the final dress rehearsal

today is the final preseason game for the pittsburgh steelers as they put a bow on their efforts to prepare for the 2013-2014 football season. if you care about preseason records, then you'll be disappointed in the steelers 0-3 record so far. but the astute fan looks far deeper than the record of preseason games, since these games are about far more than the final score. they are about assessing talent, honing skills, brushing the rust off the veterans, and giving some valuable experience to the kids. with that in mind, it has been an up and down kind of preseason for the steelers. i'm excited to see who sets themselves apart tonight, and who will be on this team when the steelers season starts in a couple of weeks.

i was able to attend training camp in latrobe this summer with my brother-in-law and my middle son, and we had a great time watching the team practice. it was great to be there with a tremendous steelers nation crowd, to engage in some friendly banter with ryan clark about socks, and to see the offense score on an intense 2-minute drill with a ben roethlisberger pass to an outstretched isaac redman (one of my favorite players) in the back of the end zone. here are some pics from the experience...

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bad haircuts (for a laugh)

everybody needs to laugh. one good way i have found to make that happen is to do a simple google image search for 'bad haircut.' when you do so, some of the following gems show up. thankfully, my 9th grade school picture does NOT show up. otherwise, it would certianly make this list! please laugh freely and without inhibition. thank you and have a nice day.

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happiness is dry underwear

we started potty training jack on thursday. we followed a program called POTTY TRAIN IN ONE DAY, which, by the way, i think is kind of crazy. i mean, if someone were to offer you a book called, "ACHIEVE WORLD PEACE IN ONE DAY" i don't think you would take it seriously. and yet here we are, trying to accomplish an equally daunting task in one 24-hour period. it is intense. the day is shrouded in a lie because as soon as your happily diapered child wakes up you tell him that it is a big party. we had balloons and streamers and noisemakers and silly string - all the trappings of a legitimate party. but it is most certainly not a party. it is a hellishly exhausting day. as soon as jack got out of bed, we gave him a present: an anatomically correct doll that wets himself. jack named him quincy. several times quincy successfully peed in the potty and even had an accident or two in his "big boy underwear." he also dropped a deuce that looked and smelled sus...

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i'm giving away the swamp

so this is a collage called swamp. i made it in february of last year. it is currently framed in a homemade, hand-painted frame. it is paper collage on a book binding panel. it is 7" x 10". and i am giving it away. i've been wanting to have a blog giveaway for some time, and the time has finally arrived. here's how it works. all you need to do is leave a comment on this post. by leaving a comment you are automatically entered into the contest (as long as your comment offers a way for me to get in touch with you, or you know that i know you). the contest will be open until next wednesday at noon, eastern standard time. at that time the contest will officially be closed and i will pick a random number. the person whose comment matches that number wins! for example, if i happen to pick the number 33, the thirty-third comment will win. oh, and one more rule: you can only post ONCE. if you win, i will send you the collage, signed by me, the artist, free of c...

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the unlikely orange

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