The Road Goes Ever On . . .

Newsweek has a web story on the 50th anniversary of the Interstate Highway system.

As you might know, I have a slight interest (and I do mean slight at this point in my life) in this topic, as I once intended to craft a doctoral dissertation on the IHS's impact.

To celebrate those slabs of concrete that get you from here to there in the most dehumanizing way possible, go here to read the Newsweek story. And once you've done that, why not swing over to Why Won't You Write?! and read some of my Masters thesis on the topic.

(Come on . . . give it a try!)

Man in Black

A quick note to wish a belated happy birthday to Tobey Maguire. He turned 31 a few days ago.

Also, the folks at Marvel released the first teaser trailer of Spiderman 3 on Tobey's birthday. The fact that it might have been an attempt to steal the march on the opening of Superman Returns never crossed my mind.

Anyway, it's a promising first look at the movie. While everyone has been giving Superman the bums rush for being too smooth, too boring, too invincible, it's clear from this glimpse that Peter Parker's life is anything but smooth and polished. Say what you want, but Spiderman's life ain't boring.

If the swelling cast of villains (Venom, Sandman, and . . . I swear I saw the Green Goblin), girlfriends (Mary Jane AND Gwen Stacy), and Spidermen (evil black and friendly neighborhood red) can be done correctly, it won't be heading down Batman Forever territory.

Here's hoping.

Click here to visit the trailer site.

Stuff upcoming

I have felt very busy the last several days and consequently haven't set aside much time to blog--not that there has been tons to write about anyway . . . just everyday, boring weekend stuff (vacuuming, laundry, cooking, grass cutting).

Grace and I had an altercation on Sunday at the pool, in which he started acting very badly and I decided to put my parental foot down. It was a bit ugly and the upshot was that I walked her home while she was upset all the way.

Oh yeah, speaking of Grace (and another very good reason why things have been busy). She turned three-years-old on Monday. We had a smallish party for her at Graeter's Ice Cream with some friends. It was a nice affair. I'll try to write something more about it later and I really should give Grace her due. She deserves it.

But, I've also been trying to get ready for the first of our two vacation trips in July. Trip #1 begins this Friday, as we load up the car and drive down to Georgia to visit my family.

It's been far too long since we've all been together in the same place. I am really looking forward to it.

That means, of course, that I need to tie up some loose ends here at work, get some procedures figured out for the days that I am gone, do another two quick loads of laundry to increase our choices, and pack.

We had to go out and buy some new luggage on Monday, as Lynda discovered that one of our pieces broke on her flight back from Texas last week. But we got a good deal on several sizes of suitcases, backpack, etc at Target. I hope the quality lasts for a while, but since we don't travel that much I figure we'll get our money's worth out of it before it collapses.

So, tonight is a small dinner with old friends, then a start on laundry and some packing. I worked hard last night getting all the financial records up-to-date so that I can bank remotely from Georgia with confidence that I know what's what.

But all that is tonight. Today . . . work.

Where's Huey Lewis when you need him?

I'm getting a bit put out by the constant attacks on Superman. His sexuality has been called into question. His religious affiliation has been discussed. He's been called so many variations on bland, boring, and square that I'm beginning to think the thesaurus conglomerates are behind the negativity.

And it just gets worse. Newsweek has written a story in which they go to great length to praise Bryan Singer's movie, describing it as "gorgeously crafted," and "infuse[d] . . . with poetry" still can't wait to call the Man himself as "foursquare" (emphasis likely on square).

But, there is so much information on this most iconic superhero it sort of boggles the mind.

But I want to know why is it bad that Superman is seen as a bit of a nerd?

Where's the respect? He is, after all, the superhero upon which so many others were based. Everyone bad-mouthing the Man of Steel is sort of like George W. Bush talking trash about George Washington. He's the model; heck, he was even know as the Marble Man once upon a time, I believe. (And some of us know that you should NOT dis GW. He'll kick you apart . . . especially the British children.)

So, why isn't it hip to be square? I love Spiderman but you've gotta give it up to the one that made it cool to put on multi-colored body socks.

The wisdom of youth

My Father's Day experience was nice. We bought a gas grill (our first one ever) and I spend about an hour and a half constructing it in the garage. Luckily, I chose a brand and style that did not require any tools for assembly. It went very well and smoothly. I was even able to hook up the propane tank, turn it on, and successfully cooked on it that night.

After dinner, Sarah and Grace conspired to make me a special Daddy dessert. It was a very impressive banana split and it tasted great, let me tell you.



Heading home from getting the kids at daycare, I asked Sarah and Grace what they wanted me to fix them for dinner. I suggested hotdogs or chicken that I could grill outside. Grace initially balked at the idea, but Sarah set her straight by commenting that I wanted to cook that because "it's just like when you get a new toy and want to play with it a lot. Daddy just wants to use his new grill, okay?"

Grace understood and agreed.

I couldn't possibly have said it any better. It's scary that she is this perceptive already. What will it be like when she gets older?