easy to find. They tried both arms while Bel and Christina held her down, kicking and screaming and finally got the iv into her hand. Poor baby, crying as hard as she could, but without even enough fluids to produce tears. They gave her some anti-nausea meds in the iv and she started to get some pink back in her cheeks. Bel called me to let me know how everything was going and put me on speaker to talk to Jillian. She started to cry and ask for me, "I want my daddy!" My heart broke.
After the iv was done, she was feeling good enough for a Popsicle and some water and she finally had enough in her that she had to go pee. They packed her up and brought her home around 11pm. She slept between Belinda and I, no way were we leaving her alone for the night. In the morning she woke up not quite as chipper as usual, but better than the night before and informed us that she was "all better now" but we were still going to take it easy. The diarrhea was still present, but she was keeping fluids down now, a little bit at a time, and Popsicles were the best thing in the world. In the afternoon, she said she was hungry so we gave her some toast and saltines. We figured that was pretty innocuous a menu but a few bites in, it all came up again. She also had started complaining more adamantly that her stomach was hurting, more so than the day before. By about 6 that evening, we decided to take her in again to rule out (hopefully not rule in) appendicitis. Mom and Dad come and picked up Gavin so I could go too and save Bel some of the heartache of watching her sick baby get poked and prodded. Fortunately, it was a much better experience this time. No iv this time, thankfully, and a definitive diagnosis of Gastroenteritis. They gave us a prescription for anti-nausea meds and a recipe for home made pedialyte (on our way home, we stocked up on Popsicles). She slept with us again, but she slept soundly.
Today, we've been taking it super easy. Three CC's of water at a time, popsicles as desired, no-puke-pill as often as prescribed and all the cartoons she can watch. Jillian is doing much better. She had an appointment with her pediatrician this morning and he said we should see and improvement soon. She's more talkative and interactive, but still not the loquacious lightning bolt she usually is. We were told this thing's been going around and that it usually runs it's course in about 4-5 days. We're on day 3 so hopefully on the downward slope of this. It's going to be a weekend of healing at the Hamilton household.

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Thanks For Everything

I am grateful for my past; the good, the bad, and the inbetween.
Every commendation, every insult, every moment of mediocrity,
All that has come to pass is culminated in who I am.
The sum total of a persons past leads them to the now;
That glorious moment, ever changing, ever constant,
As minuscule as a second, as infinite as forever.
The now perpetually flows into the past, is drawn from the future,
And is the eternal present.
All the love and hate and joy and sorrow that has come and gone
Shapes who we are in this nanosecond of the now
And without the now... there is nothing.

So be thankful for your history, every little bit of it.
No matter how you may despise it, no matter how blindingly brilliant it may be,
Regardless of the pain it may have caused, or continues to
Because without it, you would not be you, and you
Are awesome.

Vote for Jillian!

It's Red Head Round-up time! The Lincoln City Visitor and Convention Bureau is having a celebration of all things Red Head, and one of those things is a number of photo competitions. We entered our daughter, Jillian, into the "Curliest Red Hair" category. She has, hands down, the curliest hair of all the compeditors and needs your vote! The voting is done via Facebook, so if you have a Facebook account, here's what you do;

Sign into Facebook (duh) and go to http://www.facebook.com/LincolnCityOregon?sk=wall. "Like" their page and then go to their photos. Open the Red Head Round-Up 2011 Photo Contest album and click on Jillian's picture. It looks like this.

"I'm Jillian Hamilton, and I approve this message"

Then "Like" her picture to vote for her! The picture with the most "Likes" is the winner. That's it, your vote has been cast and the world is a better place for it. You gotta admit, that hair is pretty damn curly. And that's all natural, baby.So get out there and VOTE! Thanks!

Me+Sleep= A love/hate relationship

Let me begin by informing you that, as I begin this entry, it is after midnight and I'm lying in bed, begrudgingly awake. Figures.

The sandman and I, we have issues. I love sleep, and I think the main reason I love it so much is because I don't get enough of it. I yearn for a good nights sleep, yet I am consistently disappointed. The problems that keep me from sleeping are manifold. I think I'll address them like a films cast; in order of appearance.

Those of you who know me, know I'm one of those creative types; artist, actor, singer, puppeteer, didgeridoo player, etc. As such, I have an incredibly difficult time falling asleep. I simply can't seem to shut off my brain. So most of the time, I'm up late sketching or writing or even just brainstorming various ideas. Then, when the fatigue of the day can no longer be ignored, I shuffle off to bed only to lay awake while a cavalcade of different thoughts and ideas parade through my cerebrum. Unfortunately, by this point I'm so tired that when I try to take hold of a passing fancy I can't keep a good grasp and it slips through my fingers. Bye bye, so long, another will come by soon enough only to be fumbled by sleepy metaphorical fingers again.
Finally my brain has shuts the gates and is not letting anyone else in. Closing time, you don't have to go home, but you can't stay here. Now we come to the next hurdle to a good nights sleep; Restless Leg Syndrome.

