Wed - June 11, 2008
JUST GIVE THEM A HANDSHAKE
in which i actually agree with barack
obama.
Senator Make Stuff Up takes enough abuse around
here that it's only fair for me to at least give him credit when it's due. And,
just as it was eleven months ago when he first said it, credit
is due again today, for this passage I just found again in my notes, and that
rings all the more true after yesterday's Frick ISA promotion
ceremony:
Sometimes, I go to an eighth-grade graduation and there's all that pomp and circumstance and gowns and flowers. It's just eighth grade, people. Just give them a handshake. Congratulations. Now get your butt in the library.
Amen, Senator. Amen.
Sometimes, I go to an eighth-grade graduation and there's all that pomp and circumstance and gowns and flowers. It's just eighth grade, people. Just give them a handshake. Congratulations. Now get your butt in the library.
Amen, Senator. Amen.
Posted at 02:31 PM
Sat - December 15, 2007
ROCKIN' AROUND THE CHRISTMAS TREE
have a happy holiday.
TWM proudly announces the official release of
the
ADAM & ETHAN CHRISTMAS PHOTO 2007:
Coming soon to Christmas cards near you.
ADAM & ETHAN CHRISTMAS PHOTO 2007:
Coming soon to Christmas cards near you.
Posted at 12:03 PM
Thu - May 17, 2007
FOR ADAM
a birthday haiku.
His hair long, his
voice
Suddenly low, he reminds
Us that love grows up.
Suddenly low, he reminds
Us that love grows up.
Posted at 08:23 AM
Sat - December 16, 2006
WITH TRUE LOVE & BROTHERHOOD
each other now embrace.
TWM proudly announces the official release of
the
ADAM & ETHAN CHRISTMAS PHOTO 2006:
Coming soon to holiday cards near you.
ADAM & ETHAN CHRISTMAS PHOTO 2006:
Coming soon to holiday cards near you.
Posted at 08:56 AM
Thu - August 31, 2006
71*
swinging for the fences. and the
classes.
And now for something a little lighter, a little
brighter, a little more optimistic than the pursuit and definition of fascism in
America...
...How about the promise, the possibility, the hope-springs-eternal, these-new-clothes-are-kickin', I-can't-wait-to-get-started ebullience of the first day of school? How about the feel of a fresh backpack (or messenger bag) slung over your shoulders, the heft of their pencils and notebooks soon to be joined by the heady weight of textbooks and homework and the seeds of whole new thoughts to think? How about the chance to see some old friends and make a few more, to walk familiar halls and explore new rooms, to stride through those doors and sit at those desks and, knowing that you still don't know a lot of what you want and need to know, open those wondrous ears and brains and ready yourself to learn?
Or how about the pride, the thrill, the gentle anxiety of sending one son to seventh grade, one son to first grade, and yourself, on a day you'll teach but know you still have much to learn, to seven hours of waiting and wondering and hoping, of counting the minutes and seconds until those bells ring and those buses board and those boys are back home again, running through the house with hugs and kisses and highlights of a brand-new, big-fun, anything-really-is-possible school year.
...How about the promise, the possibility, the hope-springs-eternal, these-new-clothes-are-kickin', I-can't-wait-to-get-started ebullience of the first day of school? How about the feel of a fresh backpack (or messenger bag) slung over your shoulders, the heft of their pencils and notebooks soon to be joined by the heady weight of textbooks and homework and the seeds of whole new thoughts to think? How about the chance to see some old friends and make a few more, to walk familiar halls and explore new rooms, to stride through those doors and sit at those desks and, knowing that you still don't know a lot of what you want and need to know, open those wondrous ears and brains and ready yourself to learn?
Or how about the pride, the thrill, the gentle anxiety of sending one son to seventh grade, one son to first grade, and yourself, on a day you'll teach but know you still have much to learn, to seven hours of waiting and wondering and hoping, of counting the minutes and seconds until those bells ring and those buses board and those boys are back home again, running through the house with hugs and kisses and highlights of a brand-new, big-fun, anything-really-is-possible school year.
