Random Access

Friday – 19 March 2016
Fourth performance. Still having an amazing time.

Our AD, Jennifer, emailed me and told me that the gentleman for whom I’d been subbing in one portion of Act II would not be able to return to the show. She also asked if I’d mind continuing in that role for the next/last two shows. I told her that I would be happy to do so but, since I wasn’t walking out with my original group and not getting to carry the axe that I was supposed to have as a prop…

Eye of Horus standard and axe…

My axe… that I haven’t gotten to wield since our last rehearsal.

…that I wanted a commemorative axe to take home. (Hey, it worked for Samuel L. Jackson and his lightsaber, so why not ask?)

She totally hooked me up.

My new axe – IT GLOWS IN THE DARK!

So, I proceeded as a standard bearer for one entrance and returned to my group of Captains for the other two entrances.

We also received our Aida t-shirts tonight:

Front

Back

One other thing of which we were informed: Tonight’s show was sold out! That’s always a good thing.

There’s only one more show – Sunday matinee – so if you’re interested in seeing this amazing production, I’d suggest getting tickets soon.

Namaste.

Thursday – 17 March 2016
Not only is today #NoBadNewsThursday…
…it’s also Green Lantern Day!

John Stewart (art by Neal Adams)

Hal Jordan

The Green Lantern Corps

Or, as some people would say: St. Patrick’s Day.  (I’m fine with sharing the day.)

St. Patrick (image via Wikipedia)

Have a green day!

Saturday – 12 March 2016
(Some of this was written during my group’s break in the opera, some was written after.)

To liberate (in the name of the people!) a few words from The Muppet Show…

It’s time to put on makeup!
It’s time to light the lights!
It’s time to get things started
At [Utah Opera] tonight!

It is opening night for Utah Opera‘s Aida. I found out – as I was getting my costume on –  that I’m going to be filling in for another role for a couple of nights. No pressure. (LIES!) We did a rough walkthrough of my changes partway through my getting dressed. Different cues, entrances and exits. Yeah, no pressure. We did, however, head down to the stage, so that I could find my marks… five minutes before curtain.

Captain

Captains: Thomas, Richard, David, me, and Cayman

They just called us for our first walk-on. I’ll finish writing this after I’ve either rocked it or embarrassed my ancestors, family, progeny, and myself.

::: heading up to stage :::

::: back from stage :::

Nailed it.

For my second and third walk-ons, I rejoined the other Captains for our regularly-scheduled roles. (Nailed those.) Then, there was a lot of waiting in the Green Room for Act III, in which we had no part. Fortunately, the others waiting for their calls helped keep the mood light and fun. Then came the curtain call. And then, my first opera as a supernumerary was over.

After the show, was the cast party at Squatter’s Pub. It was a nice – if a bit cozy – gathering. It was nice getting to have a more relaxed social interaction with members of the cast and crew.

With Garnett Bruce (director)

With Roy Dawson (Guard) and  Derrick Parker (Ramfis)

With Jennifer Check (Aida) and Roy Dawson (Guard)

With Jonathan (Guard/Carrier) – no, we didn’t intentionally coordinate outfits.

On the whole, this process has been amazing. As I’ve mentioned many times before, it’s been great to be part of the production. Thank you to SaraRules!, Michelle Peterson, and Christopher McBeth for suggesting that I jump into it! Thank you also to Garnett Bruce, our director, for making my – and many others’ – first supernumerary role a fun and inviting experience. Thanks also stage management, cast and crew for providing an opportunity to check something off my bucket list that I never even knew was on it! (Two things, actually, but let’s not quibble over minutiae.)

One show down, four to go…

…but for now, bed.

Namaste.

Friday – 04 March 2016
A couple of weeks ago, I posted on Twitter and Facebook that I’m going to be a supernumerary in an opera – Utah Opera‘s production of

Aida (for performance details, click the image)

(And, no, the irony of being one of a handful of Black performers in an opera set in Egypt being performed in Utah has most definitely not eluded me. In fact, it amuses the Hell out of me.)

