january 22

i’ll be going out of order for this past weekend as it was a very good weekend but the clincher was the snow. it was 36°F at 4pm and spencer and i looked out the front of target and huge flakes were floating down. he ran out and by the time i got out there [i forgot my credit card, it got rung up wrong, etc] it was back to sleet/slush/something — like i know. it wasn’t rain or snow.

the kids went crazy when flakes started coming down and sticking and we ran out to take photos in the dark. the news said 2 to 4 inches through monday at 5 but that seemed a bit overexagerated after looking at the radar and water vapor. the kids froze quickly outside and we put them to bed with hopes of more snow all night. that didn’t happen — we just had crunchy frozen snow in the morning. still very very beautiful and pristine, a definitie oddity here in the valley. schools are closed [yes, we can’t drive here] but the larger reason is that we were all planning to bring the kids to school late — all after we used up the snow in our yards. sarah has 4 cooped up monkeys at home.

i still chose to ride to work today. how could i not? it is a rarity, a special gift of sorts to have my route enveloped with whiteness. i left late and rode cautiously, the bike lane still encrusted with frozen snow. it seemed rather safe as it wasn’t solid, more like the reverse of a spiky tire — road still showing through. i crunched my way and caught up to a underclothed girl on a bike, her capri's nearing her knees and her shoes not much more than a ballerina slipper. i expected her to die before she reached wherever she was going. crossing speedway i stood and my rear tire spun a few extra turns without good traction. excitement conclusion #1: i will not rapidly accelerate. as i neared the kids school it looked as if it was transplated from some midwest locale — the bare trees had their branches topped with little lines of snow and the field was white. i was brought back to my role as cyclist as the ice was increasing on the road. the cracks parallel to the road were mounds of ice extending from the curb across my path. a small bridge with a storm sewers was my second bit of excitement as there was a slick sheet of ice running the length and completely covering my lane. without traffic i bypassed it, and from then on i paid more attention to what was further ahead.

[none of the snow photos below are mine, btw]

during all this i was just cruising. there was no need to hurry up the morning. as i neared golf links the snow was thicker and my lane was covered in unmelted snow [dang you cars, why couldn’t you have melted my lane?] a poor old gentleman was stopped at the intersection, waving to the officer in the middle and asking if he could turn right. the cop yelled back, very annoyed, with, «what? you are going to push through the two cars?» yes, it was closed. hooray for me, though, as my path was still a viable route. the next 6 or 7 minutes were the most beautiful. the path dropped away from the 8 lane road and i was in silence. no cars nearby, and the desert has a large buffer to any homes. i could have been in the middle of nowhere i was that alone. the path became a bit squirrely with faux bricks on the path, sliding my rear tire around just a hair and then i was into the trees. there was a lot more snow here than anywhere else, all the desert bushes bent nearly to the ground under this weight they rarely bare. at times the water on either side of the path was frozen into long sheets, and in many places snow was frozen onto its gray surface. grey? yes, the visibility had dropped down to 200' or less and with the larger trees creating a canopy over the trail i was once again in a place other than tucson. this isn’t where i was, but it was a combination of the two images below, both the amount of snow on the first and the gray from the second.

it was quite sublime, a far cry from the 108°F rides home in the summer, the parched desert shrinking from sight. now it was bold, faux-thickened and rich. if only i had brought my camera! argh. i hope to not regret that too much. even the next intersection was empty, barricades closing off aviation highway. i noodled along and i was fortunate that the new overpass was clear and open [though i did hit a sheet of ice the size and length of two sheets of plywood — time for some more squirrely riding]. i was glad i didn’t have to walk the bridge and the ice got worse as i rode into the office complex where i work. after i changed, it began to snow yet again. i’m writing this at 11.20 and we are still at 30°F. this is far better than the snow on easter that melted while we were in church, though that was a good 3-4 inches. it is looking dry and clear on the roads now, though our grass is still covered with snow. what a way to end a great weekend [spencer loved that it really was winter — he has been asking about the snow].

oh, one last thing — i went for a walk around 8.30 at night up to trader joes and back, enjoying the whiteness and the chill — in my shorts and flip-flops, of course. it was brisk and i kept my feet dry for the most part.

january 23

we watched some movie with brooke shields in it and near the end there was outtakes — she really does have the upper body of a man. just thought you might like to know.

january 24

i found this old dream of my sister which i believe it was from march of 2006.

