It's about time!

Bacon Pop-Tart Time

2010-02-20T06:46:00.000-08:00

A while back I had an epiphany, bacon pop-tarts. I like bacon and I like pop-tarts, so combining the two would create something awesome. I began by researching how to make pop-tarts. I found some websites that I thought might be helpful. The bacon jam seemed like it might be too spicy, and I did not want to spend that much time on it. The prospect of making a crust seemed like it would take too long also, so I went with regular bacon and crescent rolls for the crust. I decided that since most pop-tarts were sweet that I would make one pop-tart with blackberry jam. Sweet and savory together as one. That should work right?

Bacon frying in the skillet

I chopped the bacon, and then added some blackberry jam

I spread the mixture over the crescent rolls

I made one of just bacon

I pushed down the edges with a fork and made vent holes

Nice and brown right out of the oven

The regular bacon one was the best loved.

I personally enjoyed the bacon and blackberry jam

All in all everyone enjoyed it. Next time I will work on making the bacon jam and maybe even the crust. The regular bacon one was crumbly and needed some way to stay together. I just need a way to preserve them so I can have them whenever I want.

Cake Time

2010-02-03T19:08:00.000-08:00

I visit the Cake Wrecks web site nearly everyday. It is hilarious. Instead of explaining it I will just say that you need to visit it if you are having a bad day. Seeing the mistakes of others brings me a modicum of joy. I am also always on the lookout for cakes that are wrecky. I found one last year and sent it in. Today I saw it on the cake wrecks website. I will not say what store I saw it in, but if you go to Cake Wrecks the one I sent in says "Go Eagls". I use this website to show my students why they need to know how to spell.

Writing Time

2009-10-31T14:16:00.000-07:00

It is that time again. Nanowrimo is here. Otherwise known as National Novel Writing Month. I participated last year and it really jump started me finishing my first novel. I ended up at around 88,000 words. I wrote almost every night through the month of November. It was great being able to track my progress and have know others were working toward a similar goal. By the way, the goal on the website is to write 50,000 words for the month. This is a really difficult goal, but if you work at it you can reach it.

Along with the website I have a quote from Ray Bradbury about writing that inspires me. The quote is from a Writer's Digest interview.

WD: You're terribly prolific, but a lot of writers produce one book in a lifetime. Would you advise young writers to spend all their time polishing one piece or to go for quantity?

BRADBURY: It simply follows that quantity produces quality. Only if you do a lot will you ever be any good. If you do very little, you'll never have quality of idea or quality of output. The excitement and creativity comes from a whole lot of doing; hoping you'll suddenly be struck by lightning. If you only write a few things, you're doomed. The history of literature is the history of prolific people. I always say to students, give me four pages a day, every day. That's three or four hundred thousand words a year. Most of that will be bilge, but the rest ... It will save your life!

I will be starting a new novel next month. I am not sure which one yet. I could do the sequel to the one I finished, or one of the two others that are bouncing around in my head. I encourage you to participate if you have a story inside you. Even if you never finish it you will enjoy the experience.

Light Time

2009-10-11T10:54:00.000-07:00

A solar powered light. Sounds stupid right. Sounds like something out of Japan. I always thought so, until I saw these. Then I saw where someone made their own for much less. It is a nice accent for the yard and works as a portable night light when brought into the house.

The sun jar essentially captures the sun. It really does live up to its name. I had to build my own. I found a solar powered yard accent light at Big Lots and a canning jar Kelly had left over. I also used glue, a rubber band, aluminum foil and armour etch. I like how it turned out. I would like to find some jars like the ones pictured, but until then I will be happy with the one I have.

The unlit jar

Jar on. There is a light sensor on the top. I used the nickel to cover it so that it would shine.

The electronics inside the jar. I use the rubber band to hold the batteries suspended so the light shines out. I also put a piece of aluminum foil on the bottom so that the light would reflect out. The lid was two pieces. I just glued the solar panel to the outer part of the lid and did not use the other piece. I think it would look great for a bunch of these to hang from a tree.

Rabbit Time

2009-08-28T17:36:00.000-07:00

We bought Clara a rabbit last summer at the Chesnee trade lot. It was only a few dollars. It was a cute white rabbit and Clara loved it. We had a rabbit hutch that Pat brought by so we were set. We brought the rabbit home and named it Sally. Clara was sure it was a girl. Many months later we found out that the rabbit is a boy. Clara disowned it saying that I could have it. She would have nothing to do with a boy rabbit.

I have since named it Monty.

I think I can train it to be an attack rabbit.

Bat Time

2009-08-11T18:09:00.000-07:00

I have a shed where I keep my tools and building materials. It is often a mess. I have had many creatures sneak into the shed; several mice, a bird, various spiders, a snake, and currently a bat. I was cutting wood for the kids swing when I saw it sleeping in the rafters.

Creatures of the night must distort my camera because I could not get a clear picture.

I thought about killing it. I do not like creatures trespassing into my domain. Then I decided that if I hit it with a shovel and did not kill it I run the risk of needing a rabies shot, or of being bitten and gaining bat powers. It could be a radioactive bat.

We do live next to this.

However knowing my luck I would end up like this guy.

I guess he is happy, because he is laughing his freaky bat head off, but I could not afford to replace clothes every time I went batty.

Lindy Time

2009-08-04T13:07:00.000-07:00

Today is Lindy's birthday. She is four years old today and has grown into the comedian in our family. She will do anything for a laugh. She likes to blurt out random phrases at times, and often they are quite funny, at least to me. She once saw a pocket and said, "A pocket, I want to put my hand in it." Another one of her sayings was to answer any question asked of her with, "Because Yes." or "Because No." The question did not really matter. She would just throw that out there and smile.

It was hard to find a picture for these posters because Lindy has a habit of glancing away from the camera as you take the picture. There are dozens of pictures where Lindy has a sidelong glance at something to the side.

