... but you can't take the 'Ham out of the Lewis: 10/01/2004 - 11/01/2004

... but you can't take the 'Ham out of the Lewis

What's going on up here anyhow?

Sunday, October 31, 2004

The time change

Whenever we set the clock back or ahead it really messes with me for a few days. It's only 7:50 right now, but I feel like going to bed. Of course it also got dark by 6:00, which I really don't like. By Wednesday I'll be used to it and fully embrace the constant darkness of the next 4 months.

Went to lunch after church today and then came home and hung out before going back to church for the Harvest Festival. I went as Linus tonight complete with blanket in tow. For yesterday's Halloween party (at a friend's house) I went as Charlie Brown as a ghost (with too many holes in my sheet). We also watch It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown last night. So I've had my fill of Peanuts related Halloween activity.

Also, the Seahawks were able to not lose today! I watched as they almost let the Panthers win, but it all came down to the onside kick not working out for the Panthers and the clock running down... finally.

Working in reverse chronological order (again) I went to a Travis Morrison concert on Friday. It was free and I went with Joe from my program at school. He was nice enough to drop me off at Haggen when it was over and I rode home (about 1/2 mile) in the windy rainy nighttime. Very strange to feel like the wind could have blown me right off of my bike.

Now it's Sunday night and time for another week. It goes fast.

Monday, October 25, 2004

It's a moonlicht nicht tonicht


The moon was out from the clouds tonight when Sarah got home and she had me come out to look at it. Very pretty and clear. I got out the tripod and started taking pics and was able to get a few pretty clear shots by setting the shutter and aperture myself (which is why I wanted this camera) and using the 12x zoom (the other reason I wanted this camera).

New Toy


Well, here's a photo from my new camera. Circuit City coerced me into buying the camera I've wanted for the past 6 months by offering discounts and free stuff by mail (a camera bag and battery). Oh, what camera you ask? The Panasonic DMC FZ-3. It's really nice and I've hardly had time to play with it. I had homework to do yesterday and class today so I took it just down the street to shoot some quick shots while the weather was still nice. Anyhow, that's what I'm up to... playing with toys!

Thursday, October 21, 2004

Not wanting to jinx anything

I didn't post yesterday at all because the BoSox were taking the Yankees on a trip to the "this is how much people want to see you lose" store and bought them a personal space on the cover of many major newspapers with their pictures and headlines regarding their beautiful demise.
I honestly didn't get into this series until I watched the last 3 innings of game 6 at our small group. Needless to say we didn't talk about the book we've been reading. Instead we yelled at the TV, cheered loudly, talked about our disdain for the Yankees (including one female's theory that A-Rod has gotten fat since getting married), and then prayed and went home. The key was the umpires choosing to reverse calls to make sure they got the correct call. We laughed for a full 5 minutes as the endless replays of Rodriguez slapping the ball out of Arroyo's glove played again and again. Speaking of Arroyo - dude has cornrows and wears a doo-rag under his hat - no way could he get away with that stuff on any team but this Sox squad. His hair isn't even close to the weirdest on the team. Pedro's is probably the most reminiscent of the 80's, but Bellhorn is pretty close. Manny's just looks unwashed and Damon obviously blow dries his hair (so although it is long it actually has a bit of time put into it).
Now that the Cards are in it I'm not sure who I'm pullin' for. Cuz I've actually been to St. Louis, whereas Boston is next on my list of places I would like to visit. I also see the Cardinals line up as totally awesome. They will hit home runs no matter what and Jim Edmonds has gotten better at being Ken Griffey Jr than Griffey is. Also, seeing La Russa managing a team in the playoffs reminds me of being a kid watching the A's (who I didn't really like). It'll simply be good baseball to watch, listen to, and read about.

Wednesday, October 20, 2004

Working - Listening

I have become convinced that The Mars Volta are legit. I have written my latest lesson plan (for teaching math) while listening to their CD and it just made the whole time much more enjoyable. Sure it’s big and has lots of self-important weird art-rock/prog-rock tendencies, but it really rocks and makes no sense lyrically. It’s perfect for getting work done and especially long bike rides. I listened to it one time on my way to a class all the way across town and I hauled the whole way there. It was incredible.

Another favorite of mine while doing writing or reading for school is Kent, a.k.a. "Sweden's biggest rock band!" I got the mp3's from Jim and Michelle's exchange student, Marta, and have enjoyed listening to the foreign language singing. It makes it so I'm not distracted while writing, but still have something to listen to.

Music that distracts me when trying to do work: Sunny Day Real Estate, Death Cab, Pedro the Lion, and The Dismemberment Plan. These bands are great for in the car or on the bike or playing games, just not for getting work done.

Tuesday, October 19, 2004

This wasn't in the manual!

Why do computers drive people so completely insane? We expect them to do exactly as we wish when we wish it and when they don't deliver it can get ugly. I've experienced this before, and this evening my better half is taking a trip to the plate. It's really hard to be supportive and compassionate when you rationally know that it's not a big deal and if they were just going to sleep they would forget about it by morning. But I have to be understanding and try to help as much as I can.

