Summer is almost here (though it continues to rain an awful lot!), and the kids are looking forward to some warm weather. Hopefully the pool will be open, but there are some repairs that need to be done that might not get funded...which would be a bummer for all of us. I'm thinking of taking a petition around so that the owners have better awareness of how much demand there is for the pool.

S is having some problems with her fear of the dentist, but we're trying out some counseling to talk her through and ultimately overcome those fears. N is working on a recycled art project today at school - I'm going to try to take off from work to check it out either today or tomorrow. M is still cruising with homeschool/unschooling and I'm still concerned about where he will be academically when middle school starts in the Fall.

Lots of plans for the summer - music classes, gymnastics, basketball camp, language lessons, etc. They will be busy, but I hope we can fully afford it all.

I continue to be pretty sore the day after wrestling with all of them.

N got a clean bill of health today. I'm relieved that he recovered quickly and that it didn't get any worse.

N had to go to the ER last week. He'd been complaining about an ache in his side on Monday, and we thought that it was probably a pulled muscle. But the pain didn't go away, and by Thursday it was so bad that he had to come home from school very early in the day. H called me and we talked about it and decided it would be best to take him to the ER to find out what was going on.

I left work and ended up meeting H, M and N there (S was at school) and we pretty much spent the next four or so hours waiting until he could get in. They did give him some pain meds so that he wasn't uncomfortable. Anyway, once he was examined, including x-rays, the doc was able to determine that is was pleurisy/pneumonia, but just in a small area on the bottom of his right lung (right where he'd been feeling pain). The doc was surprised as he had no other symptoms (shortness of breath, a cough, etc). So he started taking antibiotics and regular pain meds and it has cleared up pretty quickly. He's not in pain any longer. He'll go back for a checkup with his regular doc to make sure it's all taken care of. We've also been making sure he gets probiotics while taking the antibiotics.

Anyway, it was weirdly nice to be together in the ER - I hung out with M while H & N were in the exam room, and for awhile it almost felt normal, as if we were all together... I suppose only emergencies like this will let that feeling happen.

I bought a couple new bike helmets for the boys yesterday. All three kids are motivated to be on their bikes again, for which I'm happy. We also finally have some nice weather (it actually snowed this last weekend!). N & M could use some new bikes, and M & I looked at some Redline BMX bikes yesterday at Kulshan Cycles - I hope I can get them both one of those, they're sweet rides. Then S can move up to M's bike. She's eager to learn how to be a better bike rider. I'm predicting she'll learn fast!

M wants a nerf gun and a WWII themed video game, so we're in negotiations around that. I don't necessarily want any of my kids to be playing with toys that are guns because I don't think guns should be seen or used as toys....but I think M gets that, and I'm beginning to think that I may be acting in a reactionary way, rather than a balanced one. It's not resolved yet, but I'm thinking M should experience these things now, when at least I'm still around to guide him.

They're all into basketball and four square, which to my mind is much healthier. M is also interested in skateboarding, which would be pretty cool, I think.

S is auditioning for the Nutcracker this weekend! She's very excited. It will be very cool if she gets cast.

Went up to Mt. Baker with the kids yesterday for some sledding and fun in the snow. It was a beautiful, clear day with blue skies and powdery snow. The sledding was fun. There were a lot of people there.

Unfortunately S got banged up a bit. M ran into her once, my heel caught her in the eye when we were going up a slope, and she twisted her wrist when we were sledding and wrecked. But she recovered pretty quickly and had fun. M really wanted to catch some air. Both he and N were ready to launch off some steep slopes. We all want to do some snowboarding and/or skiing next time. I'll start saving up my money again...

We stopped at the North Fork Brewery for pizza on the way back, and got hot chocolate further down the road as well. It was a nice time.

Everyone's been sick, except for me. H went to Victoria to perform with the Impromaniacs, so I had N,M & S for two days, which was a lot of fun - except for the sick part. All three of them have gone through fevers in the last week, one right after the other. First M, then S, now N. H doesn't sound too well either. And after the fever it turns into a yucky chest cold with a nasty cough.

I hope they're feeling better today.

Oh yeah, on the same morning that N & S had a fever at the same time N lost a tooth and M had a nosebleed! All the fluids were represented at some point that day... Now that the boys are getting older and losing the last of their baby teeth the tooth fairy has upped the bounty to $5 - they're just a little more valuable now.

Busy weekend with the kids. Swimming, rock climbing, ice skating, horse drawn carriage ride - all free as part of Bellingham's New Year events, always nice for the strapped family!

N still doesn't like wearing his glasses - hope it'll all be better when he can finally get contacts.

M has to wear glasses now as well, but apparently only when he's at school...

Life continues to chug along. The kids are getting pretty excited about Christmas. They'll be spending the 24th and 25th with me, and we're going down to my sister's on the 24th, but they want to spend the 25th just with me.

School continues to go fairly well for them, though M especially doesn't like a lot of it. Both N & M have to get glasses.

After 11 and 8 years, respectively, of unschooling/homeschooling, the kids are experiencing their first day of public school today. H just wants to be a Mama, rather than a Mama/Teacher. It has always been a big challenge for her, and I've always maintained that since the onus of the teaching burden has been on her that if she ever felt she needed to cease homeschooling that I would support her decision.

And I have.

But I still have my own worries and hang-ups about public school. I'm just hoping that the kid's experience is better than mine - more akin to H's. S was very chipper this morning, but N&M were more glum. They can't be in the same classroom, which is really bumming M out, and they can't wear hats, which is bumming N out, who is trying to grow his hair out.

Anyway. More big changes. I'm staying positive.

The kids continue to be one of the few experiences that truly bring happiness into my life. N,M & S are still into making movies, both stop motion and live action - they have some great ideas and are having a lot of fun.

S is trying to figure out what food she may be allergic to - ruled out dairy and now on to soy...

Saw The Simpson's Movie with them last weekend - it's always fun to go to the theatre with them.

N has decided not to learn playing guitar for the time being - or at least, not to take classes. He still wants to keep his guitar, for which I'm happy - he'll likely pick it up again at some point. M also told me he wants to keep his drum set.

S's birthday is coming up - she's very excited. So am I! Jazzz piano lessons for her coming up!

The kids and H are down in Oregon till next week for P's birthday. I really miss them.

The kid's enjoyed their time at camp last week.

HD's bachelor party is tomorrow night - should be fun.

Lost my ring yesterday - totally bummed. At some point it just fell off my finger! :(

It has been really hot in Bellingham! Up into the 80's and higher. I finally got a pool key and the kids have come over a few times this week to go swimming. If it works out for all of us I've let them know that they can come over anytime to jump in the pool. It's only open from mid-June through sometime in September, so we should make the most of it while we can. We've been having a lot of fun in it - S generally stays in the shallow end, N&M in the deep end, and I swim back and forth, trying to split my time with all of them. The boys really like jumping in, and S enjoys making up all kinds of games to play. Her current fave is being a dog and playing fetch with various pool toys.

The kids and I went raspberry and strawberry picking with AC last Sunday. It was overcast that morning, which made the picking easier on us. We got about 20 lbs of raspberries and a big bowl full of strawberries. Then I finally racked the lambic onto the raspberries later that day. It'll be ready to bottle in 6 months, by which time it'll have been in the works for 2 1/2 years! I really hope it turns out well. It's been bubbling away as the yeast consumes the sugars from the raspberries, giving off a great raspberry scent from the airlock. I'm a little concerned with how hot it's been and how that might effect the fermentation, and have been thinking about moving it down to the basement storage area. I have to do some research on that today.

H's Mom is in town, and the kids have been attending Animals as Natural Therapy camp this week, riding and caring for horses and other animals. They're going on a trail ride today, and seem pretty excited about it! Hopefully they'll be able to come over for a swim this afternoon.

N&M are 11!

They are very excited, as is S. I baked mini chocolate cakes for them, and gave them both a Nintendo Gameboy Advance DS - exactly what they asked for.

They were very pleased with their gifts. It's a sunny day, which they're spending with their friends.

They are such wonderful boys - I feel fortunate to be a part of their lives.

The kids gave me a basket with tea, chocolate and crystallized ginger in it as a birthday present. Then we went to the Strawberry Festival at Boxx Berry Farm, where we had free strawberry sundaes and the kids took a ride around the fields on a "train" pulled by a tractor.

If the weather had been better I'd planned on taking them for a hike up to the observatory on Sehome hill, but I'll have to save that for another time.

39 now.

S's dance recital went well - it was great to be able to see her perform on stage. She was very happy. I went up to the stage at the end to pick her up, and bought some sunflowers for her. M&N didn't want to stay for the second half, so I drove them and Grandpa G back to HQ instead.

The next day N,M & S and I all went out for ice cream at Mallard's, and then they went down to OR for a week.

They returned in time for Father's Day, though. We watched cartoons in the morning, went to La Fiamma for lunch, and then back to Mallards. Then we watched some movies, did some drawings and continued reading The Golden Compass, which we're all really enjoying.

I'm planning on taking them for a hike up to the Sehome Hill Arboretum this Saturday. DG told me that there's an observatory up there too - hopefully we'll find it, and the weather will be nice!