Clara Time

2009-07-04T06:18:00.000-07:00

Today is Clara's birthday. She is our independence baby. She will be 6 years old this year. She is very excited about first grade this year. She is growing up so fast. She likes to make things. She makes cards for people, pictures, books, and even lamps. She seems to me to have a very artistic sensibility. I have watched her grow into a little "helper". You can ask her to do just about anything and she will agree to help out.

Build Time

2009-06-29T11:44:00.000-07:00

This weekend the girls and I built stuff together. Clara and I built a lamp on Friday and on Saturday we went to the Lowes Build and Grow session.

The lamp idea came about becasue Clara asked me if we could build a lamp. I think she asked because we got Kelly a new lamp for her birthday. I bought the materials at Lowes, which could be the subject of a whole other post. She helped me epoxy the socket to the shade, cut the rod, and drill the holes for the base. She did really well and you can check out our result below. Lindy wants to build a lamp now also.

It works!

I have always gone by Lowes and seen that you can sign up to build all these little projects. This last weekend was a pirate ship. I asked Clara if she wanted to go with me and she said "No." Lindy, the sensitive one, looked and me comfortingly and said she would go with me. I thought she might be too young for it, but could not deny her attempt to comfort me after the rejection by me eldest. I told Lindy that she could. Then Clara's sense of sibling rivalry kicked and she wanted to go also. I signed her up also. We got there a little before 10am because it said on the website it was only the first 50 would get to participate. We were the first ones there. The holes for the ships were all predrilled so you could just set the nail in the hole and hammer it in. A good idea to protect little fingers. Clara and Lindy did a great job putting together their ships. They hit every nail at least once. I had to help a few times to get the nail in all the way. At first the girls were timid about hitting the nail, but by the end of the build they were swinging with all their might. Clara was a real pro by the end. They each got a ship, apron, saftey goggles, and a badge for their apron. It was a really cool experience.

Arrrr!

Father Time

2009-06-23T05:35:00.000-07:00

Father's Day is so much fun. I got this cool led light from church. I can pull the light apart and a retractable string keeps it attached to my belt loop. How awesome is that? Allow me to tell you if you do not already know it is very awesome. You can never have too many flashlights. Speaking of gifts Kelly bought a some hair clippers so she can give me hair cuts for life. The kids bought me some pack of cards. They are so sweet. For dinner Kelly made Chow Mein and a Cheerwine cake for dessert. The cake had a cream cheese/fluff icing. It was delicious. The Chow Mein was quite tasty also. I have a great family.

My plate...yum!

The Chicken Chow Mein

My piece of Cheerwine cake. To make it you add a can of Cheerwine soda to a cake mix and stir. Then bake it. You can do this with any kind of soda I think.

Mountain Time

2009-06-11T12:47:00.000-07:00

We went to Pisgah National Forest this Wednesday. I remember going there as a kid and wanted to take the kids up. There is plenty to do up there and it costs very little. I called my dad and asked him about directions to the picnic area we went to as kids. After getting the directions we packed up the car the next day and headed over. Needless to say we missed the turn and had to backtrack about 15 minutes, but it was a good chance for the kids to try out the dvd player in the van. Clara loves it. We got there and I showed everyone the picnic area, which by the way has changed since I was last there over a decade ago. Does that mean I am old now? The picnic tables were made out of huge pieces of lumber. The place where me and Matt would build a dam is gone. The river even looks the same. The cool part about the picnic area is that the river splits near there and there are two streams. The one next to the picnic area is fairly calm, cold as ice but calm. If you cross through it to the other side you will see a rock cliff and a pool beneath. Most kids like to go up and jump off into the pool which is fairly deep. I jumped it as a teenager. There were some kids and teenagers jumping it. Clara decided that she wanted to jump it. She asked me and I told her we would go up and check it out, I knew that she would not go. I did not want to crush her spirit. The cliff was about ten or twelve feet from the pool. I was impressed that she even suggested it. She took a Zoe tube with her up there. We made out way up the cliff to check it out. She said she wanted to jump, but better judgement ruled the day and we decided to hold off until she was older. Also some rangers came by and suggested she not jump. The weired part was that they were dry, and to get to where they were you had to cross water. She got off the cliff with her pride intact. Just going up there took a ton of courage and I am proud of her for being brave.

Then we went to sliding rock and she and I both slid three times. The second time we both went under water and she freaked. I thought she would not go a third, but did and went under again. That was it for her. Thank goodness, because I was freezing at that point.

Finally we stopped at Looking Glass Falls. The girls liked seeing the falls I think, but were tired so we did not stay long. The only pictures we have are at the falls. It was too hard to wrangle the kids and keep a camera dry anywhere else.

Looking glass falls

Clara and Lindy in front of the falls.

Me and the girls in front of the falls, picture courtesy of ten second delay shot. Kelly was with Charlie who was sleeping in the car.

Park Time

2009-06-06T13:49:00.000-07:00

We went to the park this morning. It has been rainy the last few days and I have been wanting to go for a walk with the family some morning. It was nice this morning so I thought this would be a perfect moment. The girls enjoyed it and Charlie had to climb every bench. It was nice. Clara searched for treasure around the fountain, we found some there one time and she has to search every time we go by it. Lindy contented herself with pushing her buddies around in the stroller. Here are some pictures from our outing.

Lindy taking a break by the fountain.

Charlie restrained from climbing into the fountain.

Clara posing by the fountain.

Charlie being cute by a tree.

We found this "growing" in the mulch of one of the trees. Neither Kelly nor I could identify it. However, I am pretty sure it is the initial landing force of an alien race.

Panorama of the park that I made using Windows Live Gallery.

