Author: King Tom

Hope’s Bill: Progress

A bill inspired by Hope is headed to the governor’s desk (or whatever surface the governor uses to sign acts into law).

Earlier today, the Ohio House passed Senate Bill 135, which designates September as Craniofacial Awareness Month. The Senate passed the bill back in May, during a session in which Hope got a nice round of applause from the lawmakers. This has been an interesting process to watch since The Civee first gave testimony on the bill more than a year ago.

I could go on about how great this is, but I think the Nationwide Children’s Hospital’s Cleft Lip and Palate Center’s Facebook post put it best:

(And yes, the Christina referred to in that post is The Civee).

So thanks to The Civee, Senator Kearney (and his staff) and the team at Nationwide.

But that’s not the only cleft-related item. Today, I found out about Smile Trek, a journey undertaken by Marine Winston Fiore, who walked 5,000 miles across Southeast Asia to raise money for cleft surgeries. Fiore took the walk with fewer supplies than I have in my car trunk and used his Android and Google Maps to plan the trip. I don’t see anyone with an iPhone walking 5,000 miles across Asia. It’s an incredible story, check out the video:

And finally, here’s a picture of Hope and Luke:

King Tom

Columbus Ohio: City of Red Lights

I’ve lived in Columbus for almost 13 years. Driving here is different than around the New York area, where I grew up. There are some reasons why driving is easier, but there are a number of other factors that make it more difficult and aggravating.

While most of those reasons have to do with other drivers, there’s been one that’s annoyed me particularly lately: the fact that most of the city’s traffic lights are not synchronized. It’s a simple concept: if you’re driving one direction down a major street, the lights turn green one after the other so you don’t get stopped by red light after red light.

I work downtown, so I deal with this everyday. But yesterday afternoon it really got to me as we were driving home from COSI, a simple drive down Broad Street to Fourth Street to I-71. On that drive, we went through ten intersections with lights. We were stopped at red lights at seven of them. I’m not talking about drive to the light and come to a rolling stop and wait the two seconds for the next light to turn green. What happened with most of these lights was as soon as one light would turn green, the next would turn yellow, then red right as we got to the next light.

Downtown Columbus is not the most hopping place, especially on a weekend. There’s no reason for a quick ride to be punctuated by stops at seven red lights. There are small towns able to synchronize their stoplights. Why can’t Columbus?

King Tom

Learning to Move

Luke is almost five months old and he’s starting to do a lot more than just lay around.

Hope is very happy that her younger brother notices her. Luke will often laugh when she makes a funny noise or tries to joke with him. When Hope was Luke’s age, The Civee and I read every book or website we could find to know where she should be developmentally. We knew exactly what milestones she should reach each week and celebrated every one.

But with that a few years in the past and Luke being our second child, we are more relaxed. We don’t have all the milestones memorized. We don’t need to. We are happy he is where he is and celebrate each new accomplishment when it comes. Having two kids takes up more of our time, but it’s great watching them together.

And just as Hope was moving around as soon as she was able, Luke is ready to follow in her footsteps. Luke likes to stand up, whether it’s in his exer-saucer or Johnny Jump-Up. We think in the past week he’s spent more time in the exer-saucer than Hope did all the time we had it out for her. Hope is more interested in the exer-saucer now, showing Luke what each one of the distraction gadgets does.

But Luke isn’t content to just stand (with assistance) in one place. He enjoys time on the floor, is able to roll from one side to the other (and will roll all the way across a room if given the space). Luke is also starting to work on his crawling technique. Take a look (and I am aware he’s drooling. He’s a teething four-month-old. It happens):

I can’t remember the last time The Civee or I picked up a baby milestone book. And it doesn’t matter. Luke is developing and it’s something Hope, The Civee and I are able to enjoy. He’s happy. And he keeps us entertained.

 

King Tom1 Comment

Happy Anniversary, Internet

I have a weird memory. I’m horrible with names. But I’m great with places and dates. The first time I saw a Yankees win a World Series was October 26, 1996. My first Weezer concert was August 30, 2000. And 20 years ago today, on October 31, 1992, I went online for the first time.

My father had just gotten a new computer. A few weeks earlier, I read an item in Wizard magazine about a Star Wars bulletin board on the America On Line service, which my father subscribed to. I started the program, dialed in and after having the modem screech at me, started discussing Star Wars with my fellow nerds.

Twenty years later, the Internet is part of everyday life. Star Wars is cool again. And I can remember October 31, 1992 like it was yesterday.

King Tom

The Firefighter and the Pumpkin

Our family reached a milestone this Halloween: Hope kept her costume on all night.

