Suburban Butch Dad Report: grab bag

Reaching into the Suburban Butch Dad bag, I pull out ….

Clean up, clean up, everybody, everywhere.. clean up, clean up, everybody do their share

Yes, it was time to get some things done in terms of organizing and clean up.  We got all the Christmas decoration crates up into the attic.  We also moved up some antique chairs that have taken up space in one of our storage spaces downstairs, plus a couple of other things.  That was nice, because it cleared up a section of our hallway.

I also got busy with a bunch of stuff piled in our craft area downstairs and organized and cleaned up some piles that had accumulated in the garage over the winter.  That felt really good.  I separated things into related piles for recycling, donation and Craig’s list or Freecycling.  Now to follow through and get them out of the house for good.

Next out of the grab bag.. parental pride

My ElderSpawn will be singing in the grade school Talent Show in a few weeks, for the first time ever.  She selected a song, Who’s Crying Now by Journey, and has been singing along with Steve Perry for months now.  I found a karaoke version — instrumental only — and she began to practice with it.  When she found out that the performers would be limited to 2.5 minutes — a lot of kids are participating this year — she figured out exactly how many rounds of verses and chorus she could sing, about 2:38 worth.  She practiced and worked out a way to finish her version in that time frame.  Friday, I went to the school after work and hung out during rehearsal.  Her turn came toward the end and she nailed it.  I mean, she hit every cue, every note, with perfect timing and volume.  I am so proud of her.  This is a kid who was petrified with stage fright just a few months ago.  What’s been really amazing about watching her talent progress is hearing my voice come out of her mouth.  Well, something very much like my voice.  It’s really fun to sing with her because we harmonize perfectly.

What’s up with Bunny?

Thank you for asking.  Bunny is celebrating her year and a half-day soon.  She’s active, adventurous, affectionate and pretty darned smart.  Her ASL vocab is growing all the time, recent new signs include apple, pear, yes, no and sleep.  Verbally, she’s been working on saying her big sister’s name, starting with the first syllable.  She also says something very close to ‘apple’ when she signs for it.  Even without words, her vocal expressions are clear and complex.  She’s got a way of saying ‘uh-oh’, a lot of happy babbling sounds and her own way of imitating the way people talk on the phone.  And of course she still speaks fluent cat.  When she’s surprised or excited by something, she’ll say ‘Whoa, Whoa, Whoooooooa’ or ‘Wow, wow, wowww’… it’s so fracken cute.

Her understanding of the world is growing in leaps and bounds.  She can follow simple instructions (when she choose to) and understands that when I put on my socks, I’m going to want my shoes next — and she’ll bring them to me.  When one of us puts on a coat to go outside, she runs to her room to get her coat.  It’s fun to watch as her understanding of the world grows and she figures out how to participate in our activities.  Coloring with crayons is a new favorite and a great activity for her while we’re busy in the office.  We give her scratch paper and a mini-lunch pail full of crayons.  She dumps the crayons out with a lot of ‘ooooh’ and ‘whoooaaa’ and ‘wowww’ and then colors on her paper.  Until that becomes boring, then she tries to color on other things in the room without being caught by us.  It’s a great game 😉

Stuff I’m doing in the world of geeks

I’ve recommitted myself to my position as Leader of Geeks.  I’m working hard to bring more value to the user group, networking like crazy and thinking up new ways to get the word out to more geeks.  Also, I’ve taken on additional responsibility in accepting the role as Leader of Leaders of Geeks.  That means I’m the regional representative for an organization of user groups.  My region covers not just Washington, but Alaska, Idaho and Oregon.  I’m the person who vets new groups, assists existing groups in finding resources and speakers.  Finding and scheduling speakers is a big challenge and something I’ve spent a lot of time at over the years.  This renewed passion in my geekly side has also translated in a renewed interest in my geek blog (languishing for several years now), in connecting with other geeks on Twitter and Facebook and in acquiring new skills.  One thing about us geeks, we get off on learning new things, it’s practically a drug.

Things I’ve read recently and found interesting…

An article on changes to the voice and vocal abilities in trans guys brought on by testosterone. Some science, some testimony and a list of trans singers to check out.

Dr. Kaku’s Universe:  part of the website, BigThink, presenting a metric buttload of cool stuff about current events in science.  Dr. Kaku in particular is a very interesting and smart guy, a theoretical physicist

It Gets Better video by Rebecca Drysdale: I know, you’re sick of this campaign by now, or maybe you have philosophical issues with it.  I don’t care, watch the video anyway, it’s really cool and really well done.. There’s dancing and singing and attitude and smarts.

Last but not least, a group of geeks get together to try out a theory, a Fun Theory, to see if they can get more people to use the “dreaded stairs” than are using the adjacent escalator.  Check it out, it’s pretty cool.

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