Mother and daughter.

Independance Day.

We are visiting my mother in Brooklyn. Earlier we stopped at a playground in Sheepshead Bay where I took this picture.

Trade agreement.

John McCain is in Colombia advocating a trade agreement between that country and the US. Doesn't he know that we already have a trade agreement? Colombians send us coffee and cocaine, then we send them currency. However, this trade benefits Colombia more than it benefits us. So a change of terms is in order.

Stroller test drive.

This morning Lili and I took a walk to the bustling Bloomsburg downtown to run some errands and to see some people. We recently purchased a sun stroller to replace her original stroller as the go to conveyance and to take up less space in the trunk. So today, after I assembled the new stroller, Lili and I took to the streets.

A few things became evident right away:

1. The handles are a little low for my comfort. I am 6 feet 1 inch tall and have to stoop to hold the handles of the stroller comfortably.
2. When you hang a diaper bag on the handles it tends to become inconvenient. It bumps against the rear wheels and slows the stroller down.
3. The wheels are small which makes them unsuitable for off-roading or for the uneven sidewalks of Bloomsburg.
4. The stroller is much smaller than the old one which gives it amazing maneuverability. This is a big bonus since Lili and I frequently enter stores on our journeys.

This concludes my report on the sun stroller test drive.

Summertime and the living.

It is, in case you haven't looked at the calendar, July. Summer is starting to fly by and head for its twilight. And once again I find myself wondering what have I done so far. The answer is as usual - nothing. My daily ritual is not filled with glorious adventures to say the least. I rise from my slumber, go to my part-time (at best) job, and spend the rest of my time trying to wrangle my daughter while doing battle with the apartment.

The battle against my apartment has grown beyond just a mere conflict and into an all out war. Every day, armed only with my wits, I attempt to keep the apartment clean before the three of us mess it up again. I mostly fail in my attempts because chaos rains supreme in this dwelling. The idea that I, without my wife's help, could get this mess under some form of control is as laughable as the new CBS show, Greatest American Dog.

Cell phone use.

This article says that 25% of European Union households prefer mobile phones to their land line counter parts. My wife and I have only been using cell phones for a few years. We got rid of our land line after we realized that we were only using it to get on the internet and paying more than a cable modem would cost. At this point, we wouldn't even know what to do with a land line phone if we got one again. I wonder how many other Americans have also cut the line.

Old Ford.

18 months.

This is Lili. Today she is eighteen months old. In, what seems like, a very short time my wife and I went from having a baby to having a toddler. Soon she'll turn two and drastically change our lives once again. Happy half-birthday, Lili.

New glasses.

Book titles.

These are the titles of books I would like to see printed:

• Complete Idiot's Guide To Complete Idiots
• Left Hander's Guide To The Right Wing
• Chicken Soup For The Chicken's Soul
  
• Ventriloquism For Dummies
• Cat Skinning For Beginners
  

Flower stump.

RIP, George.

George Carlin, perhaps the greatest American comedian, has died at the age of 71. He not only made me laugh, he made me think. When I was in college, the highlight of my career as a college journalist was covering his concert on the campus of Bloomsburg University for our school paper. Thank you, George.

Puddle sky.

This day in history.

Operation Barbarossa was Nazi Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union. The invasion was made possible by Germany and the Soviet Union dividing Poland therefore bringing the two countries into physical proximity to war. This was the beginning of The Great Patriotic War as World War II is known is Russia.

Automotive stuff.

I found this very useful article on Lifehacker, the site that has "tech tricks, tips, and downloads for getting things done" as its motto. I guess if you can't get there, getting things done is out of the question.

Waiting.

Sometimes local residents display peculiar behavior like gathering in front of an empty stage in lawn chairs. Since there have not been any recent crop circles or UFO sitings, the only reason for this gathering is a production of Waiting for Godot. In the summer, around here, there is never a dull moment.

Thought of the day.

The Roman Empire conquered what was then the known world using horse carts and wearing sandals. The roads and structures that they built still stand pretty much unchanged after centuries. When the Roman Army would take an enemy city they would raise it to the ground leaving nothing behind. Sometimes we should take a lesson from history.

Carnival.

Summer time around here means fire company carnivals. These are small events that usually last four or five days and raise funds for a fire company that holds the carnival. Since the majority of towns around here are small, we don't have professional fire departments. Local fire companies, as the saying goes, are professionally staffed by volunteers. These fire companies have the proper training and the right equipment but because they are volunteer, money for new equipment is very difficult to come by which is why they hold carnivals.

Father's Day.

