HB and SC Drama?

Ugh...still have remnants of a cold I picked up on the trip last week. I think I'll be done with it by Thursday. Which will be good since I'm going to the (first place) Angels' game that night.

The HB's back in his theater group. They do two, four-week camps during the summer. The good thing about the camps is that they go from 9-5. The bad this is that they are cattle calls (40+ kids instead of the usual mid-20s). This means LOTS of kids in the chorus and more competition for the good parts. The HB said that for the part he was going for (and there are four versions of it) there were 15 kids. He's not nearly as emotionally wrapped up in the audition as he was last go around. He enjoys the drama thing, but he's just not that competitive to drive himself to do things better. So, he'll probably get a minor part with a few lines and be happy with it.

Speaking of drama, I've been sorta following the whole Mark Sanford thing. This guy is such a poor liar that it's amazing that he's gotten re-elected. First he met with his lover a few times, now it's seven. Now he says that he's been with other women, but hasn't crossed the sex line (his term). I'm thinking the next revelation is going to involve boys in Thailand. Someone's gotta tell him to hire a good divorce lawyer and shut the fuck up.

Drive

The HB and I got to hang out this morning as he was off from school and science camp doesn't start until tomorrow. So, we ran out and got bagels (bagel, egg, bacon, and cheese sandwiches), when kayaking and watched part of X-Men 2 while eating lunch. Definitely a fun day.

While we were out and about, we chatted about the play. I wanted to get a sense of how interested he is in continuing (no surprise--VERY). I also wanted to feel him out as to how much disappointment he was still feeling about not getting the part he wanted (none) and how important it is for him to get bigger and better parts. Regarding the latter, he's not driven at all to get any better than one would expect from his maturation process. I have mixed feelings about this.

On one hand, he doesn't strike me has having a lot of innate skills for the theater (as I've written before, I believe his talent lies in set/lighting/costume design). So, he'll suffer a lot less disappointment and be able to enjoy the experience and the company of the other kids. On the other hand, it would be nice to see him be passionate about something. He enjoys a lot of things, but nothing drives him in a way where he continually wants to get better at it.

I'm not going to tell him what that should be. But, I hope that he finds it.

The HB On Stage

The HB had two performances yesterday (and two more today). He continues to improve on stage--he showed a lot of confidence and focus. Considering his disappointment in not getting the role he wanted, I'm very proud of him.

More Hoops and Into the Woods

Could it have been a better basketball weekend?

UCLA and Notre Dame renewed their hoops rivalry. Back in the day, it was as intense as USC-ND in football. The Bruins put it back in the stone age by giving the Slumping Irish a serious and well-deserved ass-kicking, 89-63.

The Lakers finished up their road trip against the Cavs in a game billed as Kobe vs. LeBron. Well, Kobe was puking before the game, LA played lock down D on The King and Lamar Odom played out of his mind. This all added up to a 10 point Laker win, ending Cleveland's 23 game home winning streak. I wish it were the NBA playoffs now, sigh...

The HB had a great time with Into the Woods. He sang (surprisingly) well in his solos and was very comfortable on stage. He really enjoyed this production and is ready to go for Alladin next.

Hooping it Up and the HB on Stage

Now that football's over (sniff) I've been turning more of my attention to basketball and it was a cool week to do so. My primary concern is the Lakers.

Things have been going well for them the season. They were in position to have the best record in the league, which is key for home court advantage in the playoffs, and then Andrew Bynum got his knee fucked up, again. It's not the same one as last year and he should be back before the playoffs, but you never really know.

Amidst all of this, the Lakers hit the road for what could be their biggest trip of the season. So far, so good. They've won at Minnesota, Memphis, New York (with Kobe setting a new Garden scoring record), and Boston (in overtime the night after the Knicks' game over the fucking Celtics--heh). They finish up tomorrow in Cleveland against LeBron and the Cavs, who have the 2nd best record in the league. If they can beat the Cavs they'll have another leg up for home court advantage (they beat the Cavs at Staples last month) and really show the league that they mean business this year.

In college hoops, Pat Summit, the head coach of the Lady Vols, won her 1,000th game. Most women's programs haven't won 1,000 games. This year she's had a tough job with a team of mostly freshman. They probably won't win the NCAA championship, but they'll be badass for the next few years, at least.

On the men's side, the tournament is shaping up to be awesome. Several teams have been ranked #1, so there's a lot of parity. The Vols are very inconsistent (one of their guards really needs to step up) and will have a tough time repeating last year's tourney success. I'd be stoked if they made the Sweet 16.