Reading Time

2009-06-05T19:10:00.000-07:00

I teach English Language Arts. I work hard to teach my students about the language they speak, write, and read. I teach for many reasons one of which is that I believe reading is important. Reading is integral to our society. You have to read street signs and you have insurance policies to read (however if you are like me the document more of a cure for insomnia than anything else). If you can read you can learn how to do nearly anything. It may not give you the skill to do it, but it gives you a basic understanding. It is really hard to convince seventh graders that reading is important. My job is to help raise reading levels to the next grade. I and the teachers I work with buys books on subjects that they are interested in. Teachers have worked for decades to help their students read.

Then I read this. I have to believe that Mr. West made this comment purely to be contrary, and "cool". He apparently has a habit of making controversial comments, I base this on my extensive research. I am very frustrated by this rapper. This celebrity is undermining every teacher that has ever said, "Reading is important". This person must be prevented from spreading a message of illiteracy/alliteracy to youth. I don't know how to do it, but I bet there is a book where I can find out how to.

Bath Time

2009-05-24T12:28:00.000-07:00

I have given all my children a bath. They like to splash and play in the water. That is not a surprise to me. Sometimes the girls would get out of hand and water would be everywhere. That happens, but the other night I gave Charlie a bath and it was like a tsunami, in a hurricane, followed by a flash flood. The boy went crazy. He was diving from one end of the tub to the other, he was throwing his face into the water, he was splashing as hard as or harder than the girls ever did. It was non-stop. There were no breaks to catch breath, or expel water it was constant movement. I would sit him down and he would just take off again. I could not video his romp in the tub, the camera is not an underwater one, but the video below is pretty much what it was like.

Motivational Posters

2009-03-28T07:33:00.000-07:00

I found the website BigHugeLabs, and it has lots of fun things you can do with photos on it. I made these posters using the site. You can use the pictures in a variety of ways.

Is it Christmas?

2009-03-26T17:45:00.000-07:00

Is today Christmas, my birthday, or some other special day where people give me things that I do not deserve? The reason I ask is because look at what Kelly got me!

Three pounds of Cheez-Its is awesome. If you know me then you know I enjoy all things cheese. Cheese makes everything better. The joint supplement because I am old. I know 30 is not really that old, but my joints hurt and this stuff makes it feel better. Fraggle Rock was one of the shows I watched as a kid. I would like my kids to see it. Kelly is the best.

Happy Birthday Charlie

2009-03-05T20:14:00.000-08:00

Valentine Time

2009-02-14T16:39:00.000-08:00

I have not posted anything in a while, because I have been busy. Today however is an important day. Last year on Valentines Kelly and I cut out hearts and hung them in the girl's doorway. They loved it. About two weeks ago Clara reminded me about and how much she loved it. I guess it had more of an impact than I expected. So we had to do it again. It is really simple. We just cut out a few hearts and hung them up or taped them to the wall.

After we gave each other cards and our gifts, Clara made herself a rain hat.

She found some packing material that I was saving to ship books. She made the hat to keep the rain off. I thought it was cute and Lindy thought she looked fancy. Maybe she will design clothes one day.

Voter Education Time

2009-01-23T17:42:00.000-08:00

I listen to WBT 99.3 out of Charlotte to the Tara Servatius show. Today while listening a guy called in and said that "It was all over" in reference to Barack Obama becoming president. He felt like Obama was going to ruin our country and there was nothing to be done. I was shocked and decided to call in. If he does not like the president then he has four years to do something about it. We do not give up on something we believe in. We fight for it. I waited for a while before I got on and I shared my feelings. Tara said that guys like him were in the minority. I was glad to hear it. She went on to say that we need to educate others about the issues and about what is going on in our government. So being a teacher I have decided to do just that.

We have a new president. I didn't vote for him. The reason I did not vote for him is simple. For me it is about one issue. If the candidate agrees with me on it then I can consider their other platforms. That singular issue is abortion. I am against convenient abortion. That is an abortion someone has because a baby would not be convenient in their life right now. I am no doctor and I am sure situations may occur where the life of both the mother and the baby may be in issue. I am a christian and I understand the concept of sacrificing one life to save another. In our contry abortion is far too common a thing. I do not condem any woman who has had an abortion. I blame misinformation and decietful doctors. I have read about the development of the baby and I can tell you that abortion is not the simple procedure it is portrayed as. A life is being destroyed when an abortion is done, except in this rare case where even being torn from the womb could not destroy. I implore you to not take my word for what abortion is. Research it yourself. Make your own decision.

For me my decision is simple; as a former fetus I will always oppose abortion.

Sloppy Snow Time

2009-01-21T17:42:00.000-08:00

If you visit Kelly's blog then you know that she has planned out dinner for the week. Tonight she made sloppy joes. They were very good. The night before she made pork chops and noodles. I have no pictures because it was so good I could not stop to take pictures.

I do however have pictures of what me and Clara did last weekend. We went snow tubing at Moonshine Mountain. We went all the way to the top first and then rode down the middle slope. I held onto Clara's tube. She enjoyed it for about two seconds. Once we went down the first slope it sped up significantly. Her face went from smiling to absolute terror. I found out later that speeds were up around 35 mph because of the cold. We downgraded to the "bunny slope" after that. She loved it and would have stayed until we succumbed to the freezing temperatures.

The slope on the far right is the bunny slope. We went down the middle one first.

Believe it or not but this is her smile and not the look of horror.

Game Time

2009-01-11T06:36:00.000-08:00

I like to keep up with brain research. Sometime the research done on the brain is really bizarre. For example this study shows that tetris can help people forget traumatic experiences. Imagine if this pans out. Part of the gear that people responding to accidents might be a gameboy with tetris on it for the survivors so they can better cope with the tragedy. That would be weird.

Lindy Time

2009-01-09T14:15:00.000-08:00

Lindy's favorite thing to do is pillow fight. All I have to do is mention it and she starts clearing a space and grabbing pillows. The funny thing is that she is so floppy. Sometimes when I pick her up she will go limp and it is like trying to hold jello. Her bones just go liquid. It is really funny.

Time to Eat!

