last day

ted's place.

i should have known something was up when the last few times i went in for a haircut i didn't get asked if i wanted to schedule my next appointment.

whether there was any correlation between that and the call i received yesterday that my friend ted was closing his business today is likely coincidental.

still, i am very sad that after so many years running a lovely salon he decided to call it quits. (i'm sure i'll ask why the next time he cuts my hair.)

weird thing was that he called probably within an hour of my receiving an email that read:

It's your anniversary with Visions Day Spa! As our client you are very important to us and we greatly value your business. We truly hope that you have enjoyed your experiences at Visions Day Spa and will continue to in the future. 

if the recollection of my timeline is correct, then yesterday marked my first haircut with him, which marked my effort 12 years ago to put old, heartbroken me behind and go forth with new, ready-for-anything me.

so, in a sense, part of who and where i am now is due in some part to ted.

i swung by his shop for a few minutes to tell him how bummed i was and that i wished him well.

only now noticing the stations were like easels.

i also told him that i believed his business definitely played a part in the revitalization of our downtown, capitol street in particular.

with its clean, cosmopolitan decor and talented, easygoing staff, the spa was a microcosm of the excellence that the capital city was striving for as a vibrant part of the community. visions put a handsome face on charley west. 

ted was a terrific booster for the city. the walls of the shop were lined with the work of local and state artists. ted himself served the city's musical theater group not only as makeup and hairdresser but as a featured player in their productions.

beyond his civic contributions, though, i've come to regard ted as a friend. we've shared stories and bucked each other up through the vagaries of life. (at least he always lifted my spirits; i could only hope i've repaid him the favor a time or two.)

he'll still be giving me haircuts for a good long while, i hope. he does, however, remain under orders to tell me when my thinning pate has passed what i like to call "hair management" and into just shaving it all off.

good Lord willing, though, my coif will be past salt and pepper and well into silver by the time my need for his services is over ... for many reasons.

no. 8

is great. i love you, mrs monkey. 

joyless

some days are like that.

fan boy

"Holy rotten tomatoes, Batman" BatBro v. SuperBro in danger of falling flat. @washingtonpost https://t.co/xJGQ7FBAdx pic.twitter.com/Fg8yQ1foTu

— Brent Staples (@BrentNYT) March 24, 2016

as a marvel comics fan, i think i'm a little too interested in how well this new superman/batman movie is being received. or, more to the point, not being well received.

i'm not sure when my animus toward dc comics began, but i suspect, as with all things i begin in loyal opposition — my loyalty here being to comic books in general — my dander was raised by obnoxious and/or mean fanboys of the distinguished competition.

almost 20 years ago (wow!) when "superman" and "batman" movie franchises had enjoyed successful runs, i despaired of ever seeing a marvel comics movie i wouldn't be embarrassed about.

unlike the man of steel or the dark knight, favorite characters like spider-man or the x-men seemed doomed to animated television or b-list network tv series.

part of that pessimism was rooted in knowing the limitations of film technology. how in the world would a movie portray characters in action whose powers weren't simply flying or using gadgets and punching or muscling things; ie, things conventional cinematography could capture?

the first one, 2000.

in my mind, the special effects required to give convincing, faithful displays of the highly visual superpowers of my favorite heroes as illustrated in my favorite titles didn't exist.

actually, they did exist, but only for big budget movies like "star wars" or "raiders of the lost ark," films created and championed by industry legends. who was going to waste millions on a cult comic book crapshoot?

long story short, the very thing that is now leading to what i believe is special effects fatigue is the very thing that allowed my favorite comic books come to life: computers!

my superheroes were able to shoot force beams out of their eyes, grow metal claws out of their hands and convincingly swing from building to building in downtown manhattan thanks to the economy of computer-generated images.

early on, marvel knew it was only going to get one shot with these prized properties. they didn't enjoy the cachet or name recognition that superman and batman could count on.

their braintrust hired talented writers and directors to shepherd these projects into being, infused with deftly sketched characters and well-told stories that audiences could care about and follow.

sixteen years later, the comics publisher is now part of walt disney's entertainment empire thanks to the string of commercial and critical successes that this formula has produced.

