the unlikely orange

it's summertime, baby!  the sun is out (nope), the kids are home from school (yay.), and it's time to relax a little bit (yeah, right.).  just kidding!  rain or shine, it's time to have some fun with the kids at home, with the extra sunlight, and with the opportunity to make some more memories before these days are gone.  so, once again, Shannon (dang, she is talented!) has designed our family's annual "summer bucket list," complete with all sorts of things we'd like to accomplish in the next couple of months.  we have some of our annual stand-by's, like playing in the rain, having ice cream for dinner, vbs, summer camp, etc.  But we also have some things that will be unique to this summer, like making donuts, playing disc golf, and celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary, just to name a few.  we've got high expectations for the summer, and we know the only way to do it is to say "yes" to life, and to make it happen, so here we go!  ...

-last week this creepy scene actually happened at our church.  our music director called me over, saying we had a problem at the church.  i walked up and saw the above scene: what appeared to be a tiny baby left on the doorstep at the church.  for the briefest of moments, there is this sense of overwhelming panic, that we are going to have to take care of a newborn human being.  it got me thinking a little about some of the situations we do get to deal with in the church, and how sometimes people bring the issues they don't want to deal with, and they "drop them off" at the church.  it's not always convenient, but we always try to do our best to help out however we can.  thankfully, this was just a plastic doll, and it disappeared a few days later, so i assume the child who left it was able to get it back. -here's another update on the ridiculous cuteness that comes out of quinton's mouth:      "be fries!" = surprise! clink this link ...

--back in the spring, someone came to jackson's class and gave them all a small cabbage plant.  they were all to take them home and grow them and see who could grow the best cabbage.  jackson was pretty excited about this, and you can see that he grew a very nice cabbage this summer, as a result. it is currently being turned into sour kraut, which is a disgusting process.  i voted for egg rolls, but i was voted down.  oh well, it is really great for the kids to see the growing process and how the earth can bring forth sustenance for us if we take care of it and nurture it. --if you watched sunday's game, you will enjoy this: --and if you are a steelers fan in pennsylvania, you will enjoy this: --quinton's been cracking me up with his talking recently.      northumberland christian school has been "balella (which is umbrella) christian school," and then "banana" christian school.      lasagna is baskahnia.  ...

okay.  so here's the problem.  the longer i go without posting something worth writing and reading on this blog, the harder it gets to post at all.  i think its been nearly two weeks since i wrote, and when that happens, i feel more and more pressure (from myself) to write something that validates the lack of posts. but i got nothing. so, in an effort to just grit my teeth and forge ahead today, i am singularly rejecting the idea that all my absenteeism requires some epic post to compensate.  instead, i will simply jot down a few things rattling around in my head this morning. the other night at dinner quin told us that he likes to eat yodels at a wash-a-not.  and that he likes flushies and hot gogs from target.  (yodels = noodles; wash-a-not = restaurant; flushies = slushies).  he also calls that orange circle through which you toss a ball to earn two points by the following name: basketball poop.   i've been on a huge bruce springste...

since i am certain that you're all just dying to know more about the inner workings of my psyche (please read that sentence with the appropriate level of sarcasm.  i suggest level: dripping), i thought i would share with you one of my OCD tendencies. actually, i have no idea if it makes me partially OCD, or just weird, but it is certainly a compulsion that i feel little control over.  if a normal person is going to put a plate of food in the microwave, they might type in a reasonable amount of time for the cooking, such as 1:30, or something like that. but not me. it's not that i think 1:30 isn't sufficient.  nor is it that i think 1:30 will make my food too hot.  if that were the case, i would simply make the time 1:15 or 1:20, or if i wanted it warmer, 1:45 or even 1:50, if i was feeling brave. but, you see, none of those times will work for me.  you will NEVER see me type any of those numbers into a microwave.  no, i will go for 1:31. ...

oh my.  here i go with the absolutely cliche blog post: sorry i haven't written.  blah blah busy blah blah. whatever. truth is, i just haven't felt like writing.  i haven't felt like doing much of anything, really.  not that i'm exactly depressed, but just having a little trouble re-entering the routine following the holidays.  i haven't been to the gym since before christmas.  it's just been a struggle to readjust, but today i finally feel ready to fully cross the threshold back into the routine.  i know, it's about time. oh, its also been colder than mr. snow miser's toilet seat around here.  it's been hard to want to do much of anything other than sit in front of the fire under a pile of blankets. but today i'm up and at 'em.  heading to the gym.  bracing the cold.  blogging.  re-entering routine (fully). i hear your sarcastic applause. thank you, thank you very much.  (bowing appreciatively, exits to gym)...

it looks like one of the huts finally found han solo and had him frozen in carbonite (again).  how do we know this?  NASA has found him.  on mercury.  you can read about it .  also, if you're having trouble concentrating, you need more of the color orange in your life.  seriously.  further research has shown that if you are having trouble dealing with the awful beginning to the football season by the steelers, or the way the pirates are laying an egg againt the padres, or the sad last desperate moments of the yankees season, you need more agentorange in your life.  agent orange records, that is.  where we never stop.  we keep on hoping.  we never give up.  we die trying.  oh, and we change our name.  that's right.  i am getting rid of the agentorangerecords moniker.  it is long overdue.  it is too closely associated with a chemical and war and terrible cost to life, and i am no longer w...