2009-01-05T17:47:00.000-08:00

If you did not know Kelly is a creative and fantastic cook. Look at the delicious meal she made the other day and guess what it is.

Okay think you know what she made. If you guessed hamburgers with fries and green beans you would be partly right. The burgers are made from black beans. For our anniversary in 2007 we went to Biltmore Estate for the day. We ate lunch there and Kelly had a chicken salad sandwich and I had a black bean burger with avocado mayonnaise and pineapple salsa. I know it is not your normal fare, but how could I pass up having such an interesting meal. For the record it was great. One of the best meals I have ever had at a restaurant. On the other hand Kelly's chicken salad was not very good. We had some left over black beans and rice that Kelly had made. She made them into patties and was sauteeing them with olive oil when I walked in the kitchen. I saw them and thought they were burgers until she told me otherwhise. The girls ate it and never knew the difference.

Crazy Clara Time

2009-01-04T17:23:00.000-08:00

I have read that kids have roles that take on according to their birth order. The oldest is a leader, the middle a mediator, and the youngest a comedian. Well I think all my kids want to be comedians. Especially Clara who is so funny sometimes. She loves to act silly and these pictures prove it. I don't know where she gets it from. ;-)

Then she has a creative side. She and her Grandma Cox made a cake while she was at her house.

Bread Time

2008-12-26T13:15:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas. Mine was great. Kelly made bread for everyone and she made a loaf just for me. It is good. Also I got cheese for Christmas and it goes great with the bread. I am so lucky that Kelly likes to bake. I would have to say that the bread was the highlight of my day. I guess because I know that I can ask for more of it all year long. :-)

Woot! 50 posts!

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T10:27:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas from the Hawkins family. I hope that you enjoy your time with family and friends. Click here for some Christmas entertainment.

80,000 Time

2008-12-12T14:05:00.000-08:00

I just hit 80,000 words with my book. I am shooting for 100,000 by the end of the year. I hope I can make it. Participating in the Nano Wrimo helped alot.

Fight Time

2008-12-08T15:01:00.001-08:00

I was thinking the other day who would win in a fight between the characters from The Wizard of Oz and Star Wars. When I say Star Wars I am talking about episodes 4-6. Those others almost should not exist. At first glance you might say Star Wars, I mean they have light sabers, blasters, and the Death Star. Now think about it Oz has witches, wizards, and house bombs. The sides start to even up. To truly resolve this debate we should pair the characters up.

Cowardly Lion (after he gets his courage) vs. Chewbacca

Tin Man vs. C-3PO and R2-D2

Glinda vs. Darth Vader

Wizard vs. Emperor

Dorothy vs. Luke Skywalker or Leia (I really think Luke and Dorothy should fight since they are both the main characters in their respective movies.)

Scarecrow vs. Han Solo

I made this list and I know I left some characters out, but this is my list so... I get to decide who is one it. Really I ran out of pairings. I know more Star Wars characters than I do Wizard of Oz.

Please comment and vote for who you think would win.

Pause to think

2008-11-28T13:09:00.000-08:00

I know money is tight. I know what it is like to wait to get a good deal. It would seem to me that even though a situation like this can be exciting we should be able to stop and think. Today a man was killed at a Wal-Mart when he was trampled by shoppers. You can read the story here. I guess it is a sign of how far we have sunk. I used to like going to sales on Black Friday. Now that something like this had happened it just makes me sick to my stomach. I am not saying that I am perfect, but to read about someone losing their life like this is just so sad. We should really think about what happens to us when we give in to our sinful urges, me included.

Turkey Time

2008-11-27T05:32:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving

Unfortunately at the Hawkins house we have two children throwing up. So we will not get to visit and eat. At least we are all together.

Deal Time

2008-11-22T12:20:00.001-08:00

Right now I am checking out the ads for after Thanksgiving sales otherwise know as Black Friday. Kelly and I went the year before Clara was born to Best Buy and we got some great deals. We got there at about 4 AM. We went again about two years ago and Best Buy was surrounded by 3:30 AM. Apparently people went to get these deals much earlier. I am debating when to go this time and if I will go at all. It really is more fun than you would think.

If there is anyone who wants to go let me know and we can team up, or if anyone want to watch our kids and let us go shopping. Check out this site http://www.theblackfriday.com/ to see if there are any deals you are interested in.

Long time no post

2008-11-07T14:02:00.000-08:00

I have not posted in a while because my computer has not worked. It recently went on the fritz and I have just gotten it back. Also with the election and working on my book I have not had any time to post anything.

So what you may ask has brought me to the keyboard to post on the Internet? This is why I am posting. I am a middle school teacher, and I think that these kids need to grow as people. I think they need to get involved in their community. However I think it is the parent's responsibility to get the kids involved not the governments. To think that students will be forced to do this is almost laughable. I can barely get my students to give up a few minutes a night to read. How is the government going to make students get involved in the community? The government should not mandate this sort of thing. The government should not force students to do these things. I thought we were a free country. If I want to help people then I can if I did not want to then I would not. The way this looks is that students will not have a choice. Like most government ideas it sounds great but it does not answer the real questions like. How are these students going to get to these projects? Who is going to be in charge of it? Will we pay the person in charge of organizing? What happens if the students does not do their hours? Do we punish the student or the parents? Who decides the punishment? Where is the money going to come from to pay for this program? How do we decide if a project is worthy or not?

Think about it.

Anniversay Time

2008-10-14T14:22:00.000-07:00

Today is my and Kelly's eight year anniversary. Since it is in the middle of the week we are going to wait until Saturday to go out. It is really great to have spent the last eight years with such a great friend. Kelly really gets me like no one else does. When she doesn't then she tries. I can be kind of weird sometimes. Anyway life is great.