We’ve been in rehearsals this week (and part of last week, as well). So far, it’s just been staging and timing, without our costumes. And, for the record, there are going to be a LOT of bodies on the stage. And a LOT of moving parts. I was warned that being part of the production, even “just” as a super, was a totally different experience. It’s true. Seeing how it is all coming together to present this show has been very enlightening, especially for someone who hasn’t done anything on-stage since grade school. But, I digress…

In a Facebook post, I wondered how similar/dissimilar my costume would be from that of my former City of Heroes/current DC Universe Online character, Nefer-Tem…

Nefer-Tem (City of Heroes)

Nefer-Tem (DCUO)

Yesterday, I went in for my costume fitting. I’m in a headdress, tunic, cuirass, beaded necklace, belt, sandals, and a shenti. (For those who aren’t familiar with the term “shenti,” let me break it down for you: “man-skirt.” (Oddly enough, I knew the term “shenti” because of some research I did while playing City of Heroes. Yeah, yeah, I know… “Nerd.”) The headdress was close enough to make my inner fiend smile; what made it laugh was remembering a secondary costume that I did for Nefer-Tem:

Nefer-Tem: Alternate costume (The kilt was the closest I could get to a shenti. Go figure.)

Just add the tunic and swap out sandals for the wrapped boots and you’re pretty much looking at my costume for Aida. Yes, I do have pictures of the actual costume; no, I’m not posting them before the performance… mainly because I’m not sure if we’re allowed to show them prior to opening night. #sorrynotsorry

For those interested in attending the production, click here for ticketing information.

Thursday – 25 February 2016
Another fine day in the valley…

Long story, short version: Stuff. Things. Adventure.

The slightly less-abridged version is: I woke up a little early and did a short workout with dumbbells and a Swiss ball this morning. I went to work , dealt with the usual things, dealt with one not-so-usual-anymore thing, and even wound up having a coworker decide to have “Neal Day” and wear a suit in my honor.

Changing the work dress code, one coworker at a time…

Sara pinged me in the late afternoon to ask if I’d mind picking up Team DiVa, as she had to work late. That also put me in (nominal) charge of figuring out what to do for dinner. I delegated that responsibility to the little ladies. We wound up going to McDonald’s. It wasn’t a total loss, though, as they asked if we could eat there, so they could play in the PlaySpace. (An easy way to make my kids happy? Bet.)

After dinner, we arrived at home a couple minutes before Sara. Sometime between her getting a bite to eat and giving the girls a bath, I fell asleep. Quickly and rather deeply asleep. I missed bath time, but I was up for pre-bedtime prep.

The little ones are now asleep. I have read comics. And, I do believe that there is a nominal amount of gaming in the evening’s future. Selah.

Stray Toasters

• From the “I be done seen ’bout ever’thing when I see an elephant fly” file: ‘Juneteenth’ may become official Utah observance
• Hey, Sling, when are we going to finally hear something about the promise of BBC America on Sling?!
• I believe that I posted this a few years ago, but I saw it again today: The story of Dune, recreated with Gummi worms
• 
• From reactions I’ve seen on Facebook, lots of people are giving credit to Target for DC Super Hero Girls…. which kind of drives me nuts because they are simply a retailer who is carrying the line. For the background of the DC Super Hero Girls initiative, check out this article from Comic Book Resources.
• The Junior Rangers Program Teaches Kids to Love the Great Outdoors
• MUSICAL INTERLUDE
  • Three Legendary Guitarists Perform An Incredible Rendition Of ‘Sultans Of Swing’
  • Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn’s Cover of ‘Final Countdown’ Is Ridiculously Awesome
• What It’s Really Like to Work in Hollwood*

And, with that, it’s time to figure out what game to play…

Namaste.

