Barenaked Ladies Breaks Up

Steven Page explains why he left Barenaked Ladies

Ok, well, I've never had a favorite band before, so I've never had a favorite band of mine change this much. Steven Page is leaving BNL. He's the one with the glasses, on the far left in the picture above. He's the great singer.

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The rest of the band is staying together. I'm going to stick with the band, instead of Steve. I mean, yes, the man can sing! But Ed and Kevin and Jim write all the good songs. So when it comes down to it, that's what matters.

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The real hard part is that having two lead singers/songwriters is part of what made the band great. Like the Beatles. However, that much talent and ego probably can't stay together too long.

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I never got to see all of them in concert personally, and I've been waiting two years for that chance. But I guess I'll still see most of them in concert when they come by next year.

Pictures of Marley and the Boys

Marley lost a few ounces after birth, which is perfectly normal. Now it looks like she's gaining some weight again! She's up to 3 pounds, 11 ounces!

Close up of Marley. She looks more like her dad than her brother does. With mom's lips.

Here's a great picture of Marley with her mom, my sister, Kim. You can tell that Marley is tiny. They are both so beautiful!

Last Friday we went to the Nature and Science center for a Cub Scout achievement. The achievement was listed as "go to a museum with your family", so we thought, why not have some fun as well?

We spent a lot of time inside looking at and playing with the exhibits, then spent even more time outside playing in the "Dino Pit".

My little archeologists! (You can see the fake dinosaur skeleton backbone in the sand behind Alexander.)

Alexander has a new hairstyle / haircut. Now the front is spiked straight up! He looks so mature. I like it.

My niece is born!

Baby Marley is here! My only niece. She is perfectly healthy!!

February 17, 2009. 6 weeks early.

3 pounds, 14 ounces. 16 3/4" long 9/10 apgar

no wires or tubes at all. no oxygen.
breathing completely on her own. very healthy, especially for such a small baby.

they say if she eats well, they can release her from the NICU in 24 hours. this is amazing, we thought she'd be in there a month.

Kim did a great job! She had a pretty serious c-section, and is in a lot of pain and stress right now. Hopefully she will sleep well tonight.

Marley has dark brown hair, blue eyes, round face, and very big lips. She is beautiful!

The Last Hike

I guess the dry spell is over. I've finally written something again. A poem, no less. I haven't written a poem in over 10 years. I was once quite prolific as a teenager, but nothing lately. Then, last night, I was a little restless, and before I knew it half of these lines were in my head. So, Brian, sweet man that he is, got up out of bed to get pen and paper for me so I could write it down. :-)

The Last Hike

To half of my body,
You know who you are
Where have you gone,
And have you gone far?

We used to go hiking
To many distant places
Now you’ve left me alone
With all the staring faces

Perhaps you’ve gone off
To the old rocky switchbacks
But you forgot me this time
And now you’re not coming back

How will I do this,
Living without you?
This is not what I had planned
I don’t want to see this through

But no one asked what I wanted,
Did they?
No one warned of what was to come
Or told me it would be okay

The hikes are over now
And the days, they will not end
If only I could find the strength
To push these wheels past that bend

I must push on, I must push up
That is the way it will be
Because now, only when I use the wheels
Can I truly be free.


Brooke Alayna Hack, 2/15/09

Box Turtle on Wheels

What do you get when you combine my mode of transportation with my favorite animal?.....


Article From Boing Boing:

"Little Bit, a young Eastern Box Turtle was hit by a car in September of 2000. Her shell was crushed and she was left partially paralyzed. There was no way she would ever be released to the wild as happens with most successful rehabs. I repaired her shell using velcro strips epoxied to anchor points on her carapace. After some weeks Little Bit seemed to have made a full recovery except for the use of her hind legs. So some wheels seemed to be the way to go. Some lightweight model airplane wheels on a wire frame did the trick. The removable wheels were secured by a velcro strip epoxied to her plastron. The velcro strips on the carapace were removed after four months. She was eating, drinking, and exploring all the rooms of my house. Eventually she was able to move around outside as well. "

Brian on the Piano

Brian is very creative. He doesn't even have any formal training in music or piano, but that doesn't stop him from using the piano to get his creative juices flowing. I really admire how he just tries, and creates new music.

Here's a little clip I took of him fiddling around the other day. He's so cute! :-)

I had forgotten...

It's been such a long past year, that I had forgotten what I was doing a year ago. Two days and one year ago, I was giving the presentation on the book that I wrote January 2008. It seems like a whole different lifetime now. I feel like I haven't achieved anything since then. I did really well writing that book, I'm glad I did it. I miss that sense of achievement.

I've been looking over my old articles. Here's one that I've linked to on my site that I liked: Kids' Moods. It's a good one to reread. It's about helping kids be in a good mood by taking good care of their bodies. It works so well with my son Sam!

Glenn Beck on Socialism and Communism

Great Video that Drudge Report listed on Glenn Beck. He hit the hammer directly on the nail this time!

Of course, you'll need to scroll down a little and pause the music first.