50,000 Time

2008-10-12T20:17:00.000-07:00

I just finished 50,000 words on my novel. I am halfway to finishing my book. 100,000 words is the goal for the average novel. I have been working on it since Kelly bought me my laptop. This Christmas will be two years since I started working on it. I have written and written and rewritten. The weird thing is if you think about a real writer, and by that I mean someone who has published a book, they have written many hundreds of thousands of words for their books. For me though the 50,000 mark is one I have been striving for recently. It is a real relief to reach it. The rest is downhill... right?

Heroes Time 2

2008-10-10T18:04:00.000-07:00

In my last post I talked about Heroes and the problems I have with the plot. I guess my problem is that when I see a problem occur in a show I try to figure out how the characters are going to fix it. In this third season problems occur and I know how they can be solved. The problem is that the character are too powerful. HRG wants to kill Sylar. Just use the Hatian to turn off his powers and shot him in the head. Problem solved. Maybe Time Traveling Peter can zip right back to before he shot his brother and stop himself from causing these new problems. Also why is Peter so adept at time travel and Hiro can never get it right. Nearly everytime Hiro time travels in to the past he ends up in he wrong spot. He does okay going back to the past from the future, but the whole backwards travel thing was not good.

Maybe there are some rules in the Heroes universe that have not be revealed. Maybe there is some greater force controlling the time stream. Maybe that is why Hiro's backwards jumps always end badly. I am thinking that the thing is the writers having written themselves into a corner.

Heroes Time

2008-09-28T14:28:00.001-07:00

Time travel is a hard concept to do in science fiction. If done the
wrong way you open up door into questions of why didn't they just go
back and stop themselves or if they change the future why do they
still exist as they are now.

I was worried in the first season of Heroes when Hiro started time
traveling. Would the writers be able to handle this difficult concept.
I thought they did a great job. When Hiro went back to save the red
head with the super learning ability he found he could not. The rule
established, once an event enters the past you cannot go back and
change it. This was a great rule, it prevented the go back and stop
the bad guy situation, and the time has changed so why does this guy
still exist. It explains why future Hiro did not become directly
involved in what happened in the first season. He told some one who
was still in the past and therefore able to change it.

In season two Hiro went back in time by accident and ended up stuck
there. Did he change the past? I don't think he did because of the
stories he remembered. He did manage to make an enemy, but he did not
change the past. I guess. I was alright with this, because I really like the Hiro character, and it seemed that he could not reliably control his power.

Now in season three the rules have been throw out. Now I even begin to think that the rules never existed.. Peter has traveled
back in time to prevent some future where he is hunted and the world is going to be destroyed.
The problem is that it is out of character for Peter. He loves his
brother so why shoot him instead of talking to him and warning him
about what happens if he tells the world about their powers. Now do
you see the problem? If not my next post should clear things up.

Sent from my iPod

The sleeper has awakened.

2008-09-24T17:57:00.000-07:00

I have always been an avid tea drinker. Usually I would enjoy a glass of sweet tea anytime. Then last October I went to an ASCD conference in Atlanta. Before the first session started there were pastries, coffee, and tea. The coffee was prebrewed, but the tea you had to make yourself. The tea available was TAZO Awake. It being early in the morning I decided to give it a go. I brewed the tea and it was great. Hot tea in the morning became a habit with me after that. I continued with the same brand all winter. I cut back some during the summer. Hot tea and hot weather is not a good combo.

While I was looking at one of the packets I saw that in French the ingredients included melange. For those of you who do not recognize that reference then you might know it as the "spice" from Frank Herbert's Dune. The mind altering, space warp enabling drug in that novel. That in and of itself is kind of interesting. Then consider the quote, from the movie, about Paul Atreidies when he overdoses on melange and he becomes super Paul. That is right the quote is, "The sleeper has awakened." The name of the tea is Awake. Coincidence maybe, but who knows. If I develop any space warping powers maybe I won't have to worry about gas.

AAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRR...

2008-09-19T13:45:00.000-07:00

RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

It's talk like a pirate day! I have looked forward to today for a while. Dave Barry first talked about it in one of his columns. Since then I have thought it was a great fun idea. This year Kelly had a pirate themed party for my 30th birthday. She bought me Clara, Lindy, Charlie, and herself talk like a pirate day shirts.

Some of me hearties! arrr

Me convers'n with some pirate mateys.

Pirate Joke
Q: Did you hear about the pirate who took up boxing?

A: He had a killer left hook.

For some more pirate humor check out this site.

For some pirate fonts go here.

Fringe Vacation

2008-09-15T18:54:00.000-07:00

I went on a trip to the beach last weekend with my family, Pat, Linda, Katie, Becky, and Leilani. We went to Edisto Island. It was very nice. The girls loved having Leilani there and playing in the ocean and pool. I think they liked the pool more. The ocean was filled with a great deal of plant matter from the marsh. The most fun I had was playing Phase 10 at night after the kids went to bed. I think we were all a little wacky in the evenings, because we were laughing most of the time. It was good fun.

The Sunday we got back Fringe was on. Kelly and I watched it. It had an X-Files feel to it, but with a harder edge. Much more action than the X-Files. Kelly made the best comment at the end. When the guy who they had been trying to save the entire show died she suggested they use the weird brain wave thing to find out what he knew. I was a little surprised that they did not, but considering they are the good guys. I guess good guys would not use a dead body that way. Then at the end they showed the cyborg lady (I cannot remember the character's name) asked how long he had been dead. Only five hours, one hour less than you need to use the brain wave weirdness. She said question him. Freaky stuff.

New Car

2008-09-09T14:10:00.000-07:00

I got a new car the weekend after Labor Day. On my way back from DragonCon in Atlanta my car blew a head gasket. This was the second one in about three years. Last year at this time we replaced the transmission. It was going to be about $3000 to get a new engine and to cover the towing and storage of the car. We decided to have it scrapped. That would cover most of the towing and take care of the storage etc. Kelly found me a 1990 Buick Century to drive. It has about 73000 miles on it. I have a "new" car, now all I need is an appropriate name.
Yes there is a little rust, but I am thankful that I have a car to drive and it did not break the bank...just empty it.