Today is my second Father's Day. Last year my wife surprised me with a weekend trip to Gettysburg, my favorite town in Pennsylvania. This year we did not make any concrete plans so we are still working on getting out of the house. Yesterday we ordered new glasses, went strawberry picking at a beautiful spot atop a huge hill, and swam for the first time this summer. Now, having been exhausted by all that activity, we are hanging out in the bedroom. Lili is only one who is actually dressed and ready to go. We must venture out and do something. The question is what.

Picking strawberries.

Flag day.

Storm damage.

We just had a thunderstorm that lasted about fifteen minutes. In that time we were subjected to rain, hail, and lightening strikes less than a mile away. When we got home we found this sight around the corner from our house. This tree is completely blocking a street.

Tennis courts.

Eye.

This is going to be my new Twitter photo.

Indiana Jones and The Ignorant Immigrant.

Last night, as part of my 35th birthday celebration festivities, my wife and I went to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. This movie was as good as The Last Crusade and Raiders of the Lost Ark, leaving me to wonder what were Spielberg and Lucas thinking when they made The Temple of Doom.

I was particularly impressed with the Russian spoken by the KGB agents and the Soviet soldiers in this movie. As a native speaker, I see a lot of movies where the Russian spoken by the characters is far from anything I even remotely recognize as Russian. In most cases, what supposed to be Russian turns out to be gibberish that happens to sound Russian without making any grammatical sense.

On the other hand, I found a few things a little unbelievable. My friend Carl warned me about two things that made him roll his eyes while watching this movie. They were the refrigerator and the monkeys. I had to agree with him about the refrigerator, but the monkeys I thought were just a cutesy break from the action. They were completely unnecessary, but not entirely awful.

My own list of things that made me roll my eyes is a little bit longer than Carl's. First, the English spoken by the KGB agents was quite bad, in reality these people were highly trained and spoke excellent English. Second, the sword worn by the female villain, Soviet officers did not wear swords, let alone rapiers, unless they were cavalry officers especially in 1957. Finally, the vehicles used by the Soviet soldiers did not remind me of those I was familiar with while growing up in the Soviet Union.

I was looking forward to seeing this movie since I didn't get a chance to see any other Indiana Jones movies in theaters. It was worth the price of admission and then some, the price of popcorn, on the other hand, was ridiculous. If you haven't seen the movie yet, I haven't given anything crucial away. And if you have seen it, you know exactly what I mean.

City slicker.

Cars like this, even though perfectly normal in places like Philly and New York, seem completely bizarre in rural Pennsylvania. Here, trucks and SUVs dominate the roads. That's because in Winter it's almost impossible to get around without a front wheel drive at the very least.

Since the snow removal crews do not believe in plowing every street, sometimes the snow you shovel off of your vehicle is the only snow removal that takes places. Out here, you and your car have to fend for yourselves and it helps if your car can get you through the snow.

Bag.

Lili got a hold of my phone and took this picture earlier today.

Twilight sky.

At the circus.

Future alpinist.

Lili and I went for a walk prescribed to us by my wife. However, Lili is far more interested in climbing the porch steps.

On the beach.

This is the Canoe Island Lodge beach. It is flanked on all sides by trees and buildings. We spent several hours there on Sunday splashing in the lake and watching the passing boats.

Low rider.

I took this as we were crawling along Canada Street in Lake George. We saw a lot of interesting cars this weekend.

Canoe Island Lodge.

This is the Edelweiss building that sits right on the lake. The deck in front of it is the top of the boat house.

Lake George.

We are spending Memorial Day weekend with family and friends at the Canoe Island Lodge on Lake George in Upstate New York. Lili, who is 17 months old today, isn't enthused about the breakfast offered this morning and prefers to eat her bib instead.

Favorite physicist.

People frequently ask each other about a favorite singer, or a favorite actor, or a favorite athlete. Sometimes these discussions become heated arguments, especially when the topic is sports. But very seldom, in fact almost never, does the conversation about favorites turns to the topic of physics and physicists.

This may seem like a strange topic at first, but if you think about it for a while you will discover that it's a topic worth considering. For starters, physicists are cooler than various other scientists because they study things that vary in size from a single atom to an entire galaxy. You have to admit that covers a pretty sizable chunk of what we call the known universe.

So after all that you're probably wondering who might be my favorite physicist. The answer is Richard Feinman. Who's yours?

The test, part 2.

The text in my previous post, made from my Gmail account, did not look like it does when I post right on blogger. It wasn't formatted at all and it also included my signature. So I wanted to see if posting from my Yahoo e-mail will be any different. It turns out that the mobile Yahoo e-mail works with Blogger better than the mobile Gmail. This is kind of funny since both Gmail and Blogger are Google products.

This is a test.

