Random Thoughts

This has been a busy time at the Noisykid household. Work, extracurricular activities, and just keeping things going has made it harder to blog. Part of it is because I have a Facebook page, and it is really easy to put something on there without much thought. Blogging - believe it or not, is more intellectually challenging than Facebook.

Speaking of Facebook, I actually culled a lot of people off my friends list. Nothing personal, but I spent too much time wading through 'bandwidth' produced by various adults putting on a lot of links to things that I found distracting. I had to get back to the original purpose for Facebook: spying on my children.

Also, we are looking to get a garden going. Here are the little peat pots with seeds in them:

Beans, peas, tomatoes, squash(several kinds), cilantro, watermelon, and carrots. We shall see what grows and thrives in North Texas. We tried growing peppers but something ate the little sprouts down to the roots.

I can't think of where my inspiration for starting a garden came from.....



Nope, not there....

Give me a break, or give me a [redacted] break, to quote our Vice-President. The First Lady should change into something a little more grungy before she gets out there turning soil.

Actually, my inspiration was the memory of the fresh vegetables we had in 2007 - the last year we had a garden. I really liked the zucchini, carrots, and cilantro which grew well for months before getting burned up over the late Summer.

Then there is our newest little addition, who has us wrapped around his finger.


I shall post more videos of my little son Bernard soon!

In my absence, the world has continued to turn, and our President has continued his tradition of offending the weak and vulnerable, either through passage of legislation or making jokes on a late-night comedy variety show. Nothing is sacred or Presidential to this man voted in:



Compare and contrast the above video clip with that of this backwoods, backwards country hick from some unpolished state in the Northwest:



Scripted? Perhaps, but then some things are worth thinking about before opening one's mouth. Which of the above people demonstrates the "nobless oblige" one would expect of the president?

President Obama's insult to those in Special Olympics is especially painful coming so close to the first anniversary of Theodore's death, which will be this Friday, April 3.

New House

Some of the Noisykids have built a new house!

Lenten Meditation: Gun Shows, Harley's, Costco, and Mortification

Today, the first Saturday of Lent, I started out by going to the TSRA (Texas State Rifle Association) meeting. Actually, we only went to the gun show part of the meeting, since we did not have time to stick around for the seminars and meetings. acouple of thoughts came out of walking around the displays.

One is that one part of the economy is really booming; all the folks reported a brisk sale of guns and ammunition. Signs indicating accessories which might be outlawed in the future by our present regime were everywhere. The only down side of this economically stimulated niche was that ammunition was in short supply, and the prices were higher than a few months ago.

Another thought is that some of the vendors at gun shows don't seem to be there to sell guns. There were some tables full of food, perfume, cameras, knives (well I guess that is okay), and books. While most displays were very professional and organized, there were other tables that looked as if they were selling stuff left over from a garage sale. The only thing I saw in common with all these tables was at least one gun for sale on each table. I spent the longest time talking to a man who had a collection of old cameras.

The kids wanted me to buy an AR-15, but I don't know what I would do with one. We couldn't shoot it on our property without the bullet traveling to the next county. I did enter a drawing for a few things. One was for a gun safe, which would be a great way to store the air guns that are literally stuffed into the first gun safe we have. The other drawing was for something which falls under the 'Harley-Davidson' category of things in this world.

Let me explain.

As a physician, I have a bad attitude about cigarettes, cigars, hang gliding, parachuting, motorcycle riding, ATV's, and accordions. All of these things are associated with bad memories from working at high level trauma centers or, in the case of the accordion, from taking my children to a piano teacher who had a picture of the 'father of the accordion' on her mantlepiece. Since I only see the down side of these things, I would never allow one in my house. For example, I would not want a motorcycle because of the danger it would expose myself and my family to. The exception is in the case of a Harley-Davidson motorcycle; if one found itself somehow attached to my estate I would keep it 'just because it's a Harley-Davidson motorcycle.'

Enter the Harley-Davidson of guns: the Thompson Machine Gun.

This is the one which was made famous during the 1920's and was used extensively during World War II. I am sure the one I probably won't win is not fully automatic(I am not licensed to have a machine gun, to the great disappointment of my sons), but it still would be cool to fire, kinda like this one:



Cool.

