Pauls Rants & Revelations

You know, sometimes I forget some of the more awesome things about being a parent.

A lot of times, parents get so bogged down with the meal preparation, clothes buying, teeth brushing, tucking in, story reading, bath time, dinner times, school time, that they forget one very important fact.

Having kids is, without a doubt, the greatest possible excuse you could ask for to act like a kid. I mean, how else would it be perfectly acceptable for a 30 year old to play video games in the middle of the day? Or go and poke things with sticks? Or, on occasion, enjoy a tea party with ten or twelve of your daughters closest stuffed animals?

I don’t mean to sound maudlin, but when I think about it (and forget the troubles of the day), its actually like being able to have a second, better childhood.

What brought this on, you ask? My kids tree house, I respond.

Yes, I am building, with my own hands (and many a power tool) an actual tree house in an actual tree. This fact surprises people more than anything, since kids could fall out or throw things or whatever. But anyone who had a tree house growing up will tell you that it was awesome.

When my wife first threw this idea out there, I was dreading it a bit. The time investment, the cost, the prep, the actual construction, and eventual destruction (kids grow out of these things apparently) were a lot to handle for this cowboy. Now though, after my wife and I worked through the issues and the costs and are finally getting ready to build it, I am actually pretty excited about it. I mean, I didn’t have a tree house when I was a kid. The only trees around my home in California had oranges or avocados in them, and the owners got pissed when you started climbing them.

But in Oregon, where trees are not only plentiful but downright loved, a tree house seems perfectly fitting in my little suburban neighborhood.

So the next few posts will be mostly me building this thing, which starts this weekend. I have the tree prepped, the lumber sitting in the yard, and an excited 8-year-old who is now more excited since he can see that its actually happening.

But to bring things around to a close here, let me say this: Go climb a tree. Go swing on a branch, or slide down a slide. If you have a kid, go do it with them. If not, borrow a kid (preferably with the parents permission) and just go and play. You may be surprised at how much fun you, as an adult, can have playing tag or poking things with sticks.

Cheers

So what did you do for a New Years Resolution…?

…

I thought as much. I didn’t think of anything either. It seems that, the older I get, the more pessimistic I get about making them. The last few I have made seemed to fail within a month, so I guess I just stopped making them.

Perhaps, in the grand scope of things, these silly attempts to better ourselves through a significant, annual event are supposed to fail. I mean, if we were really meaning to stop doing this or start doing that, wouldn’t we be motivated enough, if the cause was important enough, to just start doing it as soon as possible?

I personally, do not need an event like that to start or stop something if its important. But in the spirit of things, my New Years resolution will be to post more entries on my blog. What’s yours gong to be? Go on a diet to fit in that bikini (dudes need not respond if this is your goal)?

Will my resolution actually happen? Maybe. Possibly. Stay tuned to see if it does.

Cheers

Don’t ask me what’s with the title, I just thought it sounded neat (plus I always wanted to start with a title like that, so there).

Hopefully this will be my last political rant (yay) if/when the new president does something to really get on my tits.

Its been about a week since President-Elect Obama was named. And its been a somewhat tumultous time in some parts of the country and in some homes. Mostly, I going off of what people I know are saying. And some of what they are saying is downright scary.

One fellow I know and I got into a discussion about what will happen in the coming 4 years under Obama. He had his doubts (as do a lot of people) but what irritated me was that he voiced his opinion in a short sentence:

“Well there goes the country.”, he said.

I promptly flicked him in the nose and asked him to please explain what me meant by that, seeing as he voted for Bush twice and for McCain. He said that with all the threats America is facing, we need to have a strong military and he believes that won’t happen under a Democrat. Earlier in the prez race, he said that he was  quite displeased with what Bush had done to the country and our international standing, and wanted someone strong to lead us. I pointed out to him that McCain voted mostly the same way in regards to past actions the US had taken. He said that was different because he didnt vote that way all the time.

Apparently, 10% difference is enough for him. I promptly flicked him on the nose again.

Its at this point I should mention that my friend was duct-taped to a chair, unable to move (I love college pranks). He also started spouting the standard Republican rhetoric that the GOP was saying all through the race. I was about to flick him again when a friend of mine (his girl friend) did it for me.

The point is this. I don’t mind what people believe in. I don’t mind that my friend voted differently from me. What I do mind, especially in the case of my friend, is that he was just accepting what was handed to him as the absolute truth, never venturing out in the great world of information to find out for himself if it was true or not.

Now, I’m not so different. A lot of information I get are from people I trust, so I often trust that its true. I would say about half the time I dig deeper to find out more information or to see if its accurate. The other half I usually accept until someone else says something differently or I find info that doesn’t jive with it.

What has me worried is that a number of people I know are just accepting what is handed to them as the truth. Case in point, I played a trick on my friend and emailed him a “live” broadcast (god bless Flash players) of a well known news agency saying that the worlds honey bees have all died. He’s smart and saw this as a bad thing. But instead of calling someone to confirm or even checking the link I sent him he (according to his roommate) started inventorying their pantry and told his roommate that they needed to stock up on non-perishable food for at least a year. He was totally convinced and it took me calling and two other friends going over there that this wasnt true. He then sent me an email virus (god also bless Macs immunity to windows viruses) and a short 11 word sentance on where I should put all my risting farm implements.

To make a long story short; check your facts people. Don’t be sheep. If someone says something outrageous, check it out on your own. If someone else says something innacurrate, make sure it is and confront them about it.

And, Dave, if you are reading this, I am really sorry about the duct-tape trick. So, please, give me back my iPod.

- Cheers