A very busy weekend awaits:

• Pack for Hawaii! (yay!)
• Saturday night poker game with "the guys" (I'd probably reschedule this in light of our busy weekend, were it not for the fact we've re-scheduled this game about ten times in the last five months and finally nearly everyone can make it.)
  
• My older brother and his wife are expecting a baby any day now... I still don't know the baby's name.
  
• Pack for Hawaii! (double yay!)

We should be able to get the worst of the packing done in relatively short order. Packing clothes and bathroom stuff never takes too much time -- it's all the last minute stuff you can't really pack until right before you leave that stresses you out (cameras, tickets, glasses, and other 'vitals' you would hate to forget.)

I'm kind of dreading the travel portion of the trip, but at least it's a direct flight. Hopefully the laptop will help keep the kids entertained.

I got my new, inexpensive multi-function camera, the Aiptek MPVR MPEG4 Digital Camcorder, just for this trip. It's an inexpensive (less than $150) multi-function device. It's a low-end (720x480) Mpeg4 DV camera, an 8-megapixel digital camera, an MP3 player, and a video playback device. It can even record video from a TV with an RCA-out connection, which is pretty darn cool.

I had never heard of Aiptek before buying this, and I'm usually leery of cheapass no-name consumer electronics. However, this is essentially "my" digital camera because my wife always seems to have the better camera (a $400 digital camera that takes decent video), and we can't anything more right now. Maui will be expensive enough as is.

Regardless of the price and lack of electronics brand-name pedigree, I'm still fairly impressed with this little gizmo. It's very compact, light, and versatile, and I particularly like the fact that I could "tape" shows on TV with it and watch them on a computer. This might be handy for watching missed episodes of Lost or Battlestar Galactica when they start up.

And cheap or not, it certainly takes much better pictures and video than my Motorola RAZR V3M.

I got my 4th (white belt) stripe in my Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu class today.

It feels cool to get promoted -- even if I still suck.

At least I suck less than I did a year ago!

Scientology is, fortunately, so small an organization as to be statistically irrelevant -- at least compared to the major religions and philosophies of the world. Even atheists outnumber them (which is a good thing).

That said, I find Scientology's weird, wacky, cult-like ways creepy and worthy of being destroyed. When my hoary host of ninja warriors takes over the world, rest assured that the Scientologists (along with Mormons, Chung Moo Do/Oom Yung Doe practitioners, and Scary Clowns) will be on our list of "folks to get rid of" for our new World Ninja Order.

Here's an interesting BBC video about the Scientology.

I've added some pictures to the Summer 2007 Album of Kazu's first day of school. Also included are some pictures of us at the Northwest Lupus Walk 2007 fund raiser, and a few extra (miscellaneous) pictures of the kids.

Mini-rant: The idiots that organized the Northwest Lupus Walk did a smashingly poor job of actually telling people where the walk was located within the designated park. Lots of attendees were driving through the labyrinthine park trying to find the event. Regardless, it was still very successful and one of the better walks I remember.

We had a good time, and  I carried my oldest son for the entire 2.5 miles so I even got a mild workout. We won several raffle items, too!

Something new I learned today
According to the Chicago Manual of Style (15th edition) --  despite the fact that so many English teachers teach to the contrary -- there is absolutely no historical or grammatical foundation the following "rules":

• Sentences can't begin with a conjunction (and or but, for example)
  
• Sentences shouldn't end with preposition

Here's a quote from page 193 (Section 5-191) of the Chicago Manual of Style:

---

In fact, a substantial percentage (often as many as 10 percent of the sentences in first-rate writing begin with conjunctions. It has been so for centuries, and even the most conservative grammarians have followed this practice. Charles Allen Lloyd's 1938 words fairly sum up the situation as it stands even today: "Next to the groundless notion that it is incorrect to end a sentence with a preposition, perhaps the most widespread of the many false beliefs  about the use of our language is the equally groundless notion that it is incorrect to begin one with 'but' or 'and.'...

---

There is more, but you get the idea...

Today's blog post by The Amazing Randi is particularly full of awesomeness because skewers two of my favorite topics to skewer, including:

• Sylvia Browne, psychic ass clown
  
• Kevin Trudeau, snake-oil and books-full-of-lies-selling ass-clown

...in addition to all the usual nonsense Randi skewers on a weekly basis. Check it out, and prepare to be amazed -- amazed at just how dumb some people (Browne/Trudeau fans in particular) are.

Happy Friday!

I called my dad and found out that his tests have largely confirmed his Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). Apparently there are still a few more tests to go, and he should have the results of those next Monday.

In unrelated, "lighter" news: my new SD card for my phone (see previous entry) is a bit of a disappointment. It works "fine", but it doesn't quite work the way I want it to.

• I can easily copy music files and videos to it (through Motorola's PC software or from the phone itself), and then browse for and watch/listen to those files from the phone very easily.
  
• I can store photos on the microSD card as well, but...
• I can't browse photos stored on the MicroSD card from the phone in any easy way I've been able to determine.

According to some preliminary Googling on my part, this is because the phone's operating system relies on photos for Ringer ID, wallpapers, etc. If the phone's operating system were unable to find the graphics/photo files it needed (because the storage device had failed, or it had been removed), the phone would "brick" (i.e. it wouldn't be able to boot up/turn on.)

So on the plus side I can store a lot of easily viewed (but small and grainy) videos (which admittedly I am using a little more often these days), and I can store lots of music on the thing if I so choose.

Oh well, it's still an improvement, and will allow me to move some files and get rid of the damn "out of memory" messages...

I seem to randomly rant and rave about a whole slew of unrelated things more and more these days. Here's today 's "grey matter discharge"

• I received my new 1GB MicroSD card for my cell phone a day earlier than expected. (I couldn't bear to delete any more pictures of my kids from my phone.) It's hard to imagine a time where folks kept pictures in a wallet. Now I can bore bystanders with hundreds of pictures of my kids -- or at least flip through them when I need something to bring a smile to my face and remind me why I'm grinding away at work all day. Yay technology!
• I need to get a handle on my stress/anger. I was very grumpy, terse, and short with my kids last night, and while pulling  Kazu (the preschooler) away from Katsuya (the toddler) to try and save Katsuya from falling, I essentially chucked Kazu to the ground because I was angry, hasty, and impatient. Katsuya fell anyway so I was too late. Kazu wasn't hurt (although he was upset),  but I felt (and still feel) bad about it all. A cooler head should have prevailed and avoided it all.  Boo anger!
  

Hopefully today and tonight will run more smoothly. No real plans beyond 'go to work and then go home' which usually makes for a less busy/stressful day and evening.

I've never actually "stopped" playing PC games, but there haven't been many in the last 9 months or so that have really excited me. Other than Dungeon Runners, which I've been playing for the mindless fun for the meantime, there haven't been any games that have captured my interest. And I fully expect my interest in Dungeon Runners to wane soon enough.

but as the kids are a little older now, I'm recapturing a little of my game-play time in the evenings, usually after they are in bed (and occasionally even while they are awake but occupied enough post-bath and bedtime...).

And now there are a bunch of upcoming games that I really want to play. First came Bioshock (available now)... and soon Crysis, and Assassin's Creed, and Half-Life 2: Episode 2 will all hit the streets. I'm interested in (but undecided about)  Hellgate London as well...

Unfortunately, I also want to build a new PC for these games. My current rig is still quite good (3Ghz P4, Radeon X850XT, etc.), but it's about 4 years old nd virtually at the end of its upgrade path. The best I could do would be to drop $200 into a new DX10 AGP video card... but that seems like money better spent on a PCIe video card for a dual/quad-core CPU-based system...

I can't afford much at the moment (I did order a case because of a good mail-in rebate and free shipping, courtesy of Newegg-- which will probably sit around for months and fascinate my oldest son), so I may not have a new rig up and running before next March... or even June. (sigh)

We'll see how money/time/etc. plays out, but we're going on vacation soon (and that's 10 days of unpaid time for me because I'm a lowly contractor). In addition, the holidays are fast approaching,and both of my kids' birthdays fall in the next 6 months as well.