Posted at 08:19 PM
Wed - May 17, 2006
WHM
hbd from twm.
TWM takes a moment and makes a post to adulate, to
elevate, to celebrate Adam Hermann of the Squirrel Hill
Hermanns.
Writer. Hoopsmith. Musicman.
(Twelve-year-old) Birthday boy.
Writer. Hoopsmith. Musicman.
(Twelve-year-old) Birthday boy.
Posted at 08:41 AM
Wed - April 5, 2006
RGF
hbd from twm.
TWM takes a moment and makes a post to adulate, to
elevate, to celebrate Ethan Hermann of the Squirrel Hill
Hermanns.
Reader. Gamesmith. Funman.
(Six-year-old) Birthday boy.
Reader. Gamesmith. Funman.
(Six-year-old) Birthday boy.
Posted at 07:28 AM
Sun - April 2, 2006
THEY SKATE, HE SCORES
it was a great day for
hockey.
A sunny afternoon in April, just shy of your sixth
birthday, is as good a day as any to see your first professional hockey game.
To hand over your ticket and pick up your program and walk the crowded
concourse. To rush into the seating bowl and feel the chill in the air and get
your first long look at the glistening rink below. To see your home team come
out of the tunnel and take the ice, starting and stopping and darting, gliding
and cutting and flowing below you, as you talk and laugh and lean forward,
calling out the names and numbers of your favorite players as you catch sight of
them sliding through their warm-ups. To hear the
swish and
swoosh of
the skates, the tap-tap-tap
of the sticks, the
smack and
thwack of
the pucks, the clapping and cheering and chanting of the fans, 15,000-strong and
you now among them, screaming Let's go,
Pens! as loud as you can and rejoicing in the
thought, the moment, the precious possibility of being allowed to be so
wonderfully loud. To sigh and smile and say, with all the heart in your sweet
soul, This is my lucky
day.
And then the day gets better and luckier. You see Sidney Crosby, who you will one day be thrilled to tell your children and grandchildren you saw play in person, score a goal and assist on another. You see Colby Armstrong, your brother's favorite player and one of yours too, score a goal on a wrist shot so quick and sweet you have to watch the slow-motion replay on the scoreboard to appreciate every bit of its beauty. You see two goaltenders, the game's current best and maybe its future best, trade great save after great save. You see glorious skating and passing and shooting, power plays and breakaways, the speed and flow and pure power of a great game played at its greatest level. You see leads and come-backs and last-second goals, and then, as if the hockey gods know you're having too much fun to leave after regulation, you even see overtime. You see the teams trade fast chances and furious charges and then, on an odd-man rush and a blistering slap shot, you see the game end even more quickly than it began, in a rush of excitement and adrenaline that carries you for rest of the day, through dinner, and all the way back home, where you'll play hockey with your Dad and brother in your driveway, shooting and scoring and even doing your own play-by-play, before finally retiring with a kiss and a hug and a heavy head on your pillow, where what were once dreams of this day and this game will now become the lasting, loving memories of your Dad's lucky day too.
And then the day gets better and luckier. You see Sidney Crosby, who you will one day be thrilled to tell your children and grandchildren you saw play in person, score a goal and assist on another. You see Colby Armstrong, your brother's favorite player and one of yours too, score a goal on a wrist shot so quick and sweet you have to watch the slow-motion replay on the scoreboard to appreciate every bit of its beauty. You see two goaltenders, the game's current best and maybe its future best, trade great save after great save. You see glorious skating and passing and shooting, power plays and breakaways, the speed and flow and pure power of a great game played at its greatest level. You see leads and come-backs and last-second goals, and then, as if the hockey gods know you're having too much fun to leave after regulation, you even see overtime. You see the teams trade fast chances and furious charges and then, on an odd-man rush and a blistering slap shot, you see the game end even more quickly than it began, in a rush of excitement and adrenaline that carries you for rest of the day, through dinner, and all the way back home, where you'll play hockey with your Dad and brother in your driveway, shooting and scoring and even doing your own play-by-play, before finally retiring with a kiss and a hug and a heavy head on your pillow, where what were once dreams of this day and this game will now become the lasting, loving memories of your Dad's lucky day too.