After going to the gun show, we stopped off at Costco. It was lunchtime, so I sent the two Noisykids with me to grab a slice of pizza and a drink for all of us. In the meantime, I went shopping. Within minutes, I had entered the free samples zone, and soon found myself full of goodies. I had pot roast, baked tilapia, smoked salmon, almond butter, pizza(two kinds), organic pasta sauce, apple slices, sliced turkey, sugar cereal, chicken salad, bagel and cream cheese, and some muffins. After all that I did not want what the boys brought back from the food court. I ran into one of the workers at Costco who recently graduated from our homeshooling group, and he smiled at me and said,

"Ah, Lent!"

All this sample testing went well until I stopped by one table and popped a handful of what looked like granola into my mouth. Not much taste, I thought.

"That's cat litter you just put into your mouth, son," the man at the display said.

All this indulging in food, and the comment about Lent made me remind the children(and myself) that I have to try all the samples for the good of Costco as well as for the good of my family. I mean to say that if I did not try something, I would not know if it would be acceptable for my family. How else would we have known that peanut butter filled pretzels were better than they looked?

About Mortification:

Lent is here, and there are some things I have decided to give up. They are three simple things which go along with the family sacrifices.

They are:

1. 15-minute rule on the computer, which I am flagrantly violating by typing this post. This includes not putting anything on Facebook unless it is in response to another person's message on Facebook.

2. Custody of the eyes. This is something any male must practice, and I am cracking down on myself this Lent.

3. I am taking a temporary vow, not punishable by sin if it is violated. This vow is to:

NEVER AGAIN EAT FISH WHICH HAS BEEN BREADED AND FRIED OR BAKED; TO EAT ONLY FISH WHICH IS UNCOVERED IN ORDER TO DETERMINE THAT ALL OF SAID FISH IS PART OF THE SAME PARTICULAR FISH OR PORTION OF FISH BODY, THEREBY AVOIDING THE CONSUMPTION OF INFERIOR FISH WHICH HAS BEEN PROCESSED INTO PORTIONS BY CONGLOMERATION OF FISH FLESH WITH THAT WHICH WILL HOLD IT TOGETHER.

Please pray for me.

A Visit to the Monastery

This is the monastery, with one part of the residence completed. The lean-to sheds are surrounding the cloister, or open square which will eventually be surrounded by buildings on all four sides. The crypt chapel is the concrete structure to the right, and it will be the foundation for the church.
Here is a better view of the crypt chapel.
Below are three views of the guest house where we stayed. It is a really cool log cabin house!


After taking these pictures with my cell phone camera, I put it away, since there was no signal out that neck of the woods. So I did not take any pictures of the work, nor did I take a picture of the stream I forded in the 2006 Ford Explorer.


I took two of the Noisykids to a working retreat at Our Lady of the Annunciation Monastery at Clear Creek in Oklahoma. Check out their website for a lot of great pictures of the monastery and their property.

We went there last year, as described here in this blog entry. This year, to the disappointment of the boys (and I suspect most of the dads) we did NOT get to clear brush and set it on fire. Instead, we spent the weekend laying electrical wire around what would become pastures for goats or cattle.

I asked one of the brothers for advice to tell my sons if they were considering the religious life. After a few moments, he said, PRAY, THINK ABOUT IT, and LEARN TO RIDE A BICYCLE. Hmmm.

I try to work as long as there is sunlight, but after sunset I tried to get some spiritual time in before collapsing in bed. I went to confession, perused the book store in the Gate House, and got to eat dinner with the monks on Friday night. If you want to read the long version of how meals are served, take a look at the book called The Rule of St. Benedict.

My version of dinner follows: First, the Prior(Head of the Monastery) meets the guests at the door of the refectory(dining room) and washes the hands of the guests. This is a cursory, ceremonial washing, so it behooves the pilgrim to clean under his nails before presenting himself for dinner.

By the way, only men and boys can eat with the monks, as this is an area restricted to men only.

