This winter's snow fort a couple weeks ago. Complete with built in "kitchen". Now a puddle and a distant memory.

This winter's snow fort a couple weeks ago. Complete with built in "kitchen". Now a puddle and a distant memory.

Playing with Duplo.

Playing with Duplo.

This is a pretty sweet photo set.

This is a pretty sweet photo set.
http://www.retronaut.co/2012/02/skateboarding-new-york-1960s/

Nate, "My pink crayon broke"

Nate, "My pink crayon broke"
(a couple seconds later)
"Mum, this crayon needs to go to heaven."

Sara, "No Nate, crayons don't go to heaven."

Nate is not convinced.

I try to help, "Nate, crayons don't have a spirit."

Nate tries to argue that perhaps this particular crayon had a spirit..

6:00 My alarm goes off.

6:00 My alarm goes off.
6:01 Nate wakes up.
6:06 We both go downstairs. Nate sees the Valentine's Day stuff I have out for Sara and asks about it.
6:07 I explain Valentine's Day to Nate.
6:10 Nate announces he's tired of Valentine's Day.

This morning as I was crouched on the floor trying to get my boots on to go to work, James was happily climbing all...

This morning as I was crouched on the floor trying to get my boots on to go to work, James was happily climbing all over me. Nate, wanting some attention too, grabbed the boot I hadn't put on yet, and ran away with it laughing. I joked around with Nate briefly pretending to be upset and then asked him to bring the boot back, which he did promptly, tossing it to the floor at my feet and on it's side. James, who had been standing holding on to me the whole time jabbering happily, sees the boot, drops quickly down onto all fours, rights the boot so it's standing properly, looks at Nate and gives him a series of deep growls. I have my own body guard!

Last week:

Last week:
Me, "Sara, I love you."
Sara, "I love you, Jon."
Nate excitedly, "I love pizza!"

Last night, Nate wanted to drink from the tap in the bathroom.

Last night, Nate wanted to drink from the tap in the bathroom. He was already tucked in bed and had a full sippy cup, so Sara said no. When she came out of the room and explained the situation (he was quite devastated and still complaining). I let her know that I had promised to let him drink from the tap after he went on the potty, so I went back into his room and let him go get a drink. As we're walking to the tap, Nate says very solemnly, "I don't know why Mom is so mean to me." Oh the indiscernible and systematic injustice that poor child receives...

Taking advantage of the +5 degree weather in February.

Taking advantage of the +5 degree weather in February.

Nate gives himself a haircut.

Nate gives himself a haircut.

Nate drew a picture of himself (without any guidance), but (mistakenly?) made the hair really long. He wanted to give himself a haircut. So, I cut out the picture and let him cut "his" hair.

James makes a discovery.

James makes a discovery.

James has figured out how to use chairs on our hardwood floors as makeshift walkers for sometime now. (Nate at this same age discovered that with enough momentum they worked as battering rams to breach our makeshift barrier to the living room. Incidentally, we now have a proper barrier which is securely fixed to the walls.) James' latest discovery is that if he puts enough force behind it (to gain proper leverage his body needs to be at about a 45 degree angle to the floor) he can actually push Nate around when he's on the chair trying to do crafts or finish up his meal at the table. This brings him much joy. Nate still isn't quite sure what to make of it.

Nate the deal maker.

Nate the deal maker.

Yesterday, Nate wanted to take a book out of the church library and have a snack from the table set up for our pastor's retirement.
Sara, "No, Nate, it's very late, we don't have time to do both. You need to pick one. Which will it be?"
Without skipping a beat, "I'll pick out a snack, you pick out a book for me."
Sara and I both look at each other. Well that does make sense. (Sara was going to return a book to the library anyways.)

Nate the poison tester.

Nate the poison tester.

This morning I was having breakfast with Nate and just before I could reach for my regular morning orange juice, Nate goes, "I should taste that. Make sure it okay. It might taste bad."
Alright, I give the glass to Nate.
Nate takes a sip, "It tastes good. You can have it."
"Thanks, Nate."
I go to drink the juice.
Nate, "If it bad, I have to drink it all up."

Glad the neighbors weren't up early this morning.

Glad the neighbors weren't up early this morning. I went out to the car. It was covered with snow. So, as per normal, I went to start it while I brushed the snow off. Rather than fully get in the car, I step partially in, put my foot on the clutch, and turn the key in the ignition. Normally this work flawlessly, but normally Sara hasn't used the car the night before. She likes to leave the car in gear. So as soon as I lifted my foot off the clutch to step back out, the car began lurching forwards, fighting the parking brake, heading straight for our fence. I couldn't see because the windshield was covered with snow and I'm hanging halfway out of the car madly trying to find the clutch again. I thankfully managed to stop the car in time. We'll see how today goes.

