Happy Birthday, Haley!

"I'm getting too old for this shi----"

I'm taking a personal day today to recover from last night.  While it was a fun, alcohol-free evening....I knew I'd feel worse today than an all-day bender!

Last night I gave my daughter her birthday present.  Originally, her present was to be a day off from school for both of us, but my request was denied.  Feeling guilty, when she texted me one morning that her favorite performer would be in town in November, I jumped on it.  Three tickets for the all ages show, me, her and her friend.  Last night was the event.

I was reticent at first....I am not a fan of live music....I expected a night of patchouli oil and the aroma of marijuana clinging to clothes....I expected lots of angst....screaming kids....

While there were some doses of angst and the younger fans seemed to scream a lot, it was a whole lot of fun.

The night started shaky....I was late leaving school and when we arrived for our "meet and greet" with one of the acts, no one knew anything about it.  Once we got in, the girls went down to the floor and I staked out a spot in the grown up zone and settled in.

The first band was called Me Like Bees.  They are described as an indie/alternative rock band from Joplin, Missouri.  They really were a good rock act.  They have a song called "Naked Trees" which is catchy and moving.  They wrote it after the tornadoes devastated their hometown in 2011.

I chatted with most of the band members after the show.  They seemed like a friendly bunch of guys.  I bought Logan one of their CDs and a t-shirt for Haley to give him for Christmas.

Next was the act with whom my daughter is currently enamored.  MOD SUN is an EXTREMELY laid back, self-described hippie rapper from Minnesota.  

I am NOT this man's target audience but he was infectiously fun.  He has a very positive outlook despite a pro-drug message that I am not on board with.  That being said I found I had a big grin on my face the entire time he performed.

We met him after the show.  He was very gregarious with his friends (he has no fans...everyone is his friend).  We also met his DJ, Pat Brown.  My daughter knew him and really wanted to meet him.  He, too, was very friendly.  Specifically thanked me for bringing the girls, commenting that it was his father's support that allowed him to get where he was today.  I was impressed.

The next band was the self-proclaimed defenders of pop punk, Man Overboard from New Jersey.  They were LOUD!  An interesting line up of performers with two guys taking lead on the vocal.  They had a loyal following in the room and played to the crowd!

The last act of the night was the headliners, Never Shout Never.  These guys were my daughter's big thing for a while but she had cooled on them of late.  The have had some "chart" success and had a song on the Tim Burton "Alice in Wonderland" soundtrack. 

They definitely gave the kids the show they were looking for.  Lead singer, Cristofer Drew, made a Jim Gaffigan reference which earned him some props from me.  I kept expecting him to say "Dave's not here, man" which, if you get the reference, tells you his state of mind for the night.

He had a funny banter going with the crowd.  His main instruments were his guitar and ukulele  switching back and forth between each song.  At one point, a girl called out that she was learning the ukulele.  Drew pulled her up on stage and let her perform a song she had just written.  The crowd supported her and the band tried to flesh out the song with her.  She was nervous but it was a really sweet moment.  The girls told me after that she goes to their school.  We saw her on the way out and congratulated her for her effort.

All in all, worth the time and money spent, the headache today and the use of one of my precious personal days!

Smuggler's Notch

We started our morning with a ride down the Alpine Slide in Stowe. We arrived wicked early so we found a table in the shade and played some UNO.

After about an hour,  I went in to buy the tickets and found the line.  I was promptly cut by a family just not paying attention.  At this point, I had been up for 5 hours and just let it go.

However, I was then cut again.  So I moved a little more to make sure it was obvious that I was in line.

Then, two punks blatantly tried to cut me.  I sort of raised my hands in an incredulous "What's up" manner and was about to ask the boys if I could help them.  At this point, their mother raised her voice to me and bellowed "They're with me. Don't get so angry!"  I responded, that I was not angry, I was just trying to figure out what was going on.  The woman then shrieked... literally shrieked, "Well our friends were... NEVER MIND we'll just go wait outside."