It gives me good perspective for when I get all bent out of shape over nothing big (see previous post regarding missed dental appointments). When I'm in the process of being upset about: the Seahawks blowing another 4th-quarter lead, not being able to make Excel sum the columns that way I want it to, buying a pair of shoes that don't fit (and no longer having the receipt), or forgetting to turn off the computer when we leave for vacation I need to remember that it's not that big of a deal and my energy spent on being bothered by it doesn't change anything. Except me. It makes me unpleasant and I won't even laugh at jokes. It's terrible. I just need to say, "okay I screwed that up, make sure I don't next time". And get on with it.

Monday, October 18, 2004

How mad can I get at myself?

I forgot my freakin' dentist appointment today!!!!! I can't believe this, I only made in last week! I wrote it down and even thought about it more than once after I scheduled it. I came home today at noon and just went about my business until about 10 minutes ago when I had the sinking feeling that it was today at 1... and I was right. I called and made a new appointment for sometime in November, but it's my ability to not remember this kind of crap that makes me mad enough to throw a pen all over the house (which I did) and yell unkind words at the blank walls of the room! Just typing this is getting me all worked up again, I need to finish my homework for tonight before I get off track again.

Now for my uncensored thoughts:

^&*()$)(*&#@*)(@))(@*(*)@$&!!!!!!!

Thursday, October 14, 2004


Did sound for practice at church this evening. It's always different sitting up at the board compared with sitting behind the drums. I hear all the instruments mixed and everything seems really loud. But once Sunday rolls around it usually turns out fine. Having people in the congregation helps make the loud music make more sense. We'll be going to first service on Sunday so that Sarah can teach Sunday School at 2nd, which means I'll be getting a double dose of church services. I think that puts me ahead on my church points by quite a bit! :)

Tuesday, October 12, 2004

Jumping on the bandwagon a bit late

Seattle is home to a championship team... the Seattle Storm! They beat the Connecticut Sun 74-60 in game 3 to claim Seattle's first pro championship since the '79 Sonics. This is therefore the first pro sports title for my hometown since I've been born. I should be more excited, but I haven't quite gotten there yet. Also, I'm a bit puzzled by the best of 3 series format. It's a bit of a crapshoot if you just have to win two games. I know they're running up against the baseball playoffs, but at least play more than 9 games in the postseason! A'ight, time for sleep, I go to the dentist tomorrow. I can't explain how much I'm not looking forward to that.

Sunday, October 10, 2004

A Reminder

That's what the second half (and overtime) of today's Seahawk game was. A reminder that they are in fact, the 'Hawks. In fact, it was a reminder that all Seattle sports teams have the ability to lose a game at any time. The Sonics have never (with the exception of the 96 team) been a team that made me feel like they had put away a team until the final buzzer sounds. Likewise, the Seahawks never make me sure they have the W until I see all zeros and the coaches shaking hands.
I can't blame any single player or coach because they all share equal blame for causing me to yell at my TV shortly before 4:45 pm. As the Rams threw yet another long pass for a TD (this one to win the game) I yelled at the people on the screen who couldn't hear me and then turned the idiot box off.
Part of me thinks its worse now that I have high expectations (a.k.a. playoffs/Super Bowl thoughts), but I also remember how awful it used to be to watch the whole game trying to find out how close to winning they might come that day. All I know is they can dress the team up in whatever hip new color they can think of (although the new unis are much better than the old silver helmet get-ups) but they will still play like the same old 'Hawks.

As a word of advice to the coaching staff: a) bring in Steve Largent to teach these guys how to hold on to the ball and b) when you have first down with 2:45 to go in the game, and your opponent has no time outs, you run the ball wait for the 2-minute warning, run on 2nd down, and run on 3rd down.... this would have eaten up enough clock that even if you don't make the first down you punt with around 40 seconds to play and maybe the Rams don't kick the game tying field goal. ARRRGGHHHH!

Other than the above diatribe I had a wonderfully relaxing Sunday. Church was good this morning and Sarah made enchiladas for dinner, can't do too much better than that! Time for school to happen again tomorrow, woo hoo!

Saturday, October 09, 2004

11 hours of sleep?!?!

That’s right, 11 hours! If I sleep 10 it’s either an accident or I’m sick. When I finally got up my vision without glasses told me it was 8:30, but as soon as I put on my specs I read the number 9:30! Apparently yesterday’s long amount of time spent at the mall followed by movie watching wore us out!
Speaking of the movies, we started out watching The Fast Runner. It’s about a group of Inuit in the Canadian North. However, it moved slowly, and was supposed to be 2 ½ hours long, that we switched about 30 minutes in. We just couldn’t watch the lack of story or clear direction any longer. Also, I had gotten another movie from the library.Thankfully, this one was excellent. Quiz Show turned out to be even better than I had expected. I remember when it came out in movie theaters (many years ago) I sort of wanted to see it. It was the perfect blend of suspense and interesting characters for me. The suspense was never created with threats of violence or dangerous characters; it was always based on the difficult moral dilemma the character had backed himself into. The only weird part about this particular movie was that it started freaking out about an hour into it. Our DVD player couldn’t read the disc, but we were really into the story. So, we ended up watching the last half on the computer, which wasn’t all that bad. Alright, it’s Saturday and I think that pancakes or waffles are being suggested for breakfast by my better half… gotta go!