Nate sometimes likes to pretend that James is his dog.

Nate sometimes likes to pretend that James is his dog. He calls him "Brutus" after our friends' big and rambunctious bull mastiff rottweiler cross. One of the things he likes to do is take him for "walks". Nate holds James' soother, and pretends it's a leash (we clip James' soother on with a ribbon so he doesn't lose it) and walks behind James while he crawls about the house. James loves it because his brother follows him around everywhere and babbles happily while leading Nate about the house.

Nate - "Brothers take care of brothers. "

Yesterday, Sara was admonishing Nate for taking something out of James' hand, and was trying to be very clear about...

Yesterday, Sara was admonishing Nate for taking something out of James' hand, and was trying to be very clear about it.
"Nate, we don't take things out of James' hands, ever, under any conditions. There is no reason why you should be taking something out of James' hand..."
Mid-lecture James clearly tries to hand something to Nate.
"...um, thank you, James, for finding the one exception to what I was just talking about."
Please be a coincidence. Please be a coincidence.

Nate sometimes asks me to do shadow puppets for him.

Nate sometimes asks me to do shadow puppets for him. He takes great joy in trying to confound me with his requests. Just now he asked me to do "light"...

Nate has taken to claiming that, "my 'x' is bigger than your 'x'.

Nate has taken to claiming that, "my 'x' is bigger than your 'x'. " For example that his boots are bigger than mine. Sara had to break it up with, "now honey, it's not the size that counts... " And just now Nate's puzzle versus mum's (his pieces are bigger).

Yesterday, as we were driving home, I was wondering if James had fallen asleep, so I asked Sara, "Is James still...

Yesterday, as we were driving home, I was wondering if James had fallen asleep, so I asked Sara, "Is James still with us?" Of course Nate pipes up from the back and goes, "Yes, James right here." So, I attempted to explain that what I really was asking was whether James was conscious of what was going on around him. Obviously I didn't do a good job explaining myself because the next thing Nate says in a very serious voice is, "We shouldn't put James on the street. He might get broke... and cheerios come out."

Thought this was neat.

Thought this was neat.

From Robbie Melvin:
http://blog.robbiemelvin.com/2011/12/my-grandmothers-piano/

Nate installed a Duplo tower in our upstairs bathroom at some point today.

Nate installed a Duplo tower in our upstairs bathroom at some point today. I thought nothing of it until this evening when he explained it. Apparently it was a "men's toilet for peeing standing up".

As the boys were eating cheerios this morning, I was reminded of how when Nate was the age Jame is now he used to...

As the boys were eating cheerios this morning, I was reminded of how when Nate was the age Jame is now he used to purposefully press on the cheerios with his index finger and make them go flying across the room like tiddlywinks. Thankfully James appears to have avoided learning that trick by virtue of the ferocity with which he attacks his food. Cheerios still get everywhere, but in more of a cookie monster crumble kind of way.

Most things Nate pretends to be, I can sort of understand the logic to.

Most things Nate pretends to be, I can sort of understand the logic to. Even, if he's pretending to be non-living thing, usually it's the moving sort that would fun to be, like a dump truck or excavator. On rarer occasions he might be something inanimate, like a bridge or a road, but at least those are sort of exciting, because moving things drive across them. I didn't have any answers though as to why, when I was getting him ready for bed the other day, he exclaimed, "I a pile of dirt!" Seriously?

Anyways, I went a long with it, claimed to be a front-end loader, and scooped him up with my arms, made beeping sounds as I backed out of the bathroom, and dumped him (literally) into his bed. This of course was met with great delight. As I tucked him in for bed, he added, "This is a dump truck (pointing at his bed), the blanket keeps the dirt from flying out."

Then, as he has done every subsequent night that he's pretended to be a pile of dirt, he insists that I pray for "this dirt" instead, whenever I get to the part in the prayer where I thank God for Nate.

Nate's pretending generally follows a standard rule.

Nate's pretending generally follows a standard rule. Picking a recent example, if he's pretending to be a baby pig, then Dad is the daddy pig, Mum is the mummy pig, and James is the "James pig". Lately however, it's gotten a little harder to keep track of, because he's been pretending that James is "Nate". So, James would then be the "Nate pig". (Sometimes it's just easier to go along with things rather than ask questions.) Yesterday, he took it a step further by trying to convince me that James (a.k.a "Nate") was supposed to do what I had just asked Nate to...

For advent we've been giving Nate characters and pieces of the Nativity story one day at a time, with the idea that...