This is a test of an e-mail posting system. I have added an e-mail posting feature to my blog so I can write and e-mail posts right from my cell phone since I can't log in to Blogger via mobile web. This should allow me to post more often than I do know. Let's see if this experiment works. This has been a test of an e-mail posting system.

Sunrise.

Politicians say the darndest things.

First, Barack Obama said that rural Pennsylvanians were ignorant, racist, and clung to God and guns for comfort. This statement pissed off a lot of people and resonated in the area like a church bell in the Grand Canyon.

Then the Mayor of Tunkhannock, a nearby small town, Norm Ball wrote a letter to his local paper which was reprinted by The Washington Post. In this letter Ball wrote that Obama isn't good for America and that Obama's upbringing in the Muslim world remains a mystery, thereby proving that rural Pennsylvanians are indeed ignorant and racist.

Finally, since these things seem to come in threes, The Artist Almost Formerly Known as The President visited Israel on the 60th anniversary of that country's founding and in a speech before the Israeli Senate compared Obama's desire to open dialog with the president of Iran to British Prime Minister Chamberlain's appeasing Hitler prior to the break out of World War II, thereby proving that ignorance and racism extend far beyond the borders of Pennsylvania.

Flakes.

This is Lili's favorite stuffed animal. His name is Flakes and he is a Christmas bear. Inside, Flakes has a tiny bell which jingles every time Lili shakes him. She does this a lot since Flakes is her constant companion wherever she goes.

Happy birthday, Israel.

The State of Israel is 60. In 1948, in the wake of World War II, a country was craved out of a British colony and populated with Holocaust survivors. These people, having lost everything, were brave and daring enough to live in a desert surrounded by countries who wish nothing less than to finish what the Nazis began. They did not only live in the desert, they made it bloom. In the process, they experienced the greatest of triumphs and the greatest of losses. Despite these losses, the country and its people flourished demonstrating an eduring spirit similar to that demonstrated by the immigrants who carved the United States out of the North American wildreness. So, here is to many more anniverssaries and to piece in the Middle East.

Fog field.

This morning when I left my house I stepped into what can only be described as equal parts soup and equal parts blanket. The world as I knew it vanished and I found myself in Brigadoon. OK, so maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but the fog was pretty thick and it was hard to see anything.

Stroller.

Free door.

Unnecessary quotes.

I took this photograph on the boardwalk in Wildwood, NJ. It reminded me of The Blog Of Unnecessary Quotation Marks which is filled with pictures like these.

Boardwalk to nowhere.

Foggy wheel.

Morey's Piers.

On the boardwalk.

Watch the tramcar, please.

Wildwood NJ.

Bloom in bloom.

Lili's first ride.

Knoebles, a local amusement park, opened for the season this weekend. So we took Lili to the children's section to see if she could ride any of the rides. She did exceedingly well, riding several of the rides by herself. Of course, my wife was on stand by the entire time.

Chess set.

Lili and tulips.

Voting in the primary.

Today, my wife, Lili, and I went to our fire hall to vote in the Pennsylvania primary. After we parked and liberated Lili from her car seat, we discussed the people who are running for president as we walked. Since we are both Democrats, we were discussing the two historical options.

My wife said there was something about Hillary that rubbed her the wrong way. And my support and respect for Obama greatly diminished following his comment about rural Pennsylvanians being ignorant and clinging to guns and religion. I am a prime example of an ignorant rural Pennsylvania resident, hence the name of this blog, but I refuse to cling to anything other than my pillow for comfort. My pillow, unlike a gun, is not lethal and does not require a permit. Also, unlike religion, my pillow does not create barriers between people or demand sacrifices.

The voting process itself proved perilous for us. At first, the old ladies who only work during the elections could not locate my wife's name in their massive books. Then, after much searching, they discovered that my wife is still listed under her maiden name and is actually an independent. So she was not allowed to vote. And I somehow managed to screw up my ballot so I have no idea if my vote actually counted or even mattered.

Now that the results are in, and the pundits who predicted that Hillary would win in Pennsylvania have been proven right, it is time to buy large supplies of popcorn and to get ready for that most bizarre of reality game shows, the political convention. I can't wait to spend a few days in front of my television to see who gets voted out. I just hope that the candidates remember to bring their torches to the conventions.

Early morning.

Old bell.

Virginia Tech, a year later.

I wanted to write something about what happened at Virginia Tech last year and have been thinking about it all day. I remembered the numb feeling I had when I heard about what happened. I remembered the professor who having survived the Holocaust shielded the door with his body so his students could escape. And I remembered the gunman. I remembered, after the initial shock wore off, feeling sorry for him because he was tormented from within and sought relief for his problems in murder.

