Although Aaron doesn't remember when or why he was asked to write the story "Snow Hiking," tonight he received an award for writing it. Each elementary school in the S-K District selected one student from each grade to receive this award; Aaron represented the kindergarten from Lee. He and I attended the awards ceremony tonight, where the guest of honor was writer Eric Kimmel (a writer of childrens books and a resident of Portland). Mr. Kimmel gave a delightful reading of his story, "The Three Cabritos." And he didn't just read his story straight-through; he paused every few pages to relate the history of how he chose the characters, the setting, the plot, and to share various techniques for writing and living a good life. I found the reading fun and educational, but I was surprised that Aaron came away with specific ideas to improve his own writing (e.g., to think about how your own experiences could translate into an interesting piece of writing). After Mr. Kimmel's reading, each student was called onto the stage to receive his or her reward and hear his or her name mangled by the poor hosts of the event.
Like 40 years ago, when I was in the fourth grade at Gubser, I received a similar honor for my first published work, "The Creatures from Saturn," which still sits on my bookshelf in the Literature section. I read this short story to the family during dinner one day this week, and boy did I have them enthralled. By the way, you can purchase a copy of my second published work, which I know is still popular and relevant as I continue to receive royalty checks in the mail every quarter.
1999 symbolizes my "freedom" time: I was a college graduate, gainfully-employed, virtually debt-free, and single/childless. I pretty much did what I wanted and didn't have to report to anyone or commit to any thing. This past week felt like I had stepped backwards in time, as Meg decided, on a whim, to drive to Salt Lake City--with kids in tow--and stay with my parents for a week. Since I wasn't part of the road trip, you'll have to encourage her to share any stories , although she has confessed to me that she's done with blogging. Here are the highlights of the back-in-time party that was this week: Exercise : Besides my daily 11-mile round trip commute by bike to the office, I went on three other bike rides around Clackanomah County, swam at the pool twice, and ran once. Cleaning : Organized some of our outdoor living space, cleaned the house from top-to-bottom, washed the G20, cleaned my bike, and manicured the outside landscape. Sleep : Every night wa...
It all started with a tweet. The tweet guided me to a blog. The blog inspired me to craft an e-mail. The e-mail led to a phone call. And the phone call led to my agreeing to trade my 1993.5 Infiniti G20 for a 2010 Black Sheep commuter bike (1 of only 13 in existence). All of this happened within 24 hours. From New Bike An informal part of our agreement to move to Portland was for me to get rid of my car, since I had committed to biking or riding the bus to work--and I never did drive the G20 once we moved to Portland, except once every other week or so to keep the fluids moving through the car. I had posted my car for sale at the G20 enthusiasts' site , but I didn't get any substantial bites, nor did I do much to promote its sale (Meg would like me to remind you that I took a year to sell my del Sol after buying the Maxima ). So when I saw a blog post about New Belgium's car swap at the Tour de Fat , I called Meg and proposed the idea to her. She thought it sounde...
The weather today was beautiful out so I accompanied the boys on the half-mile walk to church. Edward ran ahead like a scout, Aaron walked with some friends he met en route, and Ian and I took our positions in the rear. I eventually passed Aaron and his posse, and as I turned the last corner before the church, I noticed that Edward had stopped just short of the church. As I neared, I saw that he had dropped his pants and underwear and was peeing on a fire hydrant. I ran as fast as I could while carrying Ian and tried to remedy the situation, while Eddie protested that he had to go and couldn't wait any longer. This isn't the first time he's acted out like a dog, but I really hope this pattern doesn't continue. Also, a few days ago as Eddie was praying, he said "Please bless the people in Haiti so they won't get beehives in their hair." I really have no inkling where that one came from.
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