 Also known as RLS, If you have it, you know how much it can suck. My legs just can't get comfortable. Positions that normally would be perfectly acceptable, have become torturous. My knees ache and calves twitch, causing me to toss and turn in vain attempts to find some magical position that doesn't make me want to chop off the offending limbs. Apparently I've had it for a while; about thirteen years ago, while sitting in bed at two AM I wrote "...like I woke up with a new set of legs and the knees are still deciding which way to bend." Sometimes it takes longer, sometimes relatively quickly, but somehow, It eventually subsides.

Brain's quiet, legs are under control, but the biggest (and most potentially dangerous) problem has yet to rear it's ugly head. Shortly after falling asleep, I begin to snore in great roaring bellows of glottal vibration. I have horrendous sleep apnea. That doesn't just mean I snore bad enough to wake the dead. Sleep apnea is when you stop breathing in your sleep. My airway just closes up, no warning, and I sputter awake just enough to open it back up until it closes again and we repeat the cycle. The danger comes if you don't wake up in time and die which is a serious possibility According to the sleep study I took a few years back, I have sleep apnea at a level equivalent of a man more than twice my age. Damn. So, to combat this, I was given a CPAP machine. CPAP stands for Continuous Positive Airway Pressure. Basically, it consists of an air pump with a little humidifier connected via a hose to a face mask that I strap to my head and wear over my nose. It does just what it says; continuously pumps air into my airway to keep it from closing. It doesn't pump so hard that I can't breath out against it, but it is slightly more difficult than normal. Suffice to say, the goram thing is damn uncomfortable. At least it keeps me alive, keeps me breathing. That is, it would, if I wore it. I know, I know, I should be wearing the piece of equipment that holds my airway open, but the reason I don't wear it is also the next reason sleep is but a fond memory.

I've written before about my son Gavin's inexplicable ability to make pacifiers vanish into thin air (for reference, see http://jaxxonblogspot.blogspot.com/2011/01/having-children-means-never-sleeping.html and http://jaxxonblogspot.blogspot.com/2011/02/gavin-great.html). Because I have to get up repeatedly in the night to re-bink the boy, it's really rather pointless to wear my CPAP mask. But my daughter, Jillian, gets in on the act too. We all know kids climb into bed with their parents in the middle of the night; Jillie does too. And, in stereo-typical fashion, I wind up with knees in my kidneys, arms in my face, and tossing and turning kicks to the groin. Then there's the hair. Jillie's hair is a near perfect genetic split between mine and Belinda's; it's red like mine and curly as all get-out like my wife's. And, like Belinda, when it's pulled back in a hair tie it looks something akin to a bath pouf. It's very cute, but when she rolls over and it winds up in my face, not so much.

There you have it. The sad state of affairs between me and the land of Nod. Someday I'll visit again, someday I'll get a good nights sleep. When that will happen, one can only guess. Until then, I guess things will continue apace. Sleep and I, star crossed lovers, drawn to one another, yet doomed to be kept apart by the forces that be. Goodnight, sweet prince. Parting is such sweet sorrow!

Gavin the Great!

Let it be known that my son, Gavin Oliver Hamilton, is a freakin' WIZARD! I kid you not, the boy is like the Houdini of pacifiers. He'll have one in his mouth and two seconds later it's nowhere to be found; believe me, I've looked. It's not on the floor, not on the couch, not in Jillians room, GONE! Into thin air! Three hours later... Voila! The binky magically re-apears in his mouth! Astounding! How ~does~ he do it? In the middle of the night; abracadabra binky be gone! No trace. It's evil sorcery I tells ya. Change his diaper in the morning and lo and behold, the binky has been magically transported to the heel of his footie pjs! Last night, he pulled off his most amazing trick yet. I hear a fuss from his room and expect the usual disapearing act and what to my wondering eyes should appear? Our little magic man, sitting up with a binky in his mouth, one in each hand, and one in his lap! And there was only one in the crib to begin with! He just sat there, with no idea what to do with himself, there were simply too many binkies for him too deal with. Bravo child, bravo. I need to get this kid to Vegas. I could make a fortune. Abra-ca-binky!

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Friends with benefits

Belinda has ruined me. Being married to her has lead to occasionally watching "Friends", at times repeatedly. And it's to the point where I can quote the show, I can tell what episode it is just by hearing a few lines, I can even hold my own in a game of "Friends" trivia.

