Until I get up a larger readership at Second Star to the Right, I'll let you know here when there's something new there.
*Ahem,ahem*
There's something new there.
********************************
Thanks for reading my ranting,
Brad
Monday, February 28, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Second Star Reborn...
Well, hello there.
I just wanted to call your attention to my other blog, Second Star to the Right, which is undergoing a bit of a re-purposing.
Please join me and help me to make it an interesting place to visit.
And don't worry; the insanity that you've come to expect from Bradley's Brain will continue.
After all, Blake's only six, so I've got a lot more years of interesting stuff to write about.
And just to be completely random (and because she craves the attention), here's my wonderful, psychotic, if-you-even-look-away-from-your-food-it's-mine dog, Starbuck:
**********************************
Thanks for reading my ranting,
Brad
I just wanted to call your attention to my other blog, Second Star to the Right, which is undergoing a bit of a re-purposing.
Please join me and help me to make it an interesting place to visit.
And don't worry; the insanity that you've come to expect from Bradley's Brain will continue.
After all, Blake's only six, so I've got a lot more years of interesting stuff to write about.
And just to be completely random (and because she craves the attention), here's my wonderful, psychotic, if-you-even-look-away-from-your-food-it's-mine dog, Starbuck:
 |
| Look how fast I can move my tail! |
**********************************
Thanks for reading my ranting,
Brad
Friday, February 11, 2011
Fev'rary Tempf
 | |
| Can you tell he's excited? |
Blake's birthday was yesterday. He is now six.
If you live anywhere in Kentucky, you're already aware of this fact, as he has been telling everyone about it since last October.
"Trick or Treat!"
"My, aren't you cute?"
"Yep, and I'll be six on Fev'rary tempf!"
On his last birthday, I posted about one of the reasons that he and his brother are so precious to me. I won't go into that again, but if you want to read about it, or re-read it, it's right HERE.
This year, I thought I'd share one of the reasons that living with Blake is such a grand adventure.
Just a couple of weeks ago, on a Saturday morning, I took Starbuck out back for her...business.
On the way in through the back door, I noticed a police cruiser sitting on the street in front of my house.
The kid that lives next door has been in and out of trouble with the police for quite a while, and I just assumed that they were there for him again.
No, that just wouldn't be fun enough.
As I came in through the back door, Hunter yelled "Hey, Dad! There's a cop at the front door!"
I thought that perhaps they were there to ask some questions about the neighbors, even though we've personally never had any real trouble with them.
"Yes, Officer? What can I do for you?"
"Is everything okay here, Sir? We're checking up because we received a 911 hang-up from this address."
"...Oh. Blake?"
"Yeah, Daddy?"
"Did you call the police?"
"Yep."
"Oh. Why?"
"I wanted them to take Hunter to jail 'cause he took some of my toys."
"Ah. I see."
I apologized profusely to the officer, who said that this kind of thing actually happens far more than you would think. She had a little talk with Blake about responsibility, and it was chalked up to one of those "lesson learned" kind of things.
Now he only pretends to call the police on his toy phone:
"Hello, police? Come and take my brother to jail. I'll give you cookies."
This is just one of the many things that Blake does on a regular basis that keeps my life so interesting.
With both of my kids, and Blake in particular, I never know what kind of adventure the day is going to bring or what kinds of tricks they're going to pull.
With Hunter's devious intelligence, and Blake's "Why not, that seems fun" attitude, I'm growing older by the minute.
And I wouldn't have it any other way.
I love you, Blake, and I look forward to many more years of being sometimes amused and sometimes terrified by the things you do.
***************************************
Thanks for reading my ranting,
Brad
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Fun Things My Children Say...
Me: Blake, stop running in the house!
Blake: Wheeeeee!!!! Zoom!!! Zoom!!!
Starbuck: WOOF!! (I like you! You are the Small Human who drops food often!)
*CRASH!!!!*
Me: Blake, I said stop running around in the house with the dog!
Blake: *makes puppy dog eyes* But Dad, this is fun, and you like me to have fun because you love me, don't you?
Starbuck: BARK!! WOOF!!! (This is true, Big Human Who Takes Me Outside. It is fun because sometimes he has candy in his pockets that falls out, and then it is mine!)
Me: Yes, Blake, I love you, and I like for you to have fun. But there is not enough room in this house for you to run around like that, especially when a big dog like Starbuck is going to run around with you. I need for you to NOT run around the house.
Blake: But I have to, Dad. It's my destiny.
Me: Ah. Well. Carry on, then.
Blake: WHEEEEE!!!! ZOOOOOOMMMMM!!! ZOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!!!!!
Starbuck: WOOF!!! ROWR!!! (CANDY!!!!!!!!!!!!)
Me: *Sigh*
******************************
Me: *taking hat off after being out in snow* Ok, boys! Who wants some cereal?
Blake: ME!!! ME!!!!
Me: Hunter, what about you? You want a bowl of cereal?
Hunter: Wow, Dad. You're getting bald.
Me: *happy feelings draining, smile eroding* Hunter, I've been getting bald for a long time now.
Hunter: Yeah, I know. But you're really getting balder. Why are you crying?
Me: I'm not crying, Son. I'm weeping. There's a difference.
Hunter: Oh. Can I have some cereal now?
Starbuck: *running in from other room* WOOF!!!! (Cereal?)
*****************************************************
Thanks for reading my ranting,
Brad
Blake: Wheeeeee!!!! Zoom!!! Zoom!!!
Starbuck: WOOF!! (I like you! You are the Small Human who drops food often!)
*CRASH!!!!*
Me: Blake, I said stop running around in the house with the dog!
Blake: *makes puppy dog eyes* But Dad, this is fun, and you like me to have fun because you love me, don't you?
Starbuck: BARK!! WOOF!!! (This is true, Big Human Who Takes Me Outside. It is fun because sometimes he has candy in his pockets that falls out, and then it is mine!)
Me: Yes, Blake, I love you, and I like for you to have fun. But there is not enough room in this house for you to run around like that, especially when a big dog like Starbuck is going to run around with you. I need for you to NOT run around the house.
Blake: But I have to, Dad. It's my destiny.
Me: Ah. Well. Carry on, then.
Blake: WHEEEEE!!!! ZOOOOOOMMMMM!!! ZOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!!!!!
Starbuck: WOOF!!! ROWR!!! (CANDY!!!!!!!!!!!!)
Me: *Sigh*
******************************
Me: *taking hat off after being out in snow* Ok, boys! Who wants some cereal?
Blake: ME!!! ME!!!!
Me: Hunter, what about you? You want a bowl of cereal?
Hunter: Wow, Dad. You're getting bald.
Me: *happy feelings draining, smile eroding* Hunter, I've been getting bald for a long time now.
Hunter: Yeah, I know. But you're really getting balder. Why are you crying?
Me: I'm not crying, Son. I'm weeping. There's a difference.
Hunter: Oh. Can I have some cereal now?
Starbuck: *running in from other room* WOOF!!!! (Cereal?)
*****************************************************
Thanks for reading my ranting,
Brad
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Update...
I haven't been around much lately.
This time, it's not because I've been too busy (although I have been busy just trying to keep up with life).
I've had a serious case of the "blahs" lately, and to be honest, it's been kinda difficult to drum up the motivation to do much of anything.
I'm usually a pretty happy guy, but sometimes things get to me. It's been one of those times lately.
I'll get better; I always do.
I just wanted to let everyone out there know that I'm not dead.
That I know of.
***************
Thanks for reading my ranting,
Brad
This time, it's not because I've been too busy (although I have been busy just trying to keep up with life).
I've had a serious case of the "blahs" lately, and to be honest, it's been kinda difficult to drum up the motivation to do much of anything.
I'm usually a pretty happy guy, but sometimes things get to me. It's been one of those times lately.
I'll get better; I always do.
I just wanted to let everyone out there know that I'm not dead.
That I know of.
***************
Thanks for reading my ranting,
Brad
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Viruses, Sticks, and Clean Dishes...
My computer came down with a nasty virus the other day.
It was called "SecurityShield", and is designed to shut down programs on your system, telling you that they are infected with Trojan.worm.backdoor.consume.black-hole-of-despair.death or some such or the other, and would you like to register your copy and clean these infections off of your system for the amazingly low price of $79.95, all major credit cards accepted?
This seems to me the cyberspace equivalent of the unscrupulous rat-catcher who carries around a packet of rodent droppings to scatter in your cabinets while you're not looking:
"All done here, but lemme show ya somethin. You got rats. Big 'uns, too, from the looks of it."
"Oh, um, wow. Can you..."
"Ayuh, I can get rid of 'em for ya, but rodents that size? It'll cost.
"Oh, ayuh, it'll cost..."
Thankfully, my tech-savvy brother was able to get rid of it for me without wiping everything and re-installing my operating system (see, Mom, when he was twelve and I told you not to kill him 'cause someday he'd be worth something, I was right), but it still left me with four days of almost no computer time except for the fifteen minutes or so that I could convince my mother to let me use her computer to check my email.
What to do?
Well, it started me thinking about things I used to do before computers and the internet were in almost every American household (yes, kids, I'm older than the dad-blamed intrawebs), so I dusted off my abacus and sat down for some recreational math.
Ha, ha; just kidding there, kids. We all know that math is evil, and on the list of Fun Things To Do When You Can't Get Online ranks somewhere below "ritual suicide", but above "cleaning toilets".
When I was a kid, way back in the pioneer days of the 1970's and 80's, we went outside and played with sticks a lot. Except they weren't really sticks, they were swords, and all you needed to have fun was enough kids to form opposing armies (of course, if one of those kids was lucky enough to have access to a discarded refrigerator box, well, then your adventures were complete).
My own kids were gone for the week with their mother's parents, and all of the kids I used to play with are long since grown up, so I didn't think it would look right to the neighbors if I went out and played with sticks by myself, so I decided to do some of the other things that needed doing.
Like cleaning the kitchen.
I know what you're thinking; that doesn't sound like fun, and quite frankly, it wasn't, but it had been awhile since I had done the deep-core cleaning that kitchens require every so often, the kind that involves a couple of hours of back-breaking labor that results in:
a. A clean kitchen
b. A rewarding sense of satisfaction at a job well done, and
c. One sore back
Well, now the kitchen was clean and I still had no internet access. I couldn't even write, because I couldn't access Word, and I long ago gave up writing longhand.
So I did some laundry. Then I sat down with my pencils and drew. Then I painted with watercolors a bit.
Over the next four days, I did all kinds of things that didn't require a wi-fi connection.
Most of you are probably wondering what the point of this is, so here you go:
I discovered, during my time of non-connectedness, that life was still happening.
There was still a world outside of the internet, and I have a place in it.
Don't get me wrong; I love being out here in cyberspace, sharing my words with you, and I have met some truly wonderful friends that I wouldn't have met otherwise.
The internet can be a good thing, but it can also make you forget that the world that's been around for millions of years is still going on strong out there.
Use the internet. Enjoy the people you meet here.
But don't forget to turn off the computer and do other things. Every now and again, it's good to be off the grid.
A virus taught me that.
My sore back teaches me that if anything like this happens again: whether the kids are here or not, I'm going outside to play with sticks.
*********************************
Thanks for reading my ranting,
Brad
It was called "SecurityShield", and is designed to shut down programs on your system, telling you that they are infected with Trojan.worm.backdoor.consume.black-hole-of-despair.death or some such or the other, and would you like to register your copy and clean these infections off of your system for the amazingly low price of $79.95, all major credit cards accepted?
This seems to me the cyberspace equivalent of the unscrupulous rat-catcher who carries around a packet of rodent droppings to scatter in your cabinets while you're not looking:
"All done here, but lemme show ya somethin. You got rats. Big 'uns, too, from the looks of it."
"Oh, um, wow. Can you..."
"Ayuh, I can get rid of 'em for ya, but rodents that size? It'll cost.
"Oh, ayuh, it'll cost..."
Thankfully, my tech-savvy brother was able to get rid of it for me without wiping everything and re-installing my operating system (see, Mom, when he was twelve and I told you not to kill him 'cause someday he'd be worth something, I was right), but it still left me with four days of almost no computer time except for the fifteen minutes or so that I could convince my mother to let me use her computer to check my email.
What to do?
Well, it started me thinking about things I used to do before computers and the internet were in almost every American household (yes, kids, I'm older than the dad-blamed intrawebs), so I dusted off my abacus and sat down for some recreational math.
Ha, ha; just kidding there, kids. We all know that math is evil, and on the list of Fun Things To Do When You Can't Get Online ranks somewhere below "ritual suicide", but above "cleaning toilets".
When I was a kid, way back in the pioneer days of the 1970's and 80's, we went outside and played with sticks a lot. Except they weren't really sticks, they were swords, and all you needed to have fun was enough kids to form opposing armies (of course, if one of those kids was lucky enough to have access to a discarded refrigerator box, well, then your adventures were complete).
My own kids were gone for the week with their mother's parents, and all of the kids I used to play with are long since grown up, so I didn't think it would look right to the neighbors if I went out and played with sticks by myself, so I decided to do some of the other things that needed doing.
Like cleaning the kitchen.
I know what you're thinking; that doesn't sound like fun, and quite frankly, it wasn't, but it had been awhile since I had done the deep-core cleaning that kitchens require every so often, the kind that involves a couple of hours of back-breaking labor that results in:
a. A clean kitchen
b. A rewarding sense of satisfaction at a job well done, and
c. One sore back
Well, now the kitchen was clean and I still had no internet access. I couldn't even write, because I couldn't access Word, and I long ago gave up writing longhand.
So I did some laundry. Then I sat down with my pencils and drew. Then I painted with watercolors a bit.
Over the next four days, I did all kinds of things that didn't require a wi-fi connection.
Most of you are probably wondering what the point of this is, so here you go:
I discovered, during my time of non-connectedness, that life was still happening.
There was still a world outside of the internet, and I have a place in it.
Don't get me wrong; I love being out here in cyberspace, sharing my words with you, and I have met some truly wonderful friends that I wouldn't have met otherwise.
The internet can be a good thing, but it can also make you forget that the world that's been around for millions of years is still going on strong out there.
Use the internet. Enjoy the people you meet here.
But don't forget to turn off the computer and do other things. Every now and again, it's good to be off the grid.
A virus taught me that.
My sore back teaches me that if anything like this happens again: whether the kids are here or not, I'm going outside to play with sticks.
*********************************
Thanks for reading my ranting,
Brad
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Seasoned Greetings
I haven't posted in a couple of weeks; it's been busy.
I haven't had much time for writing either, but I haven't been completely idle.
I have completed my Christmas card for 2010, and thought I would share it with you, my gentle readers:
The next week or so promises to be hectic (as I'm sure it will be for most of you as well) and I'm not sure if I'll be able to post again before Christmas, so I'd like to take this chance to wish you all a very happy holiday season, no matter the holiday you celebrate.
**************************
Thanks for reading my ranting,
Brad
I haven't had much time for writing either, but I haven't been completely idle.
I have completed my Christmas card for 2010, and thought I would share it with you, my gentle readers:
The next week or so promises to be hectic (as I'm sure it will be for most of you as well) and I'm not sure if I'll be able to post again before Christmas, so I'd like to take this chance to wish you all a very happy holiday season, no matter the holiday you celebrate.
**************************
Thanks for reading my ranting,
Brad
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)