Here's hoping my gaming won't be on hold for too long. On the plus side, any delays will only make the games (and hardware) a bit cheaper by the time I can buy them.

I've added some pictures of the boys to the Summer 2007 photo album.

These pictures were taken at the Evergreen State Fair, which ended recently. Unfortunately, Katsuya was too small to do most of the rides, but it looks like he still had a good time. Apparently -- despite the stern look he maintained throughout his pony ride -- he was quite angry to be removed from his pony at the end of the ride. :)

Unfortunately, I didn't go to the fair with them that day. I stayed home because I had many things on my "to do" list, and I'm the most productive when everyone is out of the house.

ALSO (unrelated): I added some new "Anti-Moo" links in my anti-Chung Moo Doe/Oom Yung Doe list.

I've mostly worn tank tops and shorts the last month or more, but declining temperatures and rain are a woeful reminder of autumn's impending return. So, back to shirts and long sports pants and the like are back "in" now.

I'm also trying out some dietary "adjustments" for health and athletic-performance related reasons. I don't need to lose weight -- but I'm always interested in reading about health and nutrition for healthier living and athletic improvement.

Very briefly:

• More fat (good fat, of course)
• More protein
• Less sugar/grains/empty carbs/starchy foods/etc
  

Nothing revolutionary. I probably get plenty of protein, so the biggest adjustment will be getting more fat (good fat) and staying away from sugar/carbs (which is especially difficult when you have kids). I doubt I'll ever maintain a strict diet. My goal is just to make manageable, healthy adjustments. I still love my coffee, ice cream, and mixed nuts. I like lots of other junk food as well, but I seldom, if ever, actually crave things like soda, potato chips, candy, etc.

Much of my amateur research (some of it from not-so-amateur sources, such as Michael R. Eades, M.D.) largely indicts (and even convicts) the AMA, the USDA, and other government-backed health organizations, for being politicking pinheads that are force-feeding John Q. Public misleading, wrong, or at the very least debatable guidelines for healthy diets.

I'm not expert enough to damn it all completely. However, I borrowed the 'pinheads' comment from Michael Eades, who is considerably more expert and outspoken about the issue than I am.

I found this site 'by accident' (i.e. Web surfing) and ended up spending quite some time on it.

I'm not a fitness/nutrition expert, but I've been around the gym a few times. I'm just a dedicated amateur at best.

One thing I've learned by studying and reading on various health, fitness, and nutrition-related sites (particularly since I discovered and began following Crossfit.com)  is that a lot of the nutrition/diets/fitness 'sold' to the American public (via big-box gyms, health magazines, newspapers, and the media in general) -- is BULLSHIT. At the very least, much of it is not nearly as iron-clad (science-wise) as we are often lead to believe, and some of it could even be considered flat-out wrong or even dangerous.

If you really want to learn "real fitness" and/or "real nutrition", you have to be willing to cast aside a lot of what you think you may know about the subjects. Start with the sites linked on this page. It may change your whole perspective and open up some new doors and thoughts on fitness, health, diet, and nutrition.

So we had another parents meeting -- "Curriculum Night" -- at our son's school last night. It was a fairly quick meeting that just gave us an idea of what/how our son's classroom runs.

It was a little interesting but mostly unnecessary. I don't think there's anything that couldn't have been handled in an e-mail newsletter or something. Hopefully these meetings won't become too intrusive. They make for a long day in which neither my wife nor I get to see much of the kids. Parents meetings that take you away from your kids seems a bit counter-productive to me.

I do generally like our son's preschool teacher, and she said he's been doing just fine in his class so far. She seems pretty cool. And she does triathlons, apparently, which earns a few brownie points with me. I believe teachers should also serve as role models (to what extent, I'm not sure at the moment -- but suffice to say I'd rather have a triathlon-running teacher than an obese, big fat-ass teacher teaching my son.)