S is very, very excited about her upcoming dance recital this Friday. She's counting down the days until her dress rehearsal and then the performance. She's as excited as she is around Christmas time, or her birthday. I'm looking forward to seeing her on stage again - she's so cute.

H's parents are coming up for the performance, and then H and the kids are going down to OR for the week :( - but they'll be back in time for Father's Day!

N&M&S drew a bunch of cool pictures last night - my refridgerator is already almost covered over with them. They sure are loving kids.

Went to Locust Beach on Sunday with the kids. It was a beautiful, warm day. Someone gave them little seashells that had been turned into mice sculptures - he said his Grandparents made them, and he always carried some around to give out to kids.

I think N,M & S had fun....

We finished reading Where the Red Fern Grows and started The Golden Compass, which we're all enjoying a lot.

Sure wish I could see them more often.

Have the kids all weekend. Should be fun, especially if the weather stays so nice. They were a bit disappointed to find out that the pool won't open until mid June....

N&M are very excited about their upcoming birthday - only one more month!

T/Th & every other Fri-Sun. That's it?

Not happy.

Went swimming with the kids on Saturday. We had a lot of fun. The boys really like going off the diving board, and all three of them enjoy the water slide, of course! I played in the water with them, and even went down the slide and off the board.

I feel a lot more comfortable now that they are all better swimmers. S still feels uncertain and likes me to be with her (which is fine with me). N&M could use some more practice as well, but they are fine in deep water.

I'm really hoping I can afford to get them all into more lessons this summer...

Well, it's official now, so I'm posting it here. I've been hired as a Web Usability Designer at PeaceHealth here in Bellingham. My last day at WWU will be Friday the 13th(!) this month, and I start at PH the following Monday.

I'm really looking forward to this job. It will be challenging, meaningful and interesting work, and pays really well too. I'll be working with my friend Dawn, the only other usability person at PH right now.

It took me almost exactly one year after graduating from UW to get this job. I'm pretty sure I could have got another sooner if I'd been willing to look outside Bellingham, but we've decided to stay here for the long-term, and this job will certainly help with that goal.

H and the kids are down in Oregon visiting her family for Spring Break. I sure miss them!

The article I co-wrote with Dawn about mashups will be published in the June issue of Searcher. I'm thinking of working on one about online reputation management next.

Got offered a job today! More details to follow when it's more "official", i.e. a written rather than verbal offer.

But, it's a solid offer. This will help a lot.

I'm pretty excited, and getting more so by the moment....

Had fun with the kids today. Went to the Bagelry and then finished another book (Say Cheese, Medusa).

Playing chess. Kinda annoyed, I'm not playing very well.

Went to a dog agility trials/show at the Northwest Fairgrounds in Lynden last Saturday with the kids. It was inside the horse arena, but it was very cold and raining/snowing heavily outside. We lasted almost two hours. Bought sandwiches, burritos and hot chocolate for lunch. Got to see all of the smallest dogs go through the course before we were ready to leave. We were sitting in bleachers, up at the top. There were a lot of people there, several spectators and families sitting below us. Everyone was quietly watching except for N, M & S. They were chattering away animatedly like a trio of starlings. It was kind of funny and very cute, though I did feel self-conscious about how much noise my kids were making. I tried not to shush them too much - just wanted them to be aware of other people around them.

After that we went to the theater at Bellis Fair mall to see Bridge to Teribithia. The last time we went it was sold out, but that gave us some extra time to finish the book. As we were walking into the mall two girls, maybe around 12, both with long blond hair and probably sisters, ran up to N all excited and asked if they could get their picture taken with him. His hair is short, spiky and very red right now. N said "oookay" and looked a little freaked about, but smiled through his blush and let them flank him as a friend of theirs took the pic with a cell phone. Apparently they had seen N the night before while ice skating! M&S and I thought it was pretty funny. The movie was OK, though we were there so early we had to sit through all the commercials before the previews.

It was nice to hang out with them.

Hard times.

Taking it one hour at a time.

Hurting. Trying to adjust.

Still looking for a librarian job. Still want to stay in Bellingham, especially as H's business continues to grow succesfully. It would be unfair to disrupt that, I think.

Paul and I are started on an article about the Digital Commons.

I have a couple ideas for essays, one about ice cream, and one about "bad guys (and gals)". Asked Eric S. if he'd help me with the historical research aspects of the speed article.

BQ at Searcher sounds interested in both a mashups and visualization of information article. I need to solidify a proposal with her and get a deadline. Also am thinking about asking Dawn if she'd like to work on one of these with me.

The kids are all doing well, enjoying homeschool. They're really into Astro Boy and Bionicles right now.

H is juding a play at the Bellingham Theater Guild tonight, and performs with A Few Good Women next week.

Allen and my Ray Harryhausen interview has been submitted to Jeff's Habits of Waste, and will include a video clip of Harryhausen. I'm thinking about uploading the whole interview onto YouTube as well.

Down in OR at the Grandparent's for Christmas. Spent last night at my sister's in Puyallup, which was a great way to break up the long drive from Bellingham to Philomath, plus we got to see her family and exchange gifts. We're probably going to stop there again on the drive back up next Saturday.

Kind of challenging to type right now as my thumb is still bandaged from gouging a big divot out of it last Sunday night on some broken ceramic plates while washing dishes. Cut all the way down to the artery and had to drive myself to the E.R.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to this vacation and family time.

Windy night. Sometimes it sounds like the house is about to be ripped apart.

Still no word from Cornell.

Other prospects:

Law library internship in D.C.

Systems librarian in Guam.

Astronaut ;)

Homeschooling continues to be a struggle and a challenge, but I think we're slowly making some progress. The kids continue to be positive about their learning, which is a big factor.

H just got back from an improv workout at the UpFront - she's performing with Ryan Stiles this Friday. Oh yeah, she got recognized yesterday at the Grocery Outlet! Kinda funny.

Still waiting to hear from Cornell about the fellowship I applied for.

Snowy, icy, and very cold in Bellingham the last few days. WWU was closed Mon and Tue, open today, and may be closed again tomorrow depending on what tonight's storm brings.

H and the kids decorated the Christmas tree today. It looks really sweet.

M says he wants to start his own blog. The kids made a 36 minute video movie today!

Didn't bother applying for the Bellingham Public Library job after I found out they wanted someone with three years of "professional" library experience, i.e., someone who's been an actual degreed librarian, never mind the 16+ years of public and academic library experience I have. A friend of mine encouraged me to apply anyway, with a letter explaining my experience, which I may do if the position opens up again (this is the second time it's been open this year).

Meanwhile, I'm still looking for MLIS work in Bellingham, and I'm applying for a two year fellowship at Cornell designed to help recent graduates. I think it's a long shot, but that's never stopped me before.

The kids and I just got back from the annual Honeyman trip in Oregon with H's family. H didn't go this year. She needed a break and a chance to catch up on her own stuff. We had a fine time, but I'm pretty tired right now.

Um, I didn't get the usability/web designer job. It went to a candidate who was a web designer with Amazon(!) and who has never even done any usability testing (!!) - though she's observed them....

So, it seems they wanted a web designer rather than a user experience person who could design and lead testing, as well as implement results. I'm still fantasizing that it won't work out for her and that they'll call me back saying "Wait, it was a horrible mistake - we really wanted you all along".

***********

We're all going to go see some live jazz tonight at the Firehouse - the kids are excited about it, as am I.

So, next I'm applying for a librarian position at Bellingham Public Library, Head of Reference no less! We'll see...

The interview went well - it lasted for one hour and fifteen minutes. We went overtime, but I think this was a good sign as we had a lot to talk about. I could tell that the search committee was very interested in usability and how it could be applied to PeaceHealth, as well as my experience with user centered design.

D said I did great. My hands were shaking on the elevator ride down. I felt OK in my suit, the first time I've worn it out of the house. I'd just bought a tie for it the day before...

It may take up to two weeks for a decision to be made, and even then there's the possibility of a third interview (if they have more than one top candidate). So, these next couple of weeks will be stressful. I've already had two fairly sleepless nights that I'm blaming on thinking about this job. Last night I woke up at 2:30am and had to read until 3:30 before I could get back to sleep - very unusual for me.

I want this job pretty badly, but I'm still trying not to get overly worked up about it.

I've been asked to interview for the usability/web designer job next Thursday! I'm excited and nervous - it would mean so much to my family (financially) if I got this job, and it would mean a lot to me professionally. Usability is such an interesting and engaging field, with so many interconnections. I also like what I've read so far about St. Joseph's/PeaceHealth's philosophy and community goals. I think it would be a nice place to work.

I've been preparing for the interview by reviewing usability tenets, researching PeaceHealth, and practicing interview techniques and ideas. It's a lot like preparing for a big term paper or exam.

The mini phone interview for the usability job went well today. Now I just need to wait to hear about getting an interview, which I should know about by sometime next week.

And I have to remain cool, calm and collected. Detached. Time to practice my breathing...

I didn't get the Systems/Cataloging Librarian job at WWU - there were applicants with higher qualifications and more experience than I have, of course. I knew it was a long shot...

Well, now I can concentrate on the Usability job I've applied for. And keep looking for other opportunities, I guess.

It's the boy's tenth birthday tomorrow! They gave me their last nine year old hugs and kisses tonight...

