Letter to Augie and Joel for January 2008

Augie and Joel,


Well, when you look back on 2008, you will remember that on January 3rd during your winter break, your dad broke his leg in a spectacular accident on Powderhorn Hill. He broke his driving leg and had to hobble around the house on crutches for three months. He only left the house when we could scrape all the ice off of the sidewalks, trying to reduce the risk of a broken hip or perhaps a twisted elbow.

Thank you for the surprise 40th Birthday Party! I had so much fun. I had no idea! You did such a good job of keeping is secret. It was the best birthday party ever - even when Joely threw up in Raquel and Susan's bathroom. Do you remember the soup everyone made? And the nice wine and beer? and the salads and the cake? Do you remember that everyone chipped in to give me money for a new tattoo? And how Susan insisted that I indulge myself instead of paying the electric bill or some other mundane thing? And do you remember I bought the bossest spice rack in the history of online shopping instead? I was pretty indulgent.

Neither of you have said much about my frenzied decision to paint the kitchen in a new and spectacular color of blue. Did you notice? I am not sure what anyone thinks of it - someone said that "Blue is the one color that doesn't really occur naturally in the foods we eat".

Is that a complement?

Here are some photos of your cute selves (new blue kitchen included):





Needs a hair cut....

Got a hair cut...














Or how about those super cool Man U book bags that Sarah and Louise sent from England?














Or Augie? how about that nearly impossible, 600 piece puzzle of the world that Uncle Joel bought you?

Or Joel, do you remember playing the piano in your Birthday Suit?

Small Things One Never Contemplated

Like taking a 6-foot Christmas Tree down and out the door by yourself.

Call 1-800-The-Shit-You-Can-Accomplish-When-Your-Spouse-Is-In-The-Hospital-With-A-Broken-Leg for details

You know, I liked being shut down so much that I have awarded myself a sabbatical. For an unknown period of time.

Lately I haven't really had anything to say or write about. Thoughts and struggles that I want to process or need to work through, well for some reason (could be that awful google hit with my name on it last month) I am increasingly reluctant to process with the world of web users. Yes go on an mock me given that I have disclosed unlimited amounts of garbage in the last two years. But for me right now maybe it is time to stop writing and time to start acting.

Acting on what exactly I am not sure, but I have an array of things I can do to make myself a better person, so don't worry, it's not like I will be sitting around twiddling my thumbs.

The other thing is this; when I am around a computer - which is primarily at work- I have noticed that I need to be using it to do actual work. My job has changed and I haven't figured out yet how to have as much Blowable Computer Time as I used to when I was tied to a desk all day. Now I seem to be using (what was previously) Blowable Computer Time for things like leaving work early and making a casserole or doing the laundry or going running.

So maybe for now I am not going to post. Maybe next week I will decide to post, maybe not.

Keep checking in if you want.

Or not. Most of you can just call me and we can go out for lunch and I can process my personal shit over a bowl of soup a hunk of butter and a nice piece of bread.