Yeah, he was cool but he was an Abstract Expressionist and not a Conceptual Artist.

I knew dat. All my electives were art history and literature.

But AE is a concept. ;)

Ah see I didn't take art history but I hung out with people who did.

Heh. I'm not the one who corrected you. ;)

Is Rothko the guy who sold the inside the egg shell egg scrambler, and the pocket fisherman?
Attachment 37980

Yes he is. And he really really worked!

Here, I Rothkoised it.
Attachment 37981

I think you Seurated it. But Rothko made a really good seurat knife! ;)

Serrated it? With my Ginsu filter.

not my kid, but I admire him for his convictions.

Apparently Swimmer Girl is also Polo Girl. Not only did she rock the JV game, hardly out of the pool the entire game, winning all 4 sprints and scoring two of the eleven goals (in her second game ever)...... she then stayed on the roster for the Varsity game, played pretty much a whole quarter and SCORED A GOAL -one of the 7. In her thrid game ever.

(side note -some of you may remember her swim coach doesn't want her to play polo because she should swim all year and it may ruin her strokes...... swim coach's daughter is also on the varsity team, swim coach's husband played and is very "high up" in both worlds...... they were watching the wwarm up and were impressed by number 12. "who is that they both asked. When revealed it was SG, swim coach looked sad and didn't say much more other than words to the effect of "I'm not surprise *sigh*" :lol:)

side side note almost derailling the post.... I read Michael Phelps' biog a couple of years ago. Before I knew coach and husband. Banana Lady read it when she was here this week -they are both mentioned several times! Now I have to reread it :lol:

Translations:
JV = Junior Varsity = second team. Most freshmen will be on their school's JV team.
Varsity = top team.
Sprint = start of each of the 4 periods, one swimmer for each team races for posession of the ball, which is dropped at the halfway line
goal = gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooal! ;)

Brilliant! I bet polo is a blast to play.

I know this doesn't really compare to a lot of the other achievements by our wonderful kids, but I'm still a proud parent.

Last night, Maxi had his first real 'sleep over' at one of my friends houses. My friend has her grand daughter staying with her for the last week of the holidays, and her and Max have been playing almost every day together. Yesterday, Imahni was here and when it was time for her to go home, Max just lost the plot and became inconsolable so Lyn (nanny) suggested Max come back to their place for a sleep over. I was surprised when he said he'd like to do that and asked him many times if he was sure, whilst reminding him that I wouldn't be there, but he was adamant.

So anyway, he slept all night and had a lovely time, so tonight they're swapping houses and Imahni is coming here for a sleep over. I hope things work out just as well here. :)

Should this be in the ooh ick thread? ;)

lol I wouldn't think so Zen. They're only little kidlettes!

Reminds me of another story from the festival I went to.

The Critical Incident Team's main job turns out to be looking for stray children. There were a few youngies that were AWOL for an hour or two. The funny one was when a parent visited the First Aid Tent one morning to report that her son had not come back to the tent the previous night.
"Oh, how old is he?"
"Sixteen".
"Congratulations!" [High fives] "He knows to use condoms, right?"
:lol:

I just found out today that my son and I will be speaking with the First Lady of PA
in conjunction with MADD at his HS.

you must be a proud parent indeed. Way to Go!

thanks V - It is gonna be a special day indeed - one way or the other.

(just got some of my minions working...finally)

Yeah, good stuff classic. :)

Thanks Ali. I'm actually starting to get a little nervous.
I just found out the press is coming and apparently a few dozen people I know well.
I've no trouble speaking in public, but this will be a first .... EEK!

You'll do fine classic. Just imagine them all naked. ;)

Congrats Classic!
You'll do well, the fact you were chosen is a positive indicator :)

thanks - I actually just wrote a few things down and practiced my flow and timing.
I've NEVER prepared before. I usually just let the conversation flow...
Now that I'm being timed and have no Q & A at the end - its just different.
I have another speech this Monday with him that I'm gonna use as practice.

Wait, what about him? What does he need to do to prepare and how does he feel about it?

He is well prepared. I've already written his speech, many months ago.
It's been revised and updated several times.
Its six pages and he reads it. He cannot handle doing anything "off the cuff"

FTR - we've been speaking to groups at businesses, AA meeting, Colleges, Universities,
Detention Centers and Elementary, junior & High Schools for months. We've done groups from a few dozen to over 400.
We've been on the radio locally and partnered with a local Arena football team.
I'm not worried about him at all. His shit is set. I'm the wildcard.

ETA -
How he feels ...
This all started as HIS THING. He wants to do it. He loves to do it. He wants other kids to learn from what he did.
He doesn't want them making the same mistakes he made. He wants kids to know what he was like before
so that when they see him now they realize the ramifications of driving impaired - even just once.

oh, cool! Good for him.

it just takes "once", don't it?


break a leg man!

More water polo goodness. Aqua Girl played both JV and Varsity Games Tuesday and tonight. Tonight 3 JV goals and she got to Sprint in one periond of the varsity game AND WON! (That's where they race for the ball at the begining of the period). And she's named to the Varsity roster for the tourney this weekend.

She is strong and amazing! Yay!

monster! Did you know you had these great genetics?

She is. And her eyes are burning :( (it was a home meet)

no idea. beest and I are doughy lumps...... We just put them in water from birth becasue I got freaked out about all the toddler drowning stories and didn't swim brilliantly myself...... (I wanted water births, but ended up with c-sections)

And your daughter's been subconciously trying to correct that ever since! (Hector too, he's just gone with frozen water... And Thor, well, ah, he makes messes that have to be cleaned up with water, right? ;))

Well? How did it go??