Thursday – 11 February 2016
Today was supposed to be #NoBadNewsThursday. It started that way. About a hour-and-a-half into it, however… not so much. One of the servers at work decided to try a new trick:

• It was powered on.
• It could see – and transmit to – the network.
• NOTHING on the network could see it or any of the traffic it generated.

And, to make things even more interesting: This was tied to a production (as in “manufacturing”) system. So, it was “kind of” important.

To quote Dr. Sam Beckett: “Oh, boy…”

I – and a couple of network engineers – troubleshot it for about an hour before we came to the inescapable conclusion that it was not a network problem. Digging into things a little further, I saw that it was pending a reboot. That didn’t solve things. Next up: Check its updates queue. There were a few sitting there that needed to be run. So I let ’em fly. Reboot 2: Electric Boogaloo. Nothing. Well, that’s not entirely true. It started rolling back the updates. (That’s usually not a good sign.) I checked update error messages when it came back up and saw that they failed because the hard disk was full. As in “Zero. Bytes. Free.” There was a good bit of cursing on my part, to be honest. Then it was a dive into the storage array and VM systems to make space appear. Then present it to the server. That all worked. Then I tried the updates again. Lo and behold, they all went through with no problems. (There may or may not have been a few “Amens” and “Thank yous” that went up at this point.) And, almost automagically, networking traffic all worked again. I verified with one of the network guys and an end user that all was right with the world again… and it was. Selah.

Part of getting through the day included being taken to lunch by networking vendors. It was not only a good change of pace, but it brought my day back from the Precipice of Doom.

After work, I picked up Team DiVa from daycare. Home. Dinner and dessert. They even got in almost 20 minutes of Disney Infinity playtime before it was time to start bedtime prep. Selah.

Carve Away the Stone
I’ve made halting steps at getting back to the gym. Last night, I considered going… then I opted out, because it was damned cold outside. I did, however, still manage to get in a bit of a workout, courtesy of my dumbbells, Swiss ball, and a couple of suggestions from YouTube. Was it quite the same workout I would have gotten at the gym, no. But, I wasn’t just sitting on my duff doing nothing, either. I’ll call that a win.

Stray Toasters

• Every so often, Heaven, by Live works its way into my head. I have to say that it pretty accurately sums up how I feel about these two little ladies: 
  Here’s the second official video… and here’s Ed Kowalczyk doing an acoustic version, as well.
• In “WTF News” from the Land Behind the Zion Curtain: All-male panel in Utah votes to keep sales tax on tampons
  There are so many things wrong with that headline…
• Copyright trolls who claimed to own “Happy Birthday” to pay $14M to their “customers”
• Can you see these freaky dot patterns?
• In case you haven’t seen it yet, here’s the final trailer for Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice
• The History of Marvel’s No-Prize
• I enjoyed The LEGO Movie (as did most people on the planet). It’s common knowledge that I’m a fan of the Legion of Super-Heroes. So, it kind of goes without saying that I’m “most likely” going to wind up watching the next LEGO DC movie that comes out (in a couple weeks), Justice League: Cosmic Clash, as the LSH founders are making an appearance.

Alright, that’s it for now. I think I’m going to catch up on a show or two before calling it a night.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 03 February 2016

Drove to Millcreek in the snow
Nine-thirty on a Tuesday night,
Just to hang with the guys at the
Comic shop.
Call it impulsive
Call it compulsive,
Call it insane;
But when there’s trivia
We just can’t
Stop.

It’s a matter of instinct
It’s a matter of conditioning
It’s a matter of fact.

Call us geeks, nerds, or
Savants.
Ask us dates, names, or publishers,
We’ll answer like that
Lost track of time and I
Wound up losing two hours. Again.

Last night, I
Went to the gym
Got a midnight workout in
So I
Went to the gym
Got a midnight workout in.

With apologies to Barenaked Ladies, that about sums up last night, after Team DiVa went to bed. What was supposed to be a quick trip to the comic shop and the gym turned into a three-plus-hour excursion. But, I can at least take a modicum of comfort in the fact that I did make it to the gym.