I feel like writing but I'm unfocused and completely bored at work. If didn't need the hours so badly I'd probably just skedaddle out of here. I like my job OK --  there just isn't enough work to keep be substantially busy. I don't even need to feel super busy to feel productive, but sometimes I go for weeks without anything concrete to do. I get paid to sit on my hands, stagnate, and surf the Internet. Fine for a day or two, but hardly something you want to do 40-hours per week. Believe it or not, the Internet just ain't big enough...

Today was my son's second day of preschool. I got him up a little later than I intended (only by about 10 minutes or so), but he handled it all fairly well. I made him and his brother some oatmeal, and then (mostly) kept his younger brother entertained, and changed his clothes, while the MIL (mother-in law) got his older brother dressed.

Fatigue and stress are wearing me down. I'm guessing it's mostly the stress of my son starting school, my dad's leukemia diagnosis, my wife's newly diagnosed health problems, and lack of sleep (in part because of the aforementioned stressors) that is making a vicious cycle for me. I'm irritable and short-tempered, and I hate it when I get like that (which makes me feel guilty, and probably just adds more stress...)Oh, and add to that my boring job which gives me nothing but time to think and stress out about things...

Hopefully things will even out soon.  I hate feeling depressed and unfocused.

This morning while I was getting ready for work, both of my sons woke up. My oldest son sat with me while I was getting ready for work. Part of our conversation went something like this:

Kazu: "...but I don't want you to go to work."

Me: "I know. I wish I didn't have to. But I have to go to work to make money so I can pay for things."

Kazu: "It's OK. I don't need any more toys."

I smiled, but in the dark he couldn't see it.  Time with daddy/mommy is more important than money and creature comforts. In that same vein -- were I ever to strike it rich somehow, I'd immediately retire so I could do the best possible thing with wealth: spend more time with family and friends.

I stayed home from work this morning to I could go along and usher Kazu to his first day of Preschool.

I woke him up with some ringtones on my cell phone (The Spongebob Squarepants theme, and Pirates of the Carribbean, to be precise.) I then ushered him downstairs, made some frozen waffles with peanut butter and syrup for us,  and we ate  together while we warmed up by the fireplace.

After breakfast, Kaz (and Katsuya) brushed their teeth and got ready for school without too much trouble. We piled into my car and left.

Then my wife realized about 1/3 of the way to school that we forgot everything -- his new Cars (the Pixar movie) backpack, snacks, and some other stuff we were supposed to bring. (We had it all laid out, we just forgot as we started piling into cars).

I'm sure we're not the first family to get caught up in the excitement of the very first day of school and forget stuff. Fortunately, my mother-in-law was a ways behind us driving in her minivan, so we were able to call her so she could grab all the stuff we forgot.

We met at the school and made it to class on time, and I got to spend a little time with him before I left for work. Overall, everything went fairly well, and although a little sad in some ways,  I managed not to cry.

My dad called me this morning to tell me that he has been diagnosed with Leukemia.

The test results are not back yet, but apparently they think it is chronic leukemia (I'm guessing Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) based on some Googling, but it's just a guess on my part.) Leukemia is very treatable, but treatments may include chemotherapy and radiation, in addition to injections of Interferon. Surgery is rarely needed.

We don't talk or see each other very often, despite the fact that we live very close. This isn't due to any particular family rift. It's partly just how men are. My brothers and I all love our dad, and he loves us, but we're all grown and involved with our own lives and families now. However, after my parents divorced, my father forged ahead and eventually got a sort of new life and family. He and his wife even formally adopted one of his new wife's grandkids (whose mother had/has drug problems, I believe).

The gravity of the diagnosis is only just now starting to sink in. Shock, lack of information, and probably some reflexive emotional shielding, quickly turned our conversation to brighter things: mostly my children / his grandchildren.

He was very upbeat about the diagnosis and, to paraphrase him, his leukemia should be 'very treatable, possibly with a pill.'

Maybe those 'pills' are Interferon doses or something, if my recent Googling is correct. Regardless, the treatment and side effects of treatment can be difficult enough if you're healthy. I've no idea how difficult they can be for a man in his 60's who has already been diagnosed with Diabetes.