30th Birthday

2008-08-17T12:02:00.000-07:00

Kelly gave me a surprise birthday party yesterday. I completely did not see it coming. Well I was a little suspicious the day of, a few things tipped me off. Even with a little suspicion I never suspected anything on the scale that she had. She invited all my friends and had an awesome pirate theme set up. It was amazing. The most amazing part was that she kept it a secret for so long, two weeks, and Clara kept it a secret for that long also. How amazing is that. I am humbled by it all.

Thanks to all my friends and family who came to the party and made the day truly special. It was the best birthday ever. Not just the best for me out of the thirty I have ever had, but the best for anyone anywhere to have.

Arrrrrrrr.

Talk like a pirate. arrrr

2008-08-14T09:45:00.000-07:00

Today is my birthday! Last night Kelly gave me a present. She gave me a shirt for talk like a pirate day and a bumper sticker. If you never heard of talk like a pirate day you can read about it here. It is every September 19th and I think it is pretty funny. Me an girls like to be pirates in the pool. They make pretty good pirates. They are about as destructive as pirates and their eating habits are the same. All they are missing are the peg legs and hook hands. What a great birthday. Arrrrrrrr!

Early Birthday Present

2008-08-10T10:53:00.000-07:00

Kelly gave me my birthday present early yesterday. She could not wait to give it to me. It was an Ipod touch. It came in the mail while she was with her sisters and mom at A Day in the Country for Katie's birthday. I set it in front of the computer and waited. I really wanted to open it, but I did not want to ruin Kelly's gift that way. I could not believe she let me have it early. It is awesome. It is everything I wanted. I can listen to music, watch videos, look at pictures, surf the net (if wifi is available) etc. With the app store I can do even more if I wanted. Awesome! What a great wife I have.

The joys of Flea Markets

2008-07-29T17:40:00.000-07:00

We went to the Chesnee Trade lot. It is basically a flea market. I have never seen anyone trading anything. Everyone seems to just want money. We bought more than I expected.

$18 Red Wagon (American Flyer made in America)
$10 2D Maglite (find people in the dark and beat them down)
$1 5 childrens books (you can never have enough books)
$4 for tomatoes and okra (a large amount)
$4 for a white rabbit (Alice should have gone to the Chesnee Trade Lot)
$10 Item that will be a gift for someone

Flea Markets are almost as much fun as a yard sale.

Hammer Time

2008-07-29T15:30:00.000-07:00

He claims this is just a workout he does. I believe he is prepping for the release of the Thor movie.

Thor training video

Trip to the zoo!

2008-07-27T17:10:00.000-07:00

We all went to Riverbanks zoo on Friday. My family, my parents and my brother's family all went to the zoo. It was fun. The first thing we saw when we got there was this.

Quite a show huh. Never seen this at the zoo before. Usually the bears are hiding out in the shade. These guys were having some sort of territorial dispute.

Review of Dark Knight

2008-07-22T19:57:00.001-07:00

WARNING SPOILERS BELOW

I have seen all the Batman movies. I have seen many of the animated shows. The first Batman with Micheal Keaton was good. However the second was not so good. Then with three and four we really had some problems. They started shoving in every villain they could find in that hope that one would work. Well they did not.

Dark Knight is the best Batman movie to date. It had a great villain. This time the villain really made the movie. Heath Ledger did a great job as the Joker. He captured what and who the Joker is. He was funny, creepy, and terrifying all rolled into one. The de-evolution of Harvey Dent into Two-Face was real. You could understand how a guy would be broken under those circumstances. Then to see him turn evil, just sends shivers up my spine.

What really makes this movie great is the roles the characters play. Batman is our classic protagonist. He is the focus of the movie. Then we have the Joker who plays the contagonist. We see this in his attempts to pull the other characters down by putting them in impossible situations. The antagonist of the movie is Batman's doubt that society needs him. We see him struggle to keep fighting as copy cats become violent imitations of him. When the Joker starts killing to get Batman to reveal himself, he finally decides to call it quits and let Harvey be the cities new defender. Harvey is the emotion character. He sees is emotional about everything in his life. It is part of the reason we like him. He is so passionate about stopping crime. Unfortunately the Joker twists him and turns him into a killer. Gordon would have to be Logic. He does what he has to do to stop the Joker and protect his family. Faking his own death shows that he can do what he has too without emotion getting in the way. The role of the Guardian is played by more than one character. Lucius Fox and Alfred both acts as guides to Bruce Wayne leading him along his path.

This was a great movie.

10 out of 10 talons

Snake time

2008-07-11T11:20:00.000-07:00

I saw a snake in my shed today. I was going out there to clean up my shed and as I walked out a snake poked its head out. I shouted in surprise and it ducked back into my shed. I looked online and I think it was this snake.

I went back out to the shed to take a picture of it to better identify it, and to remove it. It was gone. I did not do a really through search, but I did not hear it moving or see it and I made a ruckus. That makes two snakes in my yard in the last month. This is the first time I have seen any snakes in my yard in years. I saw one by the burn pile, and bessy killed a baby snake once. They have never been this close to my house.

I may have to install come countermeasures...

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

2008-07-10T04:23:00.000-07:00

I watched Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I really want to just love it. I wanted it to be the pinnacle of a terrific collection of movies, but for me it was not. I enjoyed it nearly every step of the way even after I realized that the crystal skull was definitely alien in origin. I was going to be okay with that. I really enjoyed the scene where Mutt and Indiana are fighting the two guys guarding the tomb of the Spanish explorer, and Indiana blows a dart in the crazy tunnel guy's throat. When Mutt asks, "You're a teacher?" the way Harrison Ford shrugs and says, "Part time." it was a great scene and just what I expect from an Indiana Jones movie.