On the other hand, I completely bollocksed my sleep schedule. Oh, well… sacrifices.

Stray Toasters

• I’ve been trying to decide what to do about recognizing Black History Month. Fortunately, TED made it easy: Talks to celebrate Black History Month
• The Super Bowl is this Sunday. Go, Panthers!
   versus 
• I’ve spent some of my past evenings building a new computer, rather than, say…. cleaning the train room.
• How Terminator 2 Should Have Ended: xkcd
• I have recently discovered the webcomic Molebashed.
• It’s official: Supergirl is crossing into the Arrowverse.

Tuesday – 25 August 2015
Today is my “Monday,” due to staying home with a sick little girl (and a non-sick one) yesterday. I thought that I might be able to squeeze in a bit of work, but opted to just hang out with them. And, in my humble opinion, that was the best call. We had a fun day. And, last night, we assembled a play castle for them.

Over the weekend, we also took them on their first visits to a trampoline park (for a friend’s birthday) and to the “planet museum,” as they have taken to calling the Clark Planetarium. Both were fairly big hits, although Vanessa was definitely not a fan of the “motion” in the movie – Perfect Little Planet – in the planetarium dome. To be fair, I don’t suffer from motion sickness, but I could easily understand how someone could succumb to it while watching that film.

Stray Toasters

• The Ravens lost to the Eagles this past weekend. At least it’s still pre-season…
• Disney Infinity 3.0 drops this coming Sunday.
• Last year, Amtrak announced their “Amtrak Residency” program. Marco Werman, host of PRI’s The World, was one of the writers who was chosen to take part in the project. Here is his write-up of the experience.
  • I just noticed that Fables writer, Bill Willingham, was also chosen to participate – this is his tale.
• An Atheist and a Mormon Debate What Does It Mean To Have Faith

Namaste.

Tuesday – 04 August 2015
So, this just happened:

Keith: Envision, if you will, Thanos doing the Ray Lewis dance.
Me: I can totally see that. Right after winking half of the universe’s population out of existence.

Keith: WOO!

(Images added for those who don’t get the references.)

Wednesday – 24 June 2015
Another No Bad News Thursday Eve is here. I hope that it finds you well.

I’ve mentioned that I was cast in Dr. Bill’s Discount Sychaiatry as part of the 48 Hour Film Project in a couple of previous posts (1, 2). Last night, there was a “Best of the Fest” award ceremony…

Some of the Dr. Bill’s cast and crew with Bill Higgins (center), Director of 48HFP -SLC

… and Dr. Bill’s won the Best Writing Award!

McCord and the Award

Congratulations to Andrew Malin and McCord Larsen for writing such a fun – and well-received – script! This is notable as it was the second script that they wrote: They had to scrap the first one after it became apparent that the location they wanted to use was unavailable. All of this on the Friday night they received the genre and criteria… and before rehearsals and shooting started VERY early Saturday morning.

It was interesting to juxtapose the reactions at the screening last week against the ones last night. Last week, there were assorted laughs and chuckles on the right beats, but the reactions last night were bigger. I’m assuming that the reason – or at least part of it – was because last week, our film was being screened with all of the other people in our group, so there was a pretty large personal stake for each crew as to whether their film would make the cut, so to speak. Last night, casts and crews from all three film groups were there and I think that helped alleviate some of the tension. I don’t know. Whatever the reason, it was nice to see hear that people enjoyed it.

I should also note that while there wasn’t an official “Best Comedy” category, Dr. Bill’s was the only comedy shown during the “Best of the Fest” screening… so we’re pretty much claiming the unofficial title of “Best Comedy.” Because we can. Q.E.D.

As I’ve said before, the cast and crew were great to work with and just… fun to be around. I’ve heard from others in the cast that Dr. Bill’s was a really well-oiled machine and that’s why things went as smoothly and quickly as they did. I hope to have the opportunity to work with them again.