I've been playing a bit of Dungeon Runners in the evening as time allows, and now I'm thinking of trying to rope some friends into the game (i.e. going from 'user' to 'pusher'). I'm still enjoying the game quite a bit, especially once I learned these tidbits:

• You can have one waypoint saved with your character at a time. This makes it fairly easy to 'save' your progress in a particular quest, which often means trying to reach level X of a particular dungeon.
  
• You can purchase any class skills -- regardless of your base class. There are easily over 20 skills per class -- for example, Ice Bolt for Mages, Acidic Blight for Rangers, Awesome Cleavage (ha!) for Fighters. No matter which base class you play, you can pay the gold and freely mix and match skills. I'm playing a Fighter, but I added some Ranger and Mage skills that seem to complement my style of play and fight strategy.

My only complaint so far is that leveling seems a bit slower than it should be. I haven't put in copious amounts of time (a dozen hours or so total?), but it seems to me I should be around levels 15-20 instead of 12 right now -- especially since the level cap is 100.

I'm still enjoying the game regardless (and I haven't done any grouping yet). Sure, it's fairly mindless hack and slash, but I'm  enjoying it -- at least until I build a new PC and dig in to Bioshock and Crysis. Unfortunately, a new PC build is a good ways off (late this year/early next year, at best--if money permits), so I may break down and play Bioshock and Crysis on my current PC (a still capable machine that was 'cutting edge' about 3 years ago, but now sits somewhere between 'a little above the Minimum SRL' and well below 'Recommended' for most games...)

Granted, I don't game nearly as much as I used to, but my current PC is essentially at the end of its upgrade path -- and as the kids get older, go to school, etc., I'll likely regain more of my gaming time in the coming months and years. It would be nice to step into the multi-core CPU / DirectX 10 arena and be ready for the next few generations of PC games. I never buy "bleeding (idiot) edge", but I like to have a PC capable of running the latest games and running them well. (I don't, however, need them to run at 1900x1450 with 8x anti-aliasing, volumetric shadows, anisotropic filtering, at 200 frames per second...)

Last, but not least -- some new pictures of the home dojo are in the  Martial Arts photo album. I still have more work to do, but it's definitely coming along... I'd say it's about 80-85% complete.

Yesterday was busy:

• Took my son to his Preschool open house.
  
• Worked a bit later than usual because I got such a late start.
• Returned home to pick up my wife.
• Grabbed some dinner at a local Mexican restaurant.
• Killed some time shopping at Walmart for a few sundry home items (frames, pharmacy items, a new toilet seat...)
  
• Went to a short 'new parents' meeting at my son's school.
• Raced home, tired and anxious to see the kids. My wife hadn't seen them all day, and I hardly got to spend any time with them (other than taking my eldest to his preschool open house).
  

I'm glad I got to go to the preschool open house, but I definitely hated being away from the kids for so long. I wrapped up the evening putting the kids to bed and playing about a 45 minutes of Dungeon Runners before bed time.

I got a lot done over the weekend. In no particular order:

• Sold all my 3rd Edition Dungeons and Dragons books, and a few other computer books and a couple old computer games to clear out some shelf space in the library.
• Adjusted the mats in the dojo to complete the floor.
• Hung a lot of pictures, including family pictures (in the house) and old rank certificates (in the dojo).
• Finished cleaning up the office!
• Cleaned up the kitchen.
  
• Washed, folded and put away all the laundry, and did lots of other minor/miscellaneous stuff around the house.
• Hung a new shelf for the stereo in the dojo (yay!) Unfortunately...
  
• Said shelf collapsed and fell on me despite what seemed to be very solid, strong screw anchors and very beefy screws. I caught most of it so it didn't completely crash to the ground, but the stereo's CD tray seems damaged now, so we may be in the market for a bookshelf CD/stereo system...

Today, I stayed home this morning so I could take Kaz to an open house for his preschool, which he begins next week. He had a good time, played in a sand table, played with some play-dough, did a little art, banged on some bongo drums, and had a few small cookies.

I think Kaz enjoyed it. He starts preschool proper next week, and I've already planned to take him to that for his first day.

I'll try not to cry.