Here’s my dad’s take on the event (his is the “one” game with a non-convict win):

“Bill Walsh, one of the Argonne players, decided to call a Chicago Tribune reporter after the match to tell him that the convicts won all their games but one.

The story made the front page of the Trib and got Bill into a lot of trouble with Argonne management! It was very unusual for Argonne to make the front page and they certainly didn’t want to be there with a “negative” story.”

Having grown up with his prize painting on the wall of our split-level suburban home, I never thought it was all that unusual until I was in my teens. It is a large (4 ft by 6 ft) canvas, an abstract oil painting, depicting what appears to be a silhouette of a pine forest—aflame. The lower half of the canvas is black, spiking with the pine trees’ peaks into a chaotic sea of yellow, orange and red streaks that fill the top of the frame. Only in my adolescence did it occur to me to think that this high-contrast, high-energy, and somewhat violent art maybe didn’t fit in fully with our tame slate foyer, goldenrod carpeting, faux-buckskin recliner, and warm wood upright piano in the living room.

Even so, I’ve always loved it.

Rules: Bold the true statements. You can explain further if you wish.

I’m all about being a copycat today, so I’m following her test of pasting it twice: once for me, and once for Rosie who is 5. I guess our answers are not all that radically different as RM’s…

ME:

1.Father went to college
2. Father finished college–he was the first in his family to do so.
3. Mother went to college
4. Mother finished college
5. Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor.
6. Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers.
7. Had more than 50 books in your childhood home.
8. Had more than 500 books in your childhood home
9. Were read children’s books by a parent
10. Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18
11. Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18
12. The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively
13. Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18
14. Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs
15. Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs
16. Went to a private high school
17. Went to summer camp
18. Had a private tutor before you turned 18
19. Family vacations involved staying at hotels
20. Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18
21. Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them
22. There was original art in your house when you were a child (yes, but it was won by my dad in a chess tournament that took place in a prison; he had big enough cohones to win a game against a convicted killer, so the bested convict gave him his painting as a prize.)
23. You and your family lived in a single-family house
24. Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home
25. You had your own room as a child (my sister and I shared a room until we were tweens)
26. You had a phone in your room before you turned 18
27. Participated in a SAT/ACT prep course
28. Had your own TV in your room in high school
29. Owned a mutual fund or IRA in high school or college
30. Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16
31. Went on a cruise with your family
32. Went on more than one cruise with your family
33. Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up
34. You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family

ROSIE:

1.Father went to college
2. Father finished college.
3. Mother went to college
4. Mother finished college
5. Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor.
6. Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers. (N/A)
7. Had more than 50 books in your childhood home.
8. Had more than 500 books in your childhood home
9. Were read children’s books by a parent
10. Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18 (ballet)
11. Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18
12. The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively
13. Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18
14. Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs(N/A)
15. Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs(N/A)
16. Went to a private high school(N/A)
17. Went to summer camp
18. Had a private tutor before you turned 18
19. Family vacations involved staying at hotels
20. Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18
21. Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them
22. There was original art in your house when you were a child (does this count limited-edition prints?)
23. You and your family lived in a single-family house
24. Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home
25. You had your own room as a child
26. You had a phone in your room before you turned 18(N/A)
27. Participated in a SAT/ACT prep course(N/A)
28. Had your own TV in your room in high school(N/A)
29. Owned a mutual fund or IRA in high school or college(N/A)
30. Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16
31. Went on a cruise with your family
32. Went on more than one cruise with your family
33. Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up
34. You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family

Since I’m teleworking this morning, after dropping the kids at daycare, I decided to treat myself with a fabulous Misha’s coffee and their droolworthy morning-glory muffin, my absolute favorite muffin on the planet. After a short wait in line, I order the dark coffee and my muffin; to my surprise, the barrista grabs a mini-thing about 1.5 inches across (rather than a typical, generous 3+in with overflowing cap). This teeny muffin has no cap and is delicately encased in some preciously embossed paper muffin cup that actually dwarfs it.

She informs me, “oh, yeah, we’ve switched bakeries.” This doesn’t bode well.

I examine it: a quick once-over shows that it does in fact have carrots, walnuts, and raisins in it, so I continue with the purchase. CRAZY me, I figure that this itty-bitty thing would somehow ring up for a smaller amount than the regularly sized muffin, twice as big. Can you guess where this is going?

No, she rings up the SAME PRICE (or maybe a few cents more) than usual. I say, thanks, but I don’t want the muffin and just get coffee.