Most folks in the place sort of stared at her with their mouths open.  There wasn't a huge line.  It was a BEAUTIFUL summer day.  The ride hadn't even OPENED yet.

When I went out, Nan confirmed that the lady was ranting and raving outside.  It bugged me, but we let it go.

Nan and I went down the slide first and waited at the bottom for the kids....and waited...and waited...and waited.

Eventually, they came down with a kid RIGHT behind each of them....looking ANGRY.  Nan pointed out they were the punks that had tried to cut me earlier!  KARMA!


We spent the rest of the morning and afternoon exploring the notch and climbing the rocks.

The pink dot is Haley!!  We had gotten separated so I went down and she went up until we could see each other!

The view out over the valley...

This was the highest point we reached.  Not the best picture but that is ABOUT a 50 foot drop!

So close to the top....

What To Do Next Weekend....

The school year is rapidly approaching its (welcome) end.  More so than any other year I have taught, I am absolutely ready for summer to begin.

In an effort to kick-start things, I was mulling over trying to figure out something to do next Saturday and/or Sunday.  Friday night is already claimed for Underclassmen Award Night at my daughter's high school....where she is up for an award or two.

My son received his placement for next year and is not in the same class as his best friend.  Her mother is worried about the kids drifting apart, so I proposed to Nan we do a day trip across the lake to Target on Saturday...ride the ferry, get lunch and so on, and invite the girl.

However.....I start to feel selfish.  I was thinking of calling my brother and asking him to meet me somewhere in New Hampshire to play golf on Saturday.  His birthday is fast approaching and I thought it would be a nice birthday gift.

Things get a little crazy from there....I find out that this Sunday is the Granite State Comicon.  I start planning things out.  Maybe meet my brother and then I could go camping and go to the con on Sunday.  While I am not really looking for anything, it has been SO long since I attended a show.  I could do a day trip on Sunday? Maybe Logan and I could go....I start working out all the permutations.

When I think I have FINALLY landed on what I want to do, I get an e-mail announcing that this Sunday is also the Montreal ToyCon.  I decide to click the link and check it out....and I see this banner...

I'm not terribly tempted but....wait a second....what's that!?!?  

What's the big deal, you may ask...(especially if we have never met in person nor are friends on Facebook)...

Well, the three people at the head of the line....it is me, my wife and my son!!!  We attended one of the first Montreal ToyCons 5 or 6 years ago!!!!   We rented a hotel near by with an indoor pool....had our first trip to La Cage Aux Sports.  It was such fun but I never checked back in, as subsequent events were held on weekends we could not attend.  I wonder if we have been the banner for all these years?!?!

So, to make a long story short ("Too late!"), I have NO idea what I am doing next weekend.....

Blogging From A To Z: M is for

Mary Jane Watson

This post is late and is somewhat of a cheat.  I've already shared this story before, but here goes....

This is the only issue of this series that I own. I may have read some of the earlier ones, but if I have read this issue, it does not stand out for me. It is the second part of a four issue story arc. It has a manga-influenced look to its art, which is something I do not care for.

And I have a total of 12 copies of this comic book in my collection.

The reason is simple: my daughter.

Before my son was born, my little girl would do EVERYTHING for me. She wanted comic books and action figures and to watch baseball games and Star Wars with me.

She still does all of that, but from birth until some time after the above comic came out, comics were everything for her. So much so, she wanted to write a letter to the writer of this comic.

She composed a letter and with my help sent it off to Marvel. Her letter was printed in this issue. I tried to get a photo of her letter (as I have no scanner) but couldn't swing it (no pun intended).

It is a rambling letter. It reads like she is trying to be "grown up" and "serious". It is so "her".

Anytime I visit a new comic shop in my travels, I will look in their back issues and pick up a copy of this book.

I sometimes get these grand notions that my collection might mean "something" some day....not for any huge value but recognized for complete runs or conditions or...something. When I think about it being looked over and discussed after I am gone, I would love for there to be some puzzlement over the scores and scores of copies of this issue I eventually amass.

Blogging From A to Z: H is for...