--------------

Today and tomorrow the HB's theater group is performing Into the Woods. He has a couple of good parts (they go with two casts) and is very excited. We got him a DVD of the original Broadway cast, so he knows the show inside and out (the kids are only doing the first half of he show).

The kids have been working very hard with 4 hour practices after school all week. The wife and I caught some of the final rehearsal last night (after going to the most customer service oriented bar I've ever been in) and it's looking good. I'll letchya know how things go.

Hookey!

OK, today was going to be a psuedo work day. The wife needed to go in for a few hours then I was going to work for a bit. Coming back from Vegas I promised the HB that I would take him sledding this week, thinking that Tuesday would be the best day. Well, after looking at our calendar, that clearly wasn't the case. So, I shut down the computer, called one of the HB's best friends (and a kid the wife and I really like, as opposed to the BS), packed some snacks and warm weather gear and headed to the mountains.

Some brief LA jingoism--one of the many things that makes this a great place to live is that we can be in the snow (in the mountains, where it belongs) in 90 minutes or less (usually), even though I'm less than 10 minutes from the beach. However, this being a holiday week, the traffic up the mountain completely sucked, so it took us 2.5 hours (another reason I hate skiing--even the ride to the slopes is a pain in the ass).

But, we made it and and the conditions were perfect. Not a cloud in the sky, mid-50s temps and lots of good sledding. The HB had is obligatory wipe-out (this time into a tree stump, but he only had some scratches and got right back on), but otherwise we had a great time. On the way home we stopped for some food at the world's slowest Del (Hell) Taco (NEVER go to the one at the intersection of CA Highway 138 and Interstate 15), but made good time after that.

The boys were awesome despite the extra car time. In fact, a sleepover at the good kid's house has already been arranged for the Saturday night. This will allow the wife and I to go use a restaurant gift card for the Saddle Peak Lodge, a place we've wanted to go to for a long time.

Tomorrow, I'll definitely have to put the nose to the grindstone. There are a couple of smouldering client issues and end of the year tax stuff that require my attention.

THE TALK (number 1)

I'm not one of those parents who dreads my kid growing up (not that I reserve the right to change my find when he becomes a teenager). I look forward to all of his milestones, whether they be emotional or physical. So, I was OK with having the first TALK with him about sex. I'd answer some of his basic questions in the past, so it's not like the first time the topic came up. Rather, my wife and I felt he should know more.

My wife was pretty insistent on getting a book, but he and I didn't use it. Rather, I opened by telling him that this was important information for him to have and that, more often than not, his friends won't have the right information. I then asked him some questions: Where do babies come from? When he said, "Uterus" I knew this was going to go well as our previous conversations had sunk in. He knew that a sperm had to get to an egg for a woman to get pregnant, but wasn't so sure how either got there. So, I talk to him about ovaries, a woman's cycle and period (I think this was, in his mind TMI), and the vagina. Then we moved on to how sperm, testicles, penis and sex (he didn't scrunch up his face too much at this point). We wrapped up with how sex is filthy and shameful and should only be done with strangers for money;-)

He didn't go screaming out of the room and he's still talking to me, so I guess it went well. I'm thinking I'll be getting some interesting questions from him fairly soon as this sinks in.

Guitar Hero

This morning the HB had his first guitar lesson. The pretty much put the wooden stake in his piano playing for now. However, he did see how his piano playing helped his understanding of scales and chords, so who knows. He was pretty funny. He asked me if playing Guitar Hero would actually help his guitar playing. I told him probably not, except it helps with his sense of rhythm.

Last night we saw Hellboy II. It had some great creativity in the creatures and the fight scenes (particularly those involving Prince Nuada). Some of the buddy parts with Hellboy and Abe were a bit ham-fisted. Overall, a good popcorn flick.

Later today we're heading over to some friends (she works with my wife). They left LA and moved to Rhode Island for a bit, then came to their senses and moved back. I'm thinking it'll be Mexican food and cerveza, which is OK by me.

Tomorrow I'm off to the Angels/Red Sox game. It has a weird start time (3pm), but it means I'll get to start drinking early since I'm going with a guy who's a regular at a bar where we drink...and two of the bartenders. Could be a preview of the playoffs since the Angels have the best record in the AL and Boston is bouncing between the AL east lead and the wild card. Traditionally, the Angels don't play well against the Red Sox (don't get me started about them in the playoffs), but they took 2 of 3 in Fenway in April and gave them a good thrashing last night. Perhaps the tide has turned?