I love it. Yes, I like "Friends". I enjoy the show quite a bit. It's funny, I can't help it. Hi, I'm Nick, and I like "Friends". I like the characters, I like the storylines, I like the way they kept the temperature on set below 45 degrees so Jennifer Anistons nipples were frequently visible through her shirt. Yeah, that part's the best.

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I'm a monkey

I've seen at least a half dozen different Facebook posts along the lines of "Holy crap, you mean I'm not a (insert zodiac sign here) anymore?!" Whoa, hold on, chill out. Some folks are having kittens because they think their horoscope is gonna change. No, no it's not. Yes, the moons pull has put a bit of a wobble in the Earths rotation and, yes it has changed what time of the year the corresponding constelations are visible. Does that change who you are? A resounding hells no. Does it mean you should laser off your Libra tattoo? Only if you delight in painful pointless proceedures. This article makes a good point about why most westerners shouldn't give two figs. (http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/01/13/no-your-zodiac-sign-hasnt-changed/) But even further than that, think of it logically. Even if the position of the stars at the time of your birth ~does~ have any effect on you or your personality, the key term is "time of your birth". This may change the horoscopic signs of future generations, but it can't go back in time and change yours. You'd need a TARDIS for that. Or a Delorian. Besides, horoscopes are mostly hogwash anyway. Except for the ones Nate and Ryan used to write for our high school paper. Those were always right on the money. So take a deep breath, put down your astrolabe, and have a drink. You are who you are and the only one who can change that, is you.

G'night folks.

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Mom, Dad... I'm Gaelic

Tonight, Jillie wanted to watch an animated movie we've seen close to a dozen times. She could have chosen any one of the Disney movies (God knows I can recite "The Little Mermaid" from heart by now) or a number of other saccharine sweet morality tales portrayed by Strawberry Shortcake or My little Ponies. But she picked a film we stumbled upon months ago on Netflix, an Oscar nominated gem from Ireland called "The Secret of Kells."

I can honestly say that "Kells" is one on my favorites. It's geared towards kids and families, but it does have it's darker moments. The movie follows the fictionalized account of the creation of the Book of Kells, an illuminated manuscript an one of Ireland's greatest national treasures. Brendan, the young nephew of the Abbot of Kells who expects him to follow in his footsteps. The abbot is obsessed with fortifying the walls around the abbey to protect it from viking invaders, but Brendan is more interested in the work going on in the scriptorium where he hears stories about Brother Aiden and his work on the Book of Iona. After Iona falls to the Norsemen, Brother Aiden flees to Kells and befriends little Brendan, enlisting his help in continuing work on the book. I don't want to give away too much, but along the way Brendan makes friends with a forest spirit named Aisling, bests the monstrous Crom Cruach, and eventually finishes the Book of Iona, rechristening it the Book of Kells.

The Secret of Kells is refreshingly 2D. Don't get me wrong, I love me some 3D CGI animation, but as an artist it is heartening to see a movie drawn by hand, and Kells is done so beautifully! Everything is illustrated very stylistically and is all reminiscent of the art in the Book of Kells itself. The character design is simple, but highly emotive. The backgrounds and scenery, too, are stylized to match the ancient celtic manuscripts. I can't recommend this movie higher. It's a great change of pace from the animated features we've become accustomed to.

In a slightly related piece of news, Jillian will be taking her first Highland Dance class next week! She's really excited to start. I'm hope she likes it and does well, she would look too damn cute with her curly red hair and tartan skirt, dancing up a storm at the highland games. I can't wait.

Gavin had his 18 month well child check today and everything is going well in his development. He's progressing right on track in height and weight. He showed Dr. Luck his muscles, and said "Aaaaaahhh" when he looked in his mouth. Then he got his second flu shot and didn't even cry, he just gave me a pissed off look.

To sum up; "Secret of Kells" = awesome film, Jillian starts dance class next week, and Gavin is mad at me for letting the nurse stick him with a needle.

Thanks for reading! G'night folks.