Now to the parts that hurt the movie. The scene where Mutt is swinging through the jungle with a group of monkeys just broke my suspension of disbelief. There comes a point where I just cannot believe it. For me it was another example of Lucas putting a scene into his movie just to show off his special effects. The scene did not add anything to the movie for me. Then the sacrifice of the guys who has been out for himself the entire time was weird for me. I just could not buy it that the guy would give himself up like that. Then the spaceship flies off into the sky. The lesson about the pursuit of power was a good one, and there were some elements that I enjoyed, but it was not the final movie I hoped it would be.

7 talons out of 10

Rating Previews Part II

2008-07-06T12:56:00.000-07:00

There are many previews out there to watch. The main point of a preview is to grab your attention and make you want to watch the movie is it giving you a hint about. For example when I first saw the preview for the movie Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull I was excited. I really like the Indiana Jones movies and thought they would be over. The first preview played into that. It began by showing clips from the previous movies and giving one liners about what happened in those movies. It was really rousing. Then it began giving clips from the movie to come. It had everything it was supposed to. It even played into Indiana Jones being older by having the characters comment on how much harder it was to do what they were doing. Then we see Dr. Jones miss swinging into the back of a truck, haha good times. When I see a metal container with the words Area 51 on it I begin to think this might not be good . That scene was a warning sign.

Indiana Jones is not Science Fiction. I has always had a spiritual feel to it from the beginning. Two of the movies dealt with artifacts from the Bible. Area 51 should never have been in the movie. It really does not belong. When I see or hear area 51 it is like a joke. Nearly every sci fi show out there references it when they have run out of original ideas. I cannot take it seriously.

Overall I was excited to see how the movie played out. Was it going to be a sci fi movie with Indiana Jones in it, or another continent hopping Indiana Jones adventure. I would have to go see it to know.

Rating Previews

2008-07-05T11:14:00.000-07:00

I like to watch movies. A really good movie can be hard to find. I can usually tell how good a movie is going to be from the preview. There are many things to consider when evaluating the preview. First I consider the plot that the preview is trying to get across. It is the same old action plot where the hero fights by himself against an army of European guys, or does the plot seem different original. Sometimes it is even okay if the plot is an old one if it is told in a new way or has a twist.

More to come with examples.

Vacation

2008-07-05T10:38:00.000-07:00

I have been on overdrive for the last four weeks. After school let out I had a week which I spent making bamboo wind chime kits. Then we went to the beach. When I came back from the beach we started VBS the next day. We had VBS til Wednesday of that week. That Thursday and Friday was spent preparing for Clara's birthday party.
She had a water party so I had to clean the yard rake etc.
Then a thirty foot branch fell in the yard.

I left it. It was going to take too much time cutting it and clearing it out. Time I did not have. It was far from where the festivities were. We left for Dollywood the next day.
We got back July 3rd and had to prepare for the cook off. Congrats to Andrew for winning this year. Wow the summer is just flying by.

Yard saleing

2008-06-08T13:49:00.000-07:00

I went yard saleing yesterday in Spartanburg. We left Gaffney at 6:15 and hit some great sales. First we went to a church sale, then various yard sales, and an estate sale listed at Momma's moving out. It is always great fun to go yard saleing with my parents. We had a good time. We had some great buys and I feel the need to document my purchases for posterity.

$3 Nerf Buzzsaw
$.25 Nerf Night Finder
$1.75 Tibetan Singing Bowl
$.25 Pole sprinkler
$1 The Choice by Nicholas Sparks
$3 Bernzomatic TS2000 Self Lighting Torch and propane tank
$.50 Leather binder with handles
$.25 Mini Hawaii mug
$1 Stone flower ring
$1 Bubble gun

My mom also bought a fish thing for Charlie's crib and my Dad bought this plastic spear thing because he thought it would be funny for me to come home with it.

New Door

2008-05-28T20:21:00.000-07:00

I replaced the broken door handle on my Town and Country van. I hope to use my experience to make an instructable on how to do it. I guess all the focus on hyperdriving led to me fixing things on the van. The only thing is that it is not the right color, but a long as it works, I can deal with that for now. I have been trying to balance my hobbies lately. Card, reading, writing, and misc. Maybe I have too many hobbies, but I enjoy all of them. I guess I need to organize them. I have tried organizing my life before via Web 2.0 websites like Don't forget the milk, or mindmapper ,but I just never stay committed to keeping up with it. What I need is a personal AI assistant like Tony Stark to help me with my projects. Which just leads to another hobby. sigh...

Hyper...what?

2008-05-20T16:59:00.000-07:00

Well my project to improve our TV reception is on hold right now, at least until the weekend. Until then I am driving to work and back. Then I remembered while my wife was telling me we needed a new car, Hyperdriving. A teacher at school mentioned it to me, so I checked it out. I already knew most of the stuff it talked about, except for the neutral driving part which sounds pretty dangerous if you ask me. I immediately went out and got some air put in the tires. If I don't do it while I am thinking about it then it will not get done. I am going to have to do some research on this to see if I can maximize mileage.

These hot dogs taste great!

2008-05-18T20:29:00.000-07:00

I went ahead and bought a digital to analog tv converter. I know it is like taking a steak and turning it into a hot dog, but the signal is improved even if I do not get the benefit of the resolution. At first I thought I would shop around and try to get the best converter, but then I decided to save money and went to Walmart. After setup I went here to see what was available. The only problem is that when the signal does not come in instead of a fuzzy signal I get no signal so now I have to figure out how to improve my antenna.

Time

2008-05-17T20:50:00.000-07:00

I just realized this week that the school year has less than two weeks time left. None of the school weeks left are full weeks. It is all moving by quickly now that the play is over. I cannot believe how well it went. With the play over, and the afterschool program done maybe I can post more to my blog of randomness. Lately I have been reading this collection of online comics. I have been reading all the old posts. It is just like when I read a book. I cannot stop until I reach the end. What is really interesting are the links available at his home site.