Tomorrow they're having a sleep over with some friends as well as a food fight party in the front yard. I think we're doing jello and whipped cream, and then we'll hose them off afterward. Should be fun!

N wrote a poem tonight:

9 YEAR OLD

A 9 YEAR OLD IS SMART AND SiLLY,
FUN AND ON THE RUN.
8s ARE O.K. BUT 9s ARE GREAT!!
10 WiLL BE FUN, BUT 9 is...
FABULOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


H is performing at the Up Front Theatre tonight, as well as doing sound in the tech booth for a different show there. She's also going to be MCing three of the movies in the Cult Film Series for the Traveling Pickford Show in the beer garden at Boundary Bay. She's opening for Army of Darkness, Life of Brian, and Thelm and Louise.

I've been rehearsing with Dawn in order to play some music for a friend's wedding. Dawn plays the cello, and I'm playing guitar. We're going to be playing while the bride and groom walk up the aisle, as well as immediately after the ceremony. The music is coming together well.

I've got a couple of new blogs up, check them out:

Getting In the Mood With Good Food

Grassroots Librarian

Usabiliblog

Fund the Child: A 100% Solution - this looks like a good idea.

From The Progress Report

"EDUCATION -- TACKLING FUNDING DISPARITIES IN AMERICA'S SCHOOLS:

A new Thomas B. Fordham Institute report tackles one of the "most pressing problems in American education": the funding disparity between schools in rich and poor districts. The Education Trust reports that "36 states have a funding gap between high poverty and low poverty districts that averages almost $900 per student." Faced with current policies that "consistently fail to solve problems," the report -- which has drawn support from a bipartisan group of experts and former government officials -- concludes that the "entire financing system needs to be modernized if the problems of inequity and antiquity are to be solved." It proposes a plan for government at all levels to allocate funds to schools on a "per-student basis" according to each student's needs, and not by staffing levels or special program needs or "political jockeying," as is currently done. The funding would follow students to whichever public school they choose to attend. The proposal has received support from 75 signatories, including former Education Secretary Rod Paige and American Progress President and CEO John D. Podesta and Director of Education Policy Cynthia Brown. Sign up here to add your name to the solution."

It's my birthday today, but it didn't start off so well last night. When I got home it was to find that the bathroom sink was clogged up, and after taking apart various pipes under the sink and in the basement it still was plugged up. I finally had to resort to Drano, which fixed the problem.

H and the kids made me breakfast in bed this morning, which was really nice. I also slept in. Then I went to the cafe and had some coffee and read for about an hour. When I got home it was to find the screen door hanging off it's top hinge, so, another thing to fix. But the cordless drill wasn't recharged, so now I have to wait for that...

I was invited to the first round of interviews for the librarian position! It'll be a phone interview, which will be sort of weird as I will probably be in the same building as the interviewers when it's happening, but I understand the reasons. It's important to make the process consistent and equitable between all the candidates, and for all I know the rest of them are from out of town or state. Still, I'm pleased to have made it this far and am looking forward to the next step.

Rode home with N today from the Aikido dojo. It was slow going, about 35 minutes (it usually takes me about 12-15 minutes to get home from WWU), but it was nice to spend extra time with N.

And it was a little nerve-wracking, especially at intersections. N stayed on the sidewalk while I rode beside him on the street. It was only awkward when there was a person or something else in his way on the sidewalk. N also talked to me pretty much the whole way, which was very endearing.

H, M & S all rode to the dojo w/ N, then went to the library and rode home before us.

We're slowly working on the various stop-action episodes for N&M's movie.

S is back! It was great to see her - she was so happy - and it was great to see N&M happy to see her too.

I'm glad she's home again...

I've been working with the boys on several digital shorts that they made, mostly stop-action. We're going to author them onto a DVD later this week. They're very creative.

S has been down visiting her grandparents, and I've really been missing her, but she's coming home tomorrow!

I proposed a podcast tour of the library to the Outreach Committee - looks like it's going to happen! And Paul and I are finishing up another paper, this one based on our LOEX presentation. It should be done by the end of this week.

Meanwhile I'm trying to be patient while waiting to hear back about the librarian position I've applied for at WWU.

Oh yeah, the other night a skunk got into our chicken yard and scared a couple of the chickens right out over the fence, but no one was hurt and all is well now. Luckily the skunk didn't spray anything...

H finished her last classes of KAP this week, so now money will become tighter than ever. Time to put the boat onto Craigslist.

The Kona airport waiting area near the gates is open on all four sides, but covered on top for when it rains. The planes pull up right outside the gates and are very loud when they arrive and leave. It’s nice to be outside while waiting for your plane, especially in such a humid, hot environment, but it’s not so nice to sit here watching a DVD on my laptop and having to smell the exhaust of jet fuel. Kinda ruins the tropical vibe for me.

On Saturday night Paul and I walked around the neighborhood we’re staying in for about four square blocks. We walked in the dark, and for at least half the walk it was pouring a hard, warm rain. The houses we saw were all beautiful, each with a view of the ocean, all two or three stories high, many with wide, full sized verandas running across their second floor. Paul thinks the average price for houses around there is around 600 grand. I’m sure many were worth more than that.

I also heard some strange frogs for the first time. They sounded like birds, a high, whistling, whooping, chirping sound. I didn’t even identify them as frogs – I had to ask Paul. They didn’t sound the way I’ve come to think of frogs as sounding. I wish I could have seen what they looked like. Paul says that there are many different kinds of frogs around here.

We drove up to Volcanoes National Park today and drove around the huge Kilauea caldera and the Kilauea Iki crater. Hot steam wafted up from many vents. It looks like the surface of Mars around there. We also went to the Place of Refuge, a native Hawaiian site, and saw some tikis and green sea turtles.

We stopped at the southernmost bar in the U.S., “Shakas”, and had dinner on the way back from Black Sand Beach – a place I didn’t want to leave.

I arrived back home today, very tired after a mostly sleepless, redeye flight. I'm in zombie mode, but it's been great to see the family again. I'd sure like to get us all over to Hawaii...

Aloha! I was up at 6:30 this morning, listening to the raucous calls of the myriad birds here. It's sunny with blue skies today. Paul and I are planning on driving up to the volcano before having to head out.

Yesterday a young family with two children (3 and 18 months old) arrived to spend the night in the studio that's also available here. They're moving into the two room unit Paul and I have been using today. They've moved to Hawaii, but don't have a place to live or a job here yet! I hope it all works out OK for them.

Have I mentioned the garden here? Tom grows orchids, and has about a hundred of them nestled under a sunshade. There are also mango and banana trees, as well as tomato and kale. It sure would be cool to have our own mango and banana tree. I think you could grow just about anything here, and the season is pretty much yearlong.

Looks like I'll have a slightly shorter flight back, with less layovers, just a two hour one in Seattle. I sure hope I can sleep on the plane - I don't want to be a total zombie when I get home.

The ceviche I made turned out really great - I'll have to make more when I get back to Bellingham.

Hawaii is great - I want to come back with all of you! I think you'd really love it. It's hot and sunny, but I could get used to it, and just stay in the shade during the hottest part of the day. You guys would probably be out playing in it all the time!

I haven't gone surfing or seen a volcano, but maybe we'll drive up to the volcano today after the conference. After yesterdays conference we drove up to the North tip of the island, a place Paul's not been too, called Pololu Valley Lookout. It was amazingly beautiful. We walked down a half mile, very steep trail to a black sand beach. The waves were crashing in on a stiff offshore breeze. I hung out on the big volcanic rocks around the high-tide line while Paul jumped into the water. There were three local kids playing in the waves on boogie boards. On the way back I ran up about half the trail, but it was so hot that was all I could manage.

On the drive back we saw this huge, temple-like rock formation (there are hand-made rock walls all over the island). We stopped to check it out and ended up walking down to it. It was a Heiau. I took some pictures of it and the valley. We hung out there and watched to sun set into the ocean, which happens very fast. After sunset it also gets dark really fast, since we're near the equator and there are no mountains to prolong the event. Then we stopped at a local place and had some food, my first purchase of the day, some grilled Ono fish.

Lots of geckos around our kitchen, and Paul said he saw some small chameleons in the garden. I'm going to go look for them after sending this, then we're off to another day at the conference. Oh yeah, we saw this big, redheaded bird yesterday that startled both of us. It looked kinda like a giant kingfisher or a kookabura, but we're not sure what it was.

(Originally written on Thursday June 8th) I'll be able to better tell you about Hawaii after today I think - when I got in last night it was dark, so all I could see were some palm trees blowing in the wind.

Actually, my first stop in Hawaii was in Maui, where I had to wait for 2 hours for my next flight to Kona. There was nowhere to go, so I just stood around on an outside balcony (unfortunately this was also where all the smokers were, but I didn't feel like sitting down after doing so for 5 hours on the flight - my butt hurt!). From the balcony (it was still daylight) I was able to see these two huge, verdant peaks in the distance, not smooth like the mountains we're used to seeing, but furrowed in levels up their sides, as if they had been made in uneven layers. Many houses were nestled right up near the bottom of them. A massive, dark cloud hung between the two peaks and stretched out over them, with the sun hidden behind it and sometimes poking through. It was a beautiful scene.

