[At the Vietnam Veteran's Wall Memorial in DC, looking at the statues of Vietnam soldiers]

Drew: Why did they make the men into metal?

Aunt Lisa: They aren't real men, Drew. They made these statues to honor the soldiers who were in the Vietnam War.

Cousin Sean (six years old): Yeah, Drew, because these are the three men who made it back alive.

So at the reunion, my sister Lisa mentioned that her five year old Megan stated how one day she'd grow up and her mommy (Lisa) would shrink down and become the child. Then Megan would take care of Lisa, like Lisa now takes care of Megan.

We remarked that several of our children have had similar ideas, and Lisa noted that she'd had the same thought when she was small--that she'd grow up and that my parents would turn into the children for our generation to take care of.

Then, with a mischievous grin, Lisa capped the conversation by mentioning that reality had proved somewhat different with our own parents and chuckling "Somehow though, I thought they'd be smaller and easier to manage by now."

We just came back from the family reunion, a great time for all. Seven brothers had twenty grandchildren, and the great grandchildren are growing in numbers as well. Not all of them could attend, but we made a huge happy throng. Uncle Carlo and Aunt Regina put together a gathering not to be forgotten.

I can't wait until the next one in three years.

It looks like the website is atrophying through lack of posts. It's time to rededicate myself to this weblog. I'll see if I can put some worthwhile material on here for the thousands--well, several people who check this thing out. Although in the end, you do these things because you have to, regardless of who reads it.

I hope you find it worthwhile to check out, though.

This little app is all I use now to update my blog--it is freakingly awesome.

On Sunday evening Alyssa turned on the TV and began to watch a documentary on the Egyptian twins who were conjoined at the head. Drew watched it with her. Denise and I weren't sure that they should watch it, but it is real life--so we let her see the entire segment.

At dinner Drew began to ask questions. "Are they OK, Daddy?" Yes.
"Why are they together like that?" That's the way things happen sometimes, Drew.

And then the kicker.
"Why did God make them like that, Daddy?"

It's all part of God's plan, Drew. Sometimes we don't know why, but God has a plan.

They start asking the tough questions younger than you think.

I'm not sure what to make of this page when I click on the "Shake it Up" button. How did they do that?

However, in truth James Bond liked his martinis stirred, not shaken--read the original books by Ian Fleming to see. The movies got it backward--I'm not sure why.

I have Lord of the Rings Trilogy triple showing tickets for December 16! All three movies at once! 2:00 pm to 1:30am! Over ten hours of movie time! I have the tickets that sold out within hours! I have the tickets that others are begging for! BWAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!!!

Man, I hope I can watch ten hours of movies. I think I may have gone off the deep end this time.

But it's a fun ride...

Me: So Alyssa, what did you do at day care today?

Alyssa: Let's not talk about it at all right now, OK Dad?

This is typical language and vocabulary from my five year old. My main task in the years ahead will be to rein her in until her true maturity catches up a bit with her perceived mental maturity. It's not an easy task--at times Denise and I both forget a bit that Alyssa's not much, much older. Parenting is a complex business using a simple compass to point the way.

Is anyone other than me just stunned by Arnold's win in California? Nothing against the guy, but it just seems bizarre. What experience or qualifications does he have? It just seems like a surreal Philip K. Dick novel. Of course, what qualifications would any politician need, you might ask.

I guess the governor-elect will build his staff from brain trust guys and savvy politicians. What a wild world we live in.

Test post to the camping trip category--categories work!

Frequency rules.

Courtesy of Dan Baver:

http://www.homestarrunner.com/

and courtesy of my wife Denise:

http://www.arcadevault.com/

Enjoy!

In answer to queries, no--Certified Sabbath Mode is not a joke. I assume that Orthodox Jews would follow the Kosher law, and perhaps Conservatives--I'm not sure about Reformed Jews (yep, I paid attention during world religions class).

I realized that I forgot to mention the theremin in the Rocketman recording. It's an amazing musical instrument, unfortunately often limited in public perception to old '50s scifi movie sounds. It's currently enjoying a rebirth in popularity and interest on the Internet, although only a few theremins remain in existence. Howard Mossman, the father of my friend Jan Mossman from high school, is a well-respected figure in the theremin community (here's a pic of Mr. M with one of his theremins, about 9 pics down on the page).

In the Rocketman recording you can hear the theremin if you listen, especially twenty seconds before the end where the musician lets out a '50s scifi movie riff with the instrument.

This American Life on PRI had a fascinating show on today (October 5, 2003), a show completely comprised of stories drawn from the classified ads in the Chicago Sun-Times. One highlight was a studio session that recorded a cover of Elton John's Rocketman using musicians drawn separately and completely from the classified ads. People's stories are fascinating; I think that's really what it's all about on this Earth, isn't it? When you take away the rest, people are what truly matter on this mortal coil.

We bought a range today, since the old one blew out parts last week that couldn't be replaced (it's pretty old). The new one comes with a feature called "Certified Sabbath Mode."

Wow.

Apparently this mode means that we can turn it on Friday night and leave it on all Saturday to keep food warm so that we don't violate the Sabbath by working. Huh. Shame we're not Jewish.

Speaking of the Sabbath, how did we ever shift it from Saturday to Sunday? Was it really a pagan thing that was absorbed by the Catholic church 1,500 years ago?

These are the things that keep me up at night. If anything kept me up, that is.

When I was four years old I watched a movie on TV called The Screaming Skull. At least I think it was called "the screaming skull." It scared the heck of me, whatever it was called.

Now I deal with the screaming speedometer cable. It's actually just a squeaking cable, but it gets really annoying. This is in my old Subaru, not the new van. I kept the old Sooby Doo around to have an emergency car, but it's also good for a high-mpg vehicle since the van gets under 15mpg at times. I drove it this week, though, and the car instantly and vocally brought the squeak up to me.

The squeaking gets loud in cold weather (of which there was much this week), and it reminded me of one reason we were glad to get the van. It's not crippling, though, and if you turn the stereo up enough...

Of course, at "Dave" volume on the stereo, it's hard to hear anything else. (grin)

There are some things you just can't predict in your career as a parent, things you never envision yourself saying. To wit: "YOU HAVE TWO MINUTES TO PUT THE BEARD ON THE FROG AND THEN I WANT YOU UPSTAIRS IN THE BATHROOM NUDIE-BUTT AND READY FOR YOUR BATH! NO MORE STALLING!!"

It would at least have made more sense if Denise was saying it to the kids instead of me...(yes, I'm just kidding--you doubted?).