Cheddar Express

Recovery

2007-10-30T01:29:00.001-04:00

Bunny on a tiger, waving
Originally uploaded by lostonpurpose

So, we went to the zoo for the Pumpkin Prowl. Generally a good time as Kathy found a cute bunny suit. Funniest part of the night was when a kid got on the carosel in front of the B wearing a Poe (of Teletubbies fame) costume...well, just the head. The B got kind of freaked out by seeing Poe with just the head (she got her very serious look). But by this picture she had recovered and was waving at Mom and the grandparents.

Mike and I

2007-10-09T23:31:00.001-04:00

cornerwork_tom
Originally uploaded by sethsdisciple

Goodbye Mike

2007-10-09T22:40:00.000-04:00

So, uh, my brother died.

I'm doing alright I guess, with a lot of people supporting me (and I appreciate all of the big and little things that people have done for me over the past few weeks). I guess, at the end of the day, one of the things that makes me not let myself get too low is the fact that I can think of 7 people who are going to have an even harder time than me. I can't imagine what it is to lose a child. Sometimes I can make my mind go the slightest little distance towards imagining, and literally start feeling nauceous. Or to lose a partner so out of the blue (this was one no one saw coming). Or to lose a father before you're out of high-school (or grade school).

Mike was 11 years older than me, which meant that I didn't truly get to know him when I was growing up. He was my idol and my role model. Literally my hero. Having lived in St. Louis a couple of times now since I got out of college, I treasure getting to know him as an adult.

He was the reason I aspired to go to Notre Dame. He was the reason I became an engineer. I was the reason I went to work at the airplane factory. He was the reason I indulge my silly side. He was the reason I was a cyclist. His passions were infectious in every way. He was also the reason that I believe I am a good husband and father. He is still my role model even now. If you ever met his kids, or saw how he loved and adored his wife, you know why.

There some very wonderful moments looking back on Mike's life trough pictures as Kathy and I worked with Mike's kids to put together a slide show for his after funeral party (he always said that if anything happened to him, he wanted a party where people remembered the good times instead of dwelling in loss). There were also some very startling moments. A couple of them I can talk about here.

Do you know that my lucky number is 29? Whenever I play on some goofy rec sports league, 29. It was my number in youth hockey. 29 is a "goalie number", meaning that hockey goalies often take that number (typically 1, 29, 30, or maybe 31). I always assumed that I got it from some Univeristy of Wisconsin goalie (maybe Marc Berend or someone like that). When we were going through the pictures I came upon Mike's individual shot from the Notre Dame varisty team. He had walked on to the team (meaning that he was playing for the love of it, with little to no hope of ever playing in a game). I looked on his shoulder. #29.

By the way, I still remember the day in 3rd grade when I got pulled out of school and we went bombing across Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana to get to South Bend in time to see Mike warm up for a game. He was always the number 4 goalie, but that year one of the 3 scholarship goalies was hurt, and the backup smashed his stick against the boards in a practice pissing off the coach, so Mike got to dress that night (in hockey, 2 goalies dress each game). What a cool day.

I really thought I was kind of cried out and in control on Monday morning (the morning of the funeral) when we went to the funeral home. One last chance to say goodbye. But I was absolutely shattered when I saw my dad up front alone, and went to stand with him. The last thing he said, so matter of factly, was "bye Mike." For me, that 2 seconds will always always always be the definition of "loss".

May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
May the rains fall soft upon your fields,
And, until we meet again,
May God hold you in the hollow of His hand.

1 Under .500

2007-08-29T00:45:00.000-04:00

Unbelievable...

As I can clearly not make them play worse by talking about them, I'll say that heads should roll for the total inability to motivate this talented bunch.

14 games over no more.

The B's First Yardsale

2007-07-13T00:11:00.001-04:00

Like mother, like daughter
Originally uploaded by lostonpurpose

Fortunately, a solo crash and she bounced right back up.

We'll have to see how long it takes her to figure out the whole pedals thing.

She has now been on the bike 3 less times than I have this year (and she's been on twice). Ug.

Overdue

2007-05-20T20:02:00.001-04:00

Jose
Originally uploaded by sethsdisciple.

Ok, this is long overdue, and I can't help but thinking that the Brewers are paying an enormous Karma penalty for my tardiness. So, without further ado...

(Girard, start the counter)

Oh Jose, how you run so fast
In the race to second, the ball gets there last

Oh Carlos, how you hit the ball so far
Sometimes it flies over the apple and hits some guy's car

Oh David, you get so many hits
Your skills smash other teams to bits

Ok...I was going to do the whole lineup, but this has obviously gotten silly. Well, maybe not gotten.

I'll just say that the Mets smoked the Brewers last Sunday in a pretty ugly fashion, and now have the best record inthe NL. A very good team...I would be happy if my team did that well. They took 2 of 3 when the Brewers had their 1-3 pitchers going and the Mets didn't.

(Ok Mikey, stop the word count, but but I'm hoping the poetry and picture get me the rest of the way to 200...oh, and thanks for beating up the Cubs too).

I know I've been quiet...

2007-05-02T23:36:00.000-04:00

But there is only one (non-the B related) thing I'd be likely to write about these days, and the second I did, it would all go bad. So I'm not saying a word. Not. One.

If I had to bet...

2007-03-29T00:15:00.000-04:00

I would say that whoever invented Rock/Paper/Scissors had a 1 1/2 year old.

I could have invented it today, except it would have been Rock/Acorn/Dandilion.

The B spent our walk today swapping one for the other for the other. But after a couple of minutes, I picked up on the pattern.

As we left the garage, she picked up her customary 2 rocks from our garden (one for each hand...they are the chalky white kind). She toddled along, occasionally throwing them down, but only for a physics experiment, because she picked them right back up each time...that is, until she came to the acorns. Now, I have noticed on past days that acorn beats rock, as she discards the rocks totally. She then walked along doing more physics experiments with the acorns (as I picked the white rocks out of the neighbor's lawn and stuffed them in my pocket).

But today there was a new evolution, as spring has sprung in these parts, and there were dandilions about. And so, when she came upon the dandys, she threw the acorns and sat there playing with the flowers...she wouldn't move! Clearly, Dandilion beats acorn.

By that point, I was about ready to get back home, but she didn't want to leave the dandilions...I'd take her hand to lead her away, and her legs would turn to jelly. Dandilions...baby crack...who knew?

But you know what beats dandilions? Rock baby! Good old rock. I pulled them out of my pocket, she squeaked, and chased me back towards our place, weeds completely forgotten.

All I'll say is that whoever invented Paper/Scissors/Rock isn't a very good parent. Whoever heard of letting your 1 1/2 year old play with scissors?

Gimme Your Top 5

2007-03-21T18:23:00.000-04:00

TCG cards! Now, this list can be done from a ton of different points of view. I'm looking for "most fun/interesting"...cards that just kind of make you smile when they are played, no matter who played it.

My list:

5. The Cave Troll - LotR
That guy rocks...perfectly caught what that beast was in the movie.

4. Hunt Down and Destroy the Jedi - SWCCG
I just love the names, espeically the payoff of "Their Fire Has Gone Out of the Universe"...I still don't know how we made that fit on the title line.

3. Madness of the Bard - Vampire
Rhyming is fun
Now I have to run

2. Ass Wuppin' Lynch Mob - Rage
Best Card Title Ever.

1. Rain of Walrus - On the Edge
"A fortunately rare weather phenomenon."
Best Lore Ever.

Honorable mention goes to the card from On the Edge that made you draw a moustache on the Mona Lisa before you could legally play it, and to "Head Shot" from Highlander...the perfect implementation of an alternate victory condition.

Ride of the Sleepy B

2007-03-21T00:52:00.000-04:00

I took the B out for a bike ride yesterday with her uncle and cousin. A good time was had by all once we figured out to tuck a sweatshirt behind her back in the trailor seat to keep her helmet from falling down over her eyes...she seemed to dig it, though she fell asleep about 2/3 of the way through (after about 30 minutes).

I look forward to doing that a lot, though being my first time back on the bike in...uh...forever, my saddle bits are feeling it today. I'll try to get some pictures next time.

Bride and Prejudice?!? WTF?

2007-03-10T10:02:00.001-05:00

Bollywood-a-polloza
Originally uploaded by sethsdisciple.

I seem to be on some sort of Pride and Prejudice kick lately. Kathy had been watching the Keira Knightly version on cable for a while last year, even buying it (and the sound track!) eventually. I kind of paid half attention to it (enough to get the conclusion a few times, but none of the first two thirds really).

When Joe and Erika stayed a few days over Christmas, we watched with them (both versions!), but there was lots going on, so I somehow managed to duck most of the plot again. BUT, when we were out buying audio books for the trip to Denver, I found PandP for 20 bones (which is a great deal for a 10 disc audio book). We didn't listen on the trip, but I've been working through it on my way to and from work. I finally got caught up to the part where Darcy fixes everything that he broke, so on Thursday we watched the DVD again, this time I actually paid attention from the beginning. I thought this was kind of the end of the road for this kick.

