NOT my 15 minutes of fame...

It was brought to my attention that on the Australian version of that hit show Beauty and the Geek, one of the aforementioned "geeks" is named Alan...Kwong. Now I don't claim to have an original name, (Go ahead, try putting my name into Facebook and see how many hits come up. I'll wait a few hours for you) but why can't I be sharing my name with someone cool? Like a star cricket player, or the inventor of silent Velcro? Why did it have to be a reality "star"?

If you want to see, there is a profile of it here.

Untitled

via twitterrific

Posted via web from Alan's posterous

Spider hunter

Another fun job I have - family spider killer. Fortunately, Sara doesn't seem too afraid and have saved her big sister a few times. I was alerted of this one outside our front window though...



Umm I think I'm going to leave this one alone.



I do have a small desire to take a blow torch to it though. Must be the sadistic 8 year old in me.

Time for homework...

One of the joys of being a parent is taking the time to help your kids with homework. So far, Hannah and Sara has been mostly good about school work as far as understanding what they are learning in class. Sara, having gone through two years of preschool, really seem to be ahead of most of the kids in her class. Less work does not mean no work though, so looking over her homework packet the other day, I was impressed with her being able to fill out the missing letters for words associating with a picture. Then I ran across this one...



You tell me which one doesn't look right, and then tell me what she was trying to spell, because I had no idea...

Untitled

via twitterrific

Posted via web from Alan's posterous

Tales from the road

We were getting gas in Salinas when we saw this place, which prompted Hannah to say,

"Hey Senor Taco. That means boy taco."

I laughed for a good five minutes after that.

Posted via web from Alan's posterous

We be Strollin'

The Solano Stroll was today and we had the added excuse that Hannah and Britt was participating in the parade in the morning to promote her softball league. But really, I was just in it for the food.

Most important thing for me at a street fair is above: "FUNNEL CAKE". The other stuff deep fried is good too.

Because there is no love like food-on-a-stick love. At least I think that's a corn dog she's posing with.

New food is a plus too. You read that right. Crab garlic fries. And it tastes every bit as delicious as it sounds. Yum!

Oh, and I found out that my head is just too big to pull off these sorts of hats. Ah well, Ne-Yo I will never be.

But fortunately it's not a genetic thing. Look at this cutie in her hat. If only her dad weren't so cheap...

That's too meat-riffic

I love bacon, but this might be even too bacon-y for me. Love the effort and craftiness though...

A full English fried breakfast served in a cocktail glass made out of bacon.

(via rathergood)

Nothing goes with a crappy Giants game like.. Marlin jerky?

Posted via email from Alan's posterous

Untitled

Posted via email from Alan's posterous

First Day of School '09

First Day of School '09
Originally uploaded by Alanmine

Another first day of school.

A big 1st grader and an even bigger 5th grader.

Wow it goes by fast.

Music Appreciation

Music and I have a strange relationship. I am one of the least talented musicians you'll ever meet. My music career consisted of one year of violin in the 5th grade, and there was a short time with a recorder (is that even a real instrument?) somewhere in elementary school. I have no concept of tone or pitch, can't read a lick of music, and my singing should be restricted to the shower. Despite my inability to grasp music on any tangible level, I have an emotional connection to music that is as vital to me as any of life's other basic needs. Music is something I feel, something that, if matched to my current mood, weaves through my soul and brings it out to the open. I recently told you how I keep a lot of me deep inside of me. Music is one way to channel some of that out. The right song helps bring a part of me out from behind the walls I have built. It's not anything that anyone can really see. The music just has to be loud enough to envelope me in its emotions, and I just feel along with it.

I especially like the part of the song where the music just goes, seemingly lead by itself, to a predetermined place. Branford Marsalis' solo in the middle of A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square by Harry Connick Jr is my all time favorite. It touches me at my very core. I have also recently love listening to John Mayer, especially live performances, where he just breaks into unbelievable solos. I don't know much about music, but I know that man can play a guitar. I'm listening to Gravity a lot lately, but it's hard for me to nail down my favorite.

If I figure this out right, I'd like to share both those songs with you. What songs touches you emotionally? I would love to hear about it.

A Moment of Truth

I was reading a friend's blog recently, and I was admiring their honestly and how much of themselves they were willing to put out there for all to see. I sense some trepidation though as they would always end by telling people that things aren't really so bad, or stating that they just wanted to vent a little. I thought to myself, you don't have to make those statements. It's your blog. You rant about whatever you want and people can judge as they like. If you are willing to share something in such a public forum, you should go all out and not worry about how people will react to it.

Of course, that is also when the hypocrisy fairies came flying in and kicked the high and mighty soapbox out from under me. Who am I to judge others who courageously shared from the dark and lonely corners of their mind? What have I written in this space that is in any way retrospective and let in even a hint of light from those on the outside? Does telling you about what I made for dinner last night or a funny story about my kids really say anything about me?

One thing I do get right about this blog is that it's the perfect extension of me. I live my life like a big card game. If other people are willing to show their hands, then they are the sucker. Me, I'm keeping my cards close to the vest, like knowing all the cards out there will give me some advantage in life. Sometimes all it means is that the pair of queens you're holding will never beat that flush out there. Is that really worth not having anyone really connecting with you and knowing how you are wired?