Well ... long story short, since I am nowhere near as gifted as others here with written communication.
I did zero prep. I had five bullet points written down. I was the 4th speaker - immediately following the First Lady
(who was VERY nice). We also got to meat the Attorney General, Jim Whelan and a few other prominent politicians.
The first speakers had professionally prepared speeches . They were well thought out and well practiced. I was wingin' it.
They also happened to discuss 3 of my 5 points before I even got to the podium.
I was nervous as hell - this wasn't a normal group for me. There were about 50 people and I knew many of them.
I got up there and halfway through my speech noticed that the parents of the "other boy" (the ones who are suing my son)
were in attendance. Fukkin assholes.

I got emotional a couple times and had to pause - not a rare occurrence for me.
Anyway, I finished really strong and there were many in the audience reaching for tissues.
I got a rousing applause from the crowd.
Unfortunately, the woman that followed was as exiting as dry white toast. :(
Many people came up to us afterward to congratulate me and meet my son. He got a great photo-op with the First Lady.
She was shaking his hand and he just gave her a nice hug. She was genuinely moved.
Funny part is that the security detail protecting her got pretty nervous. Gotta love the meatheads.

Suing your son? I must have missed that. Jesus Christ that's cold.

Well done to you though, sounds like your piece went just fine. And well done to your lad too. What a brilliant kid to try and bring something positive out of what happened to him. You must be so proud of him.

*hugs to both*

@ Monstah: Expect we'll be seeing your lass in the 2016 Olympics then aye? :)

thanks Dana, I'm extremely proud of him right now.

Yeah, we never got that part of the story, that I know of. Was this a friend in the same car, or another person in a different vehicle? No pressure to discuss it if you don't want to, was just curious. I'm proud of everything your son has chosen to do with his new path in life, and I'm proud of you for supporting him in all the ways you do, especially the not-public ones. You're a good dad, classic.

I think Class shared that part with me off board. I think sometimes we don't understand all the pressure on him and his kid. Good on you Classic.

thanks guys. Yeh the other boy ...
/backstory/ the one that drove my son to the party and subsequently got kicked out after a fight with the young man who hosted the party ... over a girl and then woke my son up and told my son to drive because he was "too drunk" to do so.
He suffered a minor concussion and was released from the hospital after 2 days.
He went back to school that fall, played football, lacrosse and hockey. He graduated and went to college where he is doing well. /end backstory/
... is now suing my son for PERMANENT physical, emotional and mental "damage."

Anyway, my son and I made it into a local newspaper and our message was spread.
Trying to focus on the good.
thanks again. We have about 15 speeches set up in the next 2 months. Its gonna be a busy prom season for us.

I'm sorry classic. There is certainly enough to deal with. But you and your son are doing good things and I think that's wonderful.

Thanks.
The family has turned into assholes. OR - - - we didn't realize they were assholes until now.
I speak not only for my family, but many others as well.
They've done some other really bizarre things unrelated to this.
The mother is definitely certifiable.

On the other hand, I've learned that even a moment of MY time spent on them has been wasted.
I don't have the desire nor the energy for them. Thats what asshole lawyers are for.
I have given ours enough ammo to sink them 50 times over.
They will not benefit from this - one way or the other.

The

Fuuuuuuuuckkk????

get in line. When someone can explain it to me and make some sense ...
even after battling this for almost a year ... smh

Imma esplain it to you real simple.

Greed.
Lawyer on percentage.
Assholes.

QED.

If you're still not convinced, add extra assholishness.

How exactly do they justify bankrupting my family again?


Oh, add in "and sleep at night" for extra credit.

OK, focusing on positive stuff...
My daughter is graduating from college - next month :eek:
with more honors than I can recall. She's always winning some damn thing lately.
She said to me in a call last night -
"I've got too many medals and stuff. They won't be able to see my dress" :eyebrow:
Really? Really. Thats what she was concerned about.
Well that and she was disqualified from being valedictorian because she took 2, yes two,
classes during her sophomore year summer from another school to save money.

:lol: Nice.

[thinks about time zones] What the heck are you doing awake at this hour, C-man?

Applying for jobs! Trying to get a jump on the Monday email alerts I get of positions available.
Hoping that being one of the first to apply helps. Sadly, it hasn't yet.

My congratulations to you classic. You are truly a good dad.

thanks, and to add to the list...
The state chapter of the Brain Injury Association would like to do an interview on/with him for their next issue.
He is Very happy and now nervous. :)

Damn 5:45 came WAY TOO FAST this am.
It was a triple coffee morning.

I'm a parent, and I'm proud, but I'm proud of my COUSIN, C, who got to meet the President at the White House!! I have the picture and everything!

wooT!!!!

Cool!

There is a special hell for the other boy's parents, classic. You are a good man and a good dad and you will come out on top in the end. You're right not to think about it. That's what asshole lawyers are for. Congrats to your daughter!

Actually, now I think about you did mention something, but that part slipped my mind. Assholes.

Major congrats to your big little girl for acing the honours board :p And to your lad for having the sheer bloody gumption to do this scary ass stuff and do it well enough that people clamour to hear what he has to say.

As we near the end of the regular Polo season, The Junior Varsity and Varsity teams are going to tournaments in different places this weekend. Swimmer girl has been playing on both teams (over that last two weeks, she has participated in 16 games!) Just got the roster, and she made the Varsity team. Good job we left space on that letter jacket! (She didn't want to, but -superstitious though I pretend to be- that's too expensive to fix, i figured she'd get there eventually ;) ) She worked hard for that spot and truly earned it, so I'm very proud of her.

....and she made it. post-season roster announced today. She's a little bummed that tomorrow is JV night where the JV players are honored and the JV game is played last and now she's officially Varsity, she won't be allowed to play or get honored. But hey, it's their last game and not hers. She gets it. And she'll get extra swag. And I get to get broker :lol: