Sunday

It was beautiful beyond belief today.

Luckily Tegan and I took the girls to the Alum Creek park beside Otterbein College today. They had fun running, playing. We simply had fun being outside on a gorgeous day. I always feel like I have wasted time and let the family down if we don't get outside on days like today.

I also mowed the grass today for the first time in the season. There are things that need to get fixed on the mower, but it got the job done today.

In other blog news, see WWYG?! Omimedia for a long post on LOST.

I hope to play tennis tomorrow . . . first time since last fall and first time since the surgery. Any problems I have will be related to my lack of practice and not have anything to do with surgery.

Peter Pan at the Palace

Ariel and I went to the Palace Theater this afternoon to see the Cathy Rigby performance of Peter Pan.

It was very good. Ariel did a very good job of staying quiet (mostly) and paid attention. Only once during the first act, I think during the first song, did she get me worried.

She started saying that she "didn't want to see it." I was afraid that she was going to insist that we go outside. But after about a minute of trying to get clarification, I reminded her that Tiger Lily's first appearance was about to occur. That helped settle her down and she was fine from then on.

The performance was just as I remembered it from the video we borrowed from the library back in January. And we had great seats as well. If you take a look at the seating chart for the Palace Theater provided on this website, you can get a better idea. We were sitting in row T in the lower box, section 2. So, we were at stage level under the beginnings of the lowest balcony. We had a great view of everything.

After the show was over, we walked up to the orchestra pit area so I could show Ariel were the musicians were hiding during the play. She said thank you to the remaining musicians who were packing up their stuff.

After the 3 hour performance, we braved the souvenir crowd to get a commemorative program ($15) and a flashing PP pin ($10). As we left the theater on a beautiful day and walked around the block to the parking garage, we thought about waiting in the long line that snaked down the side of building and around the back corner. As they announced during at the start of the show, Kathy Rigby was signing purchased merchandise after the play was over. Ariel didn't want to wait (good thing, since it would easily have taken another hour) and headed up to our car. We did look down on Rigby from the parking deck. She was sitting with (her?) dog and talking to the many kids that were coming up to get stuff signed.

It was a great time and all the performers did a great job. I hope that Ariel got something out of it. I certainly enjoyed it.

I cringe slightly and then stand firm in the face of danger!

I am a rebel! Oh, yeah . . . didn't you know? I'm breaking rules left and right! I use corporate resources to sometimes post on this very blog!!!

What's that? You don't think that is a big deal? Well then, maybe you should read THIS!!!

Scared yet?

In all seriousness, this link and a gently worded warning/reminder was sent around the department on Monday. But I am not worried. I have only spent brief moments at work placing short posts about 10 times in the course of almost a year's worth of blogging. And I take great pains not to bad-mouth the company, mention it by name, provide state secrets, or start a separate website entitle "________ Sucks!.com" so I don't think I am in grave danger.

All of my fellow blogging coworkers talked about the email briefly and agreed that we have been keeping our noses clean. If any of us were to be fired, it would have to be on something other than blogging.

So, keep your noses clean everyone!!

*****

(Apropos of nothing, I wanted to pass along a brief PSA to my fellow Blogger members. Next time you are on the dashboard, notice the news item about recovering lost posts. I know that Flip has experienced this problem and I would bet that others have as well. You will notice that a new "Recover post" link is available on the new post composition screen. It might help you retrieve something that you spent time writing--as long as you don't spend your work time doing it!!)

Serving the gifted and enjoying the weather

The last few days (specifically Tuesday and Wednesday) I have been attending an OAGC conference (the Ohio Association of Gifted Children). In my role as a creator and shaper of educational materials, I tried to gather information about how teachers are trying to strategize the teaching of advanced learners and how such strategies and current theories can be adapted to the materials that I help create at the Hill.

It has been interesting and a welcome divergence from the traditional daily grind of the office. I don't really know how much actual concrete stuff I learned that is directly or even partially adaptable to our products, but that is up to me to be creative and suggest a few ideas that I came up with.

The best thing about the last few days is the fabulous weather that we have been enjoying--mid 70s, a slight breeze, sunny, pretty much perfect. Unfortunately, I decided to wait one more week before I try out the tennis court again, but hopefully next week will be fine weather as well. The conference has been clearing out early in the afternoon and so I took advantage this afternoon when I got home early and Tegan and the girls were enjoying the zoo with Nana and Papa (who are visiting) and I took a bike ride.

I have been meaning to try out the bike trails that snake throughout our community ever since we moved here last summer. But, I initially lent my bike to Perk and didn't get it back until this past winter. So this was my first chance to really ride. And man, was it fun.

Hearing the wind whistling, the chain squeaking, the tires rubbing rhythmically against the asphalt. The click of the gears, sounds of kids playing outside as I zoom by. It was a very enjoyable 30 minutes or so as I picked a trail and just took it north and west for a while. I eventually turned back, but it was a great feeling. I hope I find time to do more of it as the weather continues to be good.

****

In other news, Dr. A pointed out to me a clipping from the local newspaper on Monday. In the interest of full disclosure, I present it here for your edification:

Columbus is providing the backdrop for the latest project for documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, who gained fame--and weight--throughout Super Size Me.

Spurlock and his fiance, Alexandra Jamieson, are working minimum-wage jobs in the city for one month as part of 30 Days, an unscripted documentary-style series.

The couple, who arrived March 6, rented an apartment, then entered the job market.

He is getting assignments with a temporary-staffing agency, and she is washing dishes at a downtown eatery, producer Alan LaGarde said.

A small camera crew accompanies them through their daily routines.

The footage, LaGarde said, will be edited into a one-hour show exploring whether the two can survive in an "average" U.S. city.

Spurlock, who is directing the Columbus installment, will host 30 Days, which is expected to premiere in June on F/X, network spokesman John Salberg said.

The six hours planned--each with a different subject--will include one in which a South Carolina fundamentalist spends four weeks with a Muslim family in Michigan, he said.

While making Super Size Me Spurlock gained 25 pounds by eating every meal at McDonald's for a month.

He wrote, produced and directed the 2004 movie, which won a Writers Guild of America screenplay award and was nominated for an Oscar as best documentary feature. (--Ellen Dempsey)

The creeping danger of cheering

Bryan Curtis of Slate has a story (see title post for link) on the evil cheerleader. Thank God we have the state of Texas to tell the rest of us when we are becoming dangerously close to burning in hell for ever.

My favorite line in the story comes in the first paragraph when Texas representative Al Edwards explains that the modern cheering style is too sexy . . . "they way they're shaking their behinds and going on, breaking it down [italics mine]." You go, Rep. Edwards! Show that you have done your homework by droppin' that lingo on us. (May I suggest you consult the website, Gizoogle for more helpful translation?)

*******

In other cheering news, see this story about the annual college mascot tournament. There is more references to shaking behinds in this story, but I don't know if the aforementioned mascots "broke it down." One mascot was, disturbingly described as "submissive" however. Maybe we should get some legislation underway?

Incidentally, I heard that the U.K. Wildcat won the tournament this year. Too bad the men's team couldn't take some pointers from him/her/who knows?