Then, this morning during one of my "Saturdays with the B" sessions, I was tripping through the movie tier looking for something to throw on in the background, and saw "Bride and Prejudice." Huh? The description reads "Director Gurinder Chadha ("Bend It like Beckham") has her cast sing it like Britney and Usher in this breezy tunefest which updates Jane Austen's 1813 novel to 21st century India."

Really? Well, I like Bend It Like Beckham. The B likes music, so what the heck. Besides, I've never really seen a Bollywood musical, and I do like the music in BILB.

So far the B has danced, the dad has turned out to be the same dad from BILB (who I really like), the mom has turned out to be embarrasingly screwy, and Bingly has turned out to be Said from Lost (which was a nice surprise). But the music hasn't been all that fun...hoping it gets better.

Edit: Holy cripes, Rori from Gilmore Girls is Darcy's sister. The adaption of Collins is fun too.

I Miss...

2007-03-08T22:23:00.000-05:00

...telling someone to wear the hat. Foo.

Rotation

2007-03-05T22:08:00.001-05:00

Benny
Originally uploaded by sethsdisciple.

No, not that rotation. I want to talk a little bit about the concept of rotation in a TCG. I've enjoyed the discussions going on related to the insert cards, so I thought I'd see what people think about this issue.

So, here is my theory.

For a TCG to have sustained legs longer than, say, 2 years, regardless of the strength of the IP behind it, rotation is a must. And here is why.

TCGs are at their heart, a hobby. I think that most people, even those who are completely passionate about their hobby, burn out after a year or two (maybe three). Don't get me wrong, there are exceptions who go on and on (look at the people showing up over on CK's blog), but most move on.

So, a TCG, to have the afore mentioned legs, must have new players. As a generalization, new players are not willing to buy into a game with a thousand cards of backhistory (or more!). Both from a learning curve point of view, as well as a purchase level required point of view. Otherwise, a player may enjoy a free demo involving a limited card set, but when they realize the towering pile of history about to fall on them, they go in another direction.

What does this mean a company making TCGs? Well, here is what I think. They need to either annouce rotation from the beginning (and *cough cough* stick to it), or decide that they are doing a game that they want to last about 2 years, and plan a new game to pick up when that one (inevitably) runs out of steam and can't get new players.

What does this mean to games I worked on in the past?

Interesting question...I've been chatting a little with Jason about it and he raised some interesting points along with a little model. I'll let him present it here if he wants. When pressed for an opinion, I would say that it could have added a couple of years of life to LotR, assuming are marketing department focused completely on getting new players...not something it seemed like they had a lot of sucess with (see earlier theory on lack of rotation foiling them). SWCCG? It would have had to have been instititued by 1997 to have a prayer, and our design team didn't have the understanding back then to really make take advantage...to be clear, only WotC apparently did (when did they announce the policy?).

I guess the evergreen SWCCG community would argue that rotation would have done more damage than good. They still haven't rotated a card out, have they? I don't claim to have paid much attention to the structure that currently backs their play, though I hope they still get some joy from the game (but for gosh sakes, they should be nice). Anyways, I'd argue that is their fanatical "never going to burn out on the hobby" community doing rotation in their own way by redesigning stuff they don't like.

Anyways....curious what other poeple think.

Quick Thanks

2007-03-04T22:21:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to thank everyone for the hospitality last week. It was great to see everyone (and thanks for dragging yourselves out on a weeknight). Things I learned: Bison...eh, about like ground beef; a pair of 6s does not beat AQ with a Q revealed on the flop (so REMEMBER what your cards are, not what you had a couple hands ago); an air matress can hold me.

Back in the midwest now, and happy to see my girls. I wish I could get to the zoo with Kathy and the B this week, but maybe we can get to the magic house to splash around on Friday.

5 Favorite Villains

2007-02-25T11:11:00.001-05:00

Hans-gruber
Originally uploaded by sethsdisciple.

I know who my favorite movie villian is. It probably would have been Darth before, but knowing who the guy under the mask is now, I have a very hard time taking him seriously.

5. The Terminator

4. Mr. Smith in The Matrix

3. The Predator

2. The Alien Queen

1. Hans Gruber

Who are your faves?

Game Design Question...

2007-02-23T23:53:00.000-05:00

What if...

Inserts had been face up, turned sideways, and not shuffled it, but had come with instructions on how far down they should be sunk when played. Whould they still have been a bad idea?

And for you CK, I told the story of the Worlds we officiated today. The things I remember:

1. It was operative time.

2. I caught the 2nd place guy cheating in the final, and even though I wasn't allowed to intercede (thank you, CW!), I still actually saved the final from being won by a cheat by pointing out that Matt could count his opponent's differential to verify it...and I remember the look of "I don't get it" on his face when the total he got differed significantly (and by enough that it would have swung the match) than what MR (that cheating fuck) reported.

3. Didn't someone have an infinite loop deck there?

4. MAN, did I mess me up some Jedi testing rulings.

Anything else you remember about that weekend CK?

Just a Little Sad

2007-02-23T01:15:00.000-05:00

Tonight was the series finale of The O.C. Admittedly, I'm an unbelievable sucker for shows like this. Couldn't tell you why.

And as bad as the show was last year (and it was horrible...the St. Louis T.V. critic attributed it to the mistake of actually asking Misha Barton to act), this year it bounced back pretty well and made me smile a few times. I'll miss it.

It Was Again Empty Seat Night...

2007-02-21T08:07:00.000-05:00

At the blues game
Originally uploaded by lostonpurpose.

But we had a good time. Brigid made it through 2 2/3 periods of her first hockey game.

Girlfriend got her first taste of cotten candy (after 10 minutes when she finally believed it was food and not carpet fluff).

The Blues had an overtime victory (which we heard in the car on the way back home...we left with 8 minutes left).

Overall, a great night.

Back on the Wagon

2007-02-20T00:15:00.000-05:00

This is what having a 1 year old is like
Originally uploaded by lostonpurpose.

Ok, this is a test shot really. This picture is so cute (to me!!!) that I'm hoping to leverage it into posting some more again. Wish me luck (or lack there of if I tend to bore you).

Lets start with this. An update on my TV watching:

Sundays

They moved The F Word! That sucks, but it looks like a little mini marathon is coming up one of these days on The Beeb (did I use that right Kathy?).

Rome is currently on, and really seems to be the case these days, I look forward to this HBO show more than just about anything else on TV. Shame the seasons are so short and infrequent.

Mondays

If 24 is on, I guess I'll watch it most of the time (but am perfectly content to play Civ IV in the background while it is on).

Studio 60...I didn't really realize it until Kathy pointed it out today, but it really seems to be loosing steam. Bah, shame really. She had some good guesses about why...basically becoming a soap opera, and the characters that I like (the performers on the show) getting almost no material these days.

Tuesday

Gilmore Girls. I do like the fast talking. The season has been ok, though the less Christopher, the better, but fortunately it seems to be moving in that direction...he is just...so...boring.

Veronica Mars. Really seems to fall into the same category with 24...fine background noise.

Wednesday

Happy to have Lost back. I seem to be one of the few that could have stuck with Jack, Kate, Sawyer and the others longer. Oh well, I do like the way the guy from the hatch uses "brother"....reminds me of how my best friend from High School used to talk.

Thursday

I love me some Earl and Office. Nothing too spectacular this season, but I've enjoyed 'em.

The O.C. has been MUCH better this year. Reminded me of the first season. That being said, it is probably fine that this week is the series finale. Kind of out of story lines. I really thought they should have killed Ryan Atwood off, like they were trying to play it as last week... would have been great closure.

Friday-Saturday

College Hockey and EPL kind of sum it up.

Deep Thought For The Day

2006-11-13T21:39:00.000-05:00

Today I realized that running is a good way to tell what you ate that day, but in reverse order. For instance, tonight was Spaghetti, Blizzard, Chili. I guess that is what I get for stetching to 2.5 miles.

Jailbreak!

2006-10-16T23:29:00.000-04:00

She grabbed the support all on her own
Originally uploaded by lostonpurpose.

287.5 - 1960 - 573

So I was messing around in the kitchen (making eggrolls, which turned out poorly), and for the first time, I looked down in the breakfast area and saw the B banging her toy on the floor and grinning up at me. She had defeated the containment field in the living room (to be clear, she was 4 feet beyond the living room when I saw her). Her first Houdini...first of many I'm sure.

Just Remember...

2006-10-13T00:38:00.000-04:00

289.5 - 2000 - 0

"Nobody wants a chubby cat who weezes after he takes a duke."

For CK

2006-10-10T23:12:00.000-04:00

??? - 1353 - 0

I refuse to look until the new diet has had a couple of days to stabalize. Think 289-294. Be optimistic for me.

Because Chuck asked, I have included a link. I've been playing the DROD demo...think dungeon crawling (sort of) crossed with Lemings (which I have missed), but you can stop the clock (turn based, but they don't move until you do, click by click).

And now, I sleep, for tomorrow morning I run.

The Diet is Dead, Long Live The Diet!

2006-10-09T23:55:00.000-04:00

A little smile on the train
Originally uploaded by lostonpurpose.

Ok, so I guess after the weekend binge, and the burrito for lunch followed by a pizza for dinner, it is time to close the book on the diet. HOWEVER, I'm going to roll right into another diet. I know, it makes no sense. But maybe it will work for me!...I just couldn't have this binge on the conscience of the first diet which served me a big 30 pound loss.

