And Happy Birthday to the Bonk!

… To my eldest, who was a good and dutiful child even in utero. We learned early in 1998 that she was there, and that she’d be due in mid-November. The first thing I said was, oh, a Halloween baby! The midwife induced on Oct 30, around 7 am, because it doesn’t really matter what […]

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 […]