Is it real, or is it Pho?

Being of a hungry sort, and being in the vicinity of a Vietnamese soup joint (the Pho Bowl), I grabbed a co-worker, named Mr. Gu, and lit out for soup. If you haven’t known the glory that is Pho, imagine a bowl of rice noodles. Fill it with a really good beef broth, piping hot. […]

Negotiating from a Position of Strength

In the continuing saga of “We’re Doomed”… The alarm starts the radio this morning and WifeOfTheBigUglyManDoll hits snooze. The secondary alarm walks in and asks for breakfast – the Very Hungry 7-yr-Old would like two slices of leftover pizza. “Sure,” says I, and I get up and fetch his pizza while he fetches a plate. […]

OK, we’re doomed

We, by which I refer to myself, the BigUglyManDoll, together with my wife, the WifeOfTheBigUglyManDoll, are doomed. The reason we are doomed seems to change from day to day, but I am certain our doom is no less immanent for all that. Today’s reason follows a conversation with Number One Daughter, the nearly nine yr […]

“Just Imagine the Fan Fiction Now”

Earlier this weekend, Harry Potter fans world round had yet another bombshell to digest – JK Rowling casually mentioned that Fawkes the Phoenix wasn’t the only one flaming in the Headmaster’s office – Albus Dumbledore was gay. To this I have to say, well, duh. I’m sorry, but the older, unattached, distinguished English gentleman thing […]

A sure sign that I need to monitor their TV habits better…

I’m making my diurnal rounds, ensuring the brushing of teeth, the changing of clothes, and the getting to beds, when the voice of Number 2 daughter echoes faintly from the mountain of pink fluff she uses as a bed. Not unexpectedly, she would like a story. Having neither the energy nor the voice for a […]