By the way, go check out the maniphesto games website. There are actual games with actual game design there. I've been playing some of the demo games. These are not 10-20 million dollar budget games, and no doubt some of them suck eggs. But there are going to be a few which are fun (and affordable). These are games that rely on the fun more than the pixel count.

I'm thinking about dropping $20 on the bridge construction game. Kathy would be completely unsurprised.

2 Hours of Brutal Crap

2006-10-07T08:53:00.000-04:00

I guess I should have known this was coming after the mini-episodes bored me to tears (though admittedly, I stopped watching after the first four because it was so boring).

The problem with the characters is that (with the possible exception of Starbuck) there is no one to cheer for. They have all done something so stupid or evil at this point, that they deserve whatever they have coming to them.

The problem with the writing is that even if there were good bits (and I'd have to have someone point out the good bits from last night), I still have to sit through all of the horrible crap to get to it. Lee went "soft" and became a fat fuck in a year? Adama can no longer get pilots to run drills? in a year? Hey, everybody married everybody! And some had kids!

And I get it. You think we should have sympathy for the Iraqis blowing themselves to shit. I certainly disagree with that sentiment, so all of the "drama" of that is lost on me. It is especially inane because they can't actually hurt the Cylons (they just reboot) and the Cylons acting all concerned because the humans didn't have power for a couple of weeks was more terrible writing. So we should have sympathy for the people who were idiots in the first place and came down to the planet ("der, the Cylons will never find us here, der"), and no are mad about it so they blow each other up out of spite. If Adama really had 2000 people left on those ships, he's got enough DNA that he should have just kept going.

And ug, the Cylons needing whats his name to sign the execution order so that God wouldn't hold them responsible for murder...I should have turned it off then.

Blocks!

2006-10-03T22:25:00.000-04:00

A Boy And His The B

2006-10-03T22:10:00.000-04:00

Watching the traffic
Originally uploaded by lostonpurpose.

287.5 - 1384 - 1255

Survived the commute to work today. My knee (the "at risk" part of my bike commuting) doesn't seem to be griping too bad yet. I guess we'll see tomorrow morning. I think the weight loss helped, and I just went nice and slow up the hills. Looking forward to a lot more if the knee holds up...and then I have to get the good bike out for some rides (including hooking up the Burley and taking the B for some rides...must buy helmet).

I'm excited about the back to back Logan hours on the new CW! I can see at this point that my Tuesdays are shot. I really need to be able to purchase cliff's notes for V Mars though...I'm just not smart (or attentive?) enough to keep all of the plot lines straight. Who was the mope who shot Keith?

My neph and I had a great time at the ND game this weekend (even though we got totally soaked during the 3rd quarter). I do like when we beat Purdue. Irish really should only have one loss when the play SC at the end of the season. Thank god they figured out that Zibikowski has no business trying to be anybody's deep help. My favorite part of the weekend was the band and the drummer's circle before the game...I'm a sucker for drum cadences.

More Updates To Come

2006-10-03T00:56:00.000-04:00

Goofy grin
Originally uploaded by lostonpurpose.

290.5 - 1158 - 365

In honor of the car being in the shop, me going more stringent on the diet (20 lbs by Turkey day!!!), and the need to start training for a century next spring, I'm going to see if 30 lbs of weight loss means I can bike commute to work.

In other news, I scored my first organized soccer goal yesterday! I told Justin I was probably a little too happy about it, but he said to enjoy it, as who knows the next time you'll get one. So true...especially as it has taken me 34 years to get my first.

Wanna Bitch to Charter? Go Here

2006-09-26T00:49:00.000-04:00

292.5 - 1400 - 120

Ok, so this is really for Kathy (cause I can't email her the url because neither of us can get at our web-mail). here.

In other news, season premiere of Gilmore Girls tomorrow!

The Packers won. The Cards are making EVERY effort to blow the division. ND salvaged their season. My soccer team won for the first time in franchise history (1 year and 2 games). The Brewers swept the Giants. And I'll even throw in that the Redskins won (The B's team).

The diet is still towards the front of my brain, but a lot of really tempting food has pinged me back a bit. I haven't really lost ground, but it hasn't progressed as much as I'd like. Gotta buckle down again.

Oh, and I caught Studio 60 blah blah blah. Good Sorkin stuff. Someone put MatthewPerry out of his misery. Watching him work with that dialog is like watching someone try to compete in the Oympic 100m swim wearing water wings. Maybe he'll learn to keep up, but I'm betting that years of feasting on crappy dialog leaves him ilprepared.

Game Face

2006-09-16T01:21:00.000-04:00

Feet
Originally uploaded by lostonpurpose.

293 - 1568 - 440

The B is ready to go for the game tomorrow. So am I!

The Pain That Is Michigan

2006-09-14T00:54:00.000-04:00

293 - 1649 - 294

Desmond Howard with the stupid Heisman pose in the endzone after catching the 4th and 1 pass from about the 30.

Desmond Howard winning the MVP in the only Packer's Super Bowl win in my lifetime.

Hail to the Victors (Hail to those Mother*******, Hail to those big ****suckers...)

Those stupid wolverine horns (OR WHATEVEER) look dumb enough on a football helment, much less a hockey lid, (especially when beating Wisconsin in puck...).

Bo Schembeckler, I hate that guy.

Things I like about Michigan:

Oh, and since it is the week...

2006-09-13T01:13:00.000-04:00

Muck Fichigan

Sporadic

2006-09-13T00:49:00.000-04:00

Showing off those new teeth
Originally uploaded by lostonpurpose.

294.5 - 1024 - 1494

Random update, mainly in response to getting called out on Erika's blog.

Cheese curds. None at the fair, but I did sample them in grade school as some sort of show and tell (or maybe it was some kind of mandated program by the Wisconsin educational system...who can say).

Much more likely to run into the cheese curd in Wisconsin than MN. Oh, and as far as I know, they are made from the shit that is left over after you take the good parts to make cheese.

Further more, I saw G-love and Special Sauce in a bar opening for the Femmes. Good show (and the Femmes really should only be seen in a bar, I think).

Happy

2006-09-07T01:33:00.000-04:00

Silly excited crawling baby
Originally uploaded by lostonpurpose.

295 - 1420 - 0

Must start posting again. Also, must start firming up the calorie limit again (basically took the trip to MN off from the diet, though it was still less damage than I'm fully capable of).

Tonight's meal was stuffed green peppers (stuffed with some rice and corn/black bean salsa) and some veg soup (home made with chicken broth and LOTs of roughly sliced veg. Need to simplify the last, as it was just too much stuff. The peppers were good though.

Standing Tall

2006-08-24T01:03:00.000-04:00

Standing Tall
Originally uploaded by lostonpurpose.

295.5 - 1452 - 0

Been a little sick and tired this week. I think I've been staying up too late (he says, typing at 11:50).

In the picture you see the B in the dress I picked out. I think Kathy let me blow a little more on a little dress for her than she normally would have gone for. Solid baby clothes shopper, that one (which is a great thing when the B grows out of it after about two wearings).

I can't believe how much she has changed in the last couple of weeks. She could hardly crawl two weeks ago, and now she is standing up against things and pulling herself up. Oh, and babbling. Babbling a lot.

Thanks for all the suggestions on the menu last week. Tonight I made some stuff green peppers (with some rice and salsa...quite tasty!) and a couple of shrimp egg rolls. We made both baked and fried. I don't mind the baked at all (better with some egg white over the top so they brown up in the oven).

That was my second try at egg rolls in the last couple of days (we did some for sunday dinner). I forgot just how damn much prep work asian cooking involves...on Sunday I had to summon my nephew over early to help wrap up the mini egg rolls (I bought wanton paper instead of egg rolls...doh!) or I would never have made it. He was a trooper.

I think my next try will be lettuce wraps, but I think I want to try to chase down some not iceburg options (bibb lettuce?) as I don't trust the iceburg to wrap correctly.

Just Checking In

2006-08-19T00:22:00.000-04:00

295 - 1584 - 995

The first number is kinda going in the the right direction again...I firgured it would be. Indy hurt a little bit, but even there I wasn't too bad (didn't let Scott talk me into dessert at St. Elmos).

Thanks for the recipe suggestions...I'll be winding my way over there this weekend. Tried the stuffed green pepper idea tonight (it had been rattling around in my head). Could have been better, as it really needs a little bit of rice in there to soak up the juices from the veg (it was watery, as I only had onion, celery, and tomato inside, all of which give up some liquid).

Tomorrow should be fun, as we are going to the festival of the little hills....which has tons of craft booths, which I like, and tons of booths where the deep fry stuff on a stick (which I fear while on the diet!!!).

And finally, way to go Prince! Nice single to win in the 9th.

A Screwy End To The Season

2006-08-17T22:03:00.000-04:00

299.5 - 1367 - 931

What a funny way to end the softball season. We had a doubleheader due to makeup games, and needed to win one of the two to win the league.

In the first game, we were down by five going into the last inning, and scored 6 in the top of the inning. We got to two outs in the last inning and they had a couple of guys on when the batter hit a liner to left...if our LF had broken back, he probably catches it, but he hadn't had a ball hit like that to him all night, and it carried over his head to the wall. Oh well, game 2.