It was a pretty muffin, for sure. But, I’m eating here, not at an art gallery. I generally leave the muffin in a brown bag and tear off hunks while I’m driving to my destination. I don’t sit and meditate with it to absorb its beauty before consuming. Has the price for materials risen this much already, or it is just that perhaps the new bakery is more pricey or has more chi-chi caché?

Rosie and I went out for our first ride on the trail-a-bike this past weekend. I think she really enjoyed it, despite the regular fear of falling off and being too wobbly. She needs some more experience with pedaling and balancing on the bike, so it’ll be a great training tool. We were out for just a short while as she was only getting used to it; I kept encouraging her to pedal, but I think she was worried that if she moved her legs, she’d fall off. We need to try it a few more times to gain her confidence!

My favorite neighbor, Gretchen, gave Rosie a bead kit that her daughter wasn’t interested in. Rosie, however, LOVES IT!!! She made two necklaces almost by herself, amazing girl that she is! It came with a variety of plastic beads in different colors and sizes and not much else. The directions went something like, “string your beads, attach the clasp, and you’re done!” Um, there is a little bit more to it, TYVM. Good thing that I have better equipment and know how to finish the jewelry, or this kit would have gone in the dead project bin.

While Dash took a marathon 3 hr nap Sunday, Rosie begged me to let her make a necklace. She picked out her beads, started a pattern (I helped maintain the pattern), and then strung 90% of them on her own! I was very impressed with her patience. There were a few times that she complained about her back hurting or being tired of the process, so I only suggested that she lie down for a few minutes and come back to it. Once she finished her necklace, I added the clasp and we were done.

One of her classmates at school, Taylor, loved it so much that she asked Rosie to make one for her. Guess what we did last night?

UPDATE: We went for a ride last night and the wheel on Rosie’s bike LOCKED UP. Refused to spin, pedals unmoving. I couldn’t get it to budge & had to drag the bike 1/2-mile back home. Not fun. Will be taking the trail-a-bike back to the bike shop to see what happened. There were metal shavings around the rear gears, so I’m thinking the shop didn’t properly lube it before the sale?

I didn't take a pic, but we are sitting across from James Carville.

Our boy is already workin’ it with the ladies. If he keeps this up, we are in sooo much trouble.

When Rosie came out of her room after changing into her favorite-est pyjamas last night, Dash announced:

“Rosie! You Look Like A PRINCESS!!” over and over again until all she could do was cover him with hugs and kisses. Who could ever be immune to that?

His teachers at daycare (all women) tell us that when they ask him to complete a chore, such as cleaning up, he’ll come back with:

“Ms. Kandace, I have a hug and kiss for you!” and tries to get out of it by using his wiles. He’s got them all under his thumb…at 2 and a half.

Sometimes, he can be so brightly enthusiastic and encouraging, he’s almost a caricature, singing out during our plodding morning commute:

“Come on, cars! You Can Do It!”

Some other hilarious catch phrases that you can hear from Dash regularly, that just sound bizarre coming from such a small person are:

“Leave that to me!”
“Just THINK about it!”
“What’s all this about?”

I won’t even get started on how he’s quoting Star Wars and Lord of the Rings these days. It’s just disturbing to hear a little guy with a light-up key fob wheeze out, “my precioussssss.”

From dcist.com’s Morning Roundup yesterday, AJS (a.k.a. monkeyrotica) is geeking out about the Pope’s visit:

“Man, I really hope the Pope rides his pimped out pennyfarthing when he comes to town, all covered in jewels and s**t. Even got a horn what beeps “Ave Maria” and “La Cucaracha.” If some creep jacks the pontiff’s ride, you can bet the DC cops will be all over that joint like brown on dookie. But I bet Benny don’t give a fat rat’s fart about tailpipe emissions and carbon footprints. All he care about is not gettin mud on his dress.

If Jeebus was around today, you can bet he’d ride a unicycle and smoke hemp and be talkin bout LOVE with a capital “F.” Now that’s the kinda blackeyed pea-eatin, strychnine drinkin religion that I can get behind. So long as they pay taxes and don’t marry off 14-year-olds to geriatrics.”