If Everything is Special, Nothing Is

Today was the 'graduation' for the HB's Indian Guides tribe. I was talking to one of the other dads who has a younger kid and he was telling me about the big whoop-dee-doo his son's school made of kindergarten graduation (gowns and everything).

I'm a believer in celebrating real accomplishment. Making a huge deal over just showing up (like kindergarten and Indian Guides) diminishes the recognition of really achieving something (like earning the grades to graduate H.S. or college). Let's get real--5 y.o. kids don't give a rats ass about graduating kindergarten. It feeds the parents' ego. Though, I could never understand why ANYONE would think it's a big deal...unless it's the first kid in the family to go to kindergarten.

I guess at some point this trend will turnaround. It won't be fast enough for me.

Act II

The HB's second performance went well. They have alternate casts so that they can spread out the bigger parts. In cast two, the HB had fewer speaking lines, but was on stage more. He had a really good time but was clearly whooped by the end of the evening.

So, I'm off to Oakland in the morning for a conference. I was asked to serve on this organization's board last year. I'm a big believer of saying Yes when asked to do these things in volunteer organizations, but I'm close to regretting this one. Things are in turmoil (we just got kicked to the curb by the umbrella organization--which is a good thing) so we have a lot of ground to cover. But, we don't meet frequently enough, and the president isn't directive enough, for things to get done. Perhaps the crisis will force us into meaningful action.

I just hope I can make it to a bar with a TV and watch the Laker game after the meeting.

Showtime

The HB's play is today and he's very psyched because his theater group is performing today. OK, he gets up at the crack of dawn every morning, but when I asked him he said he was excited. Break a Leg, HB!

After dropping him off at rehearsal last night, the wife and I went to a new wine bar. The good was good, as was the ambiance, but the wines by the glass weren't that spectacular. The place was hopping early. There was a table of (at least) once, but not currently, married women having a good time. Several couples were snuggled in the corners and there were some other parties. A band started playing samba music at 8, which was cool. We nibbled on some dates stuffed with cheese and wrapped in prosciutto and a cheese platter and went through a few glasses of red wine. We'll definitely go back with some friends who are also into the grape.

When we went to pick up the HB, we saw them rehearse the second act. The kids were having a great time, so today should be fun. The woman who puts this together is amazing...there must be 30 kids (between ages 6 and 15) in the two casts and somehow she pulls it all together.

The Lakers are looking to bounce-back tomorrow night against the Celtics (I'll be watching in Oakland--the subject of another post). The whole story about Pierce and his knee is pretty hilarious. The Boston fans are such drama queens. I think the Lakers will win on Sunday.

I'll have the play review later.

Tickling the Ivories

Last night the HB had a piano recital. He's funny about playing in that he's not really passionate about it, but we don't have to bug him about practicing. He LOVES going to his teacher because of the one-on-one attention he gets, which is odd cuz as an only child he gets tons of it here. He's no prodigy, but he plays well enough and continues to get better.

The once a year recital occurs at the local Mormon church. When I say local, I mean less than .5 miles from my house. Last year the HB's teacher and another teacher combined their students, so the whole thing took for fucking ever. This year there were about 30 students playing one or two songs. The HB was in the middle. He was excited that the nephew came. My oldest s-i-l was also in attendance.

The HB did appear to be nervous at all (which is typical for him). When it was his turn, he walked briskly up to the piano, put up his music, and played the song the best I have ever heard him play it. He normally plays things too fast and slows down at the tougher portions. Not last night. While he missed a couple of notes, he played (appropriately) slow and steady.

When he got back to our pew, he said he needed to use the restroom. On the way there, he told me that he had to pee the whole time and that he was a little bit nervous. I told him how well he played ("I know, dad").

Today we're off to the Huntington Libary, Art Collection and Botanical Gardens. Not that the art collection is so great (unless you are into Gainsborough), I'm into old books (though it is cool to see their Gutenberg Bible) or that I'm a big botanical gardens fan. Rather, we have some friends who live in the sticks with two girls the HB's age. We rarely get to see them (this whole thing was 2 months in the planning) and the Huntington is somewhat of a midpoint, it's a nice day, and the kids will have plenty of room to run around. So, we'll picnic and hang out for the afternoon before heading to my parents.

I hope that you are having a good one.

Happy Birthday, HB!

