Justin Time

Wed - June 21, 2006

Movin' On Up, To The East Side...

I've been working at eyespot.com for a few months now, and one of the features of that website is a video blog. It's a video hosting, mixing, sharing community, so a video blog is a natural feature for a user's account. So, I've been [1] busy working for that startup, and [2] vlogging Justin can be considered part of my job description. So all the action is over there now.

Writing this blog for the past couple of years has been a lot of fun. I had more free time then than I do now, so apart from brevity you shouldn't find the new vlog any to be much different than this blog (but I'll miss all the weird traffic I get from Google searches here). Eyespot will quickly mature to be just the videoblogging software I want — and since I work there I get even better tech support than I do from Sarat at Lifli (makers of the iBlog software I've used for this blog), which is saying a lot. :)

Oh yeah, we'll be referring back to this blog quite often over the next couple years. Mainly to see what to expect from Justin's expected little brother, who's due at the beginning of November... ;) What, we didn't tell you? Isn't that why you read this? To keep up? Well, consider yourself updated. It's a crazy time now. :)

Go --> http://eyespot.com/blogs/kevlar

Posted at 01:35 AM Read More

Mon - November 7, 2005

Ketchup

Sorry, but I've fallen behind again and I'm catching up on blog entries. Meanwhile, check out some recent pictures.

Posted at 11:17 PM Read More

Sun - September 25, 2005

Anna's Birthday

Audrey's sister, Anna, is 1. Greg + Cat had a nice birthday party brunch at their place this morning, with their whole families and many friends. Jose + Andrea were there, as was Derek, who has recently returned to San Diego after a stint at Lucas Arts, and Michel, who's still at Discreet but living in Encinitas now.

Greg getting some footage; Audrey showing Anna how to work a toy.

Posted at 10:11 PM Read More

Sat - September 24, 2005

Happy Birthday, Grammie!

We went to the park to shoot some video of Grammie's only grandson, and edited it down (some), burned a DVD, made and printed a label, and sent it Prioroty Mail to get it there on time. Only to learn that Grammie + Grampa have the 1st DVD player ever made, and it has no idea what a DVD-R is. Turns out they haven't been able to play any of the DVDs we've made for them.

So we sent them this cool DVD player. It'll play anything. You could draw a picture on a coaster and it'll play it. I need to get 1 or 2 of them for myself, too.

Well, the box will look good at least.

Posted at 10:56 PM Read More

Fri - September 23, 2005

Sick Daze 2005

No sooner than the equinox hits and we're sidelined by some kind of illness. Melisa and I both were home sick on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday of this week. Thursday lulled us into a false sense of recovery, from which we relapsed today.

Justin, fortunately, has only been afflicted by a cough (for a couple weeks now) and a runny nose. So far, so good.

Posted at 08:41 PM Read More

Fri - September 16, 2005

From Blue Man to Blues Clues

Justin's interests keep a-changin'. Now he shows little interest in Blue Man Group, preferring his Blues Clues DVD. With occasional doses of Baby Einstein. I guess it's like me switching between KGB and NPR in the car...

The interesting part was that he transitioned through Mike Oldfield to get there. This picture has him watching the Millenium Bell DVD. Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells was probably my first album—but I was 8 or 9, not 2, when I discovered him. :)

Justin bangs on drums, but seems attracted to guitars. Maybe he'll be the next multi-instrument musician, and revitalize the progressive rock genre that Oldfield and Alan Parsons and Tangerine Dream created. A father can dream...

Our little Piltdown man

Posted at 04:45 PM Read More

Mon - September 5, 2005

Coronado Park

The cousins finally made it down to Coronado Park for a picnic, on the last day of the summer concerts. Justin was happy because they had birthday cupcakes and presents for him. That was a cool surprise!

Blowing out a candle and getting a birthday smooch.

Posted at 10:35 PM Read More

Sun - September 4, 2005

2 Years Old

We celebrated Justin's 2nd birthday today—a week early—because the cool steam locomotive is running this weekend rather than the trolley car. We invited people with small kids to a brunch buffet at the Hamburger Factory and train rides. On a birthday, they do 3 laps around the park instead of 2. :)

The funniest moment came right before guests were to arrive, and Melisa said "I just read that you're not supposed to have a big birthday party for 2-year-olds, you're supposed to wait till they're 3." Swell. Today is going to be just swell. Justin was great and had a lot of fun. By the time he opened presents, his knees were buckling, and when we left he fell asleep as soon as he was in his car seat. I don't even think he waited till we started the car.

There are a lot more pictures from the party on my Flickr site. I shot video too, including a lot of b-roll of the train and park after everyone left, but who knows when I'll get around to editing that...

Somehow we survived and even had a great time. Hope everyone else did.

Posted at 10:32 PM Read More

Sat - September 3, 2005

Scouting Trip

The party tomorrow will be at Justin's favorite place: the Poway Midland Railroad. So we stopped in to set up final arrangements and plan decorations. I kept Justin busy outside with the train.

Afterwards, we went to the Thomas store to further test his mood and pick up a few decorations for tomorrow. We were hoping he'll still be interested in trains, after this Blue Man kick he's been on, and today proved it: he still loves the blue train.

This evening we opened a couple presents. There's no point saturating him on one given day, especially when [1] he doesn't grasp the concept of his birthday yet, and [2] his birthday isn't really for another week. Shhhh.

At the Thomas store; opening Grammie + Grampa's present: a Thomas set!

Posted at 10:05 PM Read More

Haircut

With the big #2 coming up—birthday that is—it's time to get Justin ready for it. Today he got a haircut. He sat on Mommy's lap for the first half, and on my lap for the 2nd half.