Warner Bros. has more riding on "Batman v Superman" than on any other release this year https://t.co/6s7SRl3fcF pic.twitter.com/dHKQl1HrET

— Bloomberg Business (@business) March 24, 2016

needless to say, such success was met with sniping by rabid dc loyalists. in online searches for reviews, especially in those pre-rotten tomatoes days, i would happen upon sci-fi/fantasy message boards where i would read heated exchanges between the two sides.

reading the unfiltered, loosely articulated and nasty points and counterpoints, i watched my camp flame and get flamed. obviously, i'd already chosen a side, so the anti-marvel digs were annoying.

but, as a petty person, i refuse to let bygones be bygones, so i don't let go of the unkind sentiments written by people i've never met and, frankly, hope i'd never get cornered by at a party.

all this to say, i probably derive a small, sadistic pleasure out of the established dc's stumbles in their movie ventures during marvel's run. social media just makes it easier to watch.

frankly, if dc keeps marketing these overproduced, underdeveloped features hoping to mimic marvel's fortunes, they could hasten the demise of the genre's golden age to the point where audiences just won't want to see cities formulaically reduced to rubble by fantasy characters no one cares about.

and if that market dries up, no more superhero movies. then i'd really have a reason to dislike dc comics.

'socca girl'

baby's got a new pair of shoes.

today was the girl's first soccer practice. i suppose i should have expected her to be excited, but i was still surprised to get this text from her mama after a visit to the sporting goods store today:

(Baby's) so sweet. She thinks she's badass with her pink shoes.

kris told me that after arriving home she spied the child striking poses in front of the hallway mirror in her new cleats, each time announcing, "socca girl."

geared up.

even as they were driving to the practice field she kept asking mommy when she was going to get to play soccer.

apparently, after a year of watching her brother get to run around, it was finally her turn. the little girl is ready to be a big kid.

i arrived to her practice too late, but kris said that the girls took frequent water breaks. ours was still flush with the excitement of the her first real practice with cleats and shin guards and everything.

i hope this enthusiasm carries forth. she sure seems to have a facility with the ball and tons more focus than her brother did. i hope this translates into developing a love for the game.

makeover

the old template, 2012-2016.

in an effort to get better posts onto the social media, i updated the layout for the page.

i believe blogger.com calls this "picture window." i've customized it from the default with a different color scheme, blog title font and a personalized background image.

those efforts have not resulted in any improved posting on the facebooks, btw.

(apparently, that was my assessment the last time i tried this — holy sheet and almost exactly four years to the day. what were the chances of that?)

oh, well. at least it's prettier.

computer literate

mousers

real quick.

the boy and the girl were playing video games on sesamestreet.org yesterday evening when they encountered some technical difficulty.

over the years, as they've become more skilled and comfortable with our home's technology, we've given them more opportunity to use it. (they're really good at turning the television on and off.)

but between the public library's super-sized kid keyboard and what they're exposed to in school, not to mention playing with their cousins' and grandmother's tablet computers, they've acquired a fair share of high-tech facility. (or, more likely, high-tech has advanced to meet them halfway.)

still, having lost more than a couple of documents thanks to unsupervised access to smartphones and the laptop, we try to be in the room when they're using the machines, partly for peace of mind and partly to troubleshoot user errors.

so last night, the kids were playing their games using the laptop and a mouse while i washed dishes. i'd had to readjust screen size once after an errant right-click, so i know they're not yet fully adept with manipulating the gear.

they called out that they were having a problem, but as i was turning off the water, i heard the boy say, "never mind; i've got it." problem solved, just like that.

i was simultaneously proud and sad. he found his own fix. what a smart boy! he found his own fix. he's becoming a big boy.

getting tuned in, age 2.

one of those days

nothing really seems to have gone right today. 

missing rosary wasn't turned in at vet or card shop. new aerator shot out of faucet and straight down the drain. spent an hour on an editorial and it didn't get used. 

feeling pretty much useless as a spouse and an employee. if commodities can be value-added, consider me value-subtracted. 

my west virginia mountaineers will probably lose tonight, too. yes, i'm feeling sorry for myself.

anniversary

me and the missus, 2008. courtesy
of tom hindman/daily mail

today marks 14 years since i first met kris. i arrived late to a party, where i was the odds-on bet to be the last to arrive.

she was the new employee, getting ready to start the ensuing monday. we made small talk, where i learned she attended the same high school as another friend at the paper.

beyond that, i have no recollection, except that i knew she was a pretty good reporter who wrote so clearly that i never had a problem writing headlines for her stories.

