Drake Attack

2009-12-02T04:09:46Z

Here's an episode of me trying to watch TV....

And I ask myself...I'm going to have two of these??

Funniest thing I read today...

2009-11-09T20:49:57Z

If you say the words 'beer can' in a British accent, it sounds like you're saying 'bacon' in a Jamaican accent.

My favorite thing today....

2009-11-02T18:48:47Z

Anyone want to buy a dollar for $0.25?

Antigravity

2009-10-26T14:55:44Z

This weekend, Roger and I hit the NJ Rock Gym to test our mettle against their obstacles. I can't say that the rock wall won, but we'll just call it a draw since it wasn't fighting back.

That's not an actual picture of us since we weren't smart enough to take a camera. I stole it from their website to show you how cool the gym is. Overall, I don't think I'm suffering too badly...I can still type after all.

I think rock climbing is a cool sport so I'm excited to try it out more. It's certainly encouraging me to lose any extra weight. That's pretty much all you think about as you feel your grip slipping. That and the fact that Roger really had to struggle to put me back on the ground. I think I have a diaper rash from his initial education of how to lower a heavy person. I would plummet one foot then come to a full stop, bouncing ever slightly up then plummeting another full foot to yet another stop. I don't even want to see what the bruises look like.

Hello, World!

2009-10-22T17:55:47Z

Cara Rose Kiser
Born 8:25AM on October 22, 2009
weighing in at 7 lbs 1.6 oz

Who knew that Rus could be involved in creating something so cute? Twice!! I'd giver her an Apgar of 10! Congratulations to the growing Kiser Klan, I hope Julie recovers well.

Rus, post some pictures of Lena so she doesn't get jealous!

My needed Zen moment

2009-10-20T19:06:23Z

Maybe someone else needed one, too.

It Might Get Loud

2009-10-19T19:46:55Z

My lovely wife treated me to a surprise movie called It Might Get Loud.

For those of you who don't know, I've become a teensy bit obsessed with the guitar. It pains me to say it, cause I still really suck, but I have practiced about twice daily every day since February. Özlem can attest that she heard scales every day :) mixed in with occasional burst of chord progressions so everyone else doesn't go crazy.

I could just happily listen to myself doing scales all day.

Tülay graciously found this movie on our movie night and we went out to the the Sunshine to see it. The movie tracks three guitarists Jack White, The Edge, and Jimmy Page to a meeting where they discuss the guitar. The only guitarist I knew was Jimmy Page, but I still couldn't recognize him on the screen until they said who he was. Anyway, the whole movie, I was transfixed! I'm such a music geek now. I wish they would have gotten into some technical details, but they movie was targetted at a broad audience so I had to be satisfied with some allusions to how The Edge made the E chord more pure by "taking away notes". (I tried it at home by just playing the root and fifths and it sounds pretty much like his music)

Tülay and I compared notes after the movie and our biggest surprise was a huge increase in respect for Jack White of the White Stripes. I knew and loved their music, but that guy is cool! He plays on trashed out guitars just to prove that music can be made on anything, it's the artist that matters.

I'm no artist, I just rake my fingers clumsily across the fretboard for my own entertainment but I hope to get better so that more than just Drake will dance to the music. He's my best audience. But then again, he dances when I beat an empty plastic bottle, too. :-/

Drake gets a haircut

2009-10-16T01:55:40Z

As you can see, we didn't cut a single hair on his head until he turned 1 (or 12 months as many parents like to say).

So while we were visiting Turkey for his birthday we went to have it chopped off. The poor little guy was also suffering from the heat so we thought it would help.

Uncle İlker was happy to hold the little guy while Barış distracted him from what was really happening.

And revealing the New Drake!

Why is he giving us such attitude? Maybe because that chair is the only place he would stand. He hated walking on the sand and just tolerated the water as long as we held him. But at least he has a sharp haircut.

Where in the world is Jayson?

2009-10-07T13:57:24Z

I know, I haven't posted in a while...and now here is a post without even a picture! (I promise to put up a picture, Mom, perhaps even a video.)

I have quite a few things to write about, but not enough time right now. I fixed comments again on the site here. Since I host this machine out of my home, I spent a lot of time making sure it was secure. Part of that security is that I need to individually allow each program to run. It works, I guess. According to the logs, I haven't really even had any serious hack attempts.