After saying grace, a section of the Rule of St. Benedict is read aloud by a monk who chants throughout the meal. During the meal, the reader chanted the text of one of Pope Benedict XVI's recent audiences. After sitting, food is served to the guests. A word to the wise: eat fast and eat heartily, for an empty plate is whisked away as fast as it is emptied.

The meal started with a soup, and I followed the example I saw last year, where the pilgrim sitting across from me broke pieces of his slice of homemade bread into the soup in order to expedite the consumption of said soup. All of the food was delicious.

After the soup, we were served an omelet, which was a bit too salty for my taste - but then again, I am trying to avoid a lot of salty foods.

Rice pudding followed, and I thought that I should send my wife's recipe for rice pudding to the good monks. I am not a fan of rice pudding, but I do know that no one makes rice pudding like my wife's rice pudding.

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed one of the monks set a plate of some dark things next to my plate. I expected them to be dates, which we had last year with the rice pudding. Instead the plate was filled with knockoff Oreo cookies. I skipped them.

I did drink the lemonade they had at the table rather than the water.

I went to Low Mass Saturday and Sunday morning, and Compline (night prayers) each night. Sitting in the crypt chapel, listening to the monks chant the psalms, gave me a tremendous sense of wonder and joy, realizing that regardless of what is happening in the world, be it death, sorrow, joy, or pain, these monks are there every day praying for our souls.

Baby Bernard at Six Weeks

My baby

Martial Artistry

Today some of us participated in a test for advancement in Taekwon-Do. We started at the lowest level with a White Belt, which represents innocence - no prior knowledge of Taekwon-Do.

All five of us qualified for a yellow stripe on our white belt, which is the next level up from white belt.

Testing involves a series of patterns which demonstrate various punches and blocks. This martial art involves physical and mental effort, and one must show proficiency in knowledge of Taekwon-Do. Of course, there is nothing interesting in watching people get quizzed on knowledge of Taekwon-Do. Breaking things, now that's a different story. Watch two of the Noisykids destroy trees:



Here is a video of me breaking a board:



Here is Noisykid #4, who got the highest score on the test, going through one of the patterns. I am proud of all my children, and especially proud of my oldest son at home. He helped me with some of the patterns.



Here we have the youngest Noisykid(and Taekwon-Do student?) practicing his 'Ready' stance:
Note that his shirt has a Sheriff badge and has the caption, I'M IN CHARGE! How true:



Of course, I always remember my first experience in the martial arts; this special type of hand to hand combat has almost disappeared:

Four Weeks Old

Ten pounds, eight ounces.

I saw this on Times Online

Two children should be limit, says green guru

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/families/article5627634.ece

I recall asking someone – shortly before Noisykid #4 was born – “Now that you have met them, which ones should I remove?”

Welcome to Belbury.

Last night, I dreamed that the world was coming to an end.

I was living in the Northeastern United States in some sort of monastic community located near a small university town. Wifeofdadwithnoisykids was no longer in the picture for some reason - and not explained in the dream. I was living a celibate life in this dream, although I did express concern for my grown-up children.

This dream had a lot in common with A Canticle for Leibowitz. I was the monk who joined the monastery after his wife died, I guess. I even started thinking that I would die like the abbot did, crushed by the walls of the chapel. I even searched for a good place to lie down so a wall could fall on me.

I was walking around the city, trying to prepare myself for the end. At 6 p.m., I gathered all the people standing near me and led them in the Angelus. I figured that the world would end after prayers were said. It didn't happen, and I slowly became aware that all of the organizations that we rely on to maintain our comfortable lives were gone forever.

In the vacuum left behind was nothing but anarchy. I began to look about for means of protection, even though I owned nothing and had taken a vow of poverty, chastity, and obedience. A sense of doom and fear far greater than one would expect in a religious brother took hold of me.

I awoke knowing it was time to bring Belbury to this blog.

Welcome to Belbury

After weeks of delay, I am pleased to welcome you to the first of (hopefully not) many entries on the subject of live in the United States under the Obama Administration.

For the purpose of this blog, the Obama Administration will be referred to as Belbury.

Welcome to Belbury!

Belbury comes from the name of the headquarters of the organization called N.I.C.E. - National Institute of Coordinated Experiments - described in the book That Hideous Strength, by C.S. Lewis.