Here is where things get goofy. We were down by about 4 in the 4th, and the other team had runners on first and second with nobody out. Fuck. The batter grounds to short, and he flips to 3rd. The ump yells "Out 3"...which the batter thought meant "3 outs" and stops running to first. We throw the ball to first, forcing the batter. At that point, the guy who had been on first, who was now STANDING ON 2ND BASE, walks back towards their dugout...so the first baseman tags him. I blink a few times and say "was that a triple play?"

Anyways, we had last ups, and were down by 2 coming to bat. I was sitting down outside the fence watching with my two favorite fans thinking I came up about 7th in the inning, so it would be over one way or the other before it got to me. We proceeded to score 2, make one out, and load the bases. Which of course brought things to me in my 2 for 16 super slump. I turned to Kathy and said "fuck, I guess it is me."

All I gotta do is get the ball to the outfield and we'll probably win on the tag. What do I do? Pop to the pitcher. The ump calls "infield fly rule, batters out." And then hilarity ensued. Our coach, who was on second (damn near where the pitcher catches the pop) for some reason had wandered off the base, just begging to get doubled off (forcing an extra inning if there was time, or leaving it tied...who knows if we would have still won the league). The pitcher flips to the second baseman who somehow muffs the throw. By this time, the guy who had been standing on third breaks for home and scores without a throw.

Goofy.

Brainstormin'

2006-08-16T22:43:00.000-04:00

300 - 1447 - 0

As the diet continues, I've kind of settled in to a base for my dinners. They usually involve some combination of tomatos, green peppers, and onions. Maybe some celery, and that a little protein (beans or chicken). Lotsa fiber to feel full.

I'm starting to get a little bored of the combinations. Typically:

Chili (adds lots of seasoning to the base)
Fajitas (wrap the base in tortilas)
Spaghetti (pasta under the base)
Salad (the base over some lettuce)

I don't know...I grabbed a vegetarian sloppy joe recipe, so I guess I'll try that tomorrow night, but I'm definitely fishing for veggy ideas. The problem is finding things to combine with them that don't run the clories through the roof.

Book Sale

2006-08-15T23:37:00.000-04:00

300 - 1496 - Possibly a run if I get off my ass

Kathy, the B, and I went to a booksale today. After years of looking, I picked up Asimov's Foundation Trilogy. I hope it lives up to all this time looking for it at bookstore.

By the way, who watched the Hell's Kitchen finale last night? 'bout time someone I wanted to actually won one of those reality shows.

Peekaboo

2006-08-14T23:09:00.000-04:00

Peekaboo
Originally uploaded by lostonpurpose.

300.5 - 1201 - 373

Back from GenCon. I really had a great time seeing a long list of people. Had a lot of great talks with people too. Lots of fun. Thanks for everyone who hooked me up (or offered to...thanks Jason!).

Mark even hooked me up with a badge. Now I'm going to tell a funny story about that badge (at least, I hope Mark finds it funny).

I was having a cup of coffee at the 4bucks across the street, talking with a moustashed member of Sony Online, when a man came walking up to say hi to Scott. After they talked for a while, Scott introduced me to the new (president? head guy, in any case) of WizKids. He looked at my badge to get my name (which, of course, said WizKids). He didn't say anything about it, so maybe he didn't notice the company. Scott introduced me as someone who used to work at Decipher, so he might have made a connection. I'm betting he could care less in any case, but if he asks Mark, you know why...

I also got to see Airforce and confront her about causing me to spend untold hours watching Gilmore Girls.

Jim Colson did a drive by on me while I was demoing Stargate. Jim may be the nicest guy in the whole world.

I ate like a fat guy (it was a planned dietary excursion...if you look at the numbers today, I'm back on track and didn't back up too far). St. Elmo Stakehouse, Shepherds Pie at that Irish Bar outside, and lunch at Champions (and the first good club sandwich I've had since d'Egg in Norfolk).

Finally, I looked at and played a bunch of games. The most unexpected of the group was Pepper, a game designed by Matt Mariani of all people. He described it as "4 square with cards." For $5, I bought a copy. I always like talking to Matt, and wish my current softball team had him hitting cleanup.

Friday night we played my fresh copy of Power Grid with team Sony Online, and my traveling companions, Justin and Joe. Justin won by $1. I tell you so he won't have to. But I'm sure he will as well. Thanks to Evan for 'splainin' the rules (in his usual fine form). It really was great getting to do some gaming with Evan again.

Finally, funniest line of the weekend went to whomever described Jason R0binette as "the Flying Dutchman of the game hobby." I think Mark gets credit for that.

Second funniest line of the weekend went to one of the H1nes brothers telling Apollo from BSG at the signing table that he'd be right back with some cards to show him how to play. Well, actually, I'm not sure that was funny.

3rd funniest thing of the weekend was watching Justin try to order a glass of water, and the 30 second ordeal that ensued. Erika, you better have read this far.

But the best part of the weekend was getting home on Saturday night to give the B a kiss goodnight (/sappy father).

Couldn't Be Happier

2006-08-14T00:45:00.000-04:00

300.5 - 2504 - 0

Ok, that is a lie...I could be happier if you guys were moving to St. Louis, but at least you'll be visiting on the way.

Peaceful Goodnight

2006-08-10T00:39:00.000-04:00

300 - 1457 - 0

Need to go for a run tomorrow morning as I was obviously too lazy tonight.

Tonight the B went from wide awake to dead asleep in 3 seconds. Literally. I thought she was awake but it was bed time, so I took her up. She put her head on my arm, shook her head back and forth and "zzzzzzz." Pretty cool. I'd rather not have her have to go through all the cryin'.

The Only...

2006-08-08T23:59:00.000-04:00

299 - 1495 - 0

Truly nice guy on Sex In The City was Charlotte's eventual husband. Discuss.

Sex In The City on commercial TV sucks. Discuss.

By the way, did anyone see Bill Murry on American Chopper? Man, did he work the Tuttles.

And finally, Heather, my pick all along, is SO going to win Hell's Kitchen next week. If you haven't been watching Hell's Kitchen, you should have been (you donkey!).

All the Way

2006-08-07T23:40:00.000-04:00

301.5 - 1433 - 299 (that number is bullshit...it must take more calories than that for me to drag my fat ass 1.5 miles up and over hills...but that is what fitday says).

Today was a milestone. For the first time in my life (including back in high school gym class) I ran a mile. No stopping, no walking. It wasn't fast, but I didn't stop once.

And as often happens when the break through comes, I actually went on to run about a mile and a half (after about 1/4 mile our street opens up onto a mile long loop). I hadn't made it more than 2/3 of a mile before.

And clearly, I still dispise running.

In other news, I spontaneously picked up the Civ 4 expansion this weekend and popped it in. And was pleasently surprised to find that the online multiplayer promised for so long finally fucking works. It only took them 15 years, but oh is it sweet. I only wish the defenders didn't have such an advantage...I'll have to learn how to press my luck on the attack.

I don't know how much time I'll have for it (but I'm pretty sure there is a save feature), but who wants to play the world with me?

Ha!

2006-08-07T07:31:00.000-04:00

Hey, those are my feet down there!
Originally uploaded by lostonpurpose.

I believe the alternate caption to this one is "oh, so that's what those are for.

Accountability

2006-08-06T23:00:00.000-04:00

299.5 - 1871 - 261

Good episode of Deadwood tonight, but nothing special. Kind of waiting for everything to break, but when it does, it should be spectacular. I liked the inclusion of the Earp brothers...maybe Doc Holliday'll show.

Getting What I Deserve

2006-08-05T22:36:00.000-04:00

298.5 (notice the first number?) - 1574 - 0

Ben can blame me for the karma that gave him "tight pecs" tonight, and a 1 inning start after making fun of Chris Carpenter last night.

Below 300. I'll probably creep back above it for a day or two due to water weight (which drops to minium after friday night soccer), but next time I go below it should stick...hopefully that will be the last time in my life that I step on a scale and see a 3 as the first fucking number.

Two memory fragments on 300 lbs.

1. When I was 10 or 12 years old and my dad was on the big diet and dropped below 300. I remember my mom getting a bunch of ballons. I wish he could have made it stick...I think his response to stress was to eat, and running his own business all those years was full of stress. I'm hoping that if this diet ends up where I'm hoping (hell, even if I get 1/2 way there) it will inspire him to get back on the train and drop some weight...not many people who are his weight and his age...

2. Telling my buddy Sean right after I got out of college that I was going to go touch 300 "just to see what it was like." Stupid. It sucks. The answer is that it sucks.

The manifestation of that suck was on the soccer field earlier this summer when I had a ball roll just in front of me at the top of the box where I could get a shot if I ran (hard) on to the ball. I did, and then when I went to stop, the rest of my body just kept going...too much momentum.

One Gone, One Left

2006-08-04T23:07:00.000-04:00

The Prince and the Bull
Originally uploaded by sethsdisciple.

301 - 1391 - 1514

Sorry about that thumb Chris!

8 is a great number, 10 would be even better.

Ok, bye bye now.

Soo.....