The birds here are incredible! They woke me up at 6:00 this morning (I went to bed at 10:30, which was actually 1:30 in the morning for me, as Hawaii is 3 hours behind Bellingham time). I keep hearing bird calls I've never heard before - I wish I'd remembered to bring my minidisc recorder. I just saw two small sparrow-like birds hopping about in our kitchen (which is located outside), but the birds had brownish wings, pure white breasts, and startlingly red heads, red-cowled cardinals. Yesterday I saw a bird that reminded me of a starling in size, shape and song, but when it flew off had brilliant white patches on the tops of its wings. I've since found out that it was a Myna.

Paul says that the area we're in is fairly desolate, dominated by rocky lava fields where not a lot of vegetation lives. But the Hawaiian islands possess multiple climate zones, little ecological niches that vary as you move up and down in altitude. You can go from a place that gets over 100 inches of rainfall a year to one that gets 4 inches a year, but they're less than an hour apart. I'll let you know what else I see.

Yesterday was a bit of a grind - it took about 12 hours to get here, including 5 hours of layovers. Upon stepping out of the plane I was struck by the heat and humidity. It was like being in the bathroom after someone has taken a long, hot shower. But this morning is cool, for now. The conference starts today. I'll let you know how that goes too.

Oh yeah, where we're staying turns out to not actually be a condo, but the basement of a house (Tom and Gidgit are the owners). They have several properties and rent them out to travelers. The basement is really like a separate house itself. Paul and I each have our own room and bathroom, and the kitchen is outside on a covered patio.

OK, I'm going to have some tea and get ready for the day.

I have been very remiss in posting to this blog for the last few months. Ever since graduating from the iSchool I have been scrambling to get a job as a librarian, so far without success. I've applied to the community college (didn't even get an interview - a returning employee got the job), and am currently in the application process at WWU. Money is getting tight as my fellowship money runs out, and pretty soon I'll have to start paying back those student loans. But I try not to think about it too much.

Paul and I have another article out this month in Searcher, "A Failure to Communicate: Politics, Scams, and Information Flow During Hurricane Katrina". It made the cover and can be read online here.

I'm leaving for Hawaii tomorrow to present with Paul at the LOEX of the West conference "Information Literacy for a Lifetime". Our presentation is called "Letting the Grass Grow: Grassroots Information Blogs and Wikis". I'm excited and nervous about it, but not looking forward to the long plane ride and missing my family.

What else? I rode my bike in the Ski to Sea with Jittery Dog VII - a tough ride with lots of major muscle cramping, but I was able to average 20mph over the 36 miles, and I didn't throw up this year!

H's KAP performances went well, though she didn't make as much $$ as she wanted to - but her business is still fairly new.

The kids are all growing and changing every day, and I really love hanging out with them. They're great people.

OK, maybe I can manage to post here more often...

Well, that's it. As of Sunday, March 12th (the last day of the quarter), I am done with grad school! I turned in my last paper and took my last quiz that day. Then H took me out to dinner, Mambo Italiano in Fairhaven. We also had a celebratory breakfast with the kids at the Uptown on Tuesday. H has set up a graduation party this Saturday - chess and music and beer and friends - that I'm really looking forward to. And her and the kids have been giving me graduation gifts. So far, a UW shot glass and a UW Alumni coffee mug. They've been very thoughtful and supportive, just as they have been for the last 2 1/2 years.

It's still sinking in. I have my MLIS. Now I want to apply it in some way - I've applied for a Systems/Instructional Librarian position at Whatcom Community College, there are two positions at Bellingham Public Library I should apply for, and one with the Whatcom Library System I need to look at. But I'm really waiting for (and keeping my fingers crossed for) the new Systems/Cataloging Librarian position at WWU which should be coming soon. Someday. I just need to be patient and wait for it.

But man, do I ever want that job! It's a position I could stay in for the rest of my career, and I enjoy working at WWU's library. And we could stay in Bellingham! Sigh. It's hard not to get my hopes up too far...

Quick post here, I'll come back to write in a bit more detail about:

My portfolio passed!
I'm finishing my last week of grad school!
Three librarian positions are opening in Bellingham, one at WWU!
I've finished the Katrina article for Searcher. Now it's a wait to hear from the editor.
I have to update my resume and write a cover letter for the jobs mentioned above.
And so on.

I am so tired! But I keep staying up late, doing one thing or another (usually school related), and not getting enough sleep. I think that after graduation I just want to take a week off and not do anything. Except sleep.

The second reader has asked for some minor revisions on my portfolio (a matter of a few paragraphs here and there, as he put it). Turns out it's Trent Hill, one of my former teachers in LIS560 - he's a great teacher and I'm glad to know that it's him I'm dealing with. But still, I'm kinda bummed even to do a few more paragraphs. It's just one more thing I have to add to my list of things to do.

Oh well, it's almost over.

The Mt. Baker Theater couldn't pay H enough to help them with one of their workshops (she did a barter with them last year), so now she has next week "off" from having to do that. And not enough people registered for the parenting class she was scheduled to teach at the Bellingham Technical College, so that's off too. But she did "pass" her audition at The Up Front and is now considered a regular member of the pool of improv actors there. Which is pretty cool.

The kids are excited about a friend's birthday party this weekend.

First reader passed!

Stuart signed off on my portfolio (the Producer presentation is currently freezing on IE for some reason, so I need to fix that) so now it's off to the second reader. More waiting, but I'm stoked that it's through the first hurdle.

I'm at my second day of residency and everything's going smoothly. Hung out with Jim and Dan K. last night, which was a lot of fun.

Welp, I submitted my portfolio today! Now I just have to wait for it to pass both readers...

I'm glad it's out of the way, but now I get to experience the stress of waiting to see if there are any problems with it...

H has laryngitis and can barely speak right now. It's kinda sad, but strangely quiet. Though the kids are making up for it.

Discovered a new leak in the basement tonight, no thanks to all the rain that's been coming down lately.

Classes have started - I'm taking 536 Indexing and Abstracting, as well as 544 Information Retrieval Systems. Both classes are off to relatively slow starts, with the residency happening in the second week of the quarter for the first time this year.

Working slowly on my portfolio - I need to turn it in to Stuart by mid-week next week at the latest (my own deadline). It needs to be approved by him by Jan 23....Hopefully it will all go smoothly. I'm trying not to stress about it too much, but I can feel the stress level rising anyway (evidenced by over-reacting with the kids tonight at bed time).

I really can't wait until the portfolio is out of the way...

Still need to get working on the Katrina article too. Paul and my conference presentation proposal was accepted - we're going to Hawaii this June! Now I've got to try to get some funding for the trip.

We moved all the kids into one room and all the musical instruments into S's vacated room. Seems to be working out OK, though not all of the kinks have been ironed out yet.

Raining hard tonight.

I'm a little frustrated that I haven't heard back from my advisor about my portfolio components yet, but I've been so busy with end-of-the-quarter papers for both 521 and 531 (one was due yesterday and one on the 1st), that I haven't really had much time to think about it. Or write on this blog.

But now that I do think about it I realize just how frustrated I'm getting - or maybe it's impatient. I don't know for sure, but I'd like to have some final word from him before Winter break. Besides working on the Katrina article I want to get all my portfolio pages finalized before the start of Winter quarter. Which I'll do regardless of whether I hear back from him or not.

Just saw Jarhead tonight - had to get a night out - good flick, reasonably well adapted from the book, well acted. I appreciate the cynical realism about war and being a soldier too.

Saw Henry Rollins last Sunday at The Nightlight - good show. It was great to finally see him do his spoken word stuff. Really gave it to the Bush mis-administration too. Pretty much a punk crowd - sold out seats - to see him.

Just sent my Portfolio components off to my advisor! I know it's a minor thing, but it's a weight off my shoulders to finally have the process moving forward. Plus it felt good to get it written up. As long as he approves of everything it shouldn't be too difficult to finish it...

Went to the Washington Association of Library Employees (WALE) conference in Lk. Chelan last week - saw Julia from SPL, got my own hotel room, went to some interesting presentations and tried to keep up on my schoolwork.

It's midquarter now and I'm tired. I'm also starting to stress out about my portfolio - I need to get it whipped into shape ASAP. And I need to apply to the NC fellowship ASAP. Sigh.

What I really need is more time. And more sleep.

Apple Fest yesterday - had a fun time, lots of chess/music/beer and conversation with friends.

And H suprised me with a 10 yr anniversary present: she got Feed & Seed to play in our basement!

Today we spent recovering/cleaning after Apple Fest - went to breakfast at the Old Town and saw Wallace & Grommit and the Wererabbit with the kids.

Missed seeing E as he was up for a conference in Redmond from L.A., but just couldn't figure out a way to get down to Lynwood to see him today. We didn't even do any grocery shopping this weekend...

School work is going steadily along - grades are 4.0 so far. I think I will apply for that N.C. fellowship afterall.

Saw Mark Ribot tonight at the Nightlight - great, inspiring show. Wot a guitar player - brought me close to tears...

Saw it with Paul after playing chess with Isaac (1-1).

Asked Paul to sell me my Ovation back, which I miss for sentimental reasons.

Another late night - went to see a Thelonious Monk tribute show - jazz quartet. Pretty good, especially the sax player.