-hello spring.  feeling ornery, aren't we?  high today somewhere in the 50's (it's 32 as i write this), but a high of 79 two days from now?  really?    today is field day.  lots of layers for the school boys.  -i'm helping my sister and brother-in-;law move into their new home today...excited for them in this new chapter of their journey as a family, and glad to be able to help out.  -two words: vampire weekend.  i'll let you know. -caedmon finished his flag football season this week.  i'm pretty sure he now knows the difference between offense and defense.  it was a productive season. -this: -have a great tuesday!

-happy tuesday, everybody!  it's release day, which means new music is out today.  she and him's new album drops today, and if anyone feels like sending me a copy, i'd be happy to write a review.  just sayin. -i recently watched a documentary by werner herzog called " grizzly man."   it was made in 2005 and tells the story of timothy treadwell, who dedicated his life to "protecting" grizzly bears in alaska.  i don't totally recommend this movie.  it depends on who you are, and what your reasons are for watching.  it is certainly a particular window into mental illness and its dramatic power and effect on human behavior.  treadwell seems to use his alaska getaways as a very real escape from the troubles of the rest of his life, and he begins to create his own fantasy world there, a world in which he becomes one of the bears, and they accept him as a part of their landscape.  he is able to maintain this fantasy for 13 summers, until it...

-did you know it is baseball season? i haven't written my annual love letter to baseball yet this year, but i am no less in love with the sport. i've been enjoying the yankees ability to patch together a bunch of wins using players who were on all star teams when kris-kross was topping the charts with "jump jump." and i've been impressed with the pirates early run. here's hoping they find a way to sustain it over the 162 game schedule this year. we'll see. in any case, annual loveletter forthcoming... -i do not recommend playing candy crush.  it will violently rob you of every other ounce of your life.  "don't go to your job," it whispers.  "don't pay any attention to your family.  just try and match some sweet treats in groups of three or more."  it sounds more convincing in my head.  -speaking of kris kross, one of those dudes died yesterday, sadly.  this caused me to reflect on my own life, since we we...

just in case you've forgotten my profound love of that fashion underdog, the sweatervest, here is a picture of the one i wore yesterday, complete with half-windsored orange tie, oddly enough.  i know you were all dying to see it.  just like you are all so anxious to know what i've been reading and listening to.  well, who am i to make you beg?  this is what i've been reading.  it's called "divergent" by veronica roth.  it is the story of a dystopian world broken in which society has been organized into factions, based on dominant parts of each individual's personality.  i very much enjoyed it, both from the psychological/sociological viewpoint of imagining a world in which we are organized in such a way, and from the characters of the story, their agency and relationships.  it was a very easy read, and entertaining.  there are apparently two more to complete a trilogy, so i'll get right to those.  i'm sure it won't be long til t...

-happy pancake tuesday, the final day before lent.  it seems a bit self-serving to indulge just for the sake of indulgence, even on the threshold of lent, but indulgence really isn't the point at all.  it was about ridding the home of things that you wouldn't be needing during the sacrificial season ahead.  so, if you're giving up chocolate, its time to finish off that bag of m&m's.  if you are giving up soda, might as well finish off those cans of pepsi.  if you're giving up swearing, well, you get the point.  -i haven't been feeling quite well the last few days, although i can't say that i've been properly sick, either.  i've just been generally exhausted, with a tickling sort of cough, and a tremendously heavy head, burning eyes, etc.  shannon said, "see, aren't you glad you got the flu shot?"  to which i replied, "no.  not at all.  if i had the flu, at least i would actually be sick, and could be lying on the couch watc...

this is a crossword puzzle i did this morning.  i try to wait until lunch to do the one in the paper each day, but i often can't wait, and i have to do it in the morning.  i just can't stop myself.  what is that about?  is it just because i love words so much?  i mean, truth be told, i've been known to do the crossword, the cryptoquip, the jumble, the wordwarp and the other words games in the newspaper leaving only one puzzle undone: the sudoku, which thankfully, i don't have to pronounce as i write it, because i have yet to hear a definitive pronunciation.  in any case, i'm no great lover of numbers, so is that all there is to it?  i just love words, so i do the crossword?  or is there something deeper going on? i recently visited a woman in a hospital.  she wasn't in a great state of mind, but she was working on a puzzle.  it was one of my favorite hospital visits ever!  the puzzle was a patchwork quilt, and i couldn't re...

oh, pinterest, you little devil, you.  you are one big swarming beehive of ideas, complete with little photographs and inspirational sayings, and you lull us into thinking that if only we pin you with a couple of clicks to our virtual bulletin boards, we have accomplished something more than the .00125 of a calorie burn by the finger movement.  if we pin an idea, we are so conveniently lulled into thinking that either we've already accomplished it, or somehow moved so far towards accomplishing it, that we  merely need to do the final step.  nevermind that we haven't even gotten up out of our chair yet.  nevermind that we will likely forget the recipe or the storage idea by the time we get upstairs and have to deal with the mess the kids made all over the living room carpet.  as long as we can keep pinning; as long as we can keep reaching into the beehive and pulling out honey-sweet ideas, we can trick ourselves into feeling like we've really done somethi...

