Wookie the Chew

These are just too wonderful not to post about

Deluding Myself

If you don't watch the pre-season games (which I haven't) and read more of the stories on chicagobears.com than on chicagotribune.com (which I have), you start to feel slightly optimistic towards the Bears upcoming season.

Yes, I know what I described above is a formula for failure. But I can't help myself. Sometimes I just want to find a reason to be optimistic about something, when all evidence suggests I should think otherwise.

Joker and Lex

In the special extra-large anniversary issue of Superman/Batman #75, the creative team of Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo provided this pitch-perfect homage to the Calvin & Hobbes comic strip that stars Lex Luthor and the Joker.

I hadn't planned on buying Superman/Batman #75, but I've rad enough strong reviews - and now after seeing this - that I may be reconsidering that position.

Ian Starts Middle School - And Likes It

I drove Ian to football practice on Wednesday, which was also his first day at a new school. The trip also takes about 20 minutes, so there was plenty of time to talk.

Now while Ian will be tight-lipped from time to time, he still isn't at that age (or temperament) where he clams up around his mother and father. It take long for him to start telling me all about his first day as a 6th grader at the public middle school near us.

I heard all about the bus ride, finding his classrooms, what went on in the lunchroom, and in general the new experiences of being in middle school instead of elementary school.

It was all stuff I expected to hear, but still plenty fascinating because it was my son sharing his experiences with me.

What surprised me was when he commented on how he likes the freedom that middle school gives him. He enjoys the independence of moving from class to class, and being solely responsible for taking care of himself. His day isn't spent sitting in one room with one teacher moving the class as a group. The success of his school day was equally on his shoulders to be where he needed to be at the right time. It was an observation that I wouldn't expect from an eleven year-old. I'm proud of him.

Hopefully the next 9 months go as well as the first.

Silent Star Wars

I thought this was fun

Cicada' Really Are Ugly Bugs

Never realized how big and ugly a cicada really is until we had one in the house.

Last night one buzzed in while I was taking some garbage out to the trash can. The girls and I discovered it when I was taking them to the bed.

After promising - promising - to kill it before I went to bed, I realized that my promise was going to be a little more difficult than I thought. The bug had found perch on the second floor window of our open entry way.

A well thrown balled-up sock got the cicada flying again. Unfortunately the direction was straight for my head. Not only are those things ugly, but they make a hell of a lot of noise when they are flying.

I ducked to avoid the bug's kamikaze flight, and watched it bounce of the wall and into a floor fan. I then ended its life (and unintentionally bisected the winged beast) with a sturdy smack of my shoe. The two pieces (one still twitching) were scooped up and disposed of, but the memory of the rattle echoing off the hallway walls as that bug flew straight towards me will haunt me for some time.

All of Human History

I really think this piece by Nathan Pyle, which was up for scoring at Threadless (though closed now), is way cool.

Robin Without a Cause

Caanan Grall, he of Occasional Comics, was participating in some comic book character mash-ups and came up with this:

Fantastic.