And now to my school work.

Took the kids to see H doing improv tonight. It was fun, but makes for a very late start for my schoolwork....in fact, I only have 15 minutes of "official" school work time left for tonight!

But the kids and I enjoyed ourselves, and H was having fun on stage. And it was nice to just hang out with the fam.

I'm in the thick of it now. School work is eating up my sleeping and recreating time, but I'm getting a pretty good handle on the subjects this quarter (reference services and cataloging).

We've set up a workable schedule with the kids - after 9pm I'm no longer available. Then it's school time (from 9-11). The only other time I have for schoolwork is my lunch hour. No more chess...

What else do I have going on?

I've got to finish up a report for the usability group I'm involved in at work.
I'm working on another article with Paul - this one about information use and breakdowns during Hurricane Katrina.
Paul and I have submitted a proposal for the LOEX conference next year in Hawaii.
I'm going to the WALE conference in a couple of weeks.
Apple fest is in two weeks.
I've got to figure out how to help Windward High School with their library and maybe do an Information Literacy workshop for them.
I'm considering applying for a fellowship with UNC.
I'm still thinking about a Fulbright fellowship.
H and I are looking at Vancouver, BC much more seriously now as a place to live.

Speaking of which, we just celebrated our 10th anniversary up there over a three day weekend, which was a lot of fun. Saw a premier at VIFF, ate some great food, and slept in a lot.

Well, I guess that's enough for now. I've made this blog my home page to encourage myself to post to it more often. Hope it works!

That's it?! Summer's over?!?

Oh well, it's been a fun one. I've been happily slacking off (as is apparent by my lack of posts), but school starts up again in a few weeks (thankfully I only have two more quarters left!), and I've got several projects to finish....

Not the least of which is a Newsbreak article my editor called me about writing this morning on how the blogosphere is reacting to hurricane Katrina....which is due this Friday - so I've been working on that and should have it done on time.

I'll try to post some more stuff here soon.

The quarter is almost over now - just three more rather large projects to go, all due on June 5th (!) and then I'll be done for the summer....

Can't wait to catch up on my sleep.

Racing in the road bike leg of Ski to Sea on Sunday. Really looking forward to it, though I know it's going to be a crazy scene.

H is hard at work almost every night on the scripts for her kid's plays.

M&N&S continue to do their thing - playing, reading, fighting, eating, learning, growing, running, falling - being kids.

About half way through Spring quarter.... Feeling tired every day and looking forward to Summer break, and then only one more year to go!

It's been hot and sunny all week and I've been outside every lunch hour. It's felt real good. And the bike rides have been nice, though I did have one foggy morning ride and one super windy ride home.

H has been working on the garden a lot, doing some new stuff in the front yard. Her improv classes are going well too.

The kids are all in various stages of colds right now. I've been playing a lot of Pokemon battles with them. It's fascinating to relate to them on the level of game-play, especially their games.

Guess that's all for now.

The quarter is off to a roaring start! Got test pages up on the web server for 543 and will start doing PHP scripts soon. 560 is moving into Information Literacy, and I have a paper due on Sunday about the ARCS motivational model.

H is working on a barter deal with the Mt. Baker Theatre where she would help manage one of their summer programs in exchange for the use of their space for Kids At Play performances. It's a great deal and hopefully will go through.

I'm on the transfer list for a reference position that's opening up at WWU - it would be a step in the right direction career-wise and I've been encouraged by Paul to go for it. He hasn't steered me wrong yet so I am.

Allen and I continue collaborating on our Crime Doctor story over at the Mandala Press blog. It's a lot of fun. My chapter is due this Friday.

The kids have had a couple of rough days but seem to be on the mend, though we continue to be plagued with negative sibling interactions. On the other hand they are super enthusiastic about learning, and are especially jazzed about doing their learning in a more structured way, i.e. with "textbooks" and other educational materials. I think they like having the process/product dynamic right in front of them, and surely feel a great sense of accomplishment and self-worth when they can see their learning result in tangible products.

Bought Popcorn DVD writing software, and with MacTheRipper was able to make a copy of Playtime. Much easier than having to remake the whole movie. We also bought a Porsche-designed Lacie 250gb hard-drive with which we've backed everything up on our two computers. *And* I bought myself a 60gb iPod Photo. It's sweet. I've been listening to a lot of music. I've got about 20gbs of music on it so far...

What else? Went up to Vancouver last Friday with Andrew, Dave, Ken and Dean to play darts. We took the train up and back. It was a hoot, though I drank a few pints too many. Speaking of which I finally bottled my super hoppy IPA. It went from an OG of 1.050 to a FG of 1.010, making it around 5% alcohol. It tasted great too. Can't wait to try a bottle in a couple of weeks. I'm down to my last few bottles of stout. Will have to brew something soon, and get started on that Lambic....

Just finished my residency for Spring '05. Should be a good quarter - 560 looks interesting and 543 will be a good challenge. I have schoolwork to do already, though I don't feel like starting in on it quite yet...

Celebrated Jim L's 40th yesterday and AnD's house, which was combined with a Hotluck they were hosting and was a total surprise for Jim. Had fun with the kids there and played lots of guitar with Brian and Shannon. Got home late, though, and I'm still pretty tired.

Set up my new 250gb hard drive today and am currently backing up my music collection on it.

Spring Break!! Yay!

It's been nice going to bed early, not having to do any school work. But it all starts up again next week...

Got good grades, all A's, last quarter. Good classes, and I'm looking forward to my next ones.

The play H is in won the regional competition - now they're going to Nationals in Kalamazoo, MI, in June!

The kids are visiting their Grandparents and cousins down in Oregon, so H and I have a few days to just be with one another. Its been nice, going out to movies and dinner, just being together.

But I'm missing the kids too and look forward to seeing them this Friday.

Brewed an IPA over the weekend - it's bubbling away in the stairwell as I write. Hope it turns out good. It should be nice and hoppy.

"Sons of A Common Mother", the play H is in and that was in competition, won!! That's a state-level competition. Now she's on her way to Oregon in two weeks to compete in the regionals (six states). Since the competition is close to H's parents it looks like she's going to combine a visit down there with the kids.

She's pretty excited.

Today is our 11th dateversary. We used to give each other white chocolate-chip macadamia nut cookies on this day (that was a cookie we shared together on our first date), but since H doesn't eat sugar anymore we haven't done that in a few years. This year I bought H an iPod Shuffle, along with Tori Amos' and Kings of Leon's new albums. I loaded those and some other albums from her iTunes onto the Shuffle and then put it into a container of macadamia nuts.

She didn't even see it at first. I had to get her to pour the nuts into a bowl. She really likes it though. It's a cool mp3 player, very small and light.

It was a good surprise.

Now back to the 580 case study paper - it's due tomorrow by midnight.
The 542 Database Design project due date has been pushed back a week, which allows me to focus on the 580 paper.

I'm really looking forward to Spring break.

Big push this week to get a project done for each of my classes, one due Saturday, one due Monday. After that I'll be pretty much done for the quarter as far as the really heavy stuff goes.

Work on those two projects is going slow but steady - I'm pacing myself...

Next quarter I'll be taking my last required class, 560 "Instructional and Training Strategies for Information Professionals", as well as the next database class, 543 "Design of Information Systems".

H is going down to Tacoma this Saturday to compete with her cast in the play festival - she's going to take N with her to give them some one-on-one time. I get to hang out with M and S, which should be fun. We're going to the first annual "Food Not Lawns" work-party at the co-op.

Had a terrible "shopping" experience last night at Best Buy. What a crappy place. I'm never going there again if I can help it.

It's been a busy weekend! Yesterday H went to an improv workshop taught by Keith Johnstone, an improv guru. Though the politics involved with getting into the class have been tiring, the class itself seems to have been worth it. She also went today and will go again tomorrow.

Meanwhile, I went to Seattle last night to see Steve Earle at the Showbox. I hooked up with Allen in Ballard, where we had a pint before heading downtown to the show. Though we got there about thirty minutes late it was well worth it. Steve's such a performer, a great singer and songwriter, and has some great things to say about current politics. He's a real activist/advocate. He did three encores for the sold-out show.

I've got two deadlines hanging over me right now, both due on Tuesday. One is this tsunami blogs article (which I'm almost done with), and the other is a three page paper for LIS580 (which I haven't started yet but I'm not too stressed about).

Writing this little bit is taking me away from those, so I'm going to cut this short and get back to work.

P.S. Got to play frisbee and basketball with the kids today - had a fun time with them. I wish I could be home more often to play with them like that....

P.P.S. We finally bought a digital camera (nothing too fancy, 3.2 mpixels, compact design, kodak brand). So, pictures should be appearing here sometime, as well as at my other blogs ::))

I'm very tired tonight.

H has been co-teaching the positive discipline class for the last few weeks and it seems to be going well for her. She also finished up "Plummet" (which she was great in) and is in rehearsal for "Sons of a Common Mother", which is a role she did last year and which will be in competition this year at the Tacoma Little Theater as part of the Washington State Community Theatre Festival.

All three kids are having fun with acting/dance classes and Pokemon collecting.

