A Little Adventure

Scott and I decided to do a photo of the day, starting today. These photos will be published via our Twitter accounts. You can find us at calittle14 and scottLittle. We hope you enjoy the pictures.

Scott & I got new phones last week. We have taken some great pictures of the kids and were testing out to see how it worked to do blog posts from our phones. We hope that it will help us post more frequently. We hope to capture some of the fun and entertaining things we are doing. The last two posts were posts from our phones.

I just need to vent…

When I compare Texas drivers to Utah drivers I generally prefer Texas drivers by a good amount. My experience is that most of the time folks are courteous and reasonable. Sure, I find myself screaming at the occasional moron, but this happens a lot less often than when I drive in Utah. However, I do have one major pet peeve. It is rare for anyone around Austin to use their blinker. This isn’t a big deal when you are in the turn lane. It is SUPER annoying when you are at a 4-way stop…and there are PLENTY of those around the neighborhoods in suburbia. I mean a 4-way stop is one place where it is useful to communicate w/ other drivers…right? Well, folks around here don’t seem to think that way. One example of the annoyance this causes me… Last night I was out running and I came to the 4-way stop on my route home. There is a car at the stop sign across from me. The car starts to go, and I figure I can go as well since they are going straight. For some reason I decide that I am tired and will use the car as an excuse to catch my breath. The car of course proceeds to turn left. I am glad that I wasn’t in the crosswalk. Morons! Use your blinker to communicate your intentions. It seems like I have a similar experiences at least once/week either driving or running around here. I guess the police don’t care about signaling your turn although they pulled Monica over last week b/c we hadn’t bothered to install a front plate on the car. Go figure…

Okay, I feel better. Thanks for listening….

This Christmas resulted in a large influx of Lazer Tag guns to our neighborhood…basically every household with younger male children has at least one pair. Today we finally managed to organize a game…kids vs. dads…of course. It worked out to be a pretty even match and was a lot of fun…at least for this dad. If you have boys or just want a simple way to settle spousal disputes I suggest you pick up a pair of the guns. At least everyone around here agrees that they are really well done. They have a nice number of features which add a bit of strategy. Fun, fun stuff!

Milo hanging out in the standard starting point for the kids…our front entry. We have a nice set of low bushes and pillars that the kids like to use as cover. During one game I ended up there and have to admit that it really is nice cover.

Holly joined me for this game which wasn’t terribly effective, but she seemed to enjoy it.

For the past few years, I have created a wallpaper CD to give out to friends. Some of them have been pretty fantastic due in large part to some of the amazing places we have been in recent years. This year we didn’t travel much and managed to move away from the fantastic landscapes of Utah. As a result, I decided to do a wallpaper series this year composed exclusively of images from the Coyote Buttes North permit area. Yes, this is the location of the wave…as well as a number of other amazing formations. Enjoy! And as always if you would like any of the wallpaper sized images let me know. Monica has started lobbying for me to redo the wallpaper from past years in a widescreen format…so that may be coming.

The alcove is an amazing area above and behind the main wave. The next few images are from there.

The boneyard is more correctly called Sand Cove, but I prefer to call it the boneyard for the graveyard like feeling promoted by an odd scattering of odd rocks.

The lace rock area is tremendously fascinating. I had a similar image last year, but I still included this one as a tribute to the area.

Finally, a few images from the main wave area. The longer images are designed for dual screen monitors.

Happy Holidays!

I love music, but this year I particularly loved music as it kept me sane during some LONG days writing my dissertation and continues to keep me sane while attempting to work in the cubicle farm every day. In true year end list fashion I figured I would mention some of the music that I loved this year. I don’t claim that it is fantastic music from an artistic standpoint, but it works for me. While writing my dissertation I went through a Brit pop stage which you will see in the list. In no particular order…b/c that would have required thinking

Here is the list complete w/ youtube links to the songs.
1. The Wombats – Let’s Dance to Joy Division – This song kicked off my Brit Pop craze. I think I grabbed it as an iTunes song of the week and fell in love…I even bought the entire album.

2. The Apples in Stereo – Energy – Just a bit of pep and energy

3. The Fratellis – Mistress Mabel – Another British band with a number of songs I really love. This is one example off their new album.

4. Weezer – Pork and Beans – A catchy little ditty w/ a tip of the hat to youtube celebs in their video.

5. Vampire Weekend – A-punk – A different but catchy sound. I hope they aren’t a one trick pony.

6. The Ting Tings – Great DJ – Pure fun and groovin’ from the British.

7. The Smashing Pumpkins – G.L.O.W. – I love Billy Corgan’s music. This isn’t his best stuff, but it does get in your head.