Thursday, October 07, 2004

Week going fast

It's already Thursday??? Monday and Tuesday went slow, and then all of a sudden it feels like this week is nearly finished. Such is the nature of our calendar.
In case you haven't checked it out yet, you need to go to Nathan's new blog. It's in the links on the right as always, but this post about marriage (and Nathan specifically) is pretty hilarious!

Today I experienced my first feeling of failure while working in the classroom. Which, is pretty good considering it's already been a month. Or maybe it's bad because I need to fail more often. I was telling them what I saw on their assignments and talking about how to improve their writing and planning. While I was doing this I was watching them look at me and I felt like they just weren't getting it. I had nothing else to fall back on so I just plugged away and mercifully wrapped it up at some point. It had to do with a lack of planning (which I didn't have time for because I only decided to do it a few minutes before), but I also feel like the lack of experience was the main issue. Whatever it was I was both frustrated by it and happy to have felt it. If I didn't notice that they were looking at me unresponsively there would be a bigger issue. Anyhow, I'll try again next time and see what comes of it.
Practice at church tonight for Sunday. I'll get to ride my bike home in the dark, oh boy! The lights I have make it safe, but it's never fun.

Wednesday, October 06, 2004

Between class

We always have about a half hour between these classes on M/W mornings. I usually leave some reading to do, but I feel like a slacker for doing so. Even though we just have to have it done before class I feel like I should do it the night before. Then again, my time management side of the brain tells me that this is the best use of my time.... Unless I spend it on the internet in the computer lab instead of reading, which is exactly what I'm doing right now!
So, it's time to go read! Also, hi to all of the family members who have now signed up to post comments! I'm pretty sure you don't have to, you could have posted anonymously and then written your name in the comments, but now they've got you hooked and you will be included in the statistics on how many people are becoming nerds each year!! :)

As a side note: our instructor asked what the decimal equivalent of 7/8 was today in class (expecting no one to answer) and I piped up with .875. This has cemented my status as geekiest person in the group. But I guess if the shoe fits....

Tuesday, October 05, 2004

The most tiring thing I have done so far

Just finished grading papers and boy oh boy is it tiring! Trying to understand where they are cognitively is the hardest part. I know what kind grade I would give myself on most papers I turn in, but I don’t know how to grade 5th graders!
This week was better because I understood a bit more about how things go, but it still takes a lot of concentration on my part. Making the decision between a 2.5 and a 3 is really hard. I feel a personal connection with each student and want to see them all do well. At the same time they need to be accurately assessed as to where they are and how to improve. Writing comments is very fun and very difficult at times. How many times can I write "Good summary" before it has no meaning?
Had a snoozer of a seminar after school.... wish I could have come home early and eaten dinner earlier. Instead at the end of the seminar I had the conflicting feelings of needing to pee and also being ravenously hungry! I have always found this to be the most annoying of the body signal conflicts. Much worse than when you hit your funny bone and it hurts and you want to laugh at the same time (which I almost did today, instead I just banged it above the elbow... it just hurt, no laughing).

Just as I suspected

I wake up this morning to find a comment in my previous post. Excitement ensues as I tried to figure out who found it interesting enough to comment. However, it was just some idiot trying to convince me to click on their link for free stuff! The usefulness of the internet as a gateway to junkmail is really amazing. I don't know why people keep sending spam/junk-mail/junk-links to everyone, because no one uses it to buy anything!!!!

Monday, October 04, 2004


Now that school is really in full swing I miss the chance to walk over the sand dunes to the ocean. I really liked having a long break in August, but I'm already thinking about the next two months as just a time to "push through". As long as I look at it one day at a time it's not that tough, I just can't think about the whole quarter all at once.... basically I miss hanging out at the beach!

Sunday, October 03, 2004


Derek: Maybe we just fix the choreography. Keep the dwarf clear. David: What do you mean? Derek: So they won't trod upon it.

So I'm Still Learning

The way to post pictures that I have found to work doesn't let me put them within a post. So, for now, I'll just do those separately.
Went to the bookstore and got the newest Lemony Snicket book. I probably won't have time to read it for a few months, but the movie of the first three books will be out this winter!
Alright, off to watch fuzzy reception television. I'll post another picture just to practice....

And so it begins

I have entered the world of geekdom in a fully public manner. My ownership of a USB flash drive watch had me walking the line between normal and geeky citizen (in my opinion, according to others I was already a geek), but now "I'm out there Jerry, and I'm lovin' every minute of it!"

Mostly, I just want to be able to sit down and write down funny/stupid/interesting things that happen up here in the far north and let people know what's goin' on. Also, it's a good place to put a picture or two, like this from our wonderful relaxing summer trip that seems so long ago:


Mmmmm.... peanut butter and apple butter!

Hmmm.... I wonder if that worked.

Alright, I'm off to a Sunday afternoon/evening of just enjoying doing nothing... which is an enjoyable change of pace.