School work continues to be challenging, both the management and the database design class, but for very different reasons. The management class has a lot to, well, manage, with many different group projects and papers to write. The DB class is just hard to wrap one's head around, but I think I'm getting it (mostly).

Tomorrow the kids and H get to go see Cirque Eloize at the Mt. Baker Theater. It should be a great show and I wish I could join them for it.

The article I co-wrote with Paul is up at Searcher's website, "The Blogs of War". It's cool to see it published this way. It's also coming out as a hard copy, and it's the cover article to boot!

I don't feel like I've been working enough on the Tsunami blogs article we're working on now, but I'm also finding it hard to find the time - schoolwork is really taking it all up.....

And I still have to finish reading Under the Banner of Heaven before the Book of the Quarter. Sigh.

I should also mention that I visited Windward High School last Friday to talk to the students about what I want to do for their library and to meet my student intern. The response was great! Everyone clapped and cheered when it was announced that I would be helping them get their library off the ground. It'll be a long, slow process, but my goal is to have it done by the beginning of the next school year. I have to write it all up for my portfolio too....

On one last note, here's a link to an old friend's website that's all about the Rugby House days.

H started co-teaching a Positive Discipline Parenting class tonight at the Bellingham Technical College. Though she's not getting paid for it it's a good experience and may lead to a paid teaching position later this year. When she got home we both agreed how lucky we are to already practice PD with our kids and how much of a difference it makes for all of us.

Had a mellow, pleasant evening with the kids. N read a whole graphic novel on his own tonight! He really got into Courtney Crumrin and the Night Things by Ted Naifeh. I'd read this before and knew it was engaging, with great art. H got it from the library today because it looked good and it was recommended for 7yr olds and up. It was really cool to see N so enthralled with the book, he just got very focused and read it all "in his head" - I don't think he "got" it all conceptually but it's still a big leap. I'm going to read it to him and M & S tomorrow to reinforce his conceptions and to help explain things. We're going to look for more graphic novels for both N&M to read, and inevitably S will want to too. I think we'll start with Jeff Smith's Bone books. Should also mention that M read Monkey vs. Robot by James Kochalka, another cool graphic novel. It was fun to listen to him read the words out loud: "Boooom!" "Crash!"

I'm keeping on top of my schoolwork but it still feels like I'm juggling a lot of slippery balls. And I need to work on the Tsunami blog article more this week too! And the 580 paper that's due Monday! And continue to wrap my head around the database concepts for 542!!

I'm listening to Wilco's Bonus Tracks EP that I downloaded for free from their site. It's great, with six songs new and old and reworked. Man, they're an awesome band. Sometime I'll have to write the story of H and my trip to Vancouver to see Wilco live and following Tweedy around for awhile on the street and my one-of-a-kind souvenir.

I'm failing miserably at my new goal to stop doing schoolwork by 11pm so that I can get a few more minutes of sleep every night (it's 11:31 as I type this). I've got to work harder at that, because the one night this week I did manage to stop by 11 I felt more rested the next day.

But tomorrow's Saturday and I don't have to get up early and better yet it's a three day weekend!!

H's play opened on Thursday to a packed house. There was a good review in the paper of it that day (from the preview show) and H felt pretty good about her performance. Tonight's show went well too.

The kids have had a couple of hard days, especially N - just lots of fighting, squabbling and bickering. Something's out of balance...

I'm going to be bottling my stout this weekend - it's been in the carboy for a week for the secondary fermentation - it looks dark and tasty. Can't wait to try it in a few weeks.

B is coming up on his way to Vancouver, BC this weekend. We should be able to get together and jam on Sunday - I'm looking forward to it. Played a new song for the kids tonight about Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox and the Tar Baby. They liked it.

I've been working hard this week on my classes, but I've also been really productive too, which feels good. Tomorrow I've got to get more writing done on the tsunami blogs article P and I are working on. And do more school work, of course.

Oh man, I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted anything.......

Let's see. H's play (Plummet) opens tomorrow night. The preview show last night went well - it should be a good show. Now I just have to figure out a way to go see it.

And speaking of shows I bought tickets to see Steve Earle in Seattle in February with H. That'll be a great time. Plus I've got a ticket to see David Grisman and Ricky Skaggs here in Bellingham.

The Iraq blog article I wrote with PP is coming out in February. It's going to be the cover article too. I'm very stoked about that. Just signed and mailed off my contract to the magazine today, which was cool too. Now we're working on another article, this one about the tsunami blogs that have been started. I've got to finish writing the intro to that tonight.

The kids really enjoyed the snow we got here last week - I think there was 4-5 inches. The only downside for me is that I can't ride my bike for a while. I'm really missing my rides.

The residency in Seattle went well. It was nice to see some of my cohort, especially at a dinner that most of us went to on Friday night. The two classes I'm taking right now (Database Design and Management of Information Organizations) are keeping me very busy, especially the database class. I'm very tired and feel, as usual, like I'm juggling eighteen things at once.

The kids are all doing well. We haven't been able to do any nights out since H has been in rehearsals and now performances, but probably next week we'll be able to do that again. We had a family meeting last Sunday after not having any for about three weeks. It really makes a big difference for all of us! It's quite extraordinary.

H may begin teaching her parenting class next week if Bellingham Technical College gets enough enrollments. I hope that works out for her too.

That's pretty much it for now I think. Work, school, family life, and some personal stuff squeezed in here and there.

Oh yeah, speaking of personal stuff, I got two new guitars (stumbled onto a sale at Mojo Music and with H's enthusiastic support bought two dream guitars). A Martin SWOMGT and a Fender '52 reissue Telecaster. They're both beautiful, superbly playable and make me very happy.

Christmas in Oregon was nice, very relaxing, though more stressful for H than for me since it was her family we were with and she naturally sees more of the dynamics there that I don't....

The kids had a lot of fun hanging out with their cousins. The drive back was pretty mellow though tiring. It felt good to get home.

We discovered that Sam had been bitten by one of the other cats while we were away and the wound had abscessed - so another trip to the vet! More money spent! Sam's turning into an expensive cat.

The winter break has been great - two more weeks left until my quarter starts up again and then it'll be back to the grindstone. I got great grades last quarter - my first 4.0 for a whole quarter. I think this quarter will be tougher though, what with the database design class. Will have to see.

H's rehearsals are going well though she hasn't got all her lines memorized yet. She keeps raving about her cast-mates and director. Her play opens in a couple of weeks.

More music playing this Friday night at Andrew and Debbie's New Year's party - really looking forward to that. Have to get the new guitar and mandolin strings on.

The dvd that H and I made turned out really well and everyone we've given it to has enjoyed it. I need to make a few more copies and am slowly rebuilding it after I unthinkingly deleted the whole file! Man was I pissed/depressed about that for a few days.

N, M and S are really into Pokemon right now - they all got binders with card holder thingamajobs for xmas. Today was my last day of vacation....

Oy, it's been too long since I've posted! Leaving tomorrow for H's parents place for the Christmas break. Will try to write more from down in Oregon.

Enjoying the break from school...

Thanksgiving holiday is over! We did the turkey, stuffing, gravy, cranberries, rolls, yams thing - actually, H did almost all the work, I was out sick that day - I think I slept for about 12 hours....

H used the neighbor's oven (two doors down) to get everything done! The neighbors were visiting friends for Thanksgiving, so they gave H a key to use the oven. It worked out well - I think she did the turkey over there and baked everything else here. Her mom and dad (P&G), as well as one of the kid's cousins, A, were here too. We had a full house and a nice visit.

Yesterday they all went to the wave pool in Surrey, B.C. I didn't go because there wasn't enough room in P & G's van (it seats 7) and I didn't think it was worth driving a second car just so that I could go too. And I am still recovering from this cold. Still have the annoying cough. But I wish I could have gone. S, N and M all went down the slides for the first time, and I would have liked to have seen them do that....

On Wednesday I came from work and jumped right in to helping G put up some plastic over the front of our garage. It had been pouring rain for the last three days and on Wednesday our garage flooded! H called me earlier that day while I was at work to let me know - by the time I got home there was about 2 inches of water in places on the floor. Thankfully the floor isn't completely flat and the water had pooled up in a few places. Otherwise it would have gone into the basement.

Anyway, there I was in the rain, getting drenched (not so good for my cold), nailing up plastic over the garage door and trying to figure out where the water was coming from. G pointed out that the gutter above the garage had pulled free and all the water from the roof was just pouring straight down the side of the house and then under the garage door. I'm glad he was there to help. The next day I was up on a ladder nailing the gutter back in. Hopefully it will work during the next big rain. Oh yeah, it rained so much that we even got a little flooding in the basement. The water came seeping up from under the floor in places. What fun!

Fall quarter is almost over - just a couple more weeks really. Pretty much done with all major work for 510, one more paper due next Sunday for 568 (which I should start tomorrow). I have to get this Iraq blog article I'm co-writing with Paul done by Monday too.

The kids are doing well, they've enjoyed A's visit. The grandparents and cousin go home tomorrow, then it's time to start getting ready for Christmas.....which I actually enjoy. Also time to start thinking about telemark skiing. I've got to go this year and see if my knee can take it!