2006-08-03T22:24:00.000-04:00

Any suggestions for games for me to check out at GenCon? I should have a day or two on the floor. Any of you folks still working for game companies can post anonamously if you like :)

Fingers Crossed

2006-08-03T22:14:00.000-04:00

Little 8 month old portrait
Originally uploaded by lostonpurpose.

302 - 1594 (boo) - 468

At this moment, Kathy and I are sitting here on tenterhooks hoping that her efforts today to get the B back on schedule are going to pay dividends.

She got out of whack last Saturday, and has been up to 11 (or later) all week (Kathy has been a trooper). So Kathy tried hard distract/keep her awake and get her back to one nap today...which she did! But we thought we kinda had it licked on Sunday, and she woke up about about 10 and stayed up for a couple ours...so we're listening to the monitor and hoping.

Things I Think I Know

2006-08-02T23:27:00.000-04:00

302 - 1497 - 0 (it is really just too hot to be believed outside)

Never trust someone who quotes themself in their email sig (much less 5 times).

Similarly, if your email sig is longer than the body of your email, you probably want to reconsider.

I'm looking forward to early Saturday mornings watching EPL soccer with the B.

I am really looking forward to seeing the scale throw out a number that starts with 2.

I miss designing games.

Never buy a prepackaged salad at the cafeteria at 1 p.m.

I hate running (yet when it cools, I bet I'll be doing more, and recently thought about doing a run-bike-run biathalon in the future).

I'm curious, if fairly cynical, about what I'll find in Indy next week.

Geoff Jenkins, my favorite Brewer for years, should probably hang it up.

When you have a stretchy belt, it can lie. But the wedding ring never lies...and it is starting to slide around on my finger again a little bit...a good sign...hopefully I'll have to have it resized sometime early next year.

Hidden Costs

2006-08-02T00:00:00.000-04:00

303.5 - 1438 - 0

Has anyone else noticed that (many?) internet information/news sources don't include pictures with their articles anymore? In the space that they used to post a picture relating to the article, they now include another ad.

In other news, MLB.com has always launched little video/audio clips on their front page from the most recent game. It was was ok, when the page started yapping about Bill Hall or Prince Fielder after 5 or so seconds. Much more annoying is the fact that it has started launching audio/video adds after 5 seconds instead. I sent some feedback bitching about it...we'll see if I get a response.

Blech

2006-08-01T00:11:00.000-04:00

304 - 1436 - 0

Way too hot to go outside and change that zero into anything else, and I felt terrible the whole second half of the day...blech.

Game Night

2006-07-30T02:10:00.000-04:00

301 - 2394 (ug, cookout with 3 kinds of deserts) - 0

Good fun tonight. We started with Carcassone, moved on to Ticket to Ride, Settlers (I really couldn't suck more at that game), and (once the B got to bed and Kathy could join us) I pulled Apples and Squint out of the basement to finish the night.

I still need to track down a copy of U-Pac...maybe at GenCon.

Now I am mind-numbingly tired.

Friday Night's Alright For Blocks

2006-07-29T01:11:00.000-04:00

Found a block
Originally uploaded by lostonpurpose.

305 - 1465 - 1528

Ok, so I just barely scraped over, but it is one of the speedy days when I burned more (with 2 hours of soccer in the 95 degree heat) than I ate. This IN SPITE OF the work table of death, which had both donuts and kolaches. They are soo good...I had a small bacon and egg one, so not too much damage.

Ole!

2006-07-28T00:36:00.000-04:00

Olle!
Originally uploaded by sethsdisciple.

This is obviously what I should have blogged about today.

I do want a Cerveceros hat/shirt/jersey...something.

And speaking of Los Cerveceros, how bad does it suck to get your #1 and #3 starters back just in time to lose 3/4 of your infield (and have to trade for Tony Graffanino just to be able to fill out the lineup card).

The year is slipping away, and at this point they're going to be forced to do one of 3 things: sweep the Reds to claw into the wild card, trade Carlos (and I'd expect they could get a lot for him, but what they really need at this point is a big bat, so they wouldn't choose to loose him I think), or keep him with the intent of signing him at the end of the season. I guess they could trade him and then dream of resigning him (or another big bat in free agency), but that seems a little far fetched.

What sucks is that they'd have been right in the middle of the wild card (if not leading it) if they wouldn't have lost the two starters and had the fill ins go 4-18 (or whatever). (call the whambulance)

This is Not the Picture

2006-07-28T00:18:00.000-04:00

headblood
Originally uploaded by sethsdisciple.

306.5 - 1302 - 426

Though this is good gratuitous EA sports violence, it is not the leg broken at the ugly angle to which I referred...makes me think it wasn't EA 94 or 95. I guess it could have been 96?

The best part about finding this picture is that it was attached to an interview with Gretzky (99) discussing the scene in Swingers where they made his head bleed. Sadly, he had never seen the movie. It is so money and he doesn't even know it...

Internet, How You Have Failed Me

2006-07-27T00:38:00.000-04:00

305.5 - 1194 - 0

So we went to see C2 tonight. Good fun, and for me the best moment was when the guy fell to the floor and his leg was laying at the exact horrible angle from the injury animation in NHL 95 (it happened to Pavel once when Kathy and I were playing and I screamed like a girl).

I wanted to prove to myself that this really was a reference, but I just couldn't find the injury screenshot on the web from 95...found a reference to it, found a screenshot of the NHL 94 injury, just not the one I was looking for. Bah.

I, My Friend, Am Not a Giraffe

2006-07-25T23:13:00.000-04:00

The sign says something about how giraffes can clean their nose with their tongue, really
Originally uploaded by lostonpurpose.

Read the sign if you don't believe me.

306 - 1306 - 0

I guess I've recovered from the vacation splurge. I felt bad when we were leaving town on Saturday when my Mom appologized for having all the schnecks around the house. I hate being the guy on the diet who bitches about food all of the time...I guess that statement makes the current focus of my blog more than just a little ironic.

Ben came back tonight! One run over 7 innings! And then Dave Bush came in and gave up 5 in the eigth (what the fuck was Dave Bush pitching in a tied game in the eighth inning for?!?).

Dingos Did NOT Eat My Baby

2006-07-25T00:20:00.000-04:00

She didn't seem to care about the hyenas
Originally uploaded by lostonpurpose.

311.5 (ah vacation) - 1308 (ah guilt) - 305 (running 1.3 miles had to be more than that).

(continues title) though they sure looked like they wanted to.

Despite the storms (essentially, a near miss by a hurricane to you east coasters), things went relatively ok around here. Though my neighbor with the yappy dog had a table blow off his deck into my back yard on Friday. Wanna guess if it is still sitting in my yard? You had to know they were trouble when they only bothered to get siding on the front fucking side of their house (why bother with the back?).

We got power back even before leaving for Milwaukee, and before the second storm hit on Friday, and kept it through the second storm. It would be very hard to complain.

Plus, it essentially forced me to flex a day off so we could go up and see my parents, who took us to the Milwaukee zoo (which used to be the number 2 zoo in the country behind San Diego...they have dumped a bunch of cash back into it, so I'm betting it is top 5 again). I'd been meaning to do that, and it was a lot of fun.

We are talking about hosting a gaming night this Saturday with some of the guys from work (and a couple of gaming wives...who knew?). Which will be fun, but make me miss the folk from the company all over again.

More on Floyd when I get some time. Anyone see that Discovery is stalking him for next year?

Bring Back the Yellow Tires

2006-07-18T23:03:00.000-04:00

Smile after the bath
Originally uploaded by lostonpurpose.

309 - 1575 (I forgot the miso soup!!!) - 0

Floyd and Kloden seem like they'll decide it among themselves, and right now Floyd is lookin' strong. Especially because the chances of Kloden doing much to Floyd in the final TT seem remote. On the plus side, someone apparently told Floyd that the green tights look really garish combined with mellow johnny on the victory podium so he has axed that look.

Anyone watch the Espy's? Apparently Lance called the French soccer team a bunch of assholes...making the French love him less (if that could be possible).

We took my neph and niece to their first Sushi meal tonight (and I forgot that I had the miso...leading to my first overage in two weeks). The raw shrimp came with the the heads...my niece seemed a little freaked out. At the server's urging, I cracked one of those babies open and tried it. Won't do that again.

My neph ate about whatever was put in front of her, but my niece seemed to prefer the california rolls (I give her credit for trying the tuna).

And finally, lets all welcome back Tomo Ohka tonight.

She Knows the Hot Key for Sinister Strike!

2006-07-17T23:16:00.000-04:00

Littlest Computer User
Originally uploaded by lostonpurpose.

307.5 - 1450 - 199 (apparently Monday is my rest day)

I'd write and stuff, but I gotta get up in the morning for a bike ride. Soooo, tune in tomorrow when the Alps will have separated the pretenders from the contenders (Landis, Kloden).

And Totally Unrelated to This Picture...

2006-07-16T23:48:00.000-04:00

Stroller weariness
Originally uploaded by lostonpurpose.

309.5 - 1490 - 515

the Brewers finally won one, and the rumor is that Benny could be back by the end of the week.

Accountability

2006-07-15T23:39:00.000-04:00

309 - 1492 - 286

Ok, really, I got nothing. Well, I'll lament Turnbow and Capuano melting down the last two nights.

