Introducing...The Joker!

Ingredients: white tux with tails, dyed purple; yellow waistcoat; green tie; dark purple shirt, black shoes; green wig; orange marigold boutonniere; makeup.

Inspiration: The Joker from Lego Batman.

This was NOT a thrifty costume, though it began that way. The purple jacket I originally ordered for $16.00 was not going to arrive until December.

Here's a nice big version:

"I don't suppose you have any sushi?"

Muffin Man the other night at Bonefish. Really. He said that.

I love that boy.

Banned books I own

 List of the top banned books from 2000-2009, courtesy of the American Library Association:

The ones I own (or my son owns) are bolded

1. Harry Potter (series), by J.K. Rowling
2. Alice series, by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
3. The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier
4. And Tango Makes Three, by Justin Richardson/Peter Parnell
5. Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck
6. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou
7. Scary Stories (series), by Alvin Schwartz
8. His Dark Materials (series), by Philip Pullman
9. ttyl; ttfn; l8r g8r (series), by Lauren Myracle
10. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
11. Fallen Angels, by Walter Dean Myers
12. It’s Perfectly Normal, by Robie Harris
13. Captain Underpants (series), by Dav Pilkey
14. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain
15. The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison
16. Forever, by Judy Blume
17. The Color Purple, by Alice Walker
18. Go Ask Alice, by Anonymous
19. Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger
20. King and King, by Linda de Haan
21. To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
22. Gossip Girl (series), by Cecily von Ziegesar
23. The Giver, by Lois Lowry
24. In the Night Kitchen, by Maurice Sendak
25. Killing Mr. Griffen, by Lois Duncan
26. Beloved, by Toni Morrison
27. My Brother Sam Is Dead, by James Lincoln Collier
28. Bridge To Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson
29. The Face on the Milk Carton, by Caroline B. Cooney
30. We All Fall Down, by Robert Cormier
31. What My Mother Doesn’t Know, by Sonya Sones
32. Bless Me, Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya
33. Snow Falling on Cedars, by David Guterson
34. The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things, by Carolyn Mackler
35. Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging, by Louise Rennison
36. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
37. It’s So Amazing, by Robie Harris
38. Arming America, by Michael Bellasiles
39. Kaffir Boy, by Mark Mathabane
40. Life is Funny, by E.R. Frank
41. Whale Talk, by Chris Crutcher
42. The Fighting Ground, by Avi
43. Blubber, by Judy Blume
44. Athletic Shorts, by Chris Crutcher
45. Crazy Lady, by Jane Leslie Conly
46. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
47. The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby: The First Graphic Novel by George Beard and Harold Hutchins, the creators of Captain Underpants, by Dav Pilkey
48. Rainbow Boys, by Alex Sanchez
49. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey
50. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini
51. Daughters of Eve, by Lois Duncan
52. The Great Gilly Hopkins, by Katherine Paterson
53. You Hear Me?, by Betsy Franco
54. The Facts Speak for Themselves, by Brock Cole
55. Summer of My German Soldier, by Bette Green
56. When Dad Killed Mom, by Julius Lester
57. Blood and Chocolate, by Annette Curtis Klause
58. Fat Kid Rules the World, by K.L. Going
59. Olive’s Ocean, by Kevin Henkes
60. Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson
61. Draw Me A Star, by Eric Carle
62. The Stupids (series), by Harry Allard
63. The Terrorist, by Caroline B. Cooney
64. Mick Harte Was Here, by Barbara Park
65. The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien
66. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, by Mildred Taylor
67. A Time to Kill, by John Grisham
68. Always Running, by Luis Rodriguez
69. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
70. Harris and Me, by Gary Paulsen
71. Junie B. Jones (series), by Barbara Park
72. Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison
73. What’s Happening to My Body Book, by Lynda Madaras
74. The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold
75. Anastasia (series), by Lois Lowry
76. A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving
77. Crazy: A Novel, by Benjamin Lebert
78. The Joy of Gay Sex, by Dr. Charles Silverstein
79. The Upstairs Room, by Johanna Reiss
80. A Day No Pigs Would Die, by Robert Newton Peck
81. Black Boy, by Richard Wright
82. Deal With It!, by Esther Drill
83. Detour for Emmy, by Marilyn Reynolds
84. So Far From the Bamboo Grove, by Yoko Watkins
85. Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, by Chris Crutcher
86. Cut, by Patricia McCormick
87. Tiger Eyes, by Judy Blume
88. The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood
89. Friday Night Lights, by H.G. Bissenger
90. A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeline L’Engle
91. Julie of the Wolves, by Jean Craighead George
92. The Boy Who Lost His Face, by Louis Sachar
93. Bumps in the Night, by Harry Allard
94. Goosebumps (series), by R.L. Stine
95. Shade’s Children, by Garth Nix
96. Grendel, by John Gardner
97. The House of the Spirits, by Isabel Allende
98. I Saw Esau, by Iona Opte
99. Are You There, God?  It’s Me, Margaret, by Judy Blume
100. America: A Novel, by E.R. Frank