Met with the principal (Jill Iwasaki) and community coordinator (April Busch) for Windward High School last night at Stuart's Coffee House to talk about volunteering to help them with their library. The meeting went very well. We are all enthusiastic about making this work. I'll be helping them organize their library (which at this point consists of donated books on shelves), using cataloging software (which I need to research and evaluate) and student help (I'll have interns working for me!)

We also discussed collection development and information literacy workshops for students and staff, as well as research workshops for the students. This will be a long-term relationship that will fit in nicely with my portfolio requirements at the iSchool. Jill said I'll be the "Librarian Mentor".

They were also excited to have someone "young and cool" and thought it would be great to have a librarian male role model.

I joked that the last time I met with a principal was when I was getting suspended from high school for a week....

I'm getting towards the end of Fall quarter. Grupo Cinco just finished our project and submitted it last night. Just a couple more papers to go in both classes and then a break!

M really liked his pottery class and made some beautiful pieces. Now he's decided to join N in his dance class, so now all three kids are dancing again.

H's kid acting classes continue to grow- two new students starting this week. The bartering seems to be working out pretty well too. She had a great experience taking improv classes in Canada, has finally dropped Sheila Goldsmith's improv class here in Bellingham (along with a lot of other students), and will be starting an informal improv get-together/learning time with them. She also just got cast in one of the leading roles for a play at the iDiOM Theater here in Bellingham, written and directed locally.

Halloween went well - the kids had a lot of fun at their party, and then got to hand out candy to trick-or-treaters at our house (a first for them - I think they may have had just as much or even more fun handing out candy then they did being at the party or trick-or-treating themselves). This was the first year that we didn't go trick or treating, mostly because we had the party to go to instead.

In the past we've bought the candy off the kids at the end of the night so that they wouldn't get sick from eating it all, and now that we are off sugar (as a family), there's really no reason to go trick-or-treating for them, except that they still may find it fun to do and probably would want the money anyway. Their aunt Jessica came up today with their cousin Caleb, aka Ace - he's walking/running a lot now (18 mo old) and is a pretty even-tempered, happy boy. Jessica gave the kids each a bag of candy, so that's what they gave out to trick-or-treaters tonight.

N was a werewolf - H made a great costume for him, with the fur coming out of rips in his clothes and the ears coming out of the top of his baseball cap. We glued fur to his face and used stage makeup and he had claws on his feet and hands.

M was going to be a cyborg, but after a trial run at a library Halloween event he discovered that all the metal was too uncomfortable, so today he changed to Aragorn - with his long hair he looked pretty sharp with a green cloak and leg and arm wrappings. I put "stubble" on his chin and cheeks with makeup - looked good.

S was vampirella, with a black and white-striped wig, red dress, and white face makeup with dark circles under her eyes and grey, hollow cheeks. She looked pretty cute.

H had her second full weekend of improv classes up in Vancouver - last weekend she had a minor fender-bender which busted one of our headlights. She said when she was exchanging insurance info the other party and witness were dumbfounded when she asked what the insurance company was. Turns out that in Canada everyone has the same vehicle insurance company! Anyway, her classes are going well and there were no accidents today.

School is keeping me really busy, I have several due dates creeping up on me and still feel like I'm treading water in very large waves.

Saw "Saw" last night - interesting movie premise-wise, but suffered from overacting by Elwis and a bad montage, too many flashbacks and boggy third act: C-

Oh the time goes by, yes it does.

Shaun of the Dead was a great movie!

Did a report back last Tuesday about my experience being in NY at the RNC and working for Radical Reference. I was pretty nervous before-hand, but it was done in a seminar style, all of us sitting around a circle, so even though the focus was on me for the 10 minutes or so that I talked, it wasn't overwhelming. I imagined I'd be standing up in front of a lectern or something. There were about 30 people in the crowd, all dressed like Evergreeners. I actually felt pretty comfortable with them. The response was terrific, people were very enthusiastic about activist librarians. I could almost see a paradigm shift occuring as people began to imagine librarians as a source for protest and social justice information and support.

M starts his pottery class tomorrow. He's pretty excited about it. N and S continue in their dance class. H is going to be gone for the next three consecutive weekends, pretty much all day, for an improv class up in Vancouver, BC. It should be a pretty intense and rewarding experience for her. The only hard part for me will be this upcoming Saturday, when we have our third annual Apple Fest happening. Hopefully I'll be able to be papa/host/participant in all the events until H gets back.

School is going OK - I feel like I'm constantly behind on my readings, just barely keeping up with them, but I'm "getting" the content pretty well. I've received high grades on all my assignments and exercises so far. Got my first 3.9 in LIS510. But the pace is fast and it would be easy to fall behind if I'm not careful.

Um, what else? I feel like I'm going through my financial aid money pretty fast, but also feel like I'm spending the money on things that are worth it (like H's improv class, fixing M's bike, buying H a watch that she needed, etc).

I've been sick the last few days, and now the rainy, windy, dark and cold rides are upon me. Time to get on the cold weather gear and suck it up.

H and the kids are down in Oregon for the weekend, at Honeyman State Park on the coast, with the big sand dunes and the yurts. This is the first year I've not gone with them, and it's because the trip was planned for later in Sept instead of earlier, and since Fall quarter has started up I couldn't take the time off from my studies.

We could have gone down for a quick two day stay but that's a lot of driving for that short of time - not worth it to me. So H and the kids went down yesterday (Thu) and are coming back Monday. But what's cool is that Heather Dillon and her daughters Erin and Brenna went down with H & co. So they got to split the driving and the kids have playmates for the drive down and they'll get to share the experience of the dunes and meet their cousins and H will have a friend with her.

Jon and Chad and I are going up to Langley, BC to the Colossus theater tomorrow. It's a huge theater with Imax screens, great sound, great seats, and it looks like a giant UFO has landed on it from the outside. Inside it has a bar upstairs.

We're going to see Shaun of the Dead, which is in Seattle, but not B'ham.

Well, classes are going well. Turned in my first exercise for 568 today. On Sunday I'll be starting the write up for my group's first assignment, worth 25% of our grade! That's for 510. Keeping up with the lectures and readings so far, and more importantly I'm understanding what we're learning.

Got to see the flyer of the RNC report back I'm going to be doing. Pretty cool. Funny that I'm listed as a librarian. I'm both nervous and looking forward to it. I just want to make sure I do a good job - I need to write up what I want to talk about, and write an article about NY and Rad Ref for the ISchool's Silverfish.

And Paul asked me to co-write an article with him about soldier's blogs and other blogs coming out of Iraq! I was excited and flattered to be asked. I think it will be fun to write with him and cool to get published.

Fall Quarter 2004 has begun! I'm in LIS510 (Information Behavior) and LIS568 (Information Literacy for Teaching and Learning). These are both fairly challenging classes with a couple group projects (in 510) and a ton of reading (in 568). Had a good residency in Seattle and had fun hanging out with Jim, drinking good Belgian beers and watching Anime.

Now I've got to get back into the school schedule - used my lunch hour to read today and should be doing more reading right now (instead of working on this blog). I also have to get cracking on the first assignment (conducting some interviews) which is due next Wednesday.

Been feeling very tired lately, hard to be "happy" with the family. Bummed about that. It'll probably pass, though.

Helped Chad, Thom and Jon put up the Dissent is Patriotic display at the library today. The background is my big 48 star US flag, upside down. A t-shirt I bought at the NY protests is in there too. They have lots of quotes and pictures from various dissent actions in US history in the display. Looks good and it's very timely.

Went to Village Books last night and listened to Krist Novoselic read from his new book Of Grunge & Government: Let's Fix this Broken Democracy! It was a SRO crowd - I've never been to a reading there that was so packed. Krist had some good things to say about democracy and the political process. It was also cool to see so many young people there, way below voting age, high school and junior high, very enthusiastic. Funny to think that Krist is still a rock n roll celebrity. Some good questions from the crowd about many different aspects of the political process: Instant Run-Off Voting, Marijuana Legalization, youth mobilization, etc.

He is really tall, was wearing a suit, and is balding on top, with just some wisps of hair covering up the bald part. I noted that the cover of his book cuts off the top of his head so that you can't see that he's balding....

I tried to talk with him a little about Radical Reference and how librarians can be part of the fix, but it was pretty loud at the signing, there were a lot of people in line behind me, and he seemed pretty distracted by it all. He also appeared sort of bemused by the young, junior high age hanger-ons. He kept glancing at them with a nervous sort of half smile, his face very pale and sweaty.

I'm hoping I can get hold of him somehow (email/phone/letter) to talk more about RadRef - it would be great to get him to promote our group and librarianship in general as a force for reform and democratization.

Got a call and email from someone named Andrew Hedden who is the coordinator of the Peace Resource Center here at WWU. Jeff Purdue gave him my name for an event the PRC is putting on that will have people talking about their experiences at the RNC protests in NY. I told him I'd be willing to do it - this will help me fulfill my goal of doing a presentation of some kind. It should be interesting to talk about the RadRef experience.

Still haven't blogged my written journal of the RNC events - got to do that soon!

Have been back from NY since Friday 9/2/04. It was great to see the family again, and weird to come back to work. Realized I had to tell a lot of people about the trip, and have to think about what kind of "presentation/talk" I want to do about it.

Wrote a lot in my journal while on the road - will try to add those to this blog in the near future.