And, before I forget, click here to see the finished project: Dr. Bill’s Discount Sychaiatry

And, keep watching after the credits.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 16 June 2015
Happy 36th Anniversary to my parents (well, one set of them, anyway…)!

They’ve been married for 36 years and are still going strong.

Otherwise, today’s been a pretty average Tuesday.

Workout
Made it to the gym for another #neverskipalegday workout… and even upped the weight on each exercise.

• Squats: 3 x 8 x 90 lbs
• Leg Press: 3 x 8 x 120 lbs
• Leg Extensions: 3 x 8 x 80 lbs
• Leg Curls: 3 x 8 x 80 lbs
• Calf Raises: 3 x 8 x 120 lbs
• Calf Raises: 3 x 8 x 100 lbs

Stray Toasters

• There were s’mores for dessert again last night…
  
• Oh, Steam Summer Sale, you are possibly a more harsh mistress than the moon.
• Marvel Congratulates Jurassic World on Beating The Avengers at the Box Office in the Silliest Way Possible

Back to it.

Namaste.

Monday – 15 June 2015
The new work week is under way. Where did the weekend go?! Oh, yeah… it was devoured by doing things. But, there was a fair measure of productivity involved.

Friday night we went to Noodles & Company, at Team DiVa’s behest. (Remember that point, it comes up later.) We haven’t been to N&C for a while, mostly because Diana decided a while back that she no longer likes macaroni and cheese. This was unfortunate, as we had long been able to get a regular-size bowl of mac and cheese and split it between them. They’d eat and life was good. So, we were a little surprised when they both said that they wanted to go. As much as I enjoy the food at Cafe Zupa’s, I was glad for the change of pace. So, we were off…

Vanessa boldly asserted that she wanted mac and cheese and Diana agreed to spaghetti with alfredo sauce and broccoli. Done and Done. There was a bit of… consternation on the girls’ part, when we got them water, rather than root beer.

*sigh*

We averted total drama meltdown by sacrificing my root beer to the girls. Shortly thereafter, the food arrived: Mac and cheese and spaghetti. Vanessa looked at hers and decided that she “…[didn’t] like that macaroni and cheese!” At the same time, Diana complained that she didn’t like her spaghetti, either. (It’s spaghetti. What’s not to like?!) Turned out that she didn’t like the alfredo sauce because it didn’t look the same as the sauce we used at home. Both girls resolved not to eat dinner.

::: braincramp :::

We got past macaroni disaster after Sara! stirred the shredded cheese in with the hot noodles. All of a sudden, it was the “right” macaroni and cheese! Hallelujah! One kid down, one to go. Diana still wouldn’t eat the noodles, but she was picking some of the broccoli out and eating it… as long as it didn’t have any of the alfredo on it. In an effort to both save our sanity and avoid sitting in the restaurant for hours, watching a child not-eat, I went and ordered a small bowl of spaghetti and broccoli. A couple minutes later it appeared, Diana was appeased and dinner was eaten. And I had a lovely serving of spaghetti and broccoli (with alfredo) to go.

The rest of the evening was relatively uneventful. Mercifully. A little after 8 PM, I received a message from my friend, Andrew:

Do you want to be in a movie, playing a well-dressed asshole at the bank?

With a line like that, how could I say “no?” So, I didn’t say “no.” And that’s how I wound up going to bed at 10:00 on a Friday night, so that I could get up at 3 AM to make a 4 AM call. About an hour later, I got another message, noting a change in venue. Still a 4 AM call, though.

Going to bed so early on a Friday seemed “wrong,” on many levels. But, I did it. Or, I tried to. I had the worst time getting to sleep. By the time the alarm went off, it felt more like a resignation to just get out of bed than having gotten a decent night’s sleep. Up. Shave. Dress. Go.

I got to the location with time to spare… and kill. The next five hours were spent learning lines, prepping, and shooting the movie – a short film for the 48 Hour Film Project. The cast and crew were great to work with and made it a very pleasant experience. “Pleasant” is an understatement, actually. It was a lot fun. I’ll post more about it when I can.