Resolution report

I haven't done one of these in a while, but I thought I'd tell you what Muffin Man brought for lunch today.

Inspired by last night's taco dinner, at which he complained that there was not enough guacamole (a previously disdained food), he asked if he could bring guacamole and chips for lunch. Who am I to turn down a request for vegetables?

So, Mr. Spock mixed the spices while I smooshed the avocado. MM's lunch bag contained guacamole, fritos, juice, and a z-bar for snack.

My boy's palate is expanding. Woot!

Just a brief note about Awesome High School Friend, his Awesome Wife, and their Awesome Children

You remember how, two years ago, Muffin Man was Aang for Halloween?

Same costume as for ChiCon. Different make-up technique on the arrow.

Yeah, well, that same Halloween, Awesome High School Friend's Awesome Daughter was Katara in a costume made by Awesome High School Friend's Awesome Wife.

That week, Awesome High School Friend and I started making plans to get our kids together for a play date. It took a little doing, what with the different time zones and all, but we finally made it happen.

ChiCon. Best. Play date. EVER.

Remembering

Today the sky is as blue as it was 11 years ago. I've written about that day many times, but the truth is that I remember it most on days like today, when the sky is blue and cloudless and the air has that taste of Fall.

On days like today, I look up at the contrails left by the planes flying hither and yon and I remember the emptiness of the sky that day and the days after.

I look at the contrails and I remember the smoke rising from where the towers had been that day and the days after.

I look at the contrails and I remember.

Brief Bullets of Labor Day Weekend

• Muffin Man is awesome and has an award to prove it.
 

 
• We met someone who is also awesome and has TWO awards to prove it.
 
• I met up with an awesome high school friend, his awesome wife, and their two awesome kids. 
 



Steam Punk meets Air Punk, picture courtesy my awesome high school friend. Steam Punk outfits by his awesome wife.

 
• I met John Scalzi. And Neil Gaiman. John Scalzi was the one I got all tongue-tied and nervous about.
 
• I listened to Gardner Dozois, George R.R. Martin, Mike Resnick, Joe Haldeman, and Robert Silverberg tell stories of WorldCons past. And it was...AWESOME.
 
 
 
• And then we came home, and I did mundane things like being on TV and getting my ear repierced. How was your Summer vacation?

His first assignment

Today was Open House at my son's school for kids to meet their teachers. My son's teacher this year is Mr. TallKindFormerThirdGradeTeacher (not his real name), a gentleman my son knows and likes but didn't have as a teacher himself (he had Ms. Marvelock).

Mr. TallKindFormerThirdGradeTeacher gave the kids an assignment. Below are Mr. Spock's pictures of the intructions

and here's what Muffin Man wrote:

Excuse me, while I go be verklempt on my own for a little while. It looks like I might be raising a mensch.

At the library

I don't approve of the text, but I do approve of the activity.

Do you like my hat?

This is the hat I've talked about before.

And this is the one I wore to Walt Disney World long ago. Alas, it got hopelessly crushed on the way back.

Muffin Man wore it best.

On watching the Big Bang Theory with a ten-year-old

Wow, there's a lot more banging on that show than I expected.

A rare sighting of the famous Crab-Chicken

It's not played by a puny Earthling.



The shaky camera is because I was laughing.

Blame it on Amalah

Amalah got this living in my head 24/7.



Pie and ice cream, it no phase me. But you got COOKIE!! So share it maybe.

We've got a Ticket To Ride

And it is terrific. Easy to learn, very fun and competitive. If you like Monopoly, you're really going to like Ticket to Ride.

It's even Wil Wheaton approved!

Maisie Dobbs is my new obsession

Just finished book 5 this morning. If you haven't read this series, WHY NOT???