The plans that have come out of Belbury have some similarities with those of the fictional Belbury. In brief, personal freedom will be replaced by a large centralized government which will determine what one can and cannot do. What I propose is to make occasional entries connecting our present-day Belbury and those many Belburys which can be found in literature.

But first, a little housekeeping.

I have already started a Facebook group called Welcome to Belbury, so for those of you who prefer FB to blogs are welcome to join that version of it. Membership is open.

A good group needs a theme song, or maybe an anthem to start all of the functions of the group. I have selected Living Colour's song Cult of Personality as the anthem for this group. I am only putting a link to the song, because I can't find a better version of it. Someone did a great job splicing the song with commentary by various conservatives and Obama supporters, but it has been removed from YouTube. The best parts of the video are where Obama supporters are asked to name ANY accomplishments by Obama. The silence is telling.

There is even a folk song I wrote, for those of you who prefer that kind of music. Find it at this link.

Finally, I want to give you all an assignment. I want you to read the Space Trilogy by C.S. Lewis, starting with the book Out of the Silent Planet, then Perelandra, and finally That Hideous Strength, where N.I.C.E. rears its ugly head. I shall write a brief review of the books soon.

So long for now, and stay tuned as Belbury keeps grinding along.

First Lady of Bad Poetry

I found this at work, and must present it to the world.

Amanda McKittrick Ros will always be my 'patron saint' for my Bad Poetry section of this blog. She has inspired me to write some of the most awful poems ever found on the blogosphere, but I know that my works pale in comparison to her contributions to English Literature:


"She tried hard to keep herself a stranger to her poor old father's slight income by the use of the finest production of steel, whose blunt edge eyed the reely covering with marked greed, and offered its sharp dart to faultless fabrics of flaxen fineness."

I strive daily to one day attain even a slight fraction of her poetric greatness.

But after January 20th, there is a new poet in my life. This new poet breathes a fresh breeze upon my stale and weakened poetical attempts.

Her name is Elizabeth Alexander.

I shall never forget where I was when I first heard her voice, playing out in forceful cadence one of the most beautiful auditory works of art I had ever experienced. It took all my strength of will to tear myself from the radio, and leave the car to echo with the words so beautifully spoken:

Praise Song For The Day

Each day we go about our business,

walking past each other,

catching each others' eyes

or not,

about to speak or speaking.

All about us is noise.

All about us is noise and bramble,

thorn and din,

each one of our ancestors on our tongues.

Someone is stitching up a hem,

darning a hole in a uniform,

patching a tire,

repairing the things in need of repair.

Someone is trying to make music somewhere with a pair of wooden spoons on an oil drum with cello, boom box, harmonica, voice.

A woman and her son wait for the bus.

A farmer considers the changing sky.

A teacher says, "Take out your pencils. Begin."
We encounter each other in words,

words spiny or smooth,

whispered or declaimed;

words to consider, reconsider.

We cross dirt roads and highways that mark the will of someone and then others who said, "I need to see what's on the other side; I know there's something better down the road."

We need to find a place where we are safe;

we walk into that which we cannot yet see.
Say it plain,

that many have died for this day.

Sing the names of the dead who brought us here,

who laid the train tracks,

raised the bridges,

picked the cotton and the lettuce,

built brick by brick the glittering edifices they would then keep clean and work inside of.

Praise song for struggle;

praise song for the day.

Praise song for every hand-lettered sign,

the figuring it out at kitchen tables.
Some live by "Love thy neighbor as thy self."

Others by "First do no harm,"

or "Take no more than you need."

What if the mightiest word is love,

love beyond marital,

filial,

national.

Love that casts a widening pool of light.

Love with no need to preempt grievance.

In today's sharp sparkle,

this winter air,

anything can be made,

any sentence begun.

On the brink,

on the brim,

on the cusp -- praise song for walking forward in that light.

What artistry. That was deep.

Who else could conjur up such thoughts as autism, a steel band at Busch Gardens in Florida, Flannery O'Connor, the MCAT, jokes about a chicken crossing the road, custodial workers, Hippocrates, Smokey the Bear, and decaffeinated coffee - all while reading a poem in honor of the presidential inauguration?