Oh, and the B got her first pair of shoes, which meant that she spent dinner banging her feet on the table at Bob Evans...funny.

A!

2006-07-15T00:22:00.000-04:00

I just read something shocking!
Originally uploaded by lostonpurpose.

Popo

2006-07-14T23:37:00.000-04:00

313 - 1494 - 2133 (which is greater than 1494)

Nice recovery by Discovery today. The day after being very dissapointed in the mountains, they shifted gears and threw guys in the breaks all day. Eventually they found the one that stuck, and then Popovich attacked relentlessly (4 times!).

I kinda think they may have had something going with Phonak, and may now work with them in the hopes of getting Popo onto the podium in Paris.

As for me, I found the bike for the first time in months (thus the 2133).

Better yet, I skated out a little early today and the fam headed back to the science center. Highlights: not losing the B's butterfly teething toy and seeing the programmable lego robots.

Go You Crazy Menonite (Kathy Spelling Assist)!

2006-07-13T22:45:00.000-04:00

Floyd
Originally uploaded by sethsdisciple.

314 (wtf) - 1506 - 481

So uh, Discovery, not so much. Just no form I guess.

Floyd on the other hand, had a great day, and benefited from work by T-Mobile (Kloden felt strong so he told his guys to press, and then cramped up), and Rabobank (one guy launching the eventual stagewinner) to take yellow.

I don't think he is going to be able to hold it all the way (his team just doesn't have the horses), but if he keeps this form, he should be able to take it back in the Alps. Good stuff!

And the thumbs down goes to Troutwig, who said "Rasmussen just doesn't look like a climber. He's so thin!" Spoken like a man who has never ridden a bike up a hill ever.

And the double thumbs down to the commercial from the local bike shop my nephew works at. Worst. Ad. Evar! I wish they'd put it on the web somewhere so you had to suffer through it too.

In other other news, my softball team won again, and (with me pitching) we only gave up 3 runs. That lowers my already ludicrus softball E.R.A. below 5 for the year. No idea. I guess it helps to have outfielders that catch everything. But we also kick the ball around a little on the infield, so it sorta balances out.. I hope they don't outlaw my spitball.

First Day in the Mountains and Other Ramblin's

2006-07-12T23:10:00.000-04:00

312 (beep beep beep) - 1494 - 302 (work that lawn!)

Before going further, I should really (really) go for a run tonight to up that 302, but it just aint gonna happen.

Anyways, the usual plan of attack for the 1500 hundred is about 200 in the morning, 300-400 at lunch, which gives 900-1000 for dinner. That is my secret plan, make dinner about like it used to be.

Well, today was the long awaited return to Vietnam Star with some of the guys from my softball team for lunch. Very tasty...has one of those lazy susans in the middle where everyone shares dishes...soo good. But it meant that the 900 happened at lunch. Pretty sure I need to not do that very often, as gosh, what a long rest of the day with nothing to look forward to (food wise...savinig grace is coming home to a smilin' B).

And on to Le Tour...I'm beginning to think that this thing is going to be won when some decent rider gets away for 15 minutes on one of the mountain stages because there is no motivated, dominant team to drive the train and make sure it doesn't happen. And there isn't anyone who is a sure bet to be able to take back that much time...Landis could do it...Kloden could do it...but I sure won't say that they (or their depleated teams!) should do it. Discovery might still actually be the strongest GC team, but they might not have the GC guy to feature in the time trials, and who can get the 2-3 minutes he needs on one of the mountain stages. Salvodelli could maybe if he is in form, and I hope that George finds some form he's never had.

But if someone goes and grabs 15 or 20 minutes tomorrow (and they could, that profile is like a sawblade), it just might stick.

Sooooo Good to Get Home at Night

2006-07-12T00:00:00.000-04:00

Giggling
Originally uploaded by lostonpurpose.

Bo Jackson Rides Again

2006-07-11T23:25:00.000-04:00

309.5 - 1483 - 0 (zilch (nada (bubkus)))

I can't imagine walking around the block with a degenerative hip. Floyd Landis is riding the Tour with one. The crazy bastard gets his first taste of the mountains tomorrow. Wish I could stay home to watch the stage...or that the primetime coverage didn't have Troutwig and Roll nattering on for 2 1/2 hours and the real announcers for about five. Maybe the mountains will be different.

Best billboard I ever saw was for the "Hip Ticket Plan" for the Chisox the year after Jackson had the replacement done.

P.S. if 320 was a big red number, 210 would be a big green number, so at least I am back under 3 digits (Kathy spelling assist).

Oh, yeah, best culinary part of the day...big pot of chili, recipe on the fly:

15 oz diced tomatos (with peppers)
15 oz can spicy chili beans
6 oz chicken cooked on the grill and then shredded
8 oz can beef broth
packet of McCormick's Hot chili seasoning (this is shitty cheating, and I wouldn't do it if I had more time/energy to mess with the seasoning, but I so don't)
1 vadalia onion
1 green pepper
1 tbs flour (to thicken)
a cup or two of water? Enough so that it could simmer for a while and thicken back up

140 calories per cup, very hearty, very tasty, pretty hot...I was sweaten by the end of it. Served 2 cups of it over a cup of whole wheat pasta.

Fascinated

2006-07-10T23:46:00.000-04:00

Funny little sitting baby
Originally uploaded by lostonpurpose.

I wish I knew what she was looking at...but it was off in the direction of the lake at the Japanese (Kathy spelling assist) garden.

By Popular Demand...

2006-07-10T23:15:00.000-04:00

312 - 1465 - 460

I added a stat for Joe, as apparently he enjoys other people's pain...well, so do I, I guess. Why else would I watch the Tour?

I survived a close encounter with tasty looking doughnuts on the table of death at work...saved me enough calories to make some apple stuff (essentially apple pie filling) tonight. But one 500 calorie doughnut basically means no lunch and an amazingly long afternoon. After nosing around, I found out why:

"Fatty foods are not satisfying, even though people expected them to be," says Holt. "We think the reason is that fat is seen by the body as a fuel which should be used only in emergencies—it stores it in the cells instead of breaking it down for immediate use. Because it doesn't recognize the fat as energy for immediate use, the body does not tell the brain to cut hunger signals, so we go on wanting more. Carbohydrates are the opposite—they raise blood glucose so the body knows it has gotten enough fuel."

When you are working the 1500, you just can't afford to waste calories on stuff that won't help you survive until the next meal (dramatic, but that is what the challenge feels like).

From the same web site:

Jellybeans also scored higher than expected. Volunteers fed jellybeans did not feel satisfied, yet they ate very little afterwards. This resulted in the sweets getting a satiety rating of 118—higher than that of muesli and yogurt and almost the same as white pasta.

"I suspect the reason that the jellybeans came out so well was that they made our volunteers feel slightly nauseous," says Holt. "We'll be doing some research on that one..."

Translation:

Apples, potatoes, brown pasta, chili, and oatmeal. Well, and lotsa lettuce as it is pretty much free and filling after a while...just gotta keep rotating the lo-fat dressings (the thousand island isn't bad, the ceaser is pretty good, but the blue cheese sucks...Ken's light blue cheese where are you! They have other Ken's light, why not the blue cheese?)

Selfish

2006-07-09T23:20:00.000-04:00

313.5 - 1483

I was cheering for France...right up until Zidane did something that I have no hope to account for. A friend of my father's, and a great hockey man (he was an assistant coach at Notre Dame for a while) once defined penalties of falling in to two categories. Good penalties (perhaps it prevented a scoring chance) and selfish penalties. There are really no other kind.

Zidane did the most selfish thing I could imagine.

In other news, my coed team lost 3-1...but at least I got run around. I got totally roasted by a kid at the top of the box on their second goal...he toyed with me for a bit until he turned me and beat our keeper. If I was lighter on my feet I think I could have easily have stayed with him.

Crazy Day on the Roads

2006-07-09T00:01:00.000-04:00

315 - 1445

"It's lucky Jan Ullrich is not here, otherwise the Tour would be over," Discovery Channel team manager Johan Bruyneel told Reuters.

"It was the worst time trial of my life," said Leipheimer after a performance that clearly showed a lack of rhythm, speed and strength.

Dave Z never found his rythem. The Disco boys were average. If Floyd has his climbing legs this year, and his team can protect him (pretty questionable), he might be moving into the favorite spot (this despite having the UCI fuck with him that morning, which forced him into a bike change while he was on the road). Kloden to be the big threat? Still lots of questions, but the mountains loom!

I Told Ya the Lip Was Going

2006-07-07T23:18:00.000-04:00

No bottom lip!
Originally uploaded by lostonpurpose.

319 - 1475

This look about sums up her level of contentment tonight. I got back from soccer and tried to put her to sleep, but we had to bring in the veteran right hander to relieve me. Man was she cross. I think now she might be teething for sure.

Long Overdue Pic of the B

2006-07-06T23:17:00.000-04:00

Happy Independence Day
Originally uploaded by lostonpurpose.

We are starting to thing she might keep her blue eyes. Look at her lips and commit them to memory, as she has been attempting to swallow them for the last two days. Very serious looking...

I'm getting more excited!

