Thankful

Mia and Mama

There are obvious reasons to be thankful, especially this year. As always, I’m thankful for my family who supports me in whatever I choose to do. I’m thankful for the friends who are always there for me. I’m thankful for my health - even though there have been a couple of rough patches this year. I’m thankful for being gainfully employed - though this may change next year. I’m thankful for having a wife who puts up with me. And I’m thankful for our healthy little baby girl.

This photo was taken with Mia’s Grandma on Thanksgiving morning. 2010.

Mia in Tights

Mia in Tights

The plan in the morning was for Mia to wear this lovely outfit to daycare. (Aren’t those tights cute?) Of course, it didn’t turn out to be the case. After taking a few photos, Mia promptly made the dress part “unwearable” for the day.

Mia is getting stronger. She grips items with her hands, making some of them difficult to take away. She can’t stand on her own - those are mommy’s hands holding her up - but she can stand propped like that for a while. Next thing you know she’ll be running around the house.

This photo was taken on the morning of November 23, 2010.

Minimalism Heroes

Great work done by graphic designer Fabian Glez (via laughingsquid)

When It Drops.com - A Site to See

Visit whenitdrops.com

In a previous life, I was a record store manager. (Yes, I can hear Mia now, “What’s a record?") Back then, I would enjoy new release Tuesdays, when new music and movie rentals would show up. It was easy to keep track of what was coming out back then. Ever since I’ve been out of retail, it has been a bit more difficult to determine when “this title” is available for rent or “that artist” is coming out with something new.

It looks as if When It Drops tries to help to provide this information. It’s a simple clean site showing what came out last week, what is coming out this week, and what is being released in the next few weeks. The site covers theater movies, music, DVDs, games, and books. Check it out.

The Wedding of Lotte and Angche

Yesterday, we were very grateful to share a special moment in our friends' lives as we attended their wedding. The ceremonies and reception took place at The Janet Pomeroy Center. Yes, there were two ceremonies, or rather one ceremony separated into two parts. The first part was a Buddhist Nepalese ceremony. The second portion, briefly captured in the video clip, was a Christian Filipino ceremony. They were wonderful ceremonies. And the reception - the food, drink, singing, and dancing - made for a memorable time.

Congratulations to Lotte and Angche!!!

A Bunch of Quick Movie Reviews

Wow, a post other than photos and Twitter updates! Yeah, I’ve been a bit behind in reviewing movies that I’ve been able to watch the last couple of months. Yes, even with Mia, work, and all the things life has to throw at you, there is still a little time to enjoy a movie. Well, I enjoyed some of them. Others were not so good.

Karate Kid (2010) - Why remake this movie? They should have just called it “Kung Fu Kid” considering that’s what Jaden Smith is learning. Jaden Smith overacts and Jackie Chan doesn’t get enough screen time. A valiant effort to not use the same script, but it falls short. Rating: Rental

Robin Hood - Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett aren’t bad in this movie. It’s just that the story isn’t compelling at the least. Rating: Cable TV

Inception - This is the last film we saw in the theater. I thought it was great, not realizing it was a long film. I would have liked to have seen some of the scenes in IMAX, but overall I was satisfied to watch it on the big screen. If you get this on blu-ray, I hope you have a large screen to watch it on, to get the full effect. Rating: Full Admission

The Losers - Action-packed movie, but no characters to care about. Zoe Saldana was the only thing going for this movie. Rating: Rental

The Blind Side - Likable actors and characters. Good solid story. I can see why Sandra Bullock was nominated for an Oscar (not sure she should have won it though). Rating: Matinee

She’s Out of My League - A predictable movie with a few funny moments. The shaving scene, and the outtakes of it, were a bit disturbing. Rating: Cable TV

Killers - An awful movie. A waste of time. I’m not sure why I bothered renting it. Oh, I know why. I rented Mr. & Mrs. Smith at the same time. I wanted to compare the two films. At least I watched one good film. Avoid Killers all costs. Rating: Cable TV

Date Night - Tina Fey and Steve Carell are hilarious in this film. But I thought it would have been funnier than it turned out to be. Rating: Cable TV

The Book of Eli - Strong performance by Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman. Not sure if Mila Kunis worked in this film for me though. The ending was a surprise, but not enough for me to watch the movie again. Rating: Rental

Shutter Island - Well told story. Solid acting. Looks gorgeous in blu-ray. I wouldn’t mind watching it again, though I don’t think it holds up with repeat viewing. Rating: Matinee

Hot Tub Time Machine - Good funny movie that reminds me of the teen movies of the 80’s. Rating: Matinee

Kick-Ass - I was expecting funny/violent, which it started off as. Then it turned serious/violent. Action sequences were nice, but the overall tone of the film didn’t work for me. Rating: Rental

Zombieland - Another solid funny movie. Even though zombies scare Farrah, she sat through this film and enjoyed it. Worth a repeat viewing. Rating: Full Admission

Mia and Roseola

Mia and RoseolaMia and Roseola

I believe it started on Sunday. A slight redness developed on her cheeks. By Tuesday, it spread ever so slightly to her arms. Today we saw a doctor who diagnosed it as roseola.  It’s nothing serious.  It seems to look worse than it is.  Either way, Mia is staying home with me today.

Mia had her second set of immunizations on Friday.  The occurrence of roseola after the shots appears to be coincidental, as the vaccines she was given wouldn’t normally produce a rash.  She had a rough night last night - waking every two hours wanting attention and food.  But today, at least for now, she’s in good spirits.  If the rash gets better tomorrow, she’ll be able to go back to daycare.

This photo was taken on the night of November 16, 2010.  It was taken after Mia took her bath.  You can see a bit of the rash on her cheeks.

Mia and Wink

Mia and Wink

One of Mia’s favorite toys is the Winkel, or Wink as we call it. She just seems to like gnawing on the little sucker. She also can wave it around now and almost throw it - of course not on purpose. I was able to take a series of photos through the crib slats using the Canon 17-55mm lens.

The photo was taken on November 6, 2010.

Bonus!!!

It’s a video bonus! Enjoy.

Note: I am trying out Vimeo for videos. If you can comment, either on Facebook or here, on how the video loads for you, it would be helpful. I can then decide whether to stick with Vimeo or go with YouTube. A YouTube version of the same video is below.

Vimeo version

YouTube version. 

Mia and The Pumpkins

Mia and the Pumpkins

It’s Mia’s first Halloween. We carved three pumpkins that afternoon - one representative of each of us. (The fourth pumpkin in the back is made of plastic.)  Well, Farrah carved two of them. Can you tell which one I did?

We posed Mia in her pumpkin outfit next to the pumpkins as you see here. She looked over her shoulder, then back at us, then over her shoulder again. I’m guessing she wasn’t sure what to make of those “dudes”  behind her who are dressed like her. Perhaps next year she’ll find pumpkins less suspicious.

This photo was taken on October 31, 2010.

Tatooine - by Jeremy Messersmith

Catchy tune, and the paper animation is great. Found via Daring Fireball

Mia and The Giants

Mia and the Giants

Mia is cheering on her favorite baseball team, the San Francisco Giants, as they head to the World Series.  Her favorite player is Tim Lincecum because of, you know, his hair!  LET’S GO GIANTS!

The photo was taken the week of October 17th, 2010.