For advent we've been giving Nate characters and pieces of the Nativity story one day at a time, with the idea that everything builds up and culminates for Christmas when he gets the baby Jesus figure and we can tell the complete story.

Except what we didn't count on, and I'm not sure why we didn't, it how irrepressible Nate is once he gets an idea in his head. He already knows baby Jesus is part of the story, so he's always finding creative ways to include him as part of the story with the available pieces he has. Yesterday, he took a crumpled piece of chocolate wrapper and announced happily, "This baby Jesus!" After putting him with Mary and Joseph and the donkey, he decided that wasn't good enough, he needed a manager too. No problem, the sort of prickly looking plant outside of the stable will do. "This a manager!", as he stuffs the candy wrapper down into the plant.

Yes please.

Yes please.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-7RlL3YtiQ

I installed the Google+ plugin for Chrome, it allows you to +1 any page, but it also shows you how many other people...

I installed the Google+ plugin for Chrome, it allows you to +1 any page, but it also shows you how many other people +1ed the page you were on.

58,000 people have +1ed the Google Plus homepage.

A timely article for the Christmas season. #1 and #5 are certainly huge hits with our kids.

A timely article for the Christmas season. #1 and #5 are certainly huge hits with our kids.
http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2011/01/the-5-best-toys-of-all-time/all/1

Fun facts for post Grey Cup.

Fun facts for post Grey Cup.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704281204575002852055561406.html

Interesting.

Interesting.

Originally shared by Alireza Yavari

TIME Magazine, US Cover vs International Covers
Source: http://www.time.com/time/magazine
Please consider that these are a selection of covers through few years. Although generally we should expect a better job from the media, some of these can be coincidental.
.

Went voting on Saturday. Nate was deeply disappointed, he thought I said "boating".

Went voting on Saturday. Nate was deeply disappointed, he thought I said "boating".

November 27, 2011

November 27, 2011

November 27, 2011

November 27, 2011

November 27, 2011

November 27, 2011

In Focus is always excellent, but this is a great set.

In Focus is always excellent, but this is a great set.
http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/11/national-geographic-photo-contest-2011/100187/

Nate has been pretending to be a baby for quite some time.

Nate has been pretending to be a baby for quite some time. That, however, is no longer good enough. Two of our friends have had babies in the past month, so Nate is now pretending to be a new baby. This reached a bit of a climax (or so I hope) yesterday when he kept asking Sara to watch him be born. He had put a large quilt on the sofa and would get under it and then crawl out slowly head first smiling. After putting up with this routine a couple of times, Sara walked off to do something else in the house. Upon returning back she discovered Nate lying down on the sofa with his head on a pillow. 'Is the new baby sleeping?" "No, nursing."

Wow, XKCD is a huge and incredible money thing today: http://bit.ly/XKCDollars

Originally shared by Tom Francis

Wow, XKCD is a huge and incredible money thing today: http://bit.ly/XKCDollars
http://bit.ly/XKCDollars

Forging art like no one is buying

http://kottke.org/11/11/forging-art-like-no-one-is-buying

I started to run with James in the stroller to get out of the cold quicker, and James began to pump his fist in the...

I started to run with James in the stroller to get out of the cold quicker, and James began to pump his fist in the air with joy and squeal with glee. He's definitely a thrill junkie.

Nate, pointing at me, "You Manitoban. I boy-itoban."

I came home for lunch the other day, and Nate decided to strike up some casual dinner conversation with me.

I came home for lunch the other day, and Nate decided to strike up some casual dinner conversation with me.

"How was your day, Dad?"

"Good. Did you have a good day, Nate?"

"No."

Surprised, he seemed perfectly happy, "What went wrong?"

"Battery was breaking." Referring to a pretend battery for his pretend train. It's a tough pretend world out there.

Nate's bed has slats in the side guards, they happen to be the exact size of Nate's foot, which means he can stick...

Nate's bed has slats in the side guards, they happen to be the exact size of Nate's foot, which means he can stick them through, but then they get stuck and he needs help getting them out. I really wish I could say this isn't something that happens often, but that isn't the case.

Anyways, a couple of weeks ago Nate gets his feet stuck in his bed rail again and he's wailing for me to get him unstuck. I'm worried he's going to wake James, so I rush in. Given that this isn't the first time this has happened, I go, "Nate, how about you don't put your feet through the railing."

Nate, with complete innocence, "Why?"

"BECAUSE YOU KEEP GETTING THEM STUCK! THAT'S WHY!"

The cycle does not change, and tonight he gets his feet stuck in the railing yet again. I plod into his room to get on with inevitable routine. When I walk in, the only unusual thing is that he's wedged both feet in this time. I go to unwedge his feet and he goes, "Why they put these holes here?"