Today is the HB's 9th birthday. We started the par-tay a few days earlier when we took him and three friends to Universal Studios. The tickets were purchased from two recent charity auctions, so that was a win-win. The boys were great. No fighting, very little "gimmes", no audible bitching when we had to be somewhere or when we had to leave.

Even though he hung all week in DC with his cousin, they wanted a sleepover last night, so we didn't actually see him until today at around noon. My wife drove him there after his theater practice and it gave her and her sisters a chance to convince their mom that she needs live-in assistance. But, that's for a another post.

The HB had very few things on his birthday wishlist--he's not that into stuff compared to his peers. So, we decided to go whole hog and get him a Wii. The nephew's mom knows of a small gaming place that gets them weekly. So, she and my wife got there early one morning and got him one with a couple of games. Every one who asked, "What should I get the HB for his birthday?" was asked to get him a Wii game. He also got some cool books.

We teased him a little during lunch about what he was like as a baby, etc. He seemed to have had a good time. He's a wonderful and happy little boy (hence, the HB). Happy Birthday!

The Birth of Political Thinking

I'm driving the HB to school and I ask him if he wants to go with me to vote (today's Super Tuesday in CA, in case you haven't noticed all of the screaming). After I promise that I'll let him mark the ballot (if the polls workers will let me bring him in the booth with me) he says yes. This is one of those things where I tell myself if he sees me and/or my wife voting it will make it more likely he'll vote. That can have unintended consequences, but I'm willing to deal with that.

This conversation leads to a discussion about the candidates. I'm one of those parents who doesn't mind teachers talking about these things. It encourages political curiosities and I have confidence in the school's teachers not to overly preach. You can tell that some political messages get through to kids because the HB says that he would vote for Obama because he represents change (I think that sound I heard was Lola's head hitting the ground). So, I ran through the other candidates to see what, if anything, he thought of them. At some point he said something to the effect, "Well, they couldn't be much worse than Bush." Atta boy!

Then I talked to him that my political party, Libertarians, is neither the democrats or the republicans. He said that they hadn't talked about other parties at school. Going back to the change theme, I asked him, "HB, if the democrats and republicans have been the ones in power for all of these years, how do you expect any of them to really change things?" The silence of 8 year old contemplation filled the car. He then said, "Y'know, I'm gonna ask my teacher about the Libertarian and other party candidates today." That's my boy.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Ah, the HB started back at school yesterday. Woot! It's nice to get back on a regular schedule as opposed to shifting between camps, days off, etc. One bummer is that the girl in the family we carpooled with is now a middle-schooler and doesn't have a schedule that's conducive to us sharing rides. We'll have to check the school roster to see if there's anyone else in our neighborhood who would be a good candidate. She's a nice girl, but, like most her age, very quiet around everyone except her friends. With the HB's constant chattering, I can only imagine her thanking her lucky stars every day that she doesn't have a younger brother.

We signed him up for one after school class and for a community youth drama group. My wife works with people whose grandkids are in it and she and the HB saw one of their productions this summer and were impressed. I think the HB will really like it.

Fitting with new (school) year's resolutions, we're going to get the HB in, for lack of a better word, better shape. He's getting a bit of a gut and he's just not that into physical activity. So, our new deal is that he can't have dessert (which is usually low fat ice cream/yogurt/pudding) unless he puts in 30 min of outdoor activity when he gets home. It just boggles me how little he wants to go out and run around with other kids. That's all me and my brother ever did. He's different than me at that age, and that's OK. But, I'm not going to let him get fat, for health and social reasons.

Piano Recital

It is AMAZING the things that I do with the HB that were no where near my radar screen as a kid. Private school was one thing and last week's piano recital was another. I played bass guitar as a kid (kept beer and coke in my fridge through college), but not the kind of stuff that made for recitals (mostly blues and punk rock). We started him on lessons in September, but only after he started messing a bit with the piano (it is an upright that my wife learned on). My feeling is that I wanted him to learn an instrument because he'd enjoy it and I will NOT pester him to practice. I don't want him to be one of those kids who plays well but gives it up as soon as he leaves the house because his parents make playing such a miserable experience. Plus, it gives him a non-electronic diversion.

So, his teacher decides to put on this recital for all (read 39!) of her students. Being as this was my first I didn't have a comparison point. My wife, who did tons of these as a kid (and didn't want anyone to come and here her play, but wanted to do the recital) assured me that this was unusual. We intentionally didn't invite a bunch of people because a) it's really not a big deal, b) he's only been playing for a few months, and c) we didn't want him to feel extra pressure. But, knowing how they would sulk if they didn't come, we asked my parents to attend (which they did). The HB was #9. He walked straight up to the baby-grand, put up his music (Etude in Imitation by Kohler and The Hiccup Song), looked straight at it and played. He handled his nerves very well and enjoyed himself. As such, my wife, the HB and I viewed it as a success.