Cycling has always been a huge part of my life, until having two kids. Even when we just had Rosie, I still went on 25-mile weekend rides and occasionally biked to work, but once Dash arrived, I’ve only rarely been more than around the neighborhood. The last time I seriously biked for cycling’s sake was on our Rehoboth trip late last Fall, when we realized that Rosie-plus-Dash were beyond my trailer’s capacity and we had to rent a second one. We’d travel about 10 miles at a time, because of the heat and the kids’ attention span.

Growing up, my family belonged to a cycling club, where my dad had a few terms as president. We spent almost every weekend on a tour with the club around the Chicago area, occasionally venturing out to Indiana and Wisconsin. When my sister and I were teens, our dad discovered VBT and better, Bike Vermont. We’d travel to Vermont in the summers and stay for a week, biking during the day and either follow the guides on set tours, or go on Dad-led rides. I remember “cork-screw hill” and “suicide hill” fondly, as well as the maple syrup shops and later, the Woodstock Cider Brewery. Sis and I would usually take the 40-60 mile/day trips, while Dad would go for the Century rides and take all the options. He would always be back at the lodge before us, super-athlete that he is!

When AJS and I first met, he didn’t own a car and traveled 100% by bike; on our first date, he was wearing his bike gloves and a scrubby helmet was on the bench seat next to him (at Food for Thought, a long-gone dive on Conn Ave.). Before Rosie was born, we used to ride together all over DC on the weekends, picnicking on the Mall. AJS got a job in Rockville and bought a folding bike that he adored to commute with until it was stolen.

When we lived in Mount Pleasant, I was training for a bike tour in Ireland (in ’98, with Bike Vermont, my dad & sister) and I did hill training by looping steep Hobart St.>Mt Pleasant St.>Harvard St.>Adams Mil Rd.l>Irving St.>Hobart St. over and over again. It really paid off, even though the residents must have thought I was nuts. The last tour the three of us went on together was in 2001 to Hawaii’s Big Island, which was spectacular — imagine riding your bike on the edge of a volcano’s crater.

The past two summers, my dad, sister and I have taken both the kids to a beach house in Rehoboth (pictured from 2006), where we have taken bike trips throughout our stays. One-year old Dash looks veeeeery mischevious in this pic — he’s holding a stolen ID in his grubby hands. But that’s it for the biking lately. Kind of lame for such a cycling soul, eh?

I recently stumbled upon Gwadzilla’s blog; he’s a dad living in DC that lives for cycling and the outdoors. Reading his entries is making me want to get on my bike and get out there. Not to bike to work — I’ve tried cycling in Tysons Corner before; it’s a NIGHTMARE I wouldn’t recommend to anyone– but to bike when I get home and on the weekends. I think only Dash will fit in the trailer now, so I’ve been considering if Rosie will be jealous if we are out without her.

Maybe tonight? It’s looking sunny out! I’ll see about pumping the tires up when I get home…

It’s been awhile since I blogged about the jazz class I’m taking, mostly because it’s been more of the same stretching, learning a monthly dance combination, listening to the teenagers say goofy stuff, etc. Not very interesting, since you’ve already read it here.

But it is starting to get exciting now. Two weeks ago, we began learning the choreography for our June recital. I’ve purchased the costume and saw a photo of it (burgundy top, black pants, gold accent). I put in my 2¢ with the teacher, requesting some dance club music (instead of the Hanna Montana/High School Musical stuff that’s usually played), and got a mild glare from Mrs. H, the instructor. I was educated that she has a theme for the recitals, with this year’s being “Dance Quotations.” Each class gets music appropriate to that theme. It’s all very complex and she doesn’t appreciate getting input from the masses.

Even so, I’m at a loss as to how “You Are the Music in Me” by Vanessa Hudgins (a remix) fits the theme, but hey, that’s her job not mine. And by a quick search on You Tube, I learn that it indeed is a High School Musical song. Woo.

Anyway, because I’m a geek and have a bad memory for the choreography, I created a spreadsheet that breaks down the dance moves by counts of eight. Hey, don’t knock it!!! This is going to seriously help me! I also learned last week that while the instructor writes down the choreography, she doesn’t plan ahead: she does it WHILE WE’RE RIGHT THERE, is inspired by the previous moves/the music/stuff we’ve done in earlier classes and scrawls it down on her legal pad in shorthand. With other ballet/tap/modern/jazz classes all day, all week, she depends on the individual students to remember the dances. Sometimes the shorthand fails her and we have to reinvent a section.

Wish me luck! The class is tonight and I have my spreadsheet.