I almost cried. (If I had the presence of mind, I would have responded, "That's what I wonder every night too.")

I was reading Nate the story of David and Goliath before bed, and the story mentioned that David was angry.

I was reading Nate the story of David and Goliath before bed, and the story mentioned that David was angry.

Later, as I was tucking him into bed, "David angry cause he not have pants?"

"No, Nate. David was angry because Goliath was being disobedient."

(Might explain all the violence in the Old Testament though.)

Yesterday, Sara had prepped Nate earlier in the day about what happened on Halloween and was trying to get him...

Yesterday, Sara had prepped Nate earlier in the day about what happened on Halloween and was trying to get him excited about it before supper.

Sara, "Nate, what are we going to do after supper?"

"Go to the park!"

"No, today we're going to do something special"

"Play Lego with daddy!"

...eventually we get him on the right track...

"And what are we going to say?"

"Trick or treat"

"And then what are we going to get?"

"Candy!"

"And then what will we do with the candy?"

"Use it for haircuts!"

(One of the few times Nate gets to have candy is when we give it to him as a distraction during haircuts.)

Latest games James is playing:

Latest games James is playing:

James takes his soother out and tries to give it to Nate.

Nate pushes it away, "No James, I don't need a soother, I a big boy."

James laughs and then tries to give Nate the soother again.

Repeat indefinitely. (Both think it's hilarious.)

The other game is, he rests his head on his highchair table just waiting for Nate or me to react and go, "No James, no falling asleep at the table, stay awake!" At which point he lifts his head up, gives a big smile and does it again.

This is pretty crazy awesome.

This is pretty crazy awesome.
http://kottke.org/11/10/quantum-levitation

Nate built himself a computer desk today by pulling together various pieces around the house.

Nate built himself a computer desk today by pulling together various pieces around the house. I was pretty impressed that he had thought it all up himself. He had a chair to sit on, a desk, and an old electronic garage sale toy for a keyboard.

He was proudly telling me about it, as I was changing him for bed.

"Daddy, I have a computer."

(I'm feeling really proud of him at this point. I'm a computer engineer. Sara's a computer scientist. Look at our son, already swept up with the power and potential that computers bring to us.)

"That's great Nate, what do you do with your computer?"

"Watch monkeys."

...there are so many great things computers can do, and my son believes their purpose is to show youtube videos of monkeys.

Superheroes respond to Occupy Wall Street!!!

Superheroes respond to Occupy Wall Street!!!
http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/10/13/superhero-occupy-wall-street/

Random Ice Cream Sandwich announcement provoked thoughts:

Random Ice Cream Sandwich announcement provoked thoughts:

Who would have thought that we'd be in a position where:

- Android is borrowing from Microsoft ("People") and Apple is borrowing from Android (notifications).

- Microsoft seems to be coming up with the most new ideas

- Blackberry is desperately trying to play catch up

Was reading books to Nate for bed. He had picked "Where's Waldo", and was very tired already.

Was reading books to Nate for bed. He had picked "Where's Waldo", and was very tired already.

First page, "Nate, where's Waldo?"

Pauses for a few seconds and then points to Waldo. (He's got the general locations all memorized, so he just looks in the general area where he knows Waldo will be.)

Second page, "Nate, where's Waldo?"

Pauses for a few seconds and then points to Waldo.

Third page, "Nate, where's Waldo?"

Doesn't even bother looking around, "He might have gone home."

This just showed up on my computer. Oh Windows, I feel so conflicted about you too.

This just showed up on my computer. Oh Windows, I feel so conflicted about you too.

Yesterday wasn't the first day I had to physically separate the boys.

Yesterday wasn't the first day I had to physically separate the boys. It was, however, the first day I had to separate them because James was the continued instigator. Both boys completely adore each other, and Nate's favourite thing is to read books with James before bed or nap time. Unfortunately, it's not really conducive to getting ready for sleep, when James is happily and repeatedly launching* himself on top of Nate and then cheerfully gumming him.

*"Launching" is the correct word to use here. James can't crawl yet, but if he knows there's a pillow or soft body beside him, he can propel himself from sitting with surprising speed and vigor.

Does it really get any better than LEGO Monty Python?

Originally shared by Joseph Lee

Does it really get any better than LEGO Monty Python? Well maybe LEGO princess bride, but until I get the necessary pieces, here's So-called Arthur king and his silly English knights! #Niiiiiiiiiiii

Nate woke up this morning while it was still pitch black out, as per usual.

Nate woke up this morning while it was still pitch black out, as per usual. This morning however, Sara noticed that Nate had shoved a chair up to the window and was intently flashing his flashlight on and off out the window into the dark night. Asked what he was doing, he explained that he was trying to wake up the sun.