It is rather sad that these random acts of mass murder, especially at schools, are becoming more and more common. The loners who used to retreat into books to escape their torment are reaching for guns to physically silence those who torment them. This leads me to believe that people are becoming unable to cope with the ever increasing pace of of 21st Century American life. It also leads me to believe that human life in the 21st Century has become a devalued commodity. And these two things combined lead directly to the school shootings.

Tax Day surprise.

When I went to get my usual cup of Dunkin' Donuts coffee this morning I got a very pleasant surprise. Dunkin' Donuts, to celebrate Tax Day, is giving everybody a free donut when you buy a cup of coffee. This is a great idea since we'll have to wait for the stimulus refund for a quite a while.

Ceiling.

Red fire hydrant.

Yellow bushes.

Drive-in.

One piece of Americana that has always been my favorite in the Summer was a trip to a drive-in theater. Garden Drive-in, located in scenic Hunlock Creek, opened for the season this weekend. So the entire Yann clan, with sister-in-law and her boyfriend in tow, ventured out for some entertainment.

Caturday.

A neighbor's cat occasionally patrols the area. Today our porch was among its scheduled stops and Lili admired it from a distance, safe behind a screen door.

Blogiversary.

So it's been two years since I started this blog. It's weird that the blog and I have had such a long, in the Internet terms, relationship. This relationship at times has been a rocky one. I would often neglect the blog, not posting for days at a time. Sometimes I would have a great idea, but life would get in the way and I would forget to post.

While at school, I posted on topics I found while surfing the Internet in an attempt to avoid schoolwork. But since becoming a stay-at-home dad I spend a lot of time child wrangling with very little time dedicated to keeping up with current events. Also, since Blogger added this feature, I have been posting a lot from my phone. I even upgraded my phone in an attempt to improve the quality of my photographs. I am still working on the improvement part, but I enjoy being able to capture the moment and to add content.

Originally, I did not have a specific topic for this blog. I thought that I might come up with one as time went on. I even thought that, once I got a job in my field, I would transform this blog into something more professional. But I have come to a conclusion that I will keep this personal, chronicling my life and various adventures.

Spring saw.

Tree trimming finally brought on Spring in this area. Singing birds have been disrupting the early morning calm for a while. Despite that, the temperatures steadily remained in the coat wearing range. When I was a kid, men in trees would signal Spring's arrival with the whiny mating call of their chainsaws.

There would also be a change in the Sun's appearance. The cold, gloomy Sun, which looked down on the frozen land during Winter, would be replaced by a warm, happy Sun which smiled on countless coatless hoards and various greenery returning to life.

Street scene.

The middle building, which has a green awning on the first floor, houses Phillips Eporium where local artists, poets, and musicians gather for art and coffee. My wife and I got married there on a cold winter day six years ago.

Saturday morning.

While my wife is away at a conference, Lili and I are enjoying Cheerios and cartoons on the Disney Channel. Lili showed interest in my watch so I gave her an older and sturdier one to play with. She promptly put it on her left arm to the amuzment of her left handed father.

Fortieth anniversary.

Forty years after Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination Barack Obama is on the verge of becoming the sole Democratic candidate for President oif the United States. I have no idea how Reverend King Jr. would react to this, but I am pretty sure that had he lived a major party would have had an African-American presidential candidate sooner. We may not be in the future he envisioned yet, but we are getting there slowly, very slowly. Perhaps the 21s Century is going to bring about a long overdue change in this country. Let's hope.

Baseball money.

While grocery shopping with Lili, I saw a magazine that featured Alex Rodriguez on the cover. So I picked up the magazine and started flipping through its pages as I like to do at the grocery store, especially if my wife isn't with me. A brief look at the A-Rod article reminded me of his $275 million contract which made me wonder if A-Rod, and other extremely overpaid players like him, think they are worth the money they get paid.

Because if I were in George Steinbrenner's shoes I would expect A-Rod to hit home runs all the time. I would expect home runs regardless of pitch or pitcher, weather conditions or time of day, batting order or ball park. Heck, I'd expect A-Rod to hit a home run blindfolded on a moonless night. Otherwise you're not really getting your money's worth.

Two days too late.

Oprah Winfrey, it seems, does not look at the calendar. According to imdb.com, she dedicated a special show, which will air on Friday, to her cocker spaniel that died last month. This would be a great April Fools joke except April Fools Day was two days ago. Maybe she should hire an assistant whose sole responsibility will be to tell her what date it is.

April fools.

-ERROR 899.5-79- 1A//ERROR-you have opened a virus to your wireless phone and all of your contacts will be deleted! Just Joking. Now go scare the crap out of your other friends! APRIL FOOL'S