Posted at 10:57 PM
Wed - December 14, 2005
WE'RE HAPPY TONIGHT
smiling in a winter
wonderland
TWM proudly announces the official release of
the
ADAM & ETHAN CHRISTMAS PHOTO 2005:
Coming soon to holiday cards near you.
ADAM & ETHAN CHRISTMAS PHOTO 2005:
Coming soon to holiday cards near you.
Posted at 09:34 PM
Thu - September 8, 2005
BIG E GOES TO BIG K
for his first big
day.
Last week, it was his brother's turn. Today, it was Ethan's day
to mark a major educational milestone: his long-awaited, much-anticipated,
first-ever day of kindergarten.
Five-and-a-half years of educational child care centers and summer camps were well and good and sometimes great, but with a cool big brother in a big "real" school, with math to learn and reading to improve and recess to have, with the promises of getting bigger and older and a whole lot smarter about to be fulfilled, there was no doubt that the Big E was ready for the Big K.
I can't wait, he was saying yesterday to anyone who would listen. It's gonna be awesome. But then, showing off those lovely perceptions and sensitivities he's always known and shown well beyond his years, he would add, But I'm a little nervous, too.
So am I, I wanted to tell him. So am I. But I didn't. Because I thought it best that he discover for himself how even expectant, exultant souls -- whether they're going off to kindergarten or watching their children go off to kindergarten -- will always find some small reason to be uncertain, even as they find so many great reasons to believe. This is the lesson of education, of life, and especially of love.
It's only his first day, but he's already begun to learn.
Five-and-a-half years of educational child care centers and summer camps were well and good and sometimes great, but with a cool big brother in a big "real" school, with math to learn and reading to improve and recess to have, with the promises of getting bigger and older and a whole lot smarter about to be fulfilled, there was no doubt that the Big E was ready for the Big K.
I can't wait, he was saying yesterday to anyone who would listen. It's gonna be awesome. But then, showing off those lovely perceptions and sensitivities he's always known and shown well beyond his years, he would add, But I'm a little nervous, too.
So am I, I wanted to tell him. So am I. But I didn't. Because I thought it best that he discover for himself how even expectant, exultant souls -- whether they're going off to kindergarten or watching their children go off to kindergarten -- will always find some small reason to be uncertain, even as they find so many great reasons to believe. This is the lesson of education, of life, and especially of love.
It's only his first day, but he's already begun to learn.
Posted at 04:17 PM
Thu - September 1, 2005
STUCK IN THE MIDDLE WITH HIM
tryin' to make some sense of it
all.
Things around TWM have been a little dark and heavy
the past couple of days, but today, it's time for something light and bright.
The sun is shining for the first time in five days, a sweet, gentle breeze is
blowing through the East End, and the Adman is just about to finish his
long-awaited, much-anticipated, first-ever day of middle school.
Sporting a new shirt, new shorts, and a new backpack, stylin' in his prized basketball sneakers and his favorite Cape May hat, toting two new Mead Five-Star Five-Subject notebooks, a couple of Master Locks, and some gym-uniform-buying cool cash, and exuding that same old I just love going to school vibe, the Adam Bomb was on the bus and just about ready to explode by 8:35.
Maybe it was the happy change in the weather. Maybe it was that inevitable opening-day optimism. Or maybe it was the memory that sixth-grade, with new classes and new challenges and a whole host of new responsibilities -- the world felt bigger, the work felt harder, and I realized just how much I wanted and welcomed both -- was where it all seemed to expand and explode for me. But whatever the reason, this morning looked and felt like the start of something.