Not sure which is better, that he thought up the idea in the first place, the fact that our neighbors might be wondering if we're secretly spies sending coded messages, or the idea that sun probably got up this morning and went, "Okay, fine, I'll get up, just stop shining that blasted light in my eyes." It did seem brighter out when I biked to work, now that I think about it.

Just caught a waft of aroma coming from Nate's diaper.

Just caught a waft of aroma coming from Nate's diaper.

"Nate, did you just go poo in your diaper?"

Nate deadpan, "We shouldn't worry about that."

Excellent article

Excellent article
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/18/magazine/my-familys-experiment-in-extreme-schooling.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

Nate was supposed to be asleep, but he's calling for Mom.

Nate was supposed to be asleep, but he's calling for Mom.

I walk in, "What the matter, Nate?"

"I want the fan on louder"

I walk over to the fan. It's already at it's highest speed setting.

"Nate, I can't make it any louder, it's already at it's highest fan speed setting, it won't go any louder."

Nate patiently waits for me to finish explaining, "Mom will know how to do it."

Not to be outshone by Mom (I'm the man of the house here), I then try to rig together an amplifying platform by placing the fan on top of some rigid toys that I hoped would provide some acoustic conductivity. Nate looked unimpressed when I left the room.

Ha!

Originally shared by Eddie Garcia

Ha!

Nate has been pretending to be other things for quite sometime.

Nate has been pretending to be other things for quite sometime.

Often the purpose appears to be to provide some sort of loophole, as opposed to being primarily for his own enjoyment. As an example, I can't count the number of times I've asked Nate to go upstairs to bed, went to walk up the stairs, only to hear, "I a worm", and turn around to see Nate wriggling around on the floor (well, he is complying... just at an infinitesimal pace). Also, conversations as follows (actual example from last weekend), "Nate, don't bump the potty." "Mouse bump the potty?" 'No, mice shouldn't bump the potty." "Rabbits bump the potty?" "No, Nate. No mice, rabbits, or anything you are pretending to be should bump the potty."

He's been known to be an excavator, spider, bird, rabbit, monkey, mailman, river (a.k.a. a bridge), baby, etcetera.

Lately he's taken to pretending to be things for extended periods of time. For example, the majority of last weekend he pretended to be a mouse. "Nate, would you like dessert?" "No, mouse wants dessert." I was having trouble figuring out the sudden interest in being a mouse, until I read one of his favourite stories again to him last night. He can recite good portions of it himself already, and it's called the "Big Red Barn". In it, all the animals on the farm play all day until night falls and they all go to bed, or so I believed. Last night I noticed the mice are a notable exception. As the book notes, they stay up and play all night under the moon. So much for being an inspirational children's bedtime book.

Nate blinking repeatedly, "I a police car, my lights flashing."

I'm a little disappointed at the level of info in the provincial election pamphlets I'm getting in the mail, it's...

I'm a little disappointed at the level of info in the provincial election pamphlets I'm getting in the mail, it's really hard to distinguish between candidates when everyone's platform is:

Help seniors and young families, create jobs, improve infrastructure and reduce crime.

Sounds good to me.

Much is being posted about the 10th anniversary of 9/11, this photo spoke the loudest.

Much is being posted about the 10th anniversary of 9/11, this photo spoke the loudest. (http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/09/911-the-decade-since/100144/#img09)
http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/911after090911/a09_23914504.jpg

Trying to get Nate to sleep at a friends cabin, "Nate, I'll stay in the room with you, if you lie down and close...

Trying to get Nate to sleep at a friends cabin, "Nate, I'll stay in the room with you, if you lie down and close your eyes."

Nate lies down.

"Nate, you need to close your eyes, or Dad will leave."

"I a pirate. Sleep with eyes open."

The other day I whispered into Nate's ear, "Nate, tell Mommy, 'You're beautiful.'"

The other day I whispered into Nate's ear, "Nate, tell Mommy, 'You're beautiful.'"

Nate, "Mommy, I beautiful!"

...well the 'you' was ambiguous.

Unlike fight club, the first rule of Google+ appears to be to talk about Google+ (on Google+).

100 YEARS / STYLE / EAST LONDON

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JxfgId3XTs

Sara came down with James after he had woken up and handed him to me.

Sara came down with James after he had woken up and handed him to me.

Thinking I'm clever, "Oh my, James! You don't have any clothes on. You must tell me your secret. How did you get Mom to rip those clothes off you?"

James spits up all over my clothes.... didn't really work as planned.

Had a bit of a miscommunication with Nate tonight about who was coming over to babysit.