she was cute and funny and i had a policy to never date people i worked with.

two years to the day after that first encounter, we shared our first kiss in the charleston newspapers parking garage after watching a jazz combo play just up the street. she had been providing solace and company for the past few weeks after i'd been blindsided by a break-up.

i was a little embarrassed that somehow the pressmen might see us. ("watch out for the teamsters," is what i believe i said.) and i was worried it might be a bad idea for all kinds of reasons.

all that said, things seems to be working out so far. thank you, miss kris. and thank God for you.

changing tastes, too

the girl labors in her big brother's shadow mostly because, well, she's just 4 and it's easy for him to show her up. (there's a sibling rivalry there, that's for sure.)

because she still likes doing what "big bruvvy" does, she's long claimed an affinity for pizza but shied away from actually doing more than eating the crusts, also known as "bread."

while the family had pizza at her chuck e. cheese birthday outing last year, i can't recall how much of it she ate. it's possible she finished a whole slice, which i would have written off as an aberration, given the relative blandness of the offerings of what's essentially a children's game arcade.

pizza girl. lent 2016.

but just last week, at st. anthony's fish fry on the west side, she chose pizza as a kid's meal instead of fried fish. she pretty much crushed it, along with a few fries and, of course, she would eat her cookie. must've been a blue moon, right?

well, i asked her as we had breakfast yesterday if she'd had any dreams. she replied in the affirmative and, when asked what they were about, she brightly answered, "pizza!" (when i brought this to her mama's attention, she called me an enabler.)

anyway, that evening, mama wasn't feeling too good after a visit to the dentist, so, lo and behold, rather than have her slave over a hot stove, we ordered pizza. (dreams do come true, i told my baby girl.)

i'll have to say that the display of pizza consumption was unlike anything i'd ever seen. the boy ate three easily, and could have eaten a fourth if his lactose intolerance hadn't led his mother to cut him off.

but his sister? while she was a bit slower than her brother what with her tiny bites, she ate three slices of pepperoni pizza minus the pepperonis. her mama had to cut her off, too.

looks like the girl has turned a culinary corner. given domino's garlic buttered crusts, she might have also developed a taste for garlic. that's my girl.

cultural revolution, redux

in addition to his declared allegiance to all things star wars, apparently the boy has already begun copping a "friday on my mind" countdown mentality.

i asked him if he suddenly didn't like school anymore, and he said he still liked it, so it may be something he's aping off his teachers or possibly a classmate.

it may be dawning on him, though, that there is work and there is play and that he'd rather play. welcome to the world, my boy.

also, his sister and i began listening to the "frozen" soundtrack before picking him up from school, then played back some karaoke tracks she and  i "discovered" in the extended soundtrack upon our return.

next thing you know, the little bugger begins protesting how much he hated the music and that we should turn it off. this is obviously something he has picked up from his classmates because he used to love the soundtrack.

now whether it is a question of the movie/music being a "girl" thing or a "baby" thing remains to be seen, but i believe i'm seeing the development of what and how he will deem what "cool" is, if you'll pardon the pun.

theory

not liking the sour gummy vitamins, age 3.

today, the girl was in bed early for her refusal to take her vitamins.

(in her defense, she, like her brother, has texture issues, so it takes her a really long time to finish. we did not have that luxury this morning.)

again, as we put the boy to bed this evening, kris made note of how calm the boy was. i chalked it up to not having to compete for attention; she is certain that the old vitamins* we were giving were colored with our old nemesis, annatto.

this food coloring, while "natural," has been anecdotally linked to causing uncontrollably bad behavior in children. while the old brand we were using lists "natural colors and flavors" among its ingredients, it didn't specifically say it was using annatto. (kind of disingenuous of them, no?)

while his behavior was certainly not as violent as a couple of years ago, he was displaying a meanness and lack of focus that, in retrospect, could have been caused by the dye. while i had written it off as the obnoxiousness of being 6, kris suspected it was from an outside agent.

if, after his sister completes her probation, he continues to display this more agreeable behavior, there could sure be some support to her theory.

* we started the kids on a vitamin regimen a few weeks ago to pump up their vitamin d intake so as to improve their sleep, the boy's in particular. he was creeping back up on the pre-dawn rising that led to some pretty ragged behavior as the day wore on. so we gave supplements a shot.