This past Saturday morning I took my oldest son Max to a karate tournament in Salt Lake City. It was a nationals competition and there were a lot of people there, which is why it was unfortunate that they decided to host the competition in the Marriot hotel ballroom. I felt like a rat trying to squeeze through the hoardes of other people with my son sitting on my shoulders…
Max was in three different competitions, and he did pretty well in two of them, but in the third – the flag sparring – he got first place for his age group! Man I was so proud, cheering and screaming I got so excited I fell of the chair I was standing on. It was a little embarrassing, I ended up with a couple of good bruises, but I got up and kept filming. He seemed pretty happy about it. The only downside to it all was that we had to wait around for another hour and a half for the grand championship flag-sparring match that he qualified for. During the wait we went down to get him photographed, and to pick up his trophy. He decided to do the Kung-Fu pose for the camera.
The grand championship finally came and Max was first up. Right away after the start he snagged the flag of the other kid and held it up. The next round the other kid got his flag and it was tied. Then it got fun. The third round the two of them just kept jumping and circling around for what seemed forever before the other kid fell down, and Max swooped in to snag the kid’s other flag. Everyone in the crowd was cheering, but the other kid just stood there crying – loud. I felt bad for him, but I was more excited for Max. I guess the judges felt bad too, because they discussed it for a while, then put the flag back on the kids belt and said something about not being a ground fight… whatever man, the kid fell down. Anyway Max lost after that, the other kid was pretty lucky. Max handled it like a champ, it didn’t even phase him. I think just being surrounded by all those people and competing in a grand championship match were enough to satisfy him, although I think he would have been satisfied with a participation medal without winning anything. He’s a very good sport.
When we got home Julie had bought a cake and put up a banner for him. He loved that, especially since the cake had The Incredibles on it. Man do I have the best family in the world!
I walked into my sons’ bedroom last night to make sure they were ok before retiring to bed myself, and as soon as I stepped in I heard my youngest son start laughing. It wasn’t the sleepy kind of laughter you might expect to hear from someone, well, asleep, but it was the clear, clean, and true kind of laughter from someone experiencing a joyous moment. I couldn’t help but to join in with him in his laughter, it was one of the most innocent and true sounds I have ever heard come from a child. So uninhibited and free in his little boy’s sweet voice it was that I left the room that night feeling happy, light, and so very grateful to God that I could be the father of my two little boys.
MakeZine.com:
The first magazine devoted to digital projects, hardware hacks, and D.I.Y. inspiration.
I was introduced to this magazine yesterday by my friend Jason. He got it through the LUG he helped organize for free and thought I’d enjoy it. Man was he right! This is one of the most exciting magazines I have ever seen.
Let me give a little background here. I am fascinated by all things scientific, I am a nerd, a geek, I love math, science, computers, and anything related. I also love sports and am not the typical pasty white toothpick thin hunchback who lives in the basement with coffee stains on his shirt. No, I am an average guy who just happens to love geeky things.
I also have a dream that one day I will fulfill… just as soon as I can afford it. I want to have a very large backyard with a nice little (well big, really) workshop where I can build just about anything that I want. It is my fantasy, my dream, and now I am one step closer to it with this magazine, or mook really – it looks more like a book than a magazine.
Make: is O’Reilly’s newest publication that includes all kinds of super l337 projects that I can do at home. I am excited about it not only because it will be fun to read the articles and build the projects, but because I will learn a TON about the science and engineering behind the projects. Not only I will learn though, I plan to have my sons helping me so that they can find the joy in building cool stuff and see the importance of education. I think this is one of the best things I can do to help my sons get excited about school and want to do well, especially in maths and sciences.
Consumer debt really does suck. It’s great for the people I work for – the blood sucking vermin of the modern age – but for the average Joe it is a demoralizing and difficult reality. To be in debt is to essentially sell a piece of one’s life in exchange for a temporary (sometimes not-so-temporary) loan.
I’m not sure why most of us can’t keep ourselves out of debt. It’s something we all know about and hate, but at the same time can’t resist taking upon ourselves – kind of like the forbidden fruit. It looks so easy and promises us everything we desire… all at just a minimum monthly payment! I guess that as we get older we get wiser as the saying goes. I can remember my first credit cards back at the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse. The reps for the various companies were giving away t-shirts (T-SHIRTS!) to everyone who applied for their card. I applied for 7. Yes, that’s seven different cards, and I got them all in the mail. Ugh, what a disaster that was.
At this point in my life I am trying to rid myself of any unnecessary credit. I have experienced as most people probably have the sting of consumer debt and the long road to recovery. It is not fun, but it has taught me an extremely valuable lesson about the value (and non-value) of money. There are a few good reasons to get one’s self into debt, but a billion more to stay away from it.
Remember, you will always have to pay back the entire amount, plus interest. It is really not worth it. Fuck the Joneses.