8. Panic at the Disco – That Green Gentleman – Another song with a beat. Something about those 18 hour editing sessions made me turn toward songs w/ a bit of oomph. I updated the link…apparently youtube and the label are having a bit of a tiff. This new link may also not work in the future…FYI.

9. My Morning Jacket – I’m Amazed – Great band with a nice new album. This is a bit more low key. Monica even likes these guys.

10. Blitzen Trapper – Furr – My latest obsession. I like their latest album quite a bit. Their older stuff seems nice, but I haven’t fully investigated it yet.

A few honorable mentions to MGMT – Time to Pretend, Fleet Foxes – White Winter Hymnal, She & Him – Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?, and Santogold – Creator.

Before we left SLC, Scott and I were talking about what we needed at the grocery store. Milo blurts out, “Cinnamon Rolls.” We thought that sounded good and thought we’d try to get some at the grocery store. Milo wanted to go spend some time with the Aunts, so Scott and I went to the store ourselves with Holly.

When looking at the frozen cinnamon roll options, they didn’t have the kind we normally get at Costco. Scott decided that if Milo said something about it again, he’d make an attempt at making some.

When Milo got home, almost the first thing that came out of his mouth was “did you guys get cinnamon rolls?” I told him he needed to talk to his father about it. Scott then told him that we did not get cinnamon rolls, but that he’d make some. We decided that night would be the best night to make them.

While Scott was making them we realized that we were going to ended up with some huge cinnamon rolls. They were pretty good.

Over the past few years I have really enjoyed listening to Christmas music (Sufjan Stevens, the Salt Lake Children’s Choir, Vince Guaraldi, etc.). This year I excitedly put my Christmas music on my iPod the day after Thanksgiving. Milo was excited that we would finally let him listen to “the fast song” (Hey Guys! It’s Christmas Time! by Sufjan Stevens). The excitement quickly faded, and I haven’t really felt like listening to Christmas music. I thought it was odd, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on the reason why. Yesterday, we put up the Christmas tree, and my “issues” finally became clear. It looks and feels like October around here. The leaves are starting to fall and blow around. You don’t really need a coat during the day unless a cold front happens to be coming through…and then you only need a light jacket. People are out in their yards raking leaves and trimming trees. Yeah, people are out putting up Christmas lights…without coats or the threat of snow. It just all seems like we are getting ready to celebrate Christmas in October. I presume that I may get used to the holiday season happening in weather like this. Right now, I just feel very disoriented… It should be an interesting Christmas

The other night Milo’s homework included the task of drawing one of our Thanksgiving traditions. He wanted to draw a picture of us having a “feast.” He was a bit unsure of how to draw the picture, so I told him that I would provide him with a bit of inspiration by drawing my own interpretation. I finished and showed it to him. He immediately began to lecture me on how poorly I had drawn the people in the picture. My people did not have eyes or a mouth. And worst of all…they were naked…I had forgotten to clothe my stick figures. Big mistake. Milo was nice enough to give me an example of a properly drawn person. I will let you figure out who drew what. Good times!

Graduation day finally arrived although it isn’t always very meaningful for graduate students. You see, graduate students are allowed to walk before they actually finish. It isn’t uncommon for them to walk an entire year before they actually finish or even walk multiple times. That was more or less my case. I was walking, but I only recently started writing my dissertation in earnest. I do have a date when I need to be done, so it seemed reasonable to walk. In fact, I now have a defense date set for the end of June and have given my dissertation to my committee for review.

It was a busy day between putting together the food, finishing up a few last minute issues related to the course I taught in the spring, and getting into the silly set of clothes required. It all worked out, and I was even smiling afterward…

The graduation ceremony wasn’t too bad. A little long, but that is to be expected. I would like to thank the people who attended and gave their support.

The “fun” part about graduation for Ph.D. students is the hooding ceremony. Your advisor and the dean of the college put the hood over your head. It isn’t really anything super special, but they do spend a bit more time on you which I guess makes you feel special…or something.

Yep, here I am being hooded. That is my advisor Chris that you can see helping out.

After graduation, I hung around talking with professors and other students longer than I should have considering quite a few people were waiting around for us to get the grub going.

Priyank (a professor), Scott, and Chris talking.

Scott and Chris talking.

We ran into a former student of Chris’s, Eric Mercer. Eric really helped mentor me when I started working for Chris. It was great talking to Eric for a few minutes.

Monica and Scott after graduation.

We were sure to bring Milo’s camera. He was taking all kinds of pictures after graduation.

Holly wasn’t too bad. She was very curious about the whole thing and did take a little nap.

Everyone took turns taking care of Holly.

We had the after-graduation party at our church. Everyone beat us to the church, some of them waited a LONG time…because I don’t know when to stop talking. We had a nice party which doubled as a birthday party for Holly. Yeah, we are lame like that and combined the two parties. Anyway, it was a good day and a milestone of sorts…I guess.