I'm not sure where I wanted to go with this. Just wanted a splash of honesty in this space somewhere. It's a start, right?

Tomorrow, I'll go back to telling you what I had for dinner.

Baby on the Move

Speaking of time flying. Audrey apparently is going to skip the whole crawling thing like her sisters. She scoots on her tummy now, but as you see in the video below, she has decided 6 months is enough time to start getting up and walking.



Who's going to stop her? Not me...

Time Flies

Got an email from the University of California Alumni Association today inviting me to Homecoming this year. They highlight all sorts of events to commemorate my 10 year anniversary of graduation... holy cow, 10 years?? Has it been 10 years since I left that place?? For some reason the 10 years after high school went by so much slower than the 10 years after college. Guess life happens a lot faster as you get older. Anyway, the weekend of Oct 8th, I will bring the family on campus to soak up the Cal experience. Culminating in a the Homecoming football game between Cal and USC. Think the Bears can win one for me? (am I old enough to be a gipper?)

New toy

New iPhone 3GS, new ways to record my kids doing silly things. Like playing Guitar Hero, complete with 80's rocker side pony tail. They will never cease to invent new ways for me to embarrass my kids for the rest of their lives...



My first YouTube submission! (that I can recall....)

Fun with Food

I saw these from Boing Boing a while back and thought they were cool and my kids would love them. So the other night, when I was at a little lost at what to make for dinner. I found a pack of hot dogs leftover from a recent BBQ and decided to try it out.

It's actually trickier than I thought to thread raw spaghetti through hot dogs. The noodles are pretty brittle. I found that doing a few spaghetti at a time helped a little, but mostly the key is to not worry too much about threading them through perfectly. They'll look fine once cooked.

The other important thing is to cook the noodles for a minute or two longer so the part that is inside the hot dog is cooked all the way too. It's not a big deal. Mixed in with the hot dog, my kids probably didn't even noticed if the spaghetti wasn't cooked all the way.

I ended up cutting between the hot dog segments to make them look more wild. They were a fun meal for the kids. I even brought a few to work the next day as a snack. Fun for all ages!

Budding photographer

From Sara's pictures

As a parent, all I try to do is to provide my children with the opportunity to experience as much as possible, and hopefully somewhere along the line, they discover things that they want to spend more time on. That might mean some 3 month lessons in karate or trumpet lessons, but if you know me at all you know I am just not the pushy parents who makes their kids do anything specific. If they don't spend their summer vacation melting their brains in front of the TV, I am pretty much fine with whatever it is they do instead.

(Just to be clear, I have nothing against TV either. My kids pretty much know all of the Disney channel personalities as well. Everything in moderation. I hate parents who turn their nose up at things like High School Musical and Hannah Montana. Those shows aren't made for you. I'm not expecting you to sing along. I'd much rather have my kids knowing the words to a Jonas Brothers song than shaking their little booties to the latest Lil Wayne single....ok, WAY off topic now)

One of the things Sara has been interested in is taking pictures. If you've been around us you know that we are always taking pictures everywhere we go. Digital cameras are indispensable for us and I guess it naturally made an impression on our kids. Sara always ask to use the camera to take pictures of her own and we started to notice that she does a pretty good job. My sister had an old camera laying around so she gave it to Sara recently and she loves it. She takes it wherever she goes and wants to snap a picture of everything. With all this good work, I decided to help her put some of those pictures up somewhere to share with others. If you are interested, check them out here.

Sara's pictures

Freed from wires, not from cords

I hate wires.

Whenever possible I get the wireless versions of all the gadgets I have around the house. Wireless keyboard and mouse, wireless networks, wireless controllers, wireless extension cords (just kidding about that last one. Would be cool though). I had the good fortune today to get wireless headphones that work with my computer as both headphones(I'm actually listening to them right now) and a headset, my phone as a bluetooth headset, and soon as a wireless headphones for the music on said phone. It's the coolest thing. I'm even giving it a plug (wireless, of course) with the Amazon link.

The downside to all of these avoidance of wires is the box of chargers that I now possess. Wireless still needs electricity, and while better than buying tons of batteries, why can't there be more of a standard chargers that more devices can just share? Having something run out of batteries is a minor annoyance. Rummaging through a box of chargers to find the right one is just plain crazy.

Do You Know What Today Is? It's Our Anniversary..

Apologies to Tony! Toni! Toné! for borrowing their song for the title...

Gad, I'm failing at writing more already. Shame. Ok, must put something out there. Let's do this!

I celebrated an anniversary the other day. An important one too - 10 years of marriage. It's funny, all of the usual things you hear about long marriages apply. The ones about how lucky I am to have such a wonderful woman in my life, how I would do it all over again in a second, etc...all that good stuff. The thing that probably sticks out the most as I reflect on ten years of having my other half is probably the most generic of all: It goes by fast. In a blink of an eye I go from graduating college student to a husband and father of three. It serves as a good reminder to really stop once in a while and appreciate what you have in this great adventure. I certainly can't wait to see what the next ten years will bring. Hopefully I will be even better prepared to enjoy it.

Oh, the requisite (and slightly embarassing pictures):


Before...


Today