Had a bit of a miscommunication with Nate tonight about who was coming over to babysit.

"Jesus coming over?"

"No, Charissa. Sha. Ris. Ah."

He does love the little children, but family services might not be so understanding...

Nooooooo, just noticed Google+ has a games tab that states the following, "The games you play and your...

Nooooooo, just noticed Google+ has a games tab that states the following, "The games you play and your accomplishments (such as high scores, levels, and achievements) may be visible to other Google+ users. This makes it easy to find friends and play together." ...it also happens to make it easy to annoy friends.

Where in the World? A Google Earth Puzzle - Alan Taylor - In Focus - The Atlantic

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/08/where-in-the-world-a-google-earth-puzzle/100120/

The AC broke at work, but the VP brought in popsicles for everyone!

The AC broke at work, but the VP brought in popsicles for everyone!

(File under: small victories)

Yesterday I biked home on a 48 degree humidex day, with a dress shirt and pants on, from a office with air...

Yesterday I biked home on a 48 degree humidex day, with a dress shirt and pants on, from a office with air conditioning that couldn't handle the heat, to a house with no air conditioning at all. I walked in the door and Sara handed me a freshly made blueberry smoothie. Best. Wife. Ever.

(That's right, I'm publicly bragging.)

+1 Sara Epp

Looking Through the Eyes of Soldiers

http://blogs.wsj.com/photojournal/2011/07/05/looking-through-the-eyes-of-soldiers/?mod=WSJBlog

Last Christmas, a friend gave me a small Lego set just for fun.

Originally shared by Tyler Neylon

Last Christmas, a friend gave me a small Lego set just for fun. It's part of a Creator series, where each set comes with instructions for three different models. I love the versatility and expressiveness of Lego, and I think 3 is far too small a number for what can be done with these, so I challenged myself to create 50 original designs with this one set of about 50 pieces. These images are the result.

Calgary Fun

Canada Day Parking

Parking the car overnight on the Prime Minister of Canada's driveway by request.

Canada Day

Rest stop

New toy

Testing blogging from my phone.

Actual Food

This weekend we were trying to get Nate to eat his lunch, but he wasn't interested. Instead he was busy acting out an elaborate portrayal of eating an imaginary ice cream cone, complete with exclamations of how good it tasted.

Me: "Nate, your ice cream cone is imaginary, would you like some actual food? Mum, has some actual food for you."

Nate's face lights up and he looks over to Sara.

Sara lifts up Nate's fork with the same piece of salad on it that has been there for the last ten minutes.

Nate (downcast): "Nate no like actual food."

It's all fun and games until someone does a Hitler salute

I need to start this post with a disclaimer: Nate often does strange things for which we can find no explanation.

For example, a couple of months back he used to, on quite regular basis, randomly break from eating his meal and announce, "Nate do this." At which point he would commence to very precisely move his arms up and down opposite of each other. What made the behavior all the more bizarre was that he would do it very ... very ... slowly. As a guest who witnessed this pointed out, "It seems improbable that a two year old would do that." (In particular a very active and enthusiastic two year old.)

Just yesterday we were eating supper and he put his foot up and onto the table so that the tips of his toes were pointed at a grain of rice that had fallen off his plate. When told that feet do not go on the table, he replied that his foot was a bird eating at a bird feeder. With admirable lack of laughter we calmly pointed out that regardless of what he was pretending his foot was, it should not go on the table.

This morning we were calmly eating breakfast, everything normal, when Nate stopped, said, "Mom do this", and proceeded to do what appeared to be a perfect Hitler salute. Naturally, being the good spouse that I am, I began to laugh out loud. Nate joined in the laughter and when the laughter had died down stated matter of factly, "This make Dad happy." Oh oh. I just know this is going to come back to haunt me the next time I'm at the playground and bump into that Dad I really don't know.

Future Consumer

We ran out of orange juice at breakfast this morning. Nate immediately goes, "Buy more!" It's amazing how fast they catch on to how western culture works.

Theological Discussions with Two Year Olds

Nate unprompted while eating breakfast, "Nate thank Jesus give me two eyes."

"Yes, Nate, that's a good thing to thank Jesus for. Having two eyes is great, because now you have depth perception."

"Nate no eat Jesus."

"Yes, Nate, we don't eat Jesus... well, actually we kind of figuratively... never mind, let's just leave it at not eating Jesus."

Passions

When Nate wakes up, the first thing he asks is to go outside, either to play in the sandbox or to eat outside. He loves his sandbox. Unfortunately that love can be evidenced by sand strewn in patches across our entire backyard. We've been waging a slow campaign, with little obvious results, to get him to keep the sand in the sandbox. I didn't think anything had sunk in until yesterday.

