Dave's Blog

Chelsea Update

Her locks are truly luxurious now, and soon she will have flowers in her hair. She is, however, starting to look a little like Phyllis Diller. Order a kit and put her sister on your own steps!

Morels

I will tell you only this: they're out there.

iZeitgeist

The New Yorker always seems to hit some prevailing cultural trend squarely on the head.

Balls

We had a company beer and bowl at Elsie's yesterday, where we enjoyed, among other things such as a variety of tan liquids and deep-fried objects, these brand new balls. Feel free to use this image as wallpaper; it looks great on an iPhone!

Bass, Part II

Well, we did it, finished the Blue Bomber ten minutes before presentation time. Turned out nice, too, though I didn't have time to snap any shots. Pictured is the hardest part, which was cutting the recess for the neck; it had to be perfect for the strings to line up properly. A fun thing that I'll probably never do again. But who knows!

Bass

I'm helping this boy, one of Eli's friends, make a bass guitar as a school assignment. We need to finish it by tomorrow. Gulp.

Chelsea, April 8th

What kind of shampoo does my chive-headed Garden Goddess use? Herbal Essence, of course.

Folding Bike

I got in about 70 miles of riding while visiting my mom in Florida last week thanks to this little beauty (it's called an Airnimal), which rolls pretty much like a regular full-sized road bike but folds up to fit in this suitcase, which I can check as standard luggage. The whole thing, including shoes, helmet, tools and pump weighs less than 50 pounds. Riding in Fort Myers really made me appreciate the cycling amenities here in the Twin Cities. They have very few bike lanes down there and lots of bike-hating drivers, but thanks to the internet I sort of knew what I was getting into and dealt with it with very few swear words uttered and no middle fingers unfurled.

What Teachers Make

I'm always spouting off to anyone who'll listen that the biggest problem we have in this country is that we don't make anything here anymore. Two major cases in point are the primary health insurance and financial industries, which account for a huge part of our economy yet don't produce anything-- that's right, ANYTHING-- of value. One of the few "things" we do make, however, is well-educated people. And yet educational systems, and teachers in particular, are constantly on the chopping block when we're looking to save money. It's not only repugnant (don't even get me started on the whole "folksy wisdom" anti-intellectual thing), it's quantifiably stupid and short-sighted.