2006-07-06T23:04:00.000-04:00

319.5 - 1482

I think the time trial this weekend (52k?) is going to be very revealing, and like everything else in the Tour so far, I have no idea what is coming. It is going to add a lot of definition to the field. But what is even more exciting is that this year more than ever, the mountains might just completely trump the time trial gaps, as I'm not sure there is a complete rider. If someone put a gun to my head, I might yell "Landis" and then immediately start second guessing.

By the way, I forgot Kloeden (Kathy spelling assist) who survived the great T-Mobile purge...he is lurking in about 15th, so there is another Euro contender.

An Interesting Race in the Making...

2006-07-06T00:06:00.000-04:00

I think, at this point, nobody has any clue who is going to win the Tour. Basso and Ulrich guilty until proven innocent (though I've been told that these guys all signed an agreement saying they didn't deal with the shifty guy at the heart of the investigation, so at least they are all guilty of that?), Valverde getting the classic cycling injury (ow, my clavicle).

I don't know if it is just OLN being scewed, but it seems like a couple of Americans (Georgie, Floyd and Levi) might actually have a legit shot...Julich is even in the team picture...maybe a couple of other Discovery guys too (Salvodelli and Popo). I think it is going to be a great couple of weeks!

Any other favs I'm overlooking at this point?

320

2006-07-05T23:45:00.000-04:00

I'm not going to tell you what that number represents, but I bet you'll be able to pick it up fron context.

Fitday.com is back in my life (again), and I'm going to shoot for 1500 calories per day. It will be difficult, and I'm going to have to remember the two truths to actually making progress:

1. Hunger is not equal to mortal pain.
2. Boredom is not equal to hunger.

An additional challenge is that I sit across from the desk where everyone dumps baked goods at work, and I love me some baked goods. In my favor is the fact that the cafeteria at work has a servicable salad bar (I will make the salads).

Now I will post one of the best things that have come across that desk and pretend that I just ate it.

Hershey Brownies with chocolate chip cookie dough blopped on top. Bake the whole mess 10 minutes longer than the brownie box tells you to. Soooo amazingly good. Try it if your number is less than 320. Next time I see it on that desk, I'll be figuring how to fit a slice in under the 1500 calorie mark. And using my new anti-desk strategy of trying to wait for the last piece...my problem isn't the first piece, it's the third piece...

Kathy Said...

2006-07-03T01:53:00.000-04:00

"Being married to you is like being in an eternal spelling bee."

Georgie Gets His Day

2006-07-03T01:47:00.000-04:00

georgie
Originally uploaded by sethsdisciple.

Seems to me he earned it...after loosing the prologue by pointnothing seconds, he stole 2 seconds from the incredibly unfortunate Thor (Champion of Norway) Hushovd, who today received the worst...papercut...ever.

Has It Really Come To This?

2006-07-03T01:45:00.000-04:00

Today, for the first time in...well, fucking ever, I went for a run. Even went and bought the shoes earlier today. Got sick of having throughballs played to me on the soccer field and not being able to run them down.

Someone shoot me.

Rating my Mania

2006-06-21T00:30:00.000-04:00

Sports teams/entities I adore (in some ways a late father's day post). Blame the fashionista.

8. Tom Bigelow - I can't believe this is all I could find on him. My favorite sprint car driver when I was growing up, though (slamming) Sammy Swindell eventually replaced him. My dad and I would go to a bunch of dirt tracks (some local, some not) watching the sprinters, and often come home covered in dirt. That was ok though. Ask me some time about the brats at Angel Park.

7. Milwaukee Bucks - we used to have partial season tickets, so my dad would come home from delivering fuel oil, eat, and we'd head down to MECCA for the second half of the game...when the Pistons were in town, we'd get together with Kent Benson and go out to eat after the game (he gave me a pair of shoes actually too big for my feet) and I'd get to stay up WAY past my bed time...I also remember the arcade (which was attached to the ice cream room).

6. St. Louis Blues - This one came rather late in life. Even before I moved to St. Loius, when we'd visit my brother, my dad would occasionally take us to a game (though it was hard to get seats together at the Arena). I remember watching Brett Hull in his prime on a line with Adam Oates. That was a sight...once I moved here, I split some season tickets with some people from work. I've cooled on the boys (it will be hard for me to ever forgive them for moving Pronger), but time will tell.

5. Rick Mears - Indy 500 great. Lots of days at Indy watching Rick squeeze everything out of a car that it had to give. Lots of early Saturday mornings on Pole day driving to the track...singing "Back Home Again in Indiana" with the other 40 people in our group before heading to the track on race day, Weglarz would bring the Looney Bread and Don M would bring the ukelele.

4. Green Bay Packers - Cold Cold COLD days sitting in the first row of the upper deck at county stadium in Milwaukee with my dad huddling over hot chocolate and dreaming of feeling my feet...watching the best player I ever saw slip and slide all over the field and rush almost no yards (Erik Dickerson did NOT like running on a frozen field)...Packers Vikes at the old Met (fucking Amahd Rashad)...Packers Bears at soldier field featuring a caller to the bears pregame show who said "Butkus, you couldn't hold Nitchke's jock strap" and also featuring a dropped pass by Sterling Sharpe on 4th down late in the 4th quarter...and a great birthday at Sandy's place on January 26, 1996 where the other greatest player I ever saw play had a great day, for me Brett Favre will always be the kid running off the field holding his helmet up after the first touchdown.

3. Notre Dame football - Saturday mornings leaving Milwaukee with my dad at 0 dark 30 driving through Chicago and wandering around campus...marching with the band from the steps of the admin building to the stadium...steak sandwiches at the KofC...the Irish Guard doing a jig, but ONLY if Notre Dame wins (nothing much worse than watching them stand still during that song after a game)...crisp Indiana fall days when the leaves are turning...the whole stadium going silent to hear the aweful pun from the Indiana State trooper in the 3rd (4th?) quarter reminding everyone not to drink and drive...hanging out in my brother's room in Dillon hall when I was 8.

2. University of Wisconsin hockey - Soooo many friday and saturday nights driving through unbelievably shitty weather to get to Madison for a game at the colleseum with my mom and dad...maybe stopping for dinner at Judds supper club on the way...and then getting home to see the second half of the game on the public television replay (brought to you by Goldman's Jewlers and the blueline club)...a game at the old Mariucci arena against Minnesota...Bob Johnson always knew that it was "A Great Day For Hockey"...Martha Johnson ringing the cowbell...the Band (oh my, the band)...*whistle* Hey, who is the goalie for Duluth (answer) Heinze (answer) How do you know it is Heinze (answer) Because he is soooo sloooowwwwww.... *whistle* Hail Mary Full of Grace, Notre Dame is in eigth place...the NCAA final in Detroit in 90...the NCAA final in Milwaukee this year...

1. Milwaukee Brewers - They are it...maybe the University of Wisconsin hockey team is close. Long sunday afternoons at County Stadium...the night my buddy Sean and I went to a double header and saw Jimmy Gantner hit his one home run of the year to win the first game in the bottom of 10 and then a young Cal Eldred throw a shutout in the second game...lots of Brewer Pepsi fanclub games with my dad (he'd usually bump up our General Admission seats to lower grandstand or upper box)...Brewers vs. Twins at the old Met in Minneapolis...solo roadtrips to Kaufman stadium in KC when I first lived in St. Loius...standing room only seats at the 82 World Series (which I happily would have attended in only my underwear)...Robin Yount playing his whole career there when he could have taken the money and ran (I'm talking to you Molitor)...following the last winning season in 92 by watching them try to chase the Blue Jays down on the TV in the common room of my dorm at Notre Dame...getting my picture taken with Ben Oglive on camera day...opening day when Sixto (Sixtoooooooooo) Lescano (Lescanooooooooo) hit the grand slam in the bottom of the ninth for a 9-5 victory.

Gerrard for England

2006-06-15T23:58:00.000-04:00

Gerrard for England
Originally uploaded by sethsdisciple.

England bailed out by the Reds.

Watched half of this game on Telemundo today, and the second half on ESPN...no question that given the choice, I would watch in spanish instead of ESPN English. How they can make the decision to put all of these hacks on the World Cup is unbelieveable. At least the spanish call felt right as they were hitting the right parts of the play with emphasis (and knew how to pronounce the fucking names).

I hope Stevie gets to crack a few more from range.

3-0

2006-06-12T23:45:00.000-04:00

3-0
Originally uploaded by sethsdisciple.

The U.S. National team is to a good National team as the MLS is to a good Euro league.

These guys are guilty until proven innocent at this point. Especially you Landon Donovan, who doesn't have the heart to stay in Europe to try to improve...rather be the big fish in a little (tiny) pond.

All the U.S. can hope for now is that some of the Italian national team had a few Euros down on the US to make the knockout stage.

Wahhh!

2006-06-11T01:34:00.000-04:00

Wahhh!
Originally uploaded by lostonpurpose.

Some day she is going to show this picture to her shrink...

Shadows Over Camelot

2006-06-10T21:41:00.000-04:00

Shadows Over Camelot
Originally uploaded by sethsdisciple.

Or Schatten über Camelot if you will (and I won't).

Kathy and I headed over to U City to the house of one of the guys I work with for game night. Steve (said gamer) seems to like to pull everyone into one game, and we had 7 people, so we played Shadows Over Camelot.

