M&C Day Three at the Beach

We spent Saturday at the beach with M&C. What fun...

Madi's first ice cream since lent...

I'm so proud of my kids...
A few weeks ago I had breakfast with them on Ash Wednesday and talked with them about Ash Wednesday and the Lent Season. As CoC'ers, we have not traditionally discussed this. They were very curious, responsive, and interested. I told them I was going to give up alcohol, and without any prompting Madison offered to give up ice cream and Matt offered to give up dessert all together. Madison eats ice cream every day. It's the most reliable staple in her diet.

I wasn't sure if they would even remember our discussion when they came home from school. But over the next 40-days they continually amazed me with their level of commitment. Several times I forgot about their pledges and offered them ice cream or desserts and they reminded me, "Dad! I gave that up for Lent!". I was so impressed.

Well, Easter Sunday immediately after church we headed to Baskin Robbins where Madison gladly celebrated the resurrection over a "Love Potion #31" on a sugar cone. YUM!

M&C Day Two

Here are some photos of Day Two with Mark & Cheri

Mark & Cheri Arrive!

Mark and Cheri arrived today and we went camping on the beach. It was a bit too cold to set up a tent, so we left the kids and Mark and Cheri in the RV and Michelle and I came home. What a wonderful night full of memories. Here are some snapshots...

Yes, we can...

As you readers know, I've been a supporter of Obama since 2004. I am so encouraged by the hopeful, positive message he embodies.

Inspiration to hope...

I bet you've all heard Obama's recent speech, "A More Perfect Union". If not, you should download the MP3, put it on your Zune and listen to it while you drive to work or work out. It's an inspirational appeal to our better natures. While it is not quite as important as the "Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" speech, it is one of the best political speeches of my lifetime.

Did you say, "$700 Billion???"

An interesting story on Marketplace yesterday interviewed an University of Chicago Economics professor about the current costs of the war in Iraq. Holy cow...how can we continue this?

A good step forward on a very long journey

One of my pet peaves is bottled water. I simply don't understand why people spend $1.50 for a plastic bottle that they will throw away in ten-minutes. The environmental impact of this trend is truly astounding.

Recently, several municipalities have demonstrated long-term wisdom by deciding to support their existing tap-water infrastructure and refusing to purchase bottled-water. San Francisco did this a few weeks ago, and Seattle followed suit today.

Hopefully, many others will pass similar laws and before long we'll return to a more rational, sustainable practice.

Another Day at the Beach

The Crisps left today. We had so much fun! Here are a few shots of the last few hours at the beach yesterday.

An old roll of film...

I was looking for my camera this weekend and found som old rolls of undeveloped film. Here are some shots of the kids in 2003 in Bloomington. Hard to believe they were this small once...

Hiking the Malibu Hills

Before church on Sunday we went for a brief hike in the hills behind our house. Here are a few snapshots of the boys...

GFGT with the Crisps

The Crisps crashed our monthly GFGT! We had a blast. Thanks to DMC & Elisa for hosting. Here are some photos.

Bush speaks, badly

Regardless of one's position on the current administration, I think a large percentage of us agree that he's a bit incoherent. Here's a good op/ed piece from the NYT about a recent speech in New York dealing with the current economic crisis.

The Crisps arrived yesterday. We spent the morning at Paradise Cove enjoying a wonderful breakfast and playing at the beach for about four hours. Ahhh...good friends, good food, the beach...Does it get better than this? I'll post more photos soon...

Chillin' with the Crisps

The Crisps arrived yesterday. We spent the morning at Paradise Cove enjoying a wonderful breakfast and playing at the beach for about four hours. Ahhh...good friends, good food, the beach...Does it get better than this? I'll post more photos soon...

How Not to Ruin Your Life by Ben Stein

I love NPR. One of my favorite programs is "Word for Word". It's always a hit o my iPod, Zune, or Creative MuVo. It's a weekly program that shares a full speech about relevant issues of our day. You can hear leading thinkers on an amazing variety of topics.

Recently, the "famous economist" Ben Stein (he is, after all, famous...and believe it or not, he is an economist. But he's not a "famous economist") was on the show. He's pretty funny, and not that stupid.

I loved his speech. It's funny, encouraging, and challenges each of us to live up to the best of our nature. Put it on your MP3 player and enjoy it on the way to work this week.

http://wordforword.publicradio.org/programs/2008/02/29/

War, death and destruction...

I'm teaching a course on "Virtue and Commerce" this semester and really enjoying exploring the different views of virtue revealed in characters of modern fiction. We use a good number of short stories.