Yesterday, Nate and I went to watch some construction vehicles doing work up our street. Nate watched for sometime, happily naming and pointing out all the different types of construction vehicles. We watched for sometime, when suddenly he began to get excited about something, gesturing and yelling loudly. It took me a while to figure out what was going on over the din of the construction equipment, but eventually I managed to make out that he was trying to tell the construction workers that the sand they were working with needed to stay in the sandbox. (If only he was that passionate about following rules himself.)

Little Planets

I find this photo effect completely mesmerizing. Art meets a heavy dose of math.

Stereographic Projections - Seb Przd

How To Eat Food

An excellent article on food and the American diet. If the article's too long, skip to the end for the tips.

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

Unhappy Meals - Michael Pollan - New York Times

India: First Thoughts

Ed: For those of you who don't know, I am in India to celebrate Minal's brother's wedding. The decision came last minute and the confirmation that I could go (in the form of a visa and later plane tickets) came even later, so if the fact that I am in India comes as a surprise to you, don't feel bad, it still comes as a bit of a surprise to me.

It is no wonder that Hindus and therefore the overwhelming majority of Indians believe in reincarnation and concern themselves with finding harmony, because to experience India is to experience life. Not life of the individual, as we so readily picture in the west. Not the single path of our existence moving via our own decisions from birth towards death. But all of life, humanity, paths overlapping. In an instant both life and death and everything in harmony.

It isn't that I am in a highly philosophical mood. It is not that I believe in reincarnation, I don't. It is the fact that to be aware at all while in India is to come face to face with all stratus of life and points in them.

To only show you a piece of the larger whole, as I tried to piece that last sentence in my mind, there was a servant mopping the floor at my feet, very probably not literate, while I sat formulating words to print on a computer screen for you to read.

That illustrates a bit of the closeness of life in India, but to try and illustrate the layers I will try to say something of the depth. We are by no means staying with one of the richest families in India and our servants are by no means make up the poorest. To say that someone is not literate in Canada places them at the very bottom of our social hierarchy, in India the hierarchy expands further. I do not know the back story of the cleaning boy, but as Steve and I took a walk during our first day he shared with me a story about the cook. The road we were on was paved, but a good portion of the sides were made up of fresh gravel. As we walked, we would pass by workers, entire families of them. The work was divided by ability, grandmothers pushing carts with tar and younger members doing more of the physical work itself along the shoulder. On either of side of the road were residential apartment buildings, exactly like the ones we were staying in, but at one point a gap of bare ground appeared and in that spot was an entire village camped out. It was the worker's camp and amongst the makeshift tents (a tarp and two sticks) children played. This type of life was apparently the kind our cook had come from. Saved from carrying heavy loads on her head to construction sites by the relative luxury of cooking someone else's diner.

I am describing my experience using broad strokes, but to add finer details I will try to describe the drive we went on through the city on our first night. Describing driving in India is an interesting endeavour, because it is quite different than anything you might encounter in our very regimented West. Perhaps the simplest way to imagine it is to imagine people walking through a crowd. The navigation is seemingly complex, there are no direct paths and specified directions of movement and yet our brain handles the navigation process easily, seemingly without thought. This is very similar to driving on the streets, except for in addition to people walking, you have cars, people pushing tables with various goods to sell, large buses, many scooters, bikes, motorcycles and three wheeled taxis, the occasional camel driven cart, goat herder and goats, wandering cows and maybe even a cripple crab-walking across the street. Now add the sound of constant honking, because this is how vehicles communicate their presence, and you begin to have an idea of what it is like. Driving at night through busy portions of the city, as I did on my first night, intensifies this experience. As we drove, the sights whipping past, the people weaving through, it began to pick up a rhythm. Much like the music of India, seemingly disjoint at first but as the layers built, fitting together and fitting inside each other naturally. The stories of life mimicked this pattern. Couples on scooters and motorbikes, the man staring forward concentrating, the woman relaxed on the back, leaning against the man, sari colourful and swaying in the breeze of their curved and darting trajectory through the gaps in traffic. Sometimes families, the same as the couples, but as the scooter pulls even just before the pass, the glimpse of a young child straddled in the middle, secure between its parents. Here life is full, young and filled with expectation. To the side of the road, store fronts different in colour and wares, some for the very rich, some just a cart sitting on the shoulder. These passed in a regular pattern, constant but changing, but interleaved were occasional fires, warmth in the cool night for those without homes, nearby children grouped, engaged in the various universal activities of childhood. Here life, still full, is connected through a thinner thread. These juxtapositions continued as we travelled and as the parts began to blur in their repetition, India began to take shape. The glimpses of individual lives began to add up into a larger picture of life as a whole.