At 9 AM, I was done and headed home for Adventure #2: Going with Sara! to take Team DiVa to their first swimming lesson.

Poolside!

Things started off well enough. Then things went a little skewampus:

• The girls were listed as being in the wrong class – not the beginner class. (Quickly resolved)
• After a few minutes of dangling their feet in the water, Diana decided that “swimming” wasn’t for her. The reason: “I don’t know how to do that…!” The “that” in question was blowing bubbles in the water, which their instructor was showing the kids how to do.
• A minute or two later, Vanessa was out of the water, too. Same reason. No amount of reasoning could persuade them to go back in the water. Sara finally told them that we couldn’t go to Redfish Lake this summer if they didn’t at least try. Voila! Success! Children in water!

Not too surprisingly, by the time it was over, they said had a great time and wanted to do it again.

The rest of Saturday was a little blurry – mostly because I was horribly tired and undercaffeinated. But, nothing of great import happened. Sara! and I did cap off the evening with cocktails and a movie: The Sorcerer and the White Snake, a Korean film, starring Jet Li. It was a little disjointed – a good bad movie, possibly a bad good movie. The jury is still out. It wasn’t great, but I’m still not sure if it deserves LEGO bricks or lawn darts.

Sunday was “cleaning up” and “room rearranging” day, after breakfast and a trip to Wheeler Farm.

Playing at Wheeler Farm

Back home for lunch, a movie for the girls/nap for me, and then cleaning! We also rearranged the girls’ room for the first time since their beds went in. They seem to like the new layout, which is good, since they can’t really move the furniture by themselves and I don’t plan on moving it again for a few months, at least.

Workout
I made it to the gym this morning for a slightly abbreviated workout (skipped elliptical):

• Bench Press: 3 x 8 x 125 lbs
• Standing Shoulder Dumbbell Press: 3 x 8 x 30 lbs
• Dumbbell Fly: 3 x 8 x 25 lbs
• Dumbbell Curls: 3 x 8 x 25 lbs
• Barbell Curls: 3 x 8 x 40 lbs
• Wrist Curls (fwd): 3 x 15 x 40 lbs
• Wrist Curls (rev): 3 x 15 x 40 lbs

Stray Toasters

• The Steam Summer Sale is on.
• Sara! shared this with me a couple days ago: 37 Difficult Questions From My Mixed-Race Son
  Team DiVa has asked a few questions/made comments about being lighter than me or lighter than Sara; I’m just waiting for the big questions to hit…
• 21 Tweets That Hilariously Sum Up What It’s Like To Be A Parent

And, we’ll call that good for now.

Namaste.

Friday – 12 June 2015
It’s the end of the (work) week. Amen.

It’s been a good, though tiring week, as Sara! spent Tuesday through Thursday at Altitude Summit… including being a panelist on Wednesday. This means that Team DiVa and I had to fend for ourselves on those days. We all survived the experience. And, we even managed to do an art project and make s’mores in the process. I’d call it an all-around “Win.”

I even made it to the gym five days this week; I haven’t done that in a few years.

Chew on This: Food for Thought
My news feeds have been full of articles about Rachel Dolezal, president of the Spokane Chapter of the NAACP and how it appears that she has lied about being Black. The story apparently came to the national spotlight after her mother outed her. It’s interesting to note that this story is not about someone adopting or borrowing from a culture, but rather has asserted, to no small degree, that she actually is a member of that culture.

What I find curious is that no one has talked about the historical precedent for the reverse of this: Light-skinned Blacks “passing” as White. For decades in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, people of mixed race and fair complexions lived among the general populace, identifying as White… or at least claiming to be, when it benefited them. For a fictional account of such “passing,” I highly recommend reading Mat Johnson‘s Incognegro (1, 2, 3).

I don’t know of any stipulation in the NAACP’s charter that requires members to be “of color.” Hint: There isn’t one. ANYONE is welcome to join.