I just discovered a new author whose works are very powerful...Heinrich Boll. He's a German who wrote during and after the Second World War. His work has a sense of hopelessness and chaos that is deeply true.

I read a story today, "The death of Elsa Baskoleit" (you can read most of it here) that has shaken me. It's only a six-page story and you can read it in just a few minutes. You should. It's gripping.

It makes me think of the tens of thousands of Iraqi families who have lost children and loved-ones in our current war. Whether you think the war is "just" or not, you must be disturbed by the escalating death count of the war. This short story is a powerful reminder of the depth of loss felt by those who lose a loved one to war. Not a happy thought..but worth reading to confront the truth of our situation.

Musicals Everywhere...

As I've said before, I love musicals. But Improv Everywhere has really outdone themselves this time with their most recent musical performance at the mall in Baldwin Hills, CA.

For our latest mission, 16 agents staged a spontaneous musical in the food court of a Los Angeles shopping mall. We used wireless microphones to amplify the vocal performances and mix them together with the music through the mall’s PA system. We filmed the mission with hidden cameras, mostly behind two-way mirrors. Apart from our performers, no one in the food court was aware of what was happening.

Hoarding...

Over the years I've had several acquaintances who were "hoarders". While I've heard descriptions of their homes, I've never really seen them. Today on Boing-Boing I ran across this short documentary about hoarding. Amazing.

POSSESSED from Martin Hampton on Vimeo.

My birthday...

I had a terrific birthday! I played baseball for about an hour with the kids before school, then Marcus & Michelle and I went for a haircut and shave, lunch, and shopping at TJ Maxx & Borders. So fun!

After school we went to Benihana's for dinner. Then for a long walk along the Santa Monica Promenade, where we nearly bought a Mac Book. Then on to Cafe Crepe for some yummy birthday crepes (with dark chocolate & strawberries, of course!). Finally, we came home for presents. It was so fun! Here are a few snapshots...

Conservative Politics and a full bed of children...

OK, these two threads are pretty much completely unrelated.

First, yesterday Matt had a G&T trip to the Reagan Library with other students from the Santa Monica/Malibu School District. If you've not been to the Reagan Library, you should visit. It's a terrific, interactive walk through history. There is a big piece of the Berlin Wall in the back yard overlooking the hills of Simi Valley, lots of videos of key speeches, and interesting artifacts of a far different time in our history.

I really enjoyed talking with Matt about some of these historical moments and how they affected me when I was his age (e.g., the Iran Hostage Crisis, the assassination attempt, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall..."). If you are one of the families coming to LA this year, schedule an afternoon for the Reagan Library. You won't regret it. (And of course, if you have more time you can take in the Nixon Library in Whittier while you're at it).

Second, while Marcus and I made a killer Asparagus Soup Matt went to a friend's house. About 10pm when I went to pick him up I discovered there were "plant people" growing near Baxter Drive! Apparently they were playing hide-n-seek in the dark outside and saw a "green face that looked exactly like a real face!" They were seriously all completely scared-to-death. The drive home was filled with cryptic references to plant people, goblins, and ogres. I offered to stop and look in the bushes to see if I could see anything. However, Matt said

"No! What if you DON'T see it!"

Of course, I thought that would be a good thing. But apparently, that would mean that the plant people were mobile and were probably en route to our house to consume Mom and Marcus as we speak.

He was so scared. Terrified. On the verge of tears. Constantly. After putting him to bed, and coming upstairs I remembered a few instances of paralyzing fear from my own childhood. And I decided to invite him upstairs to lay in bed and read with me. He was SO relieved.

While he read "The Dangerous Book for Boys", I read "That Hideous Strength". After about a half-hour we turned off the light and he slept like a baby.

It was terrific to have my ten-year old in bed with us cuddling us all night. It's been a long time. Of course, Marcus joined us at some point in the middle of the night. So by 5am I was completely squished, about to fall out of bed, and afraid to move or I might wake someone up. So, I just got up and came to start blogging. There are precious few opportunities ahead for me to cuddle Matt and Marcus. Despite the combined body heat, the constant kicking, and fighting for pillow space, it was a great night.

Going Broke in America

If you've had any occasion to see the ugly underbelly of modern consumer lending, you may find this book worth a read. Using psychology and behavioral economics Vyse explores why Americans are increasingly finding themselves in dire straits financially.

I recommend getting it from the local library and giving it a read. You'll think twice about what you buy, when you buy, and why you buy it.

If you read it, drop me a line and let me know your thoughts. You can also chat online with the author on 3/20 with Michelle Singletary from the Washington Post.