...Harry Potter.

The books came out just as I got my first classroom and it really seemed to charge a generation of readers.  I appreciate the movies, as they have become an "event" for my wife and daughter.  I'm actually kind of sad to see the final installment come out...

30 Days Of Comics: Day 16: A Comic You Own More Than One Copy Of

Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane #7

This is the only issue of this series that I own. I may have read some of the earlier ones, but if I have read this issue, it does not stand out for me. It is the second part of a four issue story arc. It has a manga-influenced look to its art, which is something I do not care for.

And I have a total of 12 copies of this comic book in my collection.

The reason is simple: my daughter.

Before my son was born, my little girl would do EVERYTHING for me. She wanted comic books and action figures and to watch baseball games and Star Wars with me.

She still does all of that, but from birth until some time after the above comic came out, comics were everything for her. So much so, she wanted to write a letter to the writer of this comic.

She composed a letter and with my help sent it off to Marvel. Her letter was printed in this issue. I tried to get a photo of her letter (as I have no scanner) but couldn't swing it (no pun intended).

It is a rambling letter. It reads like she is trying to be "grown up" and "serious". It is so "her".

Anytime I visit a new comic shop in my travels, I will look in their back issues and pick up a copy of this book.

I sometimes get these grand notions that my collection might mean "something" some day....not for any huge value but recognized for complete runs or conditions or...something. When I think about it being looked over and discussed after I am gone, I would love for there to be some puzzlement over the scores and scores of copies of this issue I eventually amass.

Happy Birthday Haley!

You are the funniest, smartest, most beautiful big sister and daughter in the whole world. You make us so proud and so happy!

Look What I Made...

Since summer was delayed for me by about 5 weeks, I decided that I wanted to start things off with a bang and build something in the workshop.

Looking through an old book, I found plans for a hammock stand. Since we clear cut the back yard, there has been no place for the hammock to go, so this project made sense to me.

I decided that if we could get the materials for under $40 I would do it.

DAY ONE

So on Sunday, July 26, we went to a nearby Lowes and priced everything. I needed a total of 6 2x4s in two different lengths, a variety of carriage bolts, 3 dowels and some lag screws. Logan was a supreme help in finding everything and Nan and I did some quick calculations and decided to go for it. Total price upon checkout was $37.22.

That afternoon, I cut all of the boards to the needed lengths. I also went ahead and made all the needed joint cuts. All of the miter cuts were straight forward (either 45 degrees or 25 degrees....the latter of which was slightly trickier since my saw has defaults at 15, 22.5, 31.6 and 45 degrees!)

The lap cuts were harder, since I do not have either a table saw nor a band saw and I needed to make a total of eight lap cuts. But, at the end of the afternoon, I had all the cuts and had bolted together one of them to make sure things looked okay....and they did!

DAY TWO

I started the day by finishing off the four main struts and tightening all of the bolts. That turned out to be the easiest part of the day.


It was time to connect the arms and to do so I needed to drill 1/2" wide holes for the dowels to go through to add support. The first couple of holes were sketchy, but I eventually got the hang of it (with the help of a drill extender that I did not know I had!).

Today was a purple shirt day!

Once I got one side finished, Haley and I added the braces with a series of lag screws.


Haley and I took a break to attend a bookmaking workshop at the Burnham Library with Jon Chad from The Center for Cartoon Studies in White River Junction. (It was a blast. I'll blog about that later.)



When we got home I finished assembling the hammock, but discovered that imperfections in the wood and my measuring meant a trip to Lowes on day three to exchange the two hanging bolts I bought, as they were too short.

DAY THREE

This day consisted mainly of returning a few pieces of hardware and figuring out what exactly I needed. We also bought two 18 inch sections of chain to help hang the hammock, as it is rather short. I also hand mitered some of the ends of the arms to allow them to sit more flush.

All in all, it took about eight to ten hours of actual work. I'm not too disappointed in the final product.