Just like last year, we let Hope pick her costume. She wanted to be a firefighter. With her rejection of the helicopter costume in mind, we wanted to keep this year’s costume simple. Helmet, boots and that’s it. She was very proud of the helmet. She was also much more into trick-or-treating. A little too much, as she wanted to keep going and eat her candy after every stop. She learned eventually and thankfully, we were able to limit her intake.

Not only was she proud of her helmet, but she also seemed happy to tell Luke what was going on and involve him in her night.

(I should note that bag isn’t her bag full of treats. It’s just a Target bag full of toys. She’s really into bags right now).

If the outfit Luke’s wearing looks familiar, that’s because it’s not the first time it’s been worn in the family. Hope (at six months) wore it two years ago. Luke, who just hit four months this week, barely fit into it. I don’t know if it’s just me, but they look similar. You’d almost think they were brother and sister or something:

King Tom5 Comments

I [Surprisingly Don’t] Have a Bad Feeling About This

Disney owns a large part of my childhood.

Growing up, I read and collected comic books and was loyal to the Marvel line. A few years ago, Disney bought Marvel.

I was also a Star Wars fan. I was into Star Wars when it seemed like no one else was and all we’d have is three movies in a galaxy far, far away. Well, today Star Wars is pretty popular, with three more movies and a lifetime’s worth of extended universe media. Oh, and a new owner. Today, Disney bought Lucasfilm from George Lucas for $4 billion.

Disney isn’t buying Lucasfilm to just hold on to the intellectual property. They’re planning on making some serious money, starting with some new Star Wars movies. From the official release:

In 2015, we’re planning to release Star Wars Episode 7 – the first feature film under the “Disney-Lucasfilm” brand. That will be followed by Episodes 8 and 9 – and our long term plan is to release a new Star Wars feature film every two to three years. We’re very happy that George Lucas will be creative consultant on our new Star Wars films…

The first I heard of today’s news, I didn’t know about Episode 7. My reaction was negative. This looked like George Lucas was selling out.

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized this is a good thing. The truth is, George sold out when he signed on with Fox to make Star Wars back in the 70s. Star Wars was a branded commodity even then, and the money it made helped ensure more entries in the franchise. I had some issues with the prequels, but overall, I enjoyed them.

Sure, Disney will Disney-fy the Star Wars franchise. But that’s nothing different from what George Lucas has been doing with Star Wars over the past two decades.

As for the future movies (and I can’t tell whether the Disney release means the saga will end with 9, or whether there will be more after that), if I’m ever worried about the story being diluted, I always have my copies of the original three episodes. Additionally, according to reports, George has been working on these new movies over the past few months (and won’t be doing any writing or directing). Additionally, Disney has made some quality movies based off its newly-acquired Marvel properties over the past few years while respecting the source material. Sure, there will be a lot more Star Wars material for kids (and that’s who the saga is aimed at), but as for the movies, with the Disney/Marvel track record, there’s nothing to be worried about.

I’m excited about this, and the biggest reason I’m excited really has nothing to do with the quality of the movies. I saw all the original trilogy in the theaters, first run with my father (well, technically, we saw the Empire Strikes Back as part of a double feature the month before Jedi came out). And I still remember that. I can say that I’ll get to take my kids to see new Star Wars movies in the theater in a few years. That’s so cool.

And for that reason alone, as a member of the Star Wars fan universe, I for one welcome our new corporate overlords.

King Tom2 Comments

Hope’s Favorite Alternative Music Artists

For as long as The Civee and I can remember, Hope has been into music. From our first few days with her, music (not just kids music) has quieted Hope and now that she’s old enough to pay attention, it entertains her.

She has been into Weezer for a while. If a Weezer song comes on while we’re hanging out at home or driving in the car, she will immediately identify it as a Weezer tune (and that includes songs that I don’t play all the time). But now, if we’re listening to the radio and a non-Weezer song plays, she will ask who plays it. For example, the other day Van Halen’s Jump was on. She asked “who plays this?” I replied “Van Halen.” She waited a few seconds, then repeated her question. I repeated my answer, adding “featuring David Lee Roth.” She asked a few more times, with me each time stating Van Halen and adding a few facts about the song. So by the ninth time she asked, I replied “Papa.” “Papa sings this,” Hope said.

So everytime she hears a non-Weezer song she will ask who plays it. She keeps asking until we reply with the name of someone she knows. Her grandmother sings Crazy Train. Her Uncle played Rockit. And her bus driver sang a bunch of 80’s rock tunes.

So if you ever meet Hope and she asks you if you sang The Safety Dance, please just smile and nod politely.

King Tom2 Comments