Amanda will always be my patron saint of Bad Poetry, but now I have someone on earth to be my additional inspiration.

Now, to contemplate Love Token, Part 2.

Here is the video of herself reading her own poem:

A New Year, A New You/Me?

This year the Noisykids and I have endeavored to be more active in the great outdoors. We have been preparing for a garden, working on some sort of exercise program, and doing some totally new things.

Well, sort of new things. We have always enjoyed shooting air rifles, and now we are branching out into air shotguns!

Air shotguns are not new(check out this link), but recently a company from Spain called Gamo started selling an air shotgun in the U.S. Several of the older Noisykids wanted one, and they made a great Christmas present.

Here is a video of one of the Noisykids shooting a can.



I was trying to set up this shot so that you could see the can after it was peppered with #9 shot. What should have happened is that the water in the can would stream out of the holes, giving it a kind of 'cartoon' look about it. Do you recall seeing Saturday morning cartoon characters who would take a drink, with the liquid just running out of them?

Am I the only one who remembers Saturday morning cartoons?

Anyways, as you can see the can was so close to the shotgun that it just got blown away. Not very impressive. You can see how the water sprays back towards the shotgun.

Here is another Noisykid who just reached the age to shoot some of the smaller 'big' guns:



Note how the camera makes it look as if the bottle just disappeared. This video was taken by my cell phone, and it is not the highest quality.

Air shotguns are fine for the back yard, but to go after bigger and better targets, we needed a shotgun. We have taken up skeet and trap shooting, and some day we shall go hunting for little birds that turn into little chickens in the oven.

I need a lot of practice to become proficient at trap and skeet, but here is a video of one of my sister-in-laws hitting a 'clay' thrown out by a machine. I stopped the video a little early, so you missed the victory dance:



Oh well. It is late and I have to clean that shotgun before I go shooting tomorrow.

I shall have to write later about how we have taken up the martial art of Taekwon Do!

How about a baby picture?


Here is Bernard, earlier this week, ready for his visit to the pediatrician on one of the few cold days we have had this Winter.

Today was 80 degrees....I love Texas - but I love my wife more.

More Bernard Pictures

Here are some pictures of young Bernard as he spent some time with me.

Baby Bernard

The Default Picture Walrus insisted on a picture alone with Bernard.

What Happened Next

Here are few pictures of the Scorpions and the Ducks(and some friends) visiting young Bernard Noisykid:







Nothing makes for more excitement around here than the addition of another Noisykid. That is my excuse for not posting anything lately. So now I plan on making it up to you - to a point.

When I last reported on Wifeofdadwithnoisykids' labor, I mentioned that my youngest son had flipped into 'breach' position - he went from being head down to being feet down. This caused a lot of consternation, as we were hoping to get this little pre-teen out without a Cesarean section.

So on Tuesday night, here was the score: Baby in breach position, baby stable - based on external monitors, and no real pressing need to slice up my beautiful wife's tummy.


We had to take a step back. Just like so many other momentous events in life, a good night's sleep helped to bring a new perspective to our predicament.

(Unbeknownst to all of us, our son took advantage of his mother's deep sleep to turn back OUT of the breach position. The nurse on that night had to come in at some point in the night to re-position the surface monitors, so she suspected....)

The morning sun brought the news that the baby had flipped into the usual position, and labor started all over again.

For those of you who enjoy movies instead of my stilted prose, I offer you this claymation version of WHAT REALLY HAPPENED. The maker of this video did take some artistic license with this situation:

Bernard visited by Beanie Babies

While still in the hospital, Bernard got his first Beanie Baby visit.

Baby Video

Here is Bernard at 12 minutes of extra-uterine life:

Noisykid Holding Noisykid

Photo of Baby

Bernard

Bernard in Mom's Arms

Bernard says hi!

Bernard says 'ah'

Bernard & Mom

Bernard & dadwithnoisykids

Bernard

Habemus Noisykid

Bernard Raphael Guadalupe.
2103 CST
8#, 5 oz.
20"
Apgars 8/9