Something good. Something grand. And something, at least for this parent and teacher and child of two teachers, somehow strangely, sweetly familiar.
Sporting a new shirt, new shorts, and a new backpack, stylin' in his prized basketball sneakers and his favorite Cape May hat, toting two new Mead Five-Star Five-Subject notebooks, a couple of Master Locks, and some gym-uniform-buying cool cash, and exuding that same old I just love going to school vibe, the Adam Bomb was on the bus and just about ready to explode by 8:35.
Maybe it was the happy change in the weather. Maybe it was that inevitable opening-day optimism. Or maybe it was the memory that sixth-grade, with new classes and new challenges and a whole host of new responsibilities -- the world felt bigger, the work felt harder, and I realized just how much I wanted and welcomed both -- was where it all seemed to expand and explode for me. But whatever the reason, this morning looked and felt like the start of something.
Something good. Something grand. And something, at least for this parent and teacher and child of two teachers, somehow strangely, sweetly familiar.
Posted at 03:33 PM
Mon - July 25, 2005
JOIN TOGETHER
with the band.
And then there were two guitar players in the
house.
With a restless urge and a rock & roll soul, with a song in his heart and a dream in his head, with birthday cash and a leftover stash of hard-earned gardening money, Adam decided it was time to step up, throw down, and plug in. His first axe: a Fender-branded Squier Affinity Telecaster. His first chord: Em. His first song...
...stay tuned. And rock on.
With a restless urge and a rock & roll soul, with a song in his heart and a dream in his head, with birthday cash and a leftover stash of hard-earned gardening money, Adam decided it was time to step up, throw down, and plug in. His first axe: a Fender-branded Squier Affinity Telecaster. His first chord: Em. His first song...
...stay tuned. And rock on.
Posted at 10:37 PM
Tue - May 17, 2005
ELEVEN
student, wordsmith,
adman.
TWM wishes a blue-sky, golden-sun-for-a-golden-son,
way-cool, totally awesome, mega-beastie birthday to Adam Hermann. Reader,
writer, half-miler. Great mind, warm heart, tender soul. Rocker, groover,
talent-show dancer. iPod (mini) hipster. PS2 practitioner. Backyard
basketball master. LEDP elder statesman. Sneaker-shufflin',
sweatshirt-wearin', sunglass-stylin', all-around cool dude.
Almost two years ago, on a clear, crisp, impossibly beautiful autumn evening outside of Buffalo, Bruce Springsteen stood on stage and looked into Adam's eyes, then winked and smiled and told him, You're the man. You're the man! Anyone who knows Adam knows that Bruce was right.
Happy Birthday, pal. I love you.
Almost two years ago, on a clear, crisp, impossibly beautiful autumn evening outside of Buffalo, Bruce Springsteen stood on stage and looked into Adam's eyes, then winked and smiled and told him, You're the man. You're the man! Anyone who knows Adam knows that Bruce was right.
Happy Birthday, pal. I love you.
Posted at 10:01 AM
Tue - May 10, 2005
ADMIRATION & ADULATION, PART II
for track and field.
Bouquets and blessings and a fleet-footed flurry of
congratulations for TWM (co-)favorite son Adam Hermann, whose speed and stamina
and staggering determination at Cupples Stadium this morning earned him a 5th
Place finish in the Half-Mile at the Pittsburgh Public Schools City-Wide
Elementary School Track
Meet.
Running in the first of four heats, competing against a field of almost one-hundred other runners, Adam focused, fired himself up, and ran a truly great race, holding a sure and steady pace through the first lap and a half, then finishing with a good, strong kick down the stretch to pass one last runner and post a personal-best time of 3:04.50.