2006 Lists

A few random lists for your enjoyment:

Things to do at the end of the year

1. Make year end lists
2. Plays games of oneupsmanship, with the Allen brothers, while in a hottub
3. Celebrate

My Top Albums

(According to Last.fm)

1. Kings of Convenience - Riot on an Empty Street (True, I overplayed this)
2. Jack Johnson - On and On (I had no idea)
3. The Zutons - Who Killed the Zutons? (Was clued in by David and Dan)
4. The Arcade Fire - Funeral

And the real reason I made this post, I found the following very enjoyable to discover

Most Viewed Flickr Photos

1. Photo of a Swedish kid's boxers (Context)
2. Photo of myself in a wetsuit

Yes, that's correct, of all the photos I have in my account the second most popular is one of myself in a wetsuit, which leaves photos such as this one, gathering dust at #179. Perhaps the title, "Wetsuit pose", gathers a lot of search hits. I hope everyone finds what they're looking for in 2007. Have a great year!

In Other News

I enjoyed the title of the news post from which this excerpt comes:

The nightclub owner appeared totally at home on the dance floor, basking in the admiring glances of his pupils.
...
For "Danny J" is in fact Corporal Daniel James, the soldier accused of spying for Iran while working as intrepreter and aide to General David Richards, the commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan.

The 'spy' who danced the salsa | News | This is London

I'm beginning to concur with Neil Gaiman, who upon learning of the circumstances surrounding the mystery of the Bishop and his missing memory as well as the news articles involving Russian spies and Polonium posioning, had this to say:

... I am beginning to suspect that whoever is currently writing the world, or at least the English bit of it, is starting to plunder cheap fiction for ideas.

Neil Gaiman - Neil Gaiman's Journal: December 2006

Closing the case

I won't bore you with an outline of how it happened or who was involved, since apparently I was the only one not aware of the facts surrounding Fifi's sudden appearance and then subsequent disappearance (I have even been led to believe that the knowledge was so far reaching that people I have never met, were somehow aware of what was happening). At any rate, congratulations on a prank well executed.

One of the kidnappers has confessed to me and so she will be rewarded with a candle lit dinner, as promised. The primary request of the kidnappers was a photo of myself standing sideways behind streetlight, which I have included within this post.

Standing sideways behind a streetlight

Since I have so greatly enjoyed this whirlwind plot I have been taken on, I'm also including some requested pictures. The two most strongly requested photos by those hearing the ransom demands were a baby photo of myself and a photo of myself dressed as a ninja at Portage and Main (unfortunately the smoke bomb I threw somewhat obscures the photo), so here you are.

A young Mr. Epp

Ninja at Portage and Main

Reward!

I will be posting pictures from the "C" is for Christmas party shortly, however a much more urgent and unfortunate task demands my attention at present. At some point during the party a daring kidnapping was undertaken and now Fifi is missing. In her place was left this ransom note.

Shortly after the discovery of her dissapearance, an anonymous phone call was made that was tracked to the west side of the city. The phone call left a series of conditions to be met, the nature of which cannot be revealed at this moment, which are feverishly being worked on from this end.

I would like to take a moment and speak directly to the kidnappers. In the short three months that I have come to know Fifi, she has come to mean a great deal to me. Therefore, I would ask that you take great care to make sure that Fifi comes to no harm.

Last photo of us together

However, before I go through with the actions requested of me, I must have assurance from the kidnappers that Fifi is still alive and unharmed. As such, I will need a photograph of Fifi taken beside a green apple, to insure that photo was taken after this request was made. Also, I will need the picture sent via the email address that was mentioned in the phone call, so I know I am not dealing with an imposter who has purchased a replica of Fifi at a store.

To the general public, I am offering a reward if you can orchestrate the safe return or provide information leading to the safe return of Fifi. The reward I am offering is to prepare and serve a candle lit dinner for two, yourself and a person of your choosing*

Little is known of the events surrounding the kidnapping, but I will try to set out what I do know in the hopes that it may be of help. During the party Fifi mingled with guests and sat on her favourite pillow (shown below) in the corner of the room.

The empty pillow

The last known photo of Fifi was taken at 7:56:38 PM. It is estimated that the dissapearance happened shortly thereafter. If anyone has further information pinpointing the time of the event or any suspicious behaviour seen during the party, please contact me.

Last known photo

* You are responsible for procuring the person of your choosing. I would ask that that person also be willingly present (I do not encourage any further kidnappings). In the absence of a second party, I would be more than willing to enjoy dinner with Fifi's rescuer.

Somewhat Random

Since it's been a while since I last posted, I offer you a picture with a rainbow in it.