Bittersweet

Our little Jesse will be two years old at the end of November. He's definitely growing up. He's vocabulary is getting larger and clearer every day. He's stringing words and thoughts together. He asked yesterday to pray for his Na-Nas and Pa-Pas. And he adores his little brother. It's amazing to see him grow up. I have to admit it's also a little sad knowing he'll never be a baby again. It's a good thing that we see this growing up happen slowly because sudden changes tear us up.

As silly as it is, we faced one of those sudden changes last night. Jesse had his first haircut. As much as we loved his fabulous long hair, we knew it needed to be done. He had to constantly brush it out of his face, eyes, and mouth. And, no matter what we dressed him in, strangers always thought he was a little girl. Seriously? He's wearing camouflage shorts and a muscle shirt with a fighter plane on the front and you're calling him Princess? Normally, that didn't bother me but it did get old after awhile. I always took comfort in knowing that our little boy was what's known as Man-Pretty.

Anyway, Jesse got his haircut at the local Cookie Cutters. At first, he hated it. He cried when the stylist just sprayed his hair with water. He did eventually calm down though there were still times when he really did not like what was going on. Cookie Cutters is, of course, very kid-friendly so he got to sit in a toy VW Bug and he loves to steer his Cozy Coupe so that helped. He also watched some tv which was fascinating because the only tv he ever sees at home is the weather radar channel (and usually he just jams to the Muzak).

He looks completely different. He looks like a grown up little man now. Yes, this kind of sudden change tears us up.

I still say he looks pretty dashing. I bet he still will have no trouble meeting the ladies.

Doc Savage: Brand of the Werewolf/Fear Cay

Brand of the Werewolf / Fear Cay (Doc Savage, Vol. 13)
by Lester Dent as Kenneth Robeson
Nostalgia Ventures
ISBN 1932806865

Man, what a find! Have I mentioned that I love libraries? I don't normally keep up on newly released books but I did wander through the new arrivals section of the other day. Much to my surprise, the library had purchased a large collection of reprinted pulp novels of the 1930s! Rows and rows of The Shadow! Volumes of Doc Savage! Superheroes before tights were all the rage! I was familiar with some of the character's histories but I hadn't read any of the actual stories. I limited myself to just one volume containing two Doc Savage stories, Brand of the Werewolf and Fear Cay.

While I found the book in New Arrivals, it should be noted that the stories date back to the 1930s. The first Doc Savage novel was published in March of 1933. For comparison, Superman was created in 1932 and first published in 1938. I believe I have those dates right. Now, if you're familiar with the earliest versions of Superman, you know he was a lot different than his current incarnation. He and the writing behind him were reflections of the times. Doc Savage is no different.

Savage is a renaissance man. He's incredibly strong. Through various exercises, he's heightened his senses to near superhuman levels. He's an engineer, a chemist, and an electrician. He's wealthy so cash isn't a problem. He even has a Fortress of Solitude before Superman had a refuge of the same name. He travels with a team of guys, all of which are the tops in their particular field. It's like Captain America meets the A-Team. They're a bunch of guys seeking adventure simply for the sake of adventure. They help others where there's no profit for themselves. I guess that's just a mentality I don't see much of these days. Sure, we still have superheroes but it just doesn't seem the same. Savage is more real. There's no element of fantasy involving radioactive spiders, gamma ray mutations, or alien power rings. He really is just a normal dude that's worked hard to be the best. This feels more attainable.

As for the writing, I'd say it was decent. The characterizations and some of the dialog amongst the main characters is a little repetitive. Ok, there were actually two consecutive paragraphs that were nearly identical so maybe is would be more accurate to say it was very repetitive. Then again, these were pulps. I don't know that they were ever expected to be more than disposable escapism. Anyway, the actual stories/mysteries are actually pretty good. I didn't find them to be predictable and that was good. There were enough twists and turns to keep it going.

