No, that’s not misspelled. Earlier today we went to see David’s brother Mitch perform improv with the rest of his class at Second City. If you click on the gallery link and also click “slideshow” you’ll get a quick overview of a couple of games – one that included Mitch and two others who were portraying characters in various kinds of movies, a couple of other games starring other people in his class, and the big group game at the end, “Story, Story, DIE!” Mitch is the one in the purple shirt. No, not that one, the other one. No,…

Hey! Guess what happened next? Yep, I was upstairs talking on the phone while standing on the stairs between the kitchen and the family room, and I was stupidly wearing some clog-like leather shoes with sticky soles. I was sideways and started to slip off the tread, but the shoe stuck in place and I rolled over my left foot and hit the floor with a very solid thumping sound. Stupid me, David was frantically asking if I was hurt, and I’m all like “The phone! Get the phone! I was talking to Chris!” because I was in the process…

It’s October – that means that the time of “Tacky Seasonal Decorations” is upon us. This year, the Big House O’ Inflatables has added to their Hallowe’en collection by adding a big scary lawn spider and a giant Homer Simpson wearing a skeleton costume. I was on my way home after church, feeling a bit low and anxious but hopeful (more on that later) but felt much cheered and uplifted after seeing the inspirational sight of a 12 foot Homer, not to mention a spider big enough to be Shelob‘s stunt double. Next month, of course, the Harvest Season will…

Here is Steve at our recent outing to Brookfield Zoo, with a unique way to take tea for busy people on the go. (hurray! The moblog returns! For some reason, I couldn’t get it to accept messages for a while. Look for more images to come)

Father’s Day. Yep. Until joining this family I hadn’t really had to deal with Father’s Day much – it was a holiday that ranked somewhat below Arbor Day in my personal rankings. After marrying into the clan, suddenly I found myself with a father-in-law and a reason to celebrate Father’s Day for the first time since 1968. Instead of simply getting together for a little barbecue or dinner out, though, we have to go to the annual Father’s Day Picnic hosted by my father-in-law’s fraternity (not a college frat, it’s more of a service organization for adult Jewish men). Welllll,…

I’ve been wanting to photograph these buildings on a gunmetal-gray day for a while now – this isn’t exactly what I was aiming for. It’s kind of hard to frame the shot when you can barely see the screen for the glare. Anyway, maybe we can call it “art.”

These little yellow dudes come out anytime there’s a problem in our buildings – they’re protecting the area where broken safety glass may have fallen from the shattered window on our floor.