The pithy comment comes from my brother:
“Steampunk – when goths discovered the color brown!”
Don’t know where he got that from, but it made the table erupt in laughter.
Category: Family
Scenes at the bagel shop
Sister-in-law (in response to a comment from me): Well, you know it takes a village…
The Brother: To raze a village.
Me: “Do the village, do the whole damn village!”
The Brother: You know, that phrase comes up in our conversations way more than it probably should.
And this is considered a normal morning in our family.
Yeah, in a broad sense
A nine millimeter handgun is the gun equivalent of eight-inch chef’s knife.
The Brother/NetThrall – yesterday after going to the range.
My brother is not into guns. He went to the range yesterday with our mom and me mostly because of family time. Still, he’s been around gunnies enough to know how to handle them properly.
He made the above comment after I was pestering him for opinions on my M&P 9 he fired. After pondering on it, he’s more right than I initially thought. When a person comes up to me and asks what I think they should look at for their first gun, I inevitably point them to some kind of nine millimeter semi-automatic. Why? Because nine millimeter will do the job just as effectively as .40 or .45, in most instances. Because nine millimeter doesn’t kick as much. Because nine millimeter is cheaper. Finally, because everyone makes a nine millimeter, so it’s easy to find one that suits your preferences.
So, IMHO, the nine millimeter handgun should be considered as part of the basic weapons that most people should have in their inventories. Maybe more than one.
Friday Quote – Mark Twain
When a man loves cats, I am his friend and comrade, without further introduction.
Mark Twain, author
I’m using this quote mainly because of the newest addition to my family.
This is EBC, or Evil Black Cat. He even has a little tuft of white on his chest where his soul escaped.
Technology Changing the Face of Homework
Tuesday night I was helping my nephew with his homework. I won’t go into the blatant environmental propaganda, but I did promise him that I’d address the logical fallacies in his assignment when he was older.
What prompted this post? Several spelling errors were pointed out during my review of his assignment. What was his response? He grabbed his iPod and started up a spelling app. My brother and I exchanged looks and then came up with the same answer. It’s no different than if he looked the words up in a dictionary. If anything, it was better because the app assisted in finding the right words.
Sometimes even I have to shove down my inner Luddite.
As Long As She’s Not Sparkly
My niece has a wiggly tooth, which is to be expected at her age. During dinner last night, she was “ouching” as she ate.
Sister: If it hurts, then eat it on the other side.
Niece: No, my tooth is all wiggly and bleeding and I LOVE THE BLOOD!
At which point, her mother films my niece going on about how much she loves blood, how sharp her teeth are, and ending with the proclamation that she is a vampire.
I guess this is progress because this is the same girl who told her teacher that cannibalism is wrong. If she’s a vampire, then it’s not cannibalism. As long as she’s not sparkly.
Differences Between Brothers
My brother and I share quite a few interests. Science, skepticism, atheism, and a whole lot of geek culture. Surprising to a lot of people who know me, is that my brother isn’t that big into guns or the RKBA movement. Conversely, my brother is big into cooking and can give long, in-depth explanations of technique and flavors, while I have little interest beyond what will taste good in my smoker. This leads us to get excited over different purchases. Such as his buying a sos vide machine, and my upgrading my sidearms.
Brother: I think you’d get more excited about the sos vide machine, since you get to eat the benefits.
Me: I think you’d get excited about the benefit of me having more ammunition if I have to protect you.
At least we have a good division of labor.
New Year, New Traditions
For this holiday season, we decided to start a new tradition. My brother and I are atheists, but my niece and nephew and their parents aren’t. At this point in their lives, it would be hard to explain fully to the kids why my brother and I don’t celebrate Christmas. So, the compromise was the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster’s Holiday, which we celebrate on New Year’s Day. This also simplifies logistics and allows for the introduction of pirates.
All in all, it went pretty well, although there was a distinct lack of pirating. To make up for this, my niece and nephew went about creating omens of a possible “evil overlord” future for the two of them. My brother was resting on the couch. The children came in and tried to lift him off the couch. When informed that such a feat was impossible for them without the use of machinery, they then tried to roll my brother off the couch and onto the floor.
Brother: Why would you do such a thing?
Nephew (with niece giggling in agreement: So we can listen to your pain.
Reality Smack in the Face – Child Rearing
My niece and nephew are being raised steeped in geek culture. It’s a natural outgrowth considering that many of the adult influences surrounding them are familiar to rabid with the geek culture. We even speak to them using geek references and things we find amusing, because we are geeks. Every so often, during the children’s interaction with mainstream society, we remember that we do not necessarily live int the same culture as most people. Hence the interaction between my five-year-old niece and her kindergarten teacher.
Setting: Niece is in front of the teacher after biting a classmate on the playground.
Teacher: Do you have anything to say?
Niece: I’m sorry, and I won’t do it again because cannibalism is wrong.
Both children had been informed of this fact after biting one another. I don’t think any of us expected her to extrapolate that out to the rest of the world. I swear those kids are going to get us pulled in front of a shrink one day.
The Song Is Stuck In My Head, and I Can’t Get It Out! Cool!
I took my nephew to Cub Scouts last night because his dad was sick. NBD, I’ve done that plenty of times before. As we’re leaving, Nephew starts singing “The Star Spangled Banner.” Badly off-key and losing a lot of the words. So, being the uncle and having access to modern technology, I make him listen to one of the best renditions of our national anthem.
I’m speaking, of course, of Madison Rising’s rendition. I think I felt a little ill when the kid said it was only “Okay.”
Now, the song is stuck in my head and I must burn it out. Thankfully, most of my co-workers are vets, and they still smile when the song is played. Even in good, hard rock style.