Be excellent to each other

Michaela sprained her ankle at gymnastics last night. So she and her crutches and Jamie and Doug came over for pizza and a movie - Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. And a little music and cards.

Pepper Steak

I wanted to make pepper steak, so I googled a recipe. I didn't want to use soy sauce, so I adapted a few recipes together with my ideas and came up with this. It turned out well, if I do say so myself.

e-weekend

A rainy weekend in NEW. So I'm hangin' out indoors. Played music and board games with the Hogans and their neighbors Friday night. Yesterday I sorted pictures on the hard-drive, surfed a little - there's probably a better word for how I move through the internet, e-ander? (like meander) - I start with the moment's wonder, often quickly linked to music in my mind. Then, when I've accomplished and fleshed out the recollection, I move on to whatever this new moment has inspired - it often leads to me digging and mining for information - in order that I might build upon my knowledge and create new ideas. I don't think I'll ever be focused on pushing one large idea forward - like the scientist who discovers the cure for a disease, but hopefully my ever-increasing knowledge, and my Cliff Claven-like expression of ideas helps the other lives that I touch to grow. For we shant become stagnant. We must continue to grow and adapt to whatever our environment presents us with. Like the call of the victors, WE ARE LIFE!

Here ya go, lucky monkey

Just watched Jonah Lehrer speak about some ideas from his book, How We Decide, on The Wisconsin Channel's show University Place. Great stories and ideas about thinking.

I don't watch much television, but I have found some fascinating stuff on The Wisconsin Channel.

Conversations with

My kids can carry on an intelligent conversation. Sometimes they bicker, they're grumpy, tired, or occupied with an electronic device. But tonight, on the drive home from the Y, the three-way talk flowed and pitched and rolled - waves on the lake as a warm rain blows in. Topics, details, emotions, people, math, cultures, science, personal experience, wonderment and awe, and those are just the first words that come to mind.

It's good to know my kids have depth of personality.