Happy Father’s Day, to all of the dads reading this. I am also beaming my gratitude to all of you spouses, SOs, children, and friends who are honoring fathers today. Happy Juneteenth, to everyone celebrating freedom today. One way that we are free is by choosing which parts of history to spend time remembering and […]
My Brother Died, a Year Ago Today
A year ago, my brother, Norman Robertson, died. I was so f—ing angry for so f—ing long that… that… that I still don’t have words. Norman should have. Norman shouldn’t have. It was all his fault. Still is. You see that, don’t you? Thankfully, I am finally done with my anger even though my heart pounds as I […]
Kids and Parrots: More Fun than a Barrel of Monkeys
Here is Robin Hood, playing “catch” with our grandsons, Caedmon and Silas.
True Love
Sometimes I get lucky. Sometimes I know it’s true love. Who else but my beloved bride would let me keep the tail of my airplane in the kitchen???
Thoughts on Boy Scouts and Gays
I have always been ambivalent about the Boy Scouts of America. The programs are tremendous. Boys learn a lot and have a ton of fun. But… the Boy Scouts have traditionally told its members that gay men and boys, ranging from 10% to 20% of the US male population, is not welcome. While not openly criticizing […]
Lucky
Few wives are as lucky as Candy. Not only does she have a freshly spray painted rudder push-pull tube drying in her dining room, but it is hanging from her chandelier! I’ll bet that none of her girlfriends have anything anywhere near this cool. Then again, maybe I’m lucky that she lets me build […]
Missouri Teachers Challenge Facebook Ban
Good news: The Missouri State Teachers Association (MSTA) filed a law suit on Friday challenging Missouri Senate Bill 54, also known as the Amy Hestir Student Protection Act. The MSTA has asked the court to block implementation of the law pending a review of its constitutionality. In addition to the problems that I cited in […]
Bad Policy: Forbidding Social Network Contact Between Teachers and Students
Missouri is in the process of implementing a particularly bad law, forbidding contact on social networks between teachers and students. Formally, this is Missouri Senate Bill 54, the Amy Hestir Student Protection Act. The aim is laudable: protect vulnerable kids from predacious educators. Unfortunately, the law as written, and as being implemented by the school districts, […]
Mom in Six Words
The New York Times contest http://nyti.ms/jrcSki inspired me, so here goes: six words about my mother: My greatest cheerleader never stopped believing. Mom’s love and food cure all.
Delightful Dialog
This article is hard to write not because of any uncertainty about what I want to say but simply because I want to gently suggest an idea to you. I do not want to come across as a know-it-all and raise your defenses. Maybe I worry too much. I am quite sure that you are […]
Be Your Child’s Biggest Cheerleader
As I was running the other morning, I jogged past a mom who was shepherding her little ones out the front door and over to the school bus stop. The mother was a few steps behind her young daughter and I caught this snippet of conversation: Mom: You have a spelling test today, Susan. I […]
Around the Bend
We just watched Around the Bend with Michael Caine, Christopher Walken and Josh Lucas. To say that it was way better than I expected would be a gross understatement. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the family secrets slowly reveal, the characters slowly grow together, and the idiosyncrasies slowly resolve into sense. There were moments when I chuckled […]
Griffin Up! Save Saab
David, my younger son, co-organized the St. Louis Saab Convoy last weekend. Despite miserable weather, the St. Louis Swede Speed club got about 25 people to bring a dozen cars out for the St. Louis Save Saab Convoy, urging GM to sell Saab rather than close down the line. Fox 2 News even covered the […]
Kudos to David
My hat’s off to David who is finishing up Fast Track Calculus this morning at Rose-Hulman. For those of us who are not entering freshmen engineering students with a yearning to get the calc out of the way, FTC is a full year of calc compressed into just five weeks. David and friends: XKCD must […]
David at Rose-Hulman
Candy and I dropped David off at Rose-Hulman yesterday. He is taking their Fast Track Calculus program, 15 credits of calc in just five weeks. Whew! After that, he gets a week off and then dives into his freshman year. Here are a few photos. (Click to see them larger.)
Caedmon’s Growing
Candy and I got to see Caedmon, Cindy, Geoff, Becky and Derek yesterday. Caedmon sure is getting big. (Click the picture to jump to the photo album.)
It’s a Boy!
Cindy and Geoff did a great job and produced Caedmon Geoffrey, a wonderful, healthy baby boy at 7:12pm on May 20. He’s 9 lbs 1 oz, 21 inches tall. His plumbing works so well that he peed on the doctor during delivery. I take that as a great omen!
Newborn Feeding Patterns Correlated to Adult Sleep/Wake Patterns
Researchers have found a strong correlation between newborn feeding patterns and the seemingly immutable “night person” or “morning person” patterns which govern our adult lives. Dr. Emily Erudita of the Hatch Institute of Mamalian Studies reports in today’s issue of Pan Generational Physiology, In a study of 1,063 adults, 97.2% of the “night people” had […]
Happy Anniversary To Us
Today, my beautiful bride and I have been married ten years and I’m looking forward to at least another 10,000. I hope that you, too, find the love of your life.
Dr. Lester Start, Ph.D.
I very much enjoyed the time that I got to spend with my father-in-law, Lester Start. Sadly, he was taken from this world much too soon. My wife and her siblings have created a web site as a publishing platform for his sermons and talks. Please visit Lester Start’s Works.