Of course, there were 30 other kids to go and the HB had a sleepover/birthday party to go to, so he was a little squirmy for the next 105 minutes or so. But, he lived (as did my father, barely). I was impressed with the lack of pushy parents and how well behaved the families were. Most people gutted out the entire thing which was also nice.

We dropped off my folks at our house to get their car, took the HB to his friend's house then went and say Blades of Glory. We barely made it in time, so we got shitty seats (front row). The movie wasn't that great, but had some good belly-laughs. Sleeping in and going to brunch the next morning was a pleasure.

Happy Birthday, HB!

By the time many of you (how optimistic of me) read this, it will be the HB's 8th birthday. Technically, 10:30am EDT is the time (he was born just outside of Boston right before we moved back to LA). He INSISTED on coming out feet first, so my wife had a c-section. My calendar for that day still reads "10am--Have HB" (that's when me wife and I went into the OR).

Both my wife and I will be taking the day off and a friend of the HB's is coming over around lunch time. We'll chase him off around 2 since my s-i-l wants to take the HB shopping. Then, both of our families are coming over at around 5 for pizza, cupcakes, etc. Our nephew, who's 14, is staying the night since we are taking the boys to New York from Saturday through Wednesday. My nephew's never been on a plane, so that should be exciting. We took the boys to the SF Bay Area during winter break and that went well. I'll give more details about the NYC trip tomorrow.

My wife got back from DC last night, but since she's meeting a friend for dinner the HB and I had one more bachelor night. Hopefully she's not too late as tonight will be the last opportunity we'll have to knock it out until next Wednesday.

On another note, I still haven't heard back from Lynn. I'm not sure if I'm surprised or not.

Bachelor Days

The HB and I have been having a great time while my wife is away (she's back today). We tried to go on an adventure yesterday to the Mexican Cultural Institute to see an exhibit of Joe Bravo's work. What makes it special? He paints on huge tortillas. Now that's art a kid can relate to. So, I picked him up from gym camp and we thrash through LA rush hour traffic (at 3pm...ugh). We get to the museum only to find that the person who runs it decided to closeup shop early. Fuck. The exhibit is going on for a few more weeks, so we'll still have a chance to check it out.

The museum in on Olvera St., which the HB hadn't been to before. We cruised around, poking our heads in the outdoor market stands (I was hoping someone would be selling tamales, but several of the stands were also closed). We did go into a sweet shop so that the HB could get a candy skull, so it's not like the trip was a total bust.

Bachelor Days

My wife's traveling on business for a few days (Sunday am until Wed evening), so the HB and I will get in some bachelor time, which is cool. It's a tad inconvenient this week. It's the first of his two weeks off for Spring break and the hours at the camp he's going to aren't as long as his hours at school. So, I'm going to be doing some scrambling from meetings to get him in the afternoon.

We have today free, so we'll probably do some local hiking and then get some groceries. The second part is key because we have a seafood extravaganza when the wife's out of town. In the 24 years that I've known her, I've seen seafood (and that includes tuna out of a can) pass her lips exactly twice: Once we were eating at the Top of the Hub restaurant in Boston (I'd link to it, but the site's obnoxious) and I ordered lobster egg rolls. She LOVES egg rolls, so something in the wine got her to try a bite. She didn't ask for another. The other time were were eating at Le Cirque in Vegas. One of the appetizers was cold salmon in sauce on a spoon. Much to my surprise, she ate it. When I asked her why, she said, "For what we're paying for this meal, I'm eating every fucking thing they put in front of us."

Why she doesn't eat seafood is a bit of a mystery. The more common (but not the only) reason she gives is eating some bad cioppino as a kid. Then again, she doesn't like swimming in the ocean because she might step on a fish. I think she's a closeted fishist.

So, the HB and I will get in some fun time doing the things the wife doesn't like (read: eat fish and hang in the jacuzzi).

On the basketball front, I was quite torn on the UCLA/Kansas game last night. I grew up watching the Wooden era Bruins kick ass and take names EVERY year so I've always been a fan. On the other hand, I had Kansas winning it all in my pools. Well, I guess I'm done in my pools and can root for the Bruins the rest of the way.