Everything about this video makes me happy

Eytan and the Embassy, singing Everything Changes. The video made the Guiness Book of Records for having 18 costume changes in 4 minutes.

Can you catch them all?

Our summer so far

1. Vacation Week 
2. Last week was a one week session at School of Rock: Rock 101 (intros to guitar, bass, keyboards, vocals, drums). Muffin Man learned to play Blitzkrieg Bop on the guitar. Enjoyed keyboard and drums the best, tho.
3. And now it's the first week of the first session of the Summer at Fairfax Collegiate: Creating 3D Worlds in Alice; and Mobile Robotics with Lego MindStorms.

Also, we've been watching Season One of The Big Bang Theory. Why weren't we watching this before? 

Stuck in my head

A friend of mine on Facebook linked to this picture:

Which reminded me of two posts I wrote a few years ago and got this song stuck in my head:



And now you will also be singing it all day. You're welcome!!

Vacation Review and Wrap-up

I was away on vacation last week (sorry no notice, ever since I stopped blogging anonymously, I've stopped giving advance notice on absences).

We went to Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg, VA and to Hershey Park in Hershey, PA.

We went to Great Wolf Lodge on the recommendation of one of my best friends, whose daughter is one of Muffin Man's best friends, and it. was. AWESOME. The water park alone was terrific, but there was also a game that MM could play that was kind of a scavenger hunt throughout the hotel. MM completed the whole thing and now wants to go back to play the next level (I know, I know). His favorite thing at the water park proper was the Howlin' Tornado, which is basically a heart-attack on a raft. Fortunately, he found some kids his age who were happy to go on it again and again and again...

The rooms and food at Great Wolf Lodge were very good. We stayed in a very basic room, but there are rooms with log cabins in them, which I think would be fun if you've got more than one kid with you. The food was way better (and less expensive) than anything at Disney World. They had a buffet that was not just your standard kid fare.

Our original plan had been to stay at GWL one night, and to go camping the next (ready to go to Colonial Williamsburg the day after that), but GWL gave us a half-price coupon if we extended our stay...and so we did. We'll go camping one weekend in July instead, and we'll visit Colonial Williamsburg then as well. Great Wolf Lodge was just so much fun we didn't want to leave.

So after two full days at GWL, we drove up to Hershey Park to stay at the Hershey Lodge. Hershey Park itself was lots of fun, and the Hershey Gardens are beautiful, especially the butterfly house. If you're going to visit Chocolate World, be aware that only the virtual factory tour is free, everything else costs extra. Hershey doesn't let you visit the actual factory anymore, alas. The Hershey museum is lovely, and takes less than an hour to visit. They have chocolate tastings in the cafe there ($10.00 for six glasses of different kinds of chocolate.) MM's favorite things at HP were the Coal Crusher and the Trailblazer. We started out on the SkyRush, and let me tell you that it was really unpleasant. It goes very very very fast and is kind of painful. We did not go on anything that turns you upside down. The smokehouse has very tasty food.

We were all pretty impressed with how nice a guy Mr. Hershey seemed to have been. If you know for a fact that he was a huge anti-semite, or racist, or whatever, please don't tell me. I'd really rather not know.

On the whole, our family agreed that we would have been happier staying at GWL and maybe visiting Busch Gardens and Colonial Williamsburg while we were there. Next time, that's probably how we'll do it. Hershey was fine, but I think it might make a better day trip from Loudoun than an overnight stay (only a two-hour drive each way), just about the same as to King's Dominion.

Also, I read a ridiculous number of mystery books, most of which I've read before, and Muffin Man and I are reading Little House in the Big Woods, because I won a bet. He's enjoying it very much, I'm pleased to say.

This post has not been sponsored in any way. Our family received no compensation from either Great Wolf Lodge or Hershey, and aside from taking GWL up on their special deal to extend our stay, we paid full freight for our whole holiday.

In case you're wondering...

The real-life name of Posh Place is BeanTree Learning. Muffin Man has gone there for over six years, and will be there again for a few weeks this Summer. I can't say enough good things about their pre-school, pre-K, and Kindergarten programs. And their after-school program is also terrific, with time for homework and reading, as well as playing outside and messing about with Lego.

Six and a half years later, I could have written this post yesterday. They take child care seriously.

If you live in Loudoun or western Fairfax and you're looking for a daycare program for your child, infant through 5th grade, you can not do better than BeanTree Learning. But don't take MY word for it:

Portrait of a happy camper

Muffin Man gives it two BAWKS up.