For his efforts and energies, he earned an award ribbon and a public address announcement, the loud cheers and high-fives of his fellow Liberty Blue Eagles (who won the overall team championship), and the promise of some celebratory dinner and Italian ice later this evening. Cool treats for some cool running.
Way to go, Adam!
Running in the first of four heats, competing against a field of almost one-hundred other runners, Adam focused, fired himself up, and ran a truly great race, holding a sure and steady pace through the first lap and a half, then finishing with a good, strong kick down the stretch to pass one last runner and post a personal-best time of 3:04.50.
For his efforts and energies, he earned an award ribbon and a public address announcement, the loud cheers and high-fives of his fellow Liberty Blue Eagles (who won the overall team championship), and the promise of some celebratory dinner and Italian ice later this evening. Cool treats for some cool running.
Way to go, Adam!
Posted at 02:23 PM
Tue - April 5, 2005
FIVE
and full of fire.
TWM wishes a blue-sky, golden-sun-for-a-golden-son,
fabulous, fun-lovin' fifth birthday to Ethan Hermann, sweet basketball shooter,
tight-spiral thrower, toy-train engineer, freshly-minted Eagles fan,
Draw-Four-Drawing Uno Shark, money finder, belly laugher, puzzle master, little
brother, future lawyer (or politician, or stand-up comic), lovely life of the
party.
The E-Man has been a five-year, full-throttle, non-stop, high-impact, edge-of-your-seat parental adventure, the rock 'em sock 'em roller coaster thrill ride of a lifetime. And I wouldn't change a minute of it. (Well, that's not true: I'd change the night he split his head open, which must have taken at least a year off my life. But other than that...)
His birthday is also, in a way, the birthday of my first true experiment in blogging: the story of his labor and delivery, written and posted to the web in real-time, unfolded in ten online episodes that kept friends and family and even a whole host of strangers regularly refreshing their browsers, waiting to read the next chapter of a little saga I called Life & Birth on the World Wide Web. I've reposted all those pre-partum posts in their entirety -- just follow the link -- along with a brief history of the experiment, the insanity, and the humanity that ensued. If you were reading along the first time, you can relive the first blast from Ethan's past. If you weren't, you can take an intimate look at what I was thinking and feeling and writing and recording on that bright, sunny day five bright, blessed years ago today. Either way, it's a warm remembrance of Ethan's welcome to the world.
Happy Birthday, buddy. I love you.
The E-Man has been a five-year, full-throttle, non-stop, high-impact, edge-of-your-seat parental adventure, the rock 'em sock 'em roller coaster thrill ride of a lifetime. And I wouldn't change a minute of it. (Well, that's not true: I'd change the night he split his head open, which must have taken at least a year off my life. But other than that...)
His birthday is also, in a way, the birthday of my first true experiment in blogging: the story of his labor and delivery, written and posted to the web in real-time, unfolded in ten online episodes that kept friends and family and even a whole host of strangers regularly refreshing their browsers, waiting to read the next chapter of a little saga I called Life & Birth on the World Wide Web. I've reposted all those pre-partum posts in their entirety -- just follow the link -- along with a brief history of the experiment, the insanity, and the humanity that ensued. If you were reading along the first time, you can relive the first blast from Ethan's past. If you weren't, you can take an intimate look at what I was thinking and feeling and writing and recording on that bright, sunny day five bright, blessed years ago today. Either way, it's a warm remembrance of Ethan's welcome to the world.
Happy Birthday, buddy. I love you.
Posted at 09:05 AM
Mon - December 27, 2004
THE TOY REPORT
the presents we're playing
with.