A View From The Roof

Last week I finally got up on the roof to fix the leak near the main vent. It was relatively straight-forward work. Here are the views from the roof of our house...I might add them to Google Earth at some point...

There is Nan on the deck, as I look to the south west. The fake chimney looking thing is what I needed to fix.

There is a smidgen of the pool and Nan's garden area to the south east.

Here is the whiffle ball field to the north east.

A tighter shot of the pool area and Logan and Haley!

The swing set looking due south.

Due east.

A blurry shot of the north (I think this was the first one I took and was a little shaky!)


It's me in my bright yellow working shirt...in case Google is using its satellites while I am up there. Nan wanted me to write them a message but they haven't rephotographed the area in 6 years so I did not bother...

"You say it's your birthday..."

Six years ago today, I met Logan Mock. Up until we met, he was known as "Peanut". If I remember properly, when we told Haley that Nancy was pregnant, we said that the baby was the size of a peanut and the nickname stuck, right up until he was born. Since then, he has always been Logan.

We gave him the middle name Richard after my grandfather. As each year passes since we lost him, he becomes bigger and bigger in my memory and I hope my boy inherits all that was good about him. It's a lot for Logan to live up to but he tries, in his own way, every single day.

He is my son and I love him so much. He has his mother's smile and his sister's great sense of comic timing. He is such a little dude and a great pal.

I love you, Logan Richard Mock. Happy Birthday.

Our Father's Day Excursion

We went camping in The Islands this past weekend, about 5 miles from the Canadian border. We went to Isle La Motte and explored part of The Chazy Formation. The pictures are ours but the text comes from Wikipedia.

The Chazy Reef Formation is a mid-Ordovician limestone deposit that consists of some of the oldest reef systems built by a community of organisms. The reef structure was formed largely by bryozoans, but corals made an early appearance, as did the first stromatoporoids.

The formation is named for the small town of Chazy, New York, where the reef was first studied. The reef extends from Tennessee to Quebec, but its most easily studied outcropping is at Goodsell Ridge, Isle La Motte, the northernmost island in Lake Champlain; there, a gentle uplift has tilted the sediments: the bedding planes now dip slightly to the north, revealing sequences of horizons in exposed rock. The black limestone of Isle La Motte takes a polish, revealing the white markings of embedded fossil shells, notably the spirals formed by sliced gastropod shells.

Rock of the Chazy Formation was quarried from the nineteenth century at the Fisk Quarry, Isle La Motte, the oldest quarry in Vermont.

The system formed in warm tropical waters of the Iapetus Ocean, in low latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere. The site was in shallow waters of a continental shelf: the continental craton of Laurentia lay to the west, beyond the lagoon system that formed behind the protective reef. The time was some 480-450 million years ago, at a period when global paleoclimate was so warm that the planet was all but ice-free. Atmospheric carbon dioxide was fourteen to sixteen times more plentiful than it is today.

The Chazy Reef Formation, which built up vertically from a muddy base catching fine dark silt as it grew, began as mounds that stabilized a muddy bottom, then built up into the water column to such an extent that the connected mounds modified their surrounding environment. As the reef aged, it began to offer an increasing variety of ecological niches, which fostered the first rich local biodiversity that has characterized all reef systems ever since. One dominant reef-building organism took the place of another, in a slowly evolving faunal succession.

Daughter has trouble with "slide" concept.

Ben 10: Alien Swarm

According to Wikipedia, Ben 10: Alien Swarm is a live-action film based on the Cartoon Network series. It is a sequel to Ben 10: Race Against Time.

The film is currently set for release in November 2009. According to the network site, the film will be rated TV-PG.

Directed by Alex Winter, the film's cast includes Ryan Kelley as Ben, Nathan Keyes as Kevin, and Galadriel Stineman as Gwen. Lee Majors was offered to reprise his original role as Grandpa Max but he turned it down. The role will be filled by Barry Corbin. The film will also feature Alyssa Diaz as a new character named Elena.

What I missed while attending Justin's Bachelor Party!

Haircut? I'm skeptical...

The lollipop guild

(comments by Nan)