Only two weeks till Fall quarter starts again. On that note, got in to LIS568 today after being told it was full up when I tried to register for it several weeks ago. Now I have to get my financial aid and tuition billing all adjusted....

Said goodbye to H and the kids this morning - they're heading to Oregon to stay with the grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins while I'm in NY. I'm bummed I'll miss S's birthday on Saturday, but it was fun to give her the bike yesterday. She was really excited about it and loves the basket and handlebar tassels. Can hardly believe she's turning 5!

They have some fun stuff planned - staying at the coast, going to Otter Beach (a water slide park) - and they just love going down there anyway, but we all miss each other very much when separated. I think we all said goodbye to one another about thirty times this morning....

Off to NY tomorrow - Jon is driving me down to the airport as part of his contribution - we're leaving around 3am to get down there in time for my 6:30 flight. Feeling excited and nervous and some other things I'm not quite sure of....

Hopefully I'll find time to blog while in NY doing all the other stuff I'll be doing: working with Radical Reference, volunteering at the Indymedia Center, participating in the big UFPJ march on the 29th, doing another march to represent the unemployed - a long line of marchers all waving pink slips - on 9/1, and probably lots more besides once I get there.

I'll be so busy that I'm sure the time will pass pretty quickly.

One thing that all the kids were involved in this Summer was a production of Peter Pan put on by Western Washington University - part of their Summer Stock series. M&N were originally cast to be in it (M as a lost boy, N alternating as a lost boy and as Michael), but they lost one of the lost boys and the director (Jim Lortz) happened to see S and asked if she'd be interested in being a lost boy (many of the lost boys were girls) and so all three of them were in.

The first two weeks were all rehearsals, and heavy ones, something like 5-6 hrs a day. Since the rehearsals were here on campus I was able to join them for lunch breaks, though they didn't really want to hang out with me much after the first day, when they'd had times to make new friends.

After the rehearsals they did two shows a week for about a month and a half (July 8th - Aug 18th), all outdoor shows, all over Whatcom County. They were very popular, with mainly large audiences. Except for a couple of times when S was tired before a show all three of the kids were very positive and happy - they knew their lines (for the most part) and enjoyed being on stage.

This was their summer camp this year. Jim (the director) said they'd never had crowds this large for their plays and will probably do more family shows in the future.

And tomorrow they are going to be acting in a production of their own, a play created by the kids in it and co-written by H and myself (and directed/produced by H). This is part of H's Kids At Play scheme. All the kids are really excited about it, though it has been a bit stressful for H and myself.

Three more days till I leave for NY. I just signed up to be part of a line of people who will be representing the unemployed in America. Sometimes I get a little nervous when I start thinking about this trip, but mostly I'm excited about it.

It's been too long since I've posted. A busy and stressful Spring quarter at the iSchool followed by the bliss and relaxation of summer break.

It's been weird getting back into the flow of non-school life, reconnecting with my wife and kids. I've been spending most of my free time reading comics and watching movies, as well as some camping (Baker River trail with the family - our first family walk-in, carry-it-all-on-your-back camping trip), climbing (Mt St Helens with some old friends), and guitar playing.

Still have a month and a half left!

Going to New York to be part of the protests against the Republican National Convention Aug 28-Sep 4. It's going to be an amazing experience. I've got total support from H and from my friends and colleagues. In fact, many of them are helping finance my trip with donations (which I asked for). It's been nice to get such response from them.

I'm also starting to get nervous about this trip. Took me awhile to fall asleep the other night because all I could think about was what a great terrorist target the RNC would be, and of course the worse possible incident would involve a nuclear bomb or dirty bomb of some kind.

But I can't let my fear keep me from doing this - driving to the airport will probably be the most dangerous part of the trip. I plan on keeping a journal and taking lots of pictures while I'm there.

I'll be working with a group called Radical Reference (http://www.radicalreference.info/) doing street reference for protestors. I'm also going to check out the Counter Convention (http://www.counterconvention.org/) and do some volunteer work there.

H just got back from rehearsal and is excited - interesting conversation about Southern culture.

End of the quarter is days away - one more search exercise and submission of the final paper and I'll be done for two weeks! There's some preresidency readings to do, but it'll be nice to watch some movies and go to bed earlier.

The gatos are officially inside/outside now, and so far everything's been alright. They know where home is.

H just got another role, this one a major lead, as Margaret in "Cat On A Hot Tin Roof", being put on up in Blaine. She's very excited about it. Her rehearsal schedule will be five nights a week for 3 hrs for a month and a half.

M&N start rugby tomorrow. They liked it enough last week that they want to sign up for the 8 week class. I think they'll have a lot of fun with it. S really wants to play too, but has to wait until she's 5, even though last week when we were there for the mini-jamboree she played with the under-8's and did just fine with her catching and throwing and running. I told her that I'd be her coach until she's old enough.

Met a guy at Dylan's 5yr birthday party who lives here in Bellingham and has started a currency program - an alternative cash system. I'm going to look into that more; I've been interested in the idea for awhile.

My winning streak in chess is continuing. I've had wins and draws over the last dozen or so games, with only two losses. It feels good, especially since I haven't been able to play as much during the quarter.

Winter quarter is almost over. Just a couple more final papers and I'll be done for a few weeks - and then Spring quarter starts up. I'm really looking forward to the Summer.

And the cats keep on getting out. Now that the weather is a bit warmer and drier the kids have been going in and out of the house more often, giving the cats a lot of chances to get out. We have to figure out what to do, but it looks like they're going to end up being outside/inside cats by default. It's just too hard to monitor them as the door is opened and closed a lot, and that's only going to increase as Summer approaches.

It's been a long, long time since I've posted. Winter quarter is flying by. I'm not getting enough sleep. The kids are eating too much. H is hard at work on her thesis. I miss the sun, and the cats are driving me crazy.

That pretty much sums up how I feel right now....

And so, to bed.

Back in grad school! This is the first day of residency. It will be a busy quarter, with lots of research papers to do. H and the kids drove down to Oregon to hang out with the Grandparents. H bought a iBook today and is going to the OR coast tomorrow for a solo break and to start writing her thesis (and watching a DVD or two).

Residency today and tomorrow is from 8:30-6:30. A long day, but they fed us lunch! Shared my homebrew with classmates, who all liked it. Feels good to be back in school again.

It's been some time since I've posted. Grad school is over for this quarter and I have a break until the next residency in Seattle, in January. It's been really nice to have the time back in the evenings for personal stuff like reading and watching movies. I'm also looking forward to school starting again too.

M&N are enjoying their Aikido classes. H has been going with them and is having fun too. S and I have been hanging out more on Aikido nights which has been fun for me. She's a sweet girl.

This is the last week of school, then I'm off for two months! I'm looking forward to having more time to read and watch movies and try to get some personal projects done, but I realized today that I'm going to miss my daily interaction with the rest of the cohort too.

The kids finished off their Halloween candy today - we bought most of it off them, as we do each year, but they were still left with a pretty good haul, especially compared to the amount of that kind of stuff they usually get, which is close to nil. Seems to affect M pretty hard too, changing his behavior more than N or S.

I should add we had the cats neutered last week. They were a little loggy for a couple of days, but seem to be just as feisty and energetic now. They are taking up a bigger chunk of our budget then expected, what with food and litter and vet bills....

Whew! It's been busy.... Last two weeks of the quarter starting, finished the group project for the 550 class, now have to finish the web site for 541 due by 11pm next Sunday. Still have lots of reading to do in 550 for the last weeks too. And a journal entry. Trying not to stress about what kind of grades I might be getting.

M went to his first Aikido class on Thursday - he really liked it and is excited to keep going, and N, though not as interested at first, now wants to go to, so starting Tuesday he'll join M in class. They have Aikido twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. S is interested too, but she'll neet to wait a few years until she's old enough. M&N will probably teach her in the meantime.

Halloween coming up! The kids are excited. We (H) need to get their costumes done. I'm hoping I'll be able to lend a hand with that somehow. Daylight savings time ended today - it's always strange and a bit difficult with the kids when the time changes. Mealtimes and bedtimes can get a little screwy.

We had a great day today, due mostly to H's reorganizing our daily schedule. So today we had our family meeting after breakfast, then had a family fun activity (went to Cornwall Park and found the GeoCache there), then did our chores (which today meant shopping for two week's worth of groceries). After dinner we played a family game - Hullaballoo and Duck, Duck, Goose.

It's been awhile since I've written here. Had a pretty good trip to the Oregon coast - actually the best 7+ hour drive back with the kids ever.

Apple Fest this Saturday. Should be fun. Expecting a lot of people.

M,N&S continue to draw a lot. When I came home from work they were on the living room floor drawing up a storm, watching an instructional video on different drawing techniques.

Going down to Oregon tomorrow to rejoin H and the kids, then we're all heading to the coast to do some yurting at Honeyman State Park near the big sand dunes with H's family. Got 80% of my school work done today so that I could enjoy the weekend - want to finish the other 20% tomorrow before I leave....

Lots of reading for class this week. H and the kids have been gone since last Friday - saw a few movies and played chess with friends. Nice weather in Bellingham for late Sep/early Oct.

Very tired tonight. Feel like going to bed at 8:30. Miss my family.