Having children means never sleeping again

I went to bed at an unprecedented 9:00 tonight. I was soooo damn tired for no damn reason. I lay in bed with Belinda, drifting in and out of consciousness while she watched season 8 of Scrubs. Got to the end of the disc and turned off the tv to hunker down for legitimate sleep and not ten minutes in, the boy starts making noise. Classic case of binky overboard. I picked the evil suckbubble off the ground, stuck it back in his mouth, kissed him goodnight and walked away. Bel brought him into bed. Gavin decided it was playtime now and proceeded to toss and talk and sandpaper my chest with the little traction bumps on the soles of his footie pjs. Back to the crib with him! I figure he can "da da da dee dee" to himself all he wants and crash on his own, and that seemed to work fine till I hear a thud and a "WAAAAAH!" I rush in, thinking he's hit his head or something, but intead feel the binky underfoot and realize he's just chucked it across the room and forgot he couldn't summon it back. Great. Re-bink, re-blanket, good night. It's been variations on that theme the last couple hours ranging from "I dropped it again for the 3rd time" to "I've got my finger stuck in the same hole it got stuck in at nap time". As I write this, he's in there, mocking me. Contemplating his next assault on my last nerve. I'd be angry if he weren't so gorram cute! He just looks up at me with that innocent cherubic face as if to say, "I'm the baby; gotta love me!" Yeah, I do, but I'm not putting up with this crap when he's 15, I can tell you that much. Good night, folks.

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I will do science to it!

Today, the kids and I went to OMSI with Aunt Heather, Uncle Craig, Aunt Amber, and cousins Trent, Ainsley, and Carter. I frickin love OMSI, have since I was a kid! For those who may be reading this who aren't familiar with this neck of the woods, OMSI is the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. Like any true geek, I went armed with my trusty lab goggles, magnifying glass, and sonic screwdriver. First we went to the turbine hall where they have all manner of hands on experiments and fun science activities. Jillie and Trent tried out the space capsule. Nah, not interactive enough.... Moving on!

Next we moved onto an oldie but a goodie (and still one of my personal faves) the earthquake simulator! Jillie love this one too. You get to pick between two magnitudes, then it plays "I Feel the Earth Move" by Carole King and the room starts a-rocking. After a bit it plays the emergency alert sound and does the whole shtick. It rarely gets to that point with Jillie though, she just likes to dance to the song, then start the whole thing over again. Gavin, on the other hand was wary. After a few times through he got the hang of it. He didn't get down and funky like his sister, more like just standing there like a deer in the headlights.

At least the kid is good at keeping his balance! Carter dug it too, I think he liked the falling down part. Next, we moved onto the water tables to build paddle boats, sailboats, irrigation systems, and to get completely soaking wet. Gavin tried a number of times to cut to the chase and just climb right in. Jillie wasn't to thrilled with having a wet tummy. Fortunately there was a hand dryer and a bench nearby.

Unfortunately, the toddler area and the room with Samson the Tyrannosaur were closed for renovation. So what else could we do, but go and play with lizards, insects, and rats!

We bumped into Elly, one of Jillie's friends from Kindercare. Jillie introduced her to Trent and they dragged each other all over the place. Gavin enjoyed watching the snake and rat the most. In another exhibit, he and Ainsley did their best to re-mix  "Twinkle Twinkle" to the best of their one and a half year old abilities. That is to say, they fiddled at random with the controls and moved to the music.

 Bel met us after work and played with the kids. It was great to see everyone and get to hang out together. Heather, Craig, Trent and Ainsley live in Kodiak, so the chances to see them are few and far between. I love em and miss em!

Wow. It's later than I thought. I should get to bed, it's hard to sleep in when your children are early birds. Night all!

Test

This is a test of my blogger by phone app. This is only a test. If this were an actual blog post, this space would be funnier and more informative. This concludes this test of the blogger app. Thank you for your patience.

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unmentionable playdough

Jillie got a play-dough set from Santa this year. It's a dog that has all sorts of shapes that you can mold, like a fire hydrant, a bone, puppies, etc. You can push down on it's head to make hair grow and a tongue stick out. It comes with a kibble maker, that is actually pretty cool. What's the first thing my daughter wants to know how to make? Crap. Yes, my sweet little angel asked me "Daddy, I made the doggy eat, now how do I make poop?"  So I did what any father with an ounce of sense would do; I showed her. Yup, how to roll out a snake and coil it up just like a little lawn bomb. I think her dog has some gastrointestinal issues cause all her poops were vivid pink. That's my girl :)

First Foray

Most people who are going to be reading these posts already know me. For those who don't, Hi. My name is Nick. I have a lovely wife, Belinda, and two awesome kids, Jillian (age 4) and Gavin (age 1.5). I used to be a teacher, but now I'm a stay-at-home dad. I'm trying to find a way to make a living doing one of the things I love (aside from teaching), such as drawing, acting, writing, you know... things that are really hard to turn into a profitable endeavor.

In the course of this blog I'll be rambling about pretty much anything. You'll hear many a thing about my kids (big surprise) and family life. Occasionally you'll see me geek-out about various geeky things like Doctor Who, Lego's, video games, musical theater, and science. That's it for my first little post. Just wanted to give you a "heads up" on what to expect from here on out. I'll do my best to be funny, but those of you who know me, also know my sense of humor can be a little... off. Mostly I'll just try to be a good me. We'll see where that takes us.