From the items that I’ve read, no one is calling into question her right to be a member of – or to be president of – the Spokane chapter, which is good. The whole issue seems to stem from her racial identification.

I am most curious to see how this shakes out.

Workout
I should probably log these before I forget. Again.

Monday

• Elliptical: 10 min/1.1 miles
• Lat Pulldown (long bar): 3 x 8 x 80 lbs
• Lat Pulldown (shortg grip): 3 x 8 x 80 lbs
• Row: 3 x 8 x 80
• Tricep Rope Pulldown: 3 x 8 x 70
• Standing Tricep Press: 3 x 8 x 70

Tuesday

• Squats: 3 x 8 x 70 lbs
• Leg Press: 3 x 8 x 100 lbs
• Leg Extensions: 3 x 8 x 70 lbs
• Leg Curls: 3 x 8 x 70 lbs
• Standing Calf Raises: 3 x 8 x 100 lbs
• Standing Calf Raises: 3 x 8 x 80 lbs

Wednesday

• Bench Press: 3 x 8 x 115 lbs
• Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 3 x 8 x 25 lbs
• Dumbbell Fly: 3 x 8 x 25 lbs
• Dumbbell Curls: 3 x 8 x 25 lbs
• Wrist Curls (fwd): 3 x 8 x 40 lbs
• Wrist Curls (rev): 3 x 8 x 40 lbs

Thursday

• Elliptical: 5 min/0.55 mi
• Squats: 3 x 8 x 70 lbs
• Leg Press: 3 x 8 x 100 lbs
• Leg Extensions: 3 x 8 x 70 lbs
• Leg Curls: 3 x 8 x 70 lbs
• Standing Calf Raises: 3 x 8 x 100 lbs
• Standing Calf Raises: 3 x 8 x 80 lbs

Friday

• Lat Pulldown (long bar): 3 x 8 x 80 lbs
• Lat Pulldown (shortg grip): 3 x 8 x 80 lbs
• Row: 3 x 8 x 80 lbs
• Dumbbell Overhead Tricep Extensions: 3 x 8 x 30 lbs
• Tricep Rope Pulldown: 3 x 8 x 70 lbs
• Standing Tricep Press: 3 x 8 x 70 lbs

Stray Toasters

• When this is posted, it will make my 7,000th Tweet.
• I’ve received quite a few comments over this morning’s Twitter post; I am still somewhat amused by the situation. I intend to address it with the appropriate people on Monday morning.
• Superhero Stance
• These Are Some of the Longest Movies Ever Made
• For Second Year in a Row, Female Readers Are a Growing Market
• How hip-hop can teach you to code
• It looks like there’s a new trailer out for Fox’ upcoming Fantastic Four.
• A card game that teaches kids about women in science
• This Chart Compares the Hidden Fees of Major Airlines Reward Programs
• After ‘Avengers’ Uproar, Marvel Planning a ‘Big Focus’ on Products for Girls, Women

I think that’s good for now.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 03 June 2015
It’s a sunny #NBNThursdayEve in the Land Behind the Zion Curtain.

Last night, I was putting Team DiVa to bed and, as they were getting into bed, they reminded me that “…we didn’t do a special story,” which is how I referred to Monday night’s D&D-style story. We spent the next ten minutes spinning a tale of their new adventure. (Yes, this made my inner #geekdad grin like a fiend.) They went to bed; I went to pick up this week’s comics. Win-Win.

I managed to make it to the gym this morning… after oversleeping. But, I went. I had a decent workout. Back home to help get Team DiVa ready for the day and out the door. And to get me ready and out the door, too.

Work’s been good and there haven’t been any major monkey wrenches thrown into my day, so I consider those all positive things.