Imitation

2008-03-17T18:29:00.000-07:00

Clara has been so funny lately. She has been trying to dress like me. She wants to wear boy clothes while still being a girl. The funny thing is there is almost no chance of her being a tomboy. She is scared to death of bugs, and by bugs I mean anything that even resembles a bug, pieces of grass, dirt, or whatever. I let her wear one of my shirts the other day to bed and the next day we got her some boy clothes from Goodwill. She seems satisfied with that. She is so funny.

2008-03-11T18:15:00.000-07:00

Charles Randall Hawkins was born March 6, 2008. I am so excited to have this new child in my life. I know Clara and Lindy and Kelly all love him. It's a beginning of a new chapter in our family and I am as excited as can be.

Bamboo

2008-01-20T20:05:00.000-08:00

Today I set my first set of bamboo cups in the water. I am trying the water method for preserving bamboo. I will keep them in the water for about three to four weeks before taking them out. I have run out of dried bamboo so I am using the water method to preserve the bamboo. I am hoping this works out well.

Lindy Last Night

2007-12-04T03:37:00.000-08:00

Last night Lindy and Clara were having a hard time going to bed. They were up and down all night long. Lindy was the worst, she kept coming out and asking for this and that. First it was for a drink, then for a "booboo", and after time out and being carried back to bed about a half dozen times Kelly told her if she came out again she would get a spanking. We she came out again, wearing one of Clara's night coats, two bags one on each shoulder, a hat on her head and her Pablo blanket on her head. It was the cutest and most hilarious thing I have ever seen. The only reason we did not take a picture is because it would only encourage her. We could not spank her it was too cute.

Feelings

2007-11-20T18:52:00.000-08:00

My youngest girl Lindy is so amazingly sweet. She is so shy around me sometimes it is funny. When she acts like she does not want me around I know it is because she is feeling nervous. Once I get her over it she loves me to death. Some might think it strange, but at a certain level I understand how she feels.
My wife tells me that when I am at work that Lindy talks about me all day. She asks where I am and talks about things I should be told. It is just too awesome.

My Girls

2007-10-28T17:27:00.000-07:00

Clara and Lindy are amazing. Today they were playing outside and having a ball. I just kind of kept an eye on them and dealt with any problems that arose. For the most part they played really well together. It is so satisfying to see your children developing independence. Clara is the an amazing imagination, she is constantly talking, arghhh!, and telling stories to us or changing everybody's name. She loves to make up stories and we have a great time.

Lindy is the most generous. She is always worried about what everyone else is doing, and always shares.

New Addition

2007-07-23T11:39:00.000-07:00

Excitement is in the air at my household. We just told everyone about the new addition being added to our family. We have not told anyone about Kelly's pregnancy for about two weeks, the longest we have ever gone without telling anyone. We are very excited. I have always wanted several children. We will probably not find out the gender of this one, just to keep some excitement in the pregnancy.

Been a while

2007-07-19T19:10:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I last posted and I have some thoughts to get off my chest.

First Transformers was an awesome movie. It included all the important elements from the tv show. The nobility and self sacrifice of the Autobots. Through that we always see the greatness in the humans they protect. It was great when Megatron says to Starscream, "You've failed me again Starscream." classic. When Prime says, "One shall stand and one shall fall." it sent shivers up my spine. It was a terrific movie. I will purchase it when it goes to DVD.

Second I have used Wikipedia for a while now and have started to explore the use of wiki in other aspects of my life. For example I am using a desktop version to organize a story I am writing. I am using another to organize my lessons for next year. I am exploring the possibility of using a wiki to create a curriculum guide for teachers to use. Typically a curriculum guide gets a few years worth of use before they are obsolete. The thing is that once you come up with a new curriculum guide the standards in your subject area change and the guide becomes less useful. Another problem is that you may adopt a new textbook which makes the old curriculum guide less useful. Also if there are any problems found after the curriculum guide is printed distributing the changes is difficult. Every teacher makes changes or alterations to their curriculum guide and it would be useful for every teacher to share what they have done so we don't have to keep reinventing the wheel. With the use of a wiki a curriculum guide could be fluid and change whenever there is a change to standards or textbook.

Glad to get that off my chest.

Optimal Timing

2007-06-05T14:24:00.000-07:00

Finally, is all I can say. I have wanted to see a well done Transformers movie. If the previews are any indication it will be good. Transformers have always represented to my honor, hope, and the virtues of doing the right thing. The Autobots always represented what was good and prevailed. The Decepticons represented treachery and in the end never prevailed. Their examples of sacrifice still inspire me.

Losing Lost

2007-05-24T03:54:00.000-07:00

Well another season of Lost is over. I enjoyed this season. Many questions were answered. The biggest being if they would ever get off the island, thanks to the flashforward about Jack. What I didn't like was that Jack becomes a drunken, beareded, friendless, durg addict. When I watch a show if a character has a problem I like for them to have a chance to deal with the problem and come out of it a better person. I really like the character of Jack and I do not like the prospect of what he will be.

On another note Mikayal and Lock must be brothers because neither man will die. Mikayal took a spear to the chest and Lock was shot in the gut. Both men, after being wounded and lying around bleeding, get up and kill someone. Crazy huh?

It's about time!

2007-05-21T03:41:00.000-07:00

Starcraft II, that is right two words sum it all up. The game that I have been waiting for nine years to come out is finally been announced. I still play Starcraft to this day. I log on to Battle.net every couple of weeks for a few games and never get bored.

I am so excited. Some of you might not get why I am so excited. Starcraft has more than great game play. It has a great story. The characters are interesting and deep. There is betrayal, sacrifice, and honor portrayed through out the game. It is the continuation of an epic story. Of battles and covert operations and power overwhelming. Hey, don't just take my word for it. Pick up a copy of the original Starcraft, only $10, and find out for yourself.