I was a little leery, as it is a cooperative game, but Kathy digs the cooperative games, so that was a plus.

It is actually a little like that goofy Lord of the Rings cooperative game that John Howe did the art for. But I found SoC to be much more fun.

Where as that LotR game had everyone always working together, in this game, each player played a knight, and the goal was to get all 12 swords onto the round table, with at least half of them being black. To do so, the knights have to split up (or team up in somem cases) to do quests.

There were 5 or 6 quests spread around the board, some of which were solo, and some of which multiple people could help with. Each quest (even the ones the knights aren't at) are constantly moving towards a bad end, unless the good guys can step in and get them done. So there is constant tension all over the board.

And the kicker is that one of the players could be a traitor, trying to to thwart the others...but there is only a chance that there might be a traitor, in our game, there were 7 players and 8 avialable player cards (one being the traitor). In the end, there was no traitor, but the dynamic seemed fun. A little bit like looking for the mole.

The game mechanics do rely on the players avoiding table talk about what they hold, but it wasn't too bad.

Anyways, if your group likes the cooperative effort (even as the change of pace) I'd have to say that I could recomend this game.

Quick Updates!

2006-06-09T01:14:00.000-04:00

Hey, new bear!
Originally uploaded by lostonpurpose.

My neighbor with the 2 year old saw us outside with the B in the exercauser as we were working on the Moon Garden and referred to her as "the foreman." Too true.

We'll have to post some pictures of the moon garden...my back is aching enough that we should share.

World Cup begins tomorrow! Which means I have to figure out how to get the TiVo set up to record all of it. Ouch! Might be beyond my mojo, but we'll see.

Flex day tomorrow! Should be a great day...once I get 3 or 4 hours in at work, I'll come home and pick up Kathy and the B and head out to the uesd book fair. After that, an hour of soccer (yes, I survived the game last weekend, but just barely), and then Kathy and I will go on to some gaming with one of the guys from work.

I'm especially looking forward to the England game on Saturday morning, but soooooooo afraid of the clowns ESPN will have covering the game...

Score One For Tolerance

2006-06-08T00:36:00.000-04:00

I'm not inclined to do this normally, so I'm going to say a quick political word and then back the fuck out of the room. I promise, more fluffy posts about the Brewers and racing and in all likelihood a lot of World Cup.

I've you've ever gotten me to talk politics, you'd may or may not know that I'm generally a bit conservative (especially in military matters and whatnot). But that being said....

Holy cripes I'm happy this constitutional amendment thing didn't move any farther forward (even though the esteemed idiots from this state voted for it). Why, oh why, should I feel entitled to tell two people who love each other that their relationship doesn't count as much as mine? It is insulting and degrading and dehumanizing and arrogant on so many levels it makes me sick. And for the politicians to be spending time (and therefore money) on this...now...makes my head spin.

My favorite bit of data from the whole mess is that Massachusetts (a state where same sex marriage is legal) apparently has the lowest divorce rate in the country...so much for undercutting the stability of the family.

Ok, done now.

World Cup Primer

2006-06-07T01:02:00.000-04:00

beckenbauer
Originally uploaded by sethsdisciple.

To celebrate upcoming World Cup, I bring you my all time favorite Python skit (Thanks Justin!!!). Just to make sure you get the funniest joke ever done by the Pythons, I included the picture of Franz Bechenbauer.

And, in what I choose to believe is the best homage ever, the Jose +10 shoe commercial uses the same joke. Check it out here. Beautifully played a number of the top footballers in the world.

The joke plays to me just as well today in an ad supporting the World Cup as it did back then...of course, I have no idea if the Jose +10 writer really had that in mind, but my world is just a slightly better place if I get to believe that she did.

You Can't Stop Me!

2006-06-01T00:22:00.000-04:00

Whatchoo talkin' about, Willis?
Originally uploaded by lostonpurpose.

I'm just going to keep posting this picture. Over. And over. You have been warned. Consider it a caption contest this time through. I know what I think in my head every time I see it.

Quick updates.

Love having Kathy and the B home.

X-Men 3 was enjoyed by Kathy and I (first movie since HPot pre the B). More Kitty Pride = good (though as Kathy said, not at the expense of Rogue).

At my last softball game I did the dumbest thing I've ever done on a field. When running back to the dugout (ok, the fenced area with the roof on it) from coaching third to bat (cause we got that far in the lineup) I tossed my glove towards one of my team mates standing in front of said dugout. The wind caught it (it was gusting 25-30) and carried it up onto the dugout roof.

Stupid.

Fortunately, Wedge's 10 year old who weighs roughly 2.3 Bs was there, so I threw him up to get my glove.

And finally, I keep thinking about taking my bike out and setting it up to commute to work in, but haven't actually done it yet. MUST do it this weekend.

And really finally, I have my first soccer game in forever this weekend. I'm ascared.

Not So Sleepy?

2006-05-26T03:12:00.000-04:00

Eyes of the B
Originally uploaded by sethsdisciple.

I need to master the trick of sucking on my fingers to make myself go to sleep. Apparentlhy the B went from this picture to asleep in fairly short order with the help of the super fingers...I'm still up writing a blog post.

I officially a blog post once I dig up "the" baby picture. It is probably sitting in some box somewhere like the grail at the end of Raiders, so it is going to be some work to find.

My new all time favorite BAR NONE Picture

2006-05-22T22:13:00.000-04:00

Whatchoo talkin' about, Willis?
Originally uploaded by lostonpurpose.

For whatever reason, the east coast exersaucer > midwest exersaucer.

Here is wishing Justin and Anna a great life together...you kids deserve it. I'm happy you found each other, and very happy that Justin found someone to make him more managable on the pitch. We could always tell when Anna was out of town...likely to catch a lot more of Justin's tounge. Anyways, thanks for letting us share your day.

I miss Kathy and the B soo friggen much already.

It was good beyond words to see everyone this weekend. Thanks to everyone who made an effort to catch up with us on the whirlwind tour.

Thats all I got, sleepy now.

So I Say...

2006-05-17T00:21:00.000-04:00

Looks like Benny is out for another month.

And Kathy says "Would you like to go upstairs for a little while and cry with the B?"

To quote Wile E. Coyote, "....thpppt....thpppt....*poof*"

But At What Cost?!?

2006-05-16T08:00:00.000-04:00

So the teams on the Apprentice last night had to help Walmart sell a Microsoft product.

I repeat myself. Help Walmart sell a Microsoft product.

Does it get any more evil empire than that? They may have won the challenge, but they are going straight to hell.

Boooo the Survivor

2006-05-15T01:14:00.000-04:00

Of the final four, definitely the two least deserving make it to the vote. Kind of a shame after the run up to it. Terry killed by the curse of the car!

Off the Shnide

2006-05-15T01:11:00.000-04:00

Billy
Originally uploaded by sethsdisciple.

Good to see the 'Crew actually score a couple of runs in the throwbacks. Also nice to see them light up Pedro and thereby take a series.

Bad to see Turnbow blow his first save of the season.

The Bull and the Prince

2006-05-13T10:14:00.000-04:00

The Prince and the Bull
Originally uploaded by sethsdisciple.

Alternate title: The MVP and Rookie of the Year.

Well, one of those is fairly likely, but the other could happen.

Hopefully Carlos was saying "You really hit the shit out of that one. Any ball that goes that far should have a stewardesss on it," and Prince replied with "Shut up and sign a contract extension."

The good news is that at least the started talking about it with Carlos.

Probst is a Bitch

2006-05-11T21:29:00.000-04:00

Bah!
Originally uploaded by sethsdisciple.

WTF. To be continued?!? NO ELIMINATION?!?

In the back of my head I've been trying to figure out how they were going to work in this extra episode of Survivor...now I know...a non-episode! And they didn't even try to justify it as a clip show (ok, that doesn't make any sense, but I'm babbling).

Kathy and I were SO hoping that Terry had given the idol to Dannielle. It would probably have been really stupid, but in retrospect, it would have worked.

One of the reasons that I keep watching this show is that I think that it has the best game design of all of these shows. They keep shaking things up just a bit year to year.

I wonder, though, if they realized just how powerful the idol mechanic was. It would be simple to assume that it was a one-time savior, and that it could be burned out one week, and that person voted out the next. But there was a rub. If it was revealed, instead of revoting, the person with the second most votes (likely a person in the majority voting block) would bet eliminated. So that idol would have pulled down the majority block in addition to protecting the holder.

Of course, we only really saw it tonight when the weren't willing to chance voting for Terry. Which is why he should have GIVEN THE IDOL TO DANI...oh well, maybe she can make some fire.

Update!

2006-05-11T01:16:00.000-04:00

Is there anything you could care less about than me buying a minivan?

After I got home from work tonight, Kathy was hot to go take a test drive of the Honda mini. She had been reading the consumer reports stuff which said really nice things about the Honda, and really not too nice things about the Town and Country.

Well, I gotta say I really enjoyed the drive. And it has a sunroof standard (which is the only thing I would really miss if I give up my car)!

The B didn't like it though. She started screaming about 1/3 of the way through the test drive. Well, maybe she was just hungry and teething. Anyways, I think the Honda is going to win.

You don't care, do you? I can understand that...