    OWWW!   that's the sound you make when you put a cotton swab in your ear.  at least according to this infomercial, which wins the prestigious award for most ridiculous infomercial i've seen in the last month.  i don't know about you, but i'm thinking that if the guy would just stop dipping the Q-tip in molten lava before putting in his ear, maybe it wouldn't hurt so badly.        but wait, there's more! if you order now, we won't only send you one waxvac for you to conveniently suck the ear wax from your ear, we will send you another, absolutely free! (other than an undisclosed "handling charge" not to exceed the value of the waxvac). now i need some help here. what possible use could you have for a second waxvac? are we in such a hurry that we need to go double-barrel and use two waxvacs at once? or are they admitting that the design/construction fo the waxvac is so incredibly poor that they are simp...

-TWO HOUR DELAY!!!!!  yes, i'm yelling!  but if my voice is raised it is only because my pajama-clad body is still nestled warmly on my couch while my children are sleeping, at an hour when i would normally be shivering in the front seat of my van, wearing these same pajamas with nothing but socks on my feet at the bus stop.  this delay makes my coffee taste so much better.    -that said, this snow makes me feel like a trip to puerto rico, like we took some 10 years ago, staying right on the main strip off the beach in san juan.  it was magical and warm, smelled like hot sand and tasted like sangria.  that was BAK (before all these kids), when life was perhaps not as rich, but certainly more free and footloose .  puerto rico , for crying out loud.  our "getting away" these days consists of taking the baby to arby's for lunch while the older two boys are in school.  -the other night while we were...

not that anyone was really coming to this site looking for it, but i'm sorry that i haven't really been able to get into ravens week this week.  it is sort of hard to get excited about this twice-a-year game when you know your starting quarterback has a rib aimed right at his aorta, and will be spending those three hours just trying not to die.  so, yeah.  it's sort of like trying to look forward to thanksgiving day knowing that there won't be any turkey.  "sorry kids, but our starting turkey is significantly injured and listed as 'out' for this year's thanksgiving meal.  we'll be going with our backup turkey, also known as meatloaf.  we're confident that he'll be able to step in and do the job we need in order to have a fantastic meal.  as we always say around here, 'next entree up.'"  yeah right.  hey, speaking of ben's condition, if you are looking to find out exactly what is wrong with him (hint: it's not jus...

-it's random tuesday time, folks.  let's see what's bubbling to the surface of my busy mind this morning.... -i love working out at the gym....its working out for me.  but when the guy on the treadmill DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF YOU is wearing this shirt, it is troubling, to say the least.  -yesterday, out of nowhere, caedmon said to me:  "we are God's lambs, but we are max's shepherd."  i couldn't help but laugh, picturing me shepherding max out on a field.  he would make a good sheep.  -last night we finished our 6-week study at church on Christianity and World Religions.  it was a very worthwhile study with about 20 of our members and friends, and i think we all learned a ton, grew out of some of our ignorance, overcame a bit of our fear, found some things that we can learn from our sisters and brothers of different faiths around the world, and realized once again why the grace of the Christian concept of God through Jesus Christ feels most ...

-well, that stunk. sometimes you get the bear, and sometimes the bear rips you apart limb from limb and sits and laughs at you while you flop around in pain.  yankees lose.  steelers lose.  (and worst of all) ravens win.  it was a fail the size of janikowski's gut.  -thank goodness my life doesn't revolve around sports.  after the game, i turned off the tv, and cuddled with my kids on the couch, before reading them bedtime stories.  nothing like a little perspective to help take the edge off.  -did you know that aardvark means earth-pig? -hahaha....i just had a political paragraph here, and then after i carefully wrote the whole thing, i deleted it because i knew that it would bring people out of the woodwork who would start shouting at me.  i just can't bring myself to do it.  even though i care very much, i just can't bring myself to participate in the online political discourse.  it is an arena in which i am unfit to par...

ahoy mateys!  today be national talk like a pirate day, so here at agent ahhrrrrrrrrrnge records, we be shiverin' the timbers and makin' the skullywags walk the plank.  and don't you landlubber lads and lassies be leavin' any scallywaggin' comments, either, or you'll find yourself looking right at the business end of me blade, savvy?  tune back in tommorow for national "talk like a white suburban who likes to pretend he lives in the ghetto" day.