P.S. If anyone does actually hack this box, please send me an email with the hole.

P.P.S. No Rogers are allowed to hack this box. Your kung-fu is too weak and you may break a nail.

All brawn, no brains.

2009-07-05T13:39:05Z

Tülay calls him the "billy goat" now. For some reason he climbs everything. I snapped this shot yesterday, he wasn't at his maximum height that he can attain on the chair, but he was doing pretty well. He also climbs up the stroller that you can see behind him and he has mastered the ability to get on the couch.

The couch used to be our safe place for our remote control. Now it can usually be found damp from slobber in some hard to reach nook...next to the phone. No, he's not walking yet. Somehow he does this Rockette kick with his left leg and anything that his heel lands on top of he can climb.

Things nobody told me about being a parent.

2009-05-04T15:28:36Z

Kids are absolutely disgusting when they get sick. Be prepared to be used as a human handkerchief.
Kiss goodbye to conveniently leaving your spare change or hairclips laying about the house. They will be in your child's mouth at the precise moment that you stop looking.
I've heard about that parent's sixth sense where you get alarmed when it gets quiet...it's happened to me. And I'm usually right, that's when Drake's discovered that high heels taste great.
The stages of sleep deprivation are a) exhaustion b) oh my god, now I really know what exhaustion is c) how many times did I get up last night...seriously, how many d) stay in bed honey, I got this one. e) It's no big deal. Really, you reach a point where it doesn't matter and you stop counting hours of lost sleep!
We've lived like the Amish ever since Drake discovered electrical cords plugged into the wall...
I pick up things constantly. Constantly. Over time it's not even aggravating, I just do it. It's either that or trip over balls, cubes, pieces of paper, etc every step of the way to the refrigerator.
My $400 universal remote will still work after being slobbered on. So does my $500 iPhone.

One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish

2009-03-26T22:09:07Z

Finally developing the skills needed to achieve his lifelong dream, the agile little guy stood up all by himself, carefully stepped over (smiling the whole time) and started reaching for the fish. I had to cut the film and run over, I didn't think he could reach it.

I can understand his desire. Every night and day, every naptime he reaches for those fish as we put him down and pick him up. We see him reaching and deftly swerve him away from his goal. It's unattainable. He must spend hours each day lying on his back, thinking of those fish and how he can get them and, of course, put them in his mouth.

He was foiled again.

It ain't pretty but...

2009-03-19T02:42:18Z

Everybody's doin' a brand new dance now
C'mon baby do the locomotion
I know you'll get to like it If you give it a chance now
C'mon baby do the locomotion
My little baby sister can do it with ease
It's easier than learning your a b c's
So come on, come on, Do the locomotion with me

Kids For Dinner

2009-02-24T19:49:07Z

I have no idea how we pulled off five couples with their kids, but it was a success. Thanks for organizing us Turgay!

Furia en Limón

2009-02-12T16:12:10Z

Curious about how the trip to Costa Rica was for Andy and I? Here's the newspaper version:

And here is our version:

It rained. A lot. More so than usual for Costa Rica. See in the distance of this photograph how there are cars stopped with the wise drivers not passing through the moving water? There is a crowd of cars behind us doing exactly the same thing.

We pulled up to this obstacle, after swerving around rocks, landslides, and entire trees in the road the night before and I was casually pulling over to inspect and take better photographs. The police saw us come up and immediately started waving to us to come forward. I pull forward and roll down my window to chat, and the just keep on waving me forward to go in.

Do they hate tourists that much? Panic set in and I had to reach back deep, deep into my Spanish vocabulary and ask an incredulous "Es posible?!". They smiled and said "Si! Es posible!" with a half grin that either said "How cute, it can speak" or "He fell for it. This should be interesting". I am still not quite sure.

If the water were still, I would be less anxious, but the whole thing was moving to the left. Anyway, we plowed ahead with water shooting up past the wheel wells on our sides and I kept a steady pace. The vehicle did just fine and no water crept in...it was over in 15 seconds.

I thought I had rented a vehicle way too big for our purposes, but we needed a huge 4x4 the whole time we were in Costa Rica. Incredible potholes and random stretches of unpaved roads. Not even mentioning the washed out portions of the road that were marked with just a branch.

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