Earworms
(Tuesday, June 18, 2013)

Sweet baby Jesus I have an earworm. To celebrate this earworm and hopefully drive it from my head, I'll give the first person who guesses correctly a $10 Amazon gift card. Yes, I realize it could be anything. That's why I'm giving you clues.

1. Alphabet.
2. Oh Canada.
3. IATA.

Have at it.

Dad's Day
(Monday, June 17, 2013)

A couple of years back, I cringed at the idea that my kids were making me breakfast. Owen was little so his idea of breakfast frequently included inedible items. Mia's might as well have since she was likely to combine granola, orange juice, a jar of olives and some romaine lettuce and call it good. Luckily for me, things have changed.

Yesterday, for Father's Day, I received breakfast in bed. It consisted of nicely cut strawberries, coffee, orange juice and a plate of fresh blueberry pancakes. I ate as they cuddled around me only occasionally punching one another. Then I opened presents - the latest John Sandford novel from Mia and a few movies from Owen - and we headed to a neighborhood cookout. There was beer, which is always nice, and tons of friends. Hard to go wrong. Afterwards we all watched a movie then went out to dinner.

Apparently Father's Day for me is all about getting fat.

Of course, other things happened this weekend. Mia swam in her first meet of the summer. She was a little rusty but did well in four events - freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and a relay. I'm convinced, though, that swim meets are just an excuse for kids to eat junk on a Saturday morning. At least they're swimming it all off. After the swim meet we all went home, got a snack and headed back to the pool for some family swim time. Then the four of us cooked a big meal, ate, and fell blissfully asleep after only several hours of complaining that no one was tired.

Even if it is a Hallmark-driven, fake holiday, it's a great excuse to eat. I hope all the fathers out there - and all the moms that support them - had a great Father's Day.

Haiku For Monday #455
(Monday, June 17, 2013)

Nothing better than
a kid with a whistle first
thing on a Monday.

The Weeklies #257
(Friday, June 14, 2013)

The Weekly Loss. Earlier in the week the world lost Iain Banks. I recently wrote about Banks and his impact on me. After a heroic struggle with cancer whilst trying to complete his final novel, Banks died on Sunday. If there's a silver lining, it's that he did finish his novel which is due out later this month. Needless to say I'm saddened that he's no longer with us.

The Weekly Weather Situation. Severe!

The Weekly CNN Headline. Did 'Octomom' Defraud Welfare? Maybe, but she sure as hell defrauded nature.

The Weekly Read. I joined the rest of the world by finally reading The Fault In Our Stars by John Green. It is one of the rare occasions that something lives up to the hype. It is, quite simply, wonderful. Sure, it's about kids with cancer and as with stories of kids with cancer the outcomes aren't always happy but Green's depiction of the kids, their relationship and their struggles are incredible.

The Weekly Question. So, all this domestic snooping stuff - justified and okay or just flat wrong?