Workout

• Elliptical: 5 minutes/ 0.55 miles
• Lat pulldown (wide grip): 3 x 8 x 70
• Lat pulldown (short grip): 3 x 8 x 70
• Dorsi Flexor row: 3 x 8 x 75
• Row: 3 x 8 x 70
• Standing tricep pulldown (rope): 3 x 8 x 70
• Standing tricep press: 3 x 8 x 70

Stray Toasters

• The balloon art of Masayoshi Matsumoto
  
  
• Samuel L. Jackson Is Not in ‘Captain America: Civil War’ and He Doesn’t Know Why
  To TPTB at Marvel: Fix. This. Now.
• TIL that Jack Kirby – yes, that Jack Kirby – worked on production design on Thundarr the Barbarian.
  • I also learned that the character was created by Steve Gerber, creator of Howard the Duck and the guy who resurrected the Guardians of the Galaxy property at Marvel.
• The Iceman List: Classic movie antagonists who were actually pretty much right the entire time
• ‘Suit Up’: NASA Documentary Celebrates 50 Years of U.S. Spacewalks

Quote of the Day
I found this quote as part of an interview with Joy Williams, formerly of The Civil Wars:

Moving on doesn’t mean neglecting my past.

I like it. It strikes me as an interesting corollary to a couple lines from Time Stand Still by Rush:

I’m not looking back
But I want to look around me now

Namaste.

Tuesday – 02 June 2015
Today hasn’t been bad, on the whole. Sure, there was that whole “getting a ‘Can you look at this…?’ call at 5:30 this morning” thing. A problem that rectified itself while I was still hearing about what was broken.

*sigh*

Of course, that was after I’d been in bed for about four hours, because I’d forgotten to do some laundry that I needed for this morning – gym stuff, not skivvies – and had to stay up long enough to wash things and put them in the dryer.

*braincramp*

So, this morning’s trip to the gym was lost to the need for more sleep. I could have gone to the gym on four hours’ sleep, but I did that yesterday and I don’t relish getting that little sleep on back-to-back days.

Last night, I tried something new with Team DiVa. Rather than doing  Blue’s Clues or Wonder Pets before bed, I decided to go with a bedtime story for the girls. So… I went downstairs, got a few D&D supplements  (like you do), and proceeded to spin a tale about The Gumdrop Pirates – Captain Diana and First Mate Vanessa – “continuing” a story that my father-in-law made up for them a few weeks ago and that Sara spun a tale about, a few nights ago.

I know what you’re thinking: “Why the D&D books?” Easy answer: They gave me picture references for easy associations on the girls’ parts.

Examples: I told them that pirates had to have a sword, so they picked out the types of swords they wanted to “have” from one of the books. I was also able show pictures of a dragon (one showed up) and townspeople (because they started in a port town).

The other reason was: While I wasn’t exactly teaching them to play D&D, I did tell the story in an interactive manner, much like the way a DM sets the scene for a player group: I gave them a very broad situation – going to a store or talking to travelers – and let them tell me what they wanted to do. The basic story had them setting out on their ship, getting to port, getting supplies, traveling to a cave to find treasure (candy and gold coins – hey, it’s what they said they wanted to find), and returning home.

It went over well, the ladies did a great job explaining what it was “they” were doing and how they did it. My inner geek was pleased. After I finished the story, they wanted to tell stories, as well. They each told a variation of the story I’d just told, but with embellishments. I was quite proud of how they each put their own spin on the story.

After the ladies went to bed, I went downstairs to spend some time playing Disney Infinity… which is how I lost track of time and forgot about doing laundry, until far too late into the night.

Stray Toasters

• Sara snapped this picture yesterday before dinner.
  

  Shirts: Pink or with pink on them…

• Why Do You Have To Say She’s Black?
• Acting TSA Director Reassigned After Screeners Failed to Detect Explosives, Weapons
• I really need to clean up the Train Room, so I can finish building the last section of the train table…
• This Comic Will Change the Way You Look at Privilege Forever
• Spock and Saavik, huh? Missed that one. Apparently, I didn’t pay enough attention during Star Trek III.

Namaste.