Every year of my childhood, all the way to my
collegehood, it was as much a holiday tradition as the Christmas Eve church
service, the Christmas Day party, or the Christmas Morning savage rending of
wrapping paper: the Week After Christmas Toy Fest, when new presents got their
first work out and fast favorites emerged, when friends and family and friends
of the family gathered and visited and, before long, became consumed with the
need to conquer some new toy or game or activity. My twelve days of Christmas
play have seen crazed obsessions with, among many others, Connect Four, Rock 'Em
Sock 'Em Robots, G'Nip G'Nop, the Atari 2600 (especially Missile Command), the
original Nintendo Entertainment System (especially Super Mario Bros.), Taboo,
Pictionary, Trivial Pursuit, and -- maybe the best and most fiendishly addictive
of all -- the legendary VertiBird Rescue Set, the only toy I've ever
owned that induced great groups of adults to sit pretzel-legged on the floor all
night long, crouching over the controls, trying desperately to rescue that
damned astronaut.
One of the (many) great things about being a parent at Christmas is not just rekindling the joys of new (and old) toys but rediscovering the pleasures of a whole, carefree, work-free week in which to play with them. In past years, we've had wild and wacky weeks of Sorry, table hockey, Pokemon pinball, the Hot Wheels Big Action Garage, and Toss Across, just to name a few. This year, with two bigger boys and a seemingly endless supply of gifts from friends and relatives, no single toy or game or diversion has yet risen to the fore of the playroom floor. And I suspect that none will, if only because this year's gift-giving holiday theme seemed to be the triumph of quantity and quality. We've already spent regular daily sessions with seven sweet new arrivals:
• Uno Attack!, a wild variation on the classic card game that was already a family favorite.
• Namco II Video Game System, a glorious return to retro-video gaming, with particular attention paid to Ms. Pac-Man and Pole Position.
• NFL Street 2 & ESPN College Hoops 2K5, two glorious advances in cutting-edge video gaming for the PlayStation 2.
• Bulls-Eye Ball, a good, old-fashioned kind of table-top home skee-ball game.
• Teen Titans Cycle & Turbo Mobile , a nifty Robin action figure with a battle-mode cycle and tricked-out Turbo-Mobile.
• Leap Pad Learning System, this year's learning toy for Ethan, featuring a whole host of early reading and math activities.
Now that I've taken stock and assembled the list, I realize that it's a nicely balanced collection: games and action figures; old-school and new-fangled; entertainment and education. The perfect fodder for fun and frolic -- for kids of all ages -- in the long, lazy week after Christmas.
One of the (many) great things about being a parent at Christmas is not just rekindling the joys of new (and old) toys but rediscovering the pleasures of a whole, carefree, work-free week in which to play with them. In past years, we've had wild and wacky weeks of Sorry, table hockey, Pokemon pinball, the Hot Wheels Big Action Garage, and Toss Across, just to name a few. This year, with two bigger boys and a seemingly endless supply of gifts from friends and relatives, no single toy or game or diversion has yet risen to the fore of the playroom floor. And I suspect that none will, if only because this year's gift-giving holiday theme seemed to be the triumph of quantity and quality. We've already spent regular daily sessions with seven sweet new arrivals:
• Uno Attack!, a wild variation on the classic card game that was already a family favorite.
• Namco II Video Game System, a glorious return to retro-video gaming, with particular attention paid to Ms. Pac-Man and Pole Position.
• NFL Street 2 & ESPN College Hoops 2K5, two glorious advances in cutting-edge video gaming for the PlayStation 2.
• Bulls-Eye Ball, a good, old-fashioned kind of table-top home skee-ball game.
• Teen Titans Cycle & Turbo Mobile , a nifty Robin action figure with a battle-mode cycle and tricked-out Turbo-Mobile.
• Leap Pad Learning System, this year's learning toy for Ethan, featuring a whole host of early reading and math activities.
Now that I've taken stock and assembled the list, I realize that it's a nicely balanced collection: games and action figures; old-school and new-fangled; entertainment and education. The perfect fodder for fun and frolic -- for kids of all ages -- in the long, lazy week after Christmas.
Posted at 06:50 PM
Wed - December 15, 2004
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Published On: Jan 16, 2009 04:51 PM
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