it started out in some town that was like tucson, san diego and something european. i was sitting with my kids on a porch like old tucson and we were looking at a big building across the street and there was a huge (6 stories tall) puppet thing on stilts. we were trying to describe it, a potato head or something from the book "where the wild things are". then dann rides up on a red beach cruiser and i jumped up to greet him and told him he should get a bell for it. so then we start walking and we see this bridge way off in the distance. it is about a foot wide, concrete and all these girls wearing white shirts and red shorts are walking single file on it. then they would jump really really high and try to land back on the bridge. lots missed and they would plummet to their deaths. but then some were able to bounce and try to catch hold of the ones still on the bridge. so then dann and i turn the other way and walk past some houses and i point out dann's house and then 2 doors down is mom and dad's house. their house had funky stained glass pieces real long rectangles that came out a foot of so from the house. then we go up another street and we come to a 5 story building but because of the hills we are on the 5th floor on this side. it turns out it is a competition. at the top there is a water slide. kids slide down and then the bottom will open into random shapes (triangle, square, etc,) and then the kid has to dive out correctly. dann decides to give it a try. i tell him i hope he gets a circle. he goes down so i go into another room to see his score and see what shape he got. well there is a worker and a mom and her kid watching the really old little computer screen. i can't understand the symbols but the other screen (in the real old light green color) is showing what the spy blimp in this town was recording. dann's coworker carlos (do you even work with a carlos?) is running through the forest because he is a double murderer. no score for dann. so i go down the other side of the building to ground floor to find dann. it is like a hospital for all the sliders. i bust in the room before the one nurse can say anything. the room is full of little injured kids on beds. one named viktor taunts me saying dann is the next room and he is melting. i get mad at viktor but he is just a kid. so i go to the next room and dann (who looks really big because he is the only adult, is on a bed with a blue blanket. i pull the blanket off his head and he is only a torso to his belly button. he tells me he is melting. so i think of a way to bust him out. i remember the wheelchair in viktor's room. i know if i get him out he will get better (solidify?) and then i woke up.

we are all crazy like that.

january 28

after a late night out with the 4 couples [outback — woohoo!] i left with corcor in the morning to pick up one of her friends for a day of paintball with the church. i had borrowed a gun and i think i took the short range one. i should have taken the long range gun. i have only played once before, and i was never hit, but i believe that was 15 years ago. with 120+ kids and another 15 to 20 adults we had the rental van busy handing out gear. crazy dave was there with a $1,600 gun that shoots 35 rounds a second [it has an awesome feeder and has a computer that keeps it all running smoothly]. when we choose teams, i followed him to make sure i was on his. i got two other friends, randy and tank boy to join us. we sat out the first game [always 2 teams vs 2 teams] and then we got to go out. as corcor came out she said she got 15 kills or so, which was impressive. they were all butt shots. we think she was shooting the teammates she was paired with. oops.

45+ on 45+ is rather rough, and when the whistle sounded i ran for cover, then ran forward [falling so ungracefully, then lunging] to the next barricade. i was a bit behind it and i didn’t think of people lobbing shots. i was thinking rifle shots where it went in a straight line. whack whack i was out with a shot to the shoulder and one on my trigger finger that cut it open. yes, that is the same one. i cut it once a month now.

but damn. 8 seconds. i suck.

i got the hang of it later, but i still was pretty poor. most of the kids would hang back and my gun wasn’t up to the distance. i got a few kills here and there, my best in the largest field that was a series of houses [okay, sheds] and some great trenches. i would attempt to make a move forward and always get taken out. one time tank boy and i were in the trench and the balls were flying just above our heads with an eeire sound. there was no way i was poking my head up. on the second to last game i was taking kids out when i got shot dead between the eyes — what a shot. chances are it was just some kid shooting blindly. on the last game on a teeny field i got shot in the next but i didn’t feel it. as i think about it now, it was probably spray and i should have stayed in.

poor courtney. she shot herself in the leg one time, and then in the short haybale field she was one of the last 5 on her team. we screamed from the side for her to take out a guy that had just taken a forward position and she got him on the first shot. she was then winged and stood up with hands up [meaning she was out] and she got shot some more in the arm. she dropped her gun and ran off to cry. she has some monster welts. after a bit she was good to go again. on the way home she asks [possibly commands] «when are we going to buy some paintball guns?» we shall see. as we shot a few rounds in the backyard, trevs shot over the fence and hit alex's laundry. oops again.

last thing — i forgot that i was warned my many guys that there is a special danger in playing with small kids. an adult will shoot at chest height and hit you in the chest. kids are shorter and naturally aim lower. yes, i wore a hard cup for the day.

february 1st [yes, i cheated!]

i drove the kids to school today as i scored an old mac from a coworker for $100 and need to bring it home. he said $10 and i said no, i need to pay you real money. it is from mid 2004, the same time i got my current g5 which is still crazy fast. i think workability [?] is the greater key to speed. if you have to go up to the menu instead of using keyboard shortcuts, you shouldn’t gripe about a slow machine — YOU are the slow part. </gripe>

i noticed some form of car that trev might like and this is how the conversation went:

me: what kind of car is that, trevs?

trevs: oh, that is one of those big dodge cars.

me: neat

trevs: yeah, the homies like those because they like cars with the big front ends.

me: er, homies?

trevs: homies. homies are the cool guys that wear a lot of gold and wear their hats backwards and hang out in allies. cops come around and [then i couldn’t hear but there was something about skeletons]

i dropped them off at school thinking «oh man are my kids white»