The books were reasonably family friendly as they're clearly intended to appeal to adolescent boys. Keep in mind, though, that the 1930s was a lot different than the 2000s. This was before political correctness. Before society began sheltering children from, well, just about everything. So, while Savage and his team have a vow to never take another's life, people do get hurt and/or killed. People and they're dialog are often stereotyped. Something to keep in mind.

Anyday, in a world where basketball players get more praise than nearly everyone, Savage is a refreshing change.

From the Vault: Fortune Telling

I haven't posted for awhile. I've been a bit busy lately. To get the ball rolling again, here's a gem from the old scrapbook.


From the header of the paper, this was a "make-believe diary" of what I thoughts I would be doing ten years from the time I filled it out. So, here's what nine-year-old Brett thought nineteen-year-old Brett's day would be like. I'm reprinting them here for clarity and for spelling correctness:

7:00	I will be going to college.
8:00	I will be going to classes.
9:00	In computer room.
10:00	Going to vet (veterinary) school.
11:00	In artist class.
12:00	I will be eating at Arby's.
1:00	In library.
2:00	In scientist school.
3:00	Watching television.
4:00	Eating dinner.
5:00	Getting ready to go to arcade.
6:00	Going to the video arcade.
7:00	In the video arcade.

First off, I love the spellings/misspellings. Sintest school? Arabys?

But my favorites have to be my plans for the last three timeslots. That's three documented hours dedicated to the arcade. There's a full hour just to prepare (probably doing some kind of hand stretching). Another hour to get there. And at least one hour playing games. I have to assume there would be a fourth hour to get home. There's also probably an undocumented fifth hour to cool down from the intense gaming. And I have to think nineteen-year-old Brett wouldn't invest four hours in arcade warm-up/cool-down/travel for a single hour at the arcade. Surely there's another hour or two of gaming. That's six or seven hours or arcade! Where on earth would I find to time to keep up with my art school studies?

Unclutterer

Over the last year, my wife and I have been working pretty hard to clean up a lot of the stuff we'd managed to accumulate over our lifetimes. We've put comics and toys on eBay. We've sold things on Craigslist. A lot of stuff went to Goodwill. A few things were put on Freecycle. We've just gone through our very full 2-drawer filing cabinet and managed cut what's filed in half by shredding a ton of unneeded documents. I even sometimes find myself perusing the Unclutterer website for cool ideas on organization and, believe me, they have some good ones.

We've had a few reasons for doing this:

1. We have less space. We moved last year and now have one less bedroom and one less garage space. This, combined with the the addition of a new child, there's simply less space for stuff.
2. We have less time. With the growing family and a strong desire to really be with my family and my kids as they grow, there's less time to use/enjoy/mess with unneeded stuff.
3. Changing philosophy. I've had several collections over my lifetime...comic books, action figures, Transformers, etc. The problem was that, eventually, I lost interest in the collections and they just ended up packed up and stored. I've whittled this stuff down significantly. I'd really like to keep only those things I'm truly passionate about. Oh, I still love comics and action figures and other things...I've just gotten a lot more selective about what I get and what I keep.
   

Anyway, in many cases, our uncluttering has involved getting rid of things. But, there have been a few instances where simply meant making good use of space. Where my wife previously had most of a guest bedroom for crafting, she now has to share the dining room with my drawing table and the computer. We recently sprung for a Sauder Craft Armoire and it's worked out very, very well. It looks really nice. It has a ton of storage. And, when not in use, it really doesn't take up much floorspace. Plus, it keeps all the crafting supplies organized and on-hand rather than packed in tubs under the bed.

For me, I've had to get creative in the garage. Where we previous had space for three cars with one bay set aside for bikes, tools, etc, we now have a scrunched two-car garage. Bikes have been hung. Workbenches have been mobilized to allow the parking of cars. Most recently, I scored a sweet toolbox off of eBay. It's a monster. Big. Red. On casters. It was local and proves there really are some good deals still on eBay. Like the armoire, it'll keep my hand tools handy, dust-free, and organized.


There's still more to do. I'm selling things on eBay now. But, it's definitely getting better.