Not so bad; handsome devil.

Posted at 09:43 PM Read More

Fri - September 2, 2005

Walkies

This week Justin stayed home from day care with Nana + Pa. While we were away at work, they entertained him (or vice versa). They went on a big walk today and it was reported that Justin was very good about not going out in the street and sticking close by. Here are a few pix Pa shot when Justin was dragging around a big stick he found.

Stick 'em up.

Posted at 09:07 PM Read More

Thu - September 1, 2005

Graduation Party

A bunch of the kids at Justin's daycare are 4 or 5 years old and are graduating to Kindergarten. This leaves some openings, which we understand will be filled by kids closer to his age. That'll change the dynamic quite a bit, and they're changing the decor and activities to handle the younger crowd. Justin will have even more fun...

Part of the spread at the party; Justin + Dylan goofing off.

There were plenty of photo ops during the graduation ceremony.

Posted at 11:10 PM Read More

Hurricane Katrina and the Gulf Coast

Our hearts go out to all the people affected by Hurricane Katrina, and those later affected by the slow response of government agencies (FEMA), which, among other things, led to the dissolution of society in New Orleans. We hope that our leadership learns from this terrible event what it apparently did not learn from the tsunami in the Indian Ocean, and that the next time a WMD is unleashed on us, whether by man or by nature, the situation is handled better.

Qualcomm will be matching employees' donations, so that will probably be the avenue of most of our support. Glenn is raising cash as well, so we'll be helping there too.

Posted at 01:20 PM Read More

Wed - August 31, 2005

"Nana-n-Pa" Visit

When Justin sees an airplane, he often says "Nana-n-Pa" because he knows that there are flights involved in seeing them—either they fly here or we fly there.

This time Nana + Pa have flown out here to celebrate birthdays of both Pa + Justin, which are 2 days (and 60-some years) apart. Luckily they missed out heat wave and are enjoying some really nice weather.

Mmmm, more corn on the cob.

Posted at 01:15 PM Read More

Sun - August 28, 2005

At the Park with Audrey + Anna

We went to Alborz (a Persian restaurant in Del Mar, Google it) for dinner with Greg + Cat + the kids, and afterwards Audrey invited Justin and us over to the park to play.

It was a restaurant, and Justin is almost 2, so I spent a lot of time outside, preventing him from wreaking havoc on the patrons. Justin loves playing around parking lots. Or, at least, he presents plenty of opportunities to play around parking lots.

Audrey chasing Justin down the slide; Anna likes the swing too.

Posted at 02:50 PM Read More

Sat - August 27, 2005

Early Thomas Birthday Present

Because we're celebrating Justin's birthday on the 4th, Birthday Week has opened early. It makes sense to us to spread it out over a few days, to avoid saturation, so we let him open our present early. We, with Nana + Pa, got him a Thomas the Train set. Melisa also bought a train table from someone on craigslist, so we'd have a place to set it up and play with it. Grammie + Grampa sent a set too, and we have it set up there as well. It's pretty nice, but Justin, at age 2, basically sees himself as Godzilla and lays waste to the entire city.

We have since bought some clips that hold the track together, so that's a big improvement.

"Thomas! How did you know?"

Posted at 02:31 PM Read More

Mon - August 22, 2005

iForsake iPhoto

I've been using iPhoto (albeit not version 5) since starting this blog, but as my photography—and the file size—has expanded, poor iPhoto has been pushed to its limits. After considering jumping to iView Media Pro, the new version of Photoshop has shipped, along with a new digital shoebox app called Bridge. One of the major new features is the upgraded handling of Camera Raw photos, which offer greater latitude for the digital photographer.

Bridge and PS CS2 don't offer all the conveniences of iPhoto, but their benefits outweigh their drawbacks. As I get more versed in Automator, I should be able to improve the photoblog workflow further. For example, I'd like to tag images in Bridge and have those tags follow when uploading to Flickr...

Turns out we have a 3rd cousin who works in the Photoshop department at Adobe, and he strongly recommends a new book titled Real World Camera Raw.

Now, as for whether and when to shoot Raw vs. JPEG, here's my philosophy so far: when I'm chasing Justin around, I'll probably shoot JPEG to get the most of my memory card. When I'm shooting something more ... artistic, deliberate, or something in more challenging light, I'll shoot Raw because it'll give me more latitude for adjustments afterward.

Posted at 01:33 PM Read More

Sun - August 21, 2005

Sam's 2nd Birthday

Justin's friend Sam had a birthday party today. We got a lot of pool time, but Justin preferred the hot tub.

The decor was Elmo, and included BBQ. The kid's table was an old door on crates in the back yard, which was a good idea. Sam seemed to like the present Justin brought him, which was a set of Hot Wheels cars.

Sam's brother Ben is recuperating from his reflux well. He went through a period of stopping breathing and was on a monitor for a few months. Now he's off the monitor and his parents are very relieved.

Justin + Dada floating around; the birthday boy trying on some cake.

Justin offered to help dispose of the cake; most of the kids at their table.

Posted at 02:14 PM Read More

Sat - August 20, 2005

Qualcomm Picnic Circus

We went with our neighbors to the Qualcomm Picnic, which was held at UCSD this year. The food was really good and there were elephant rides, circus performers, and fireworks. Justin enjoyed the corn on the cob, and had fun hanging around with Nicole, Alex, and James, as well as Tylor, who we met there.

Corn; Ty's pimped ride.

Justin & Nicole watching the circus.

Circus and fireworks.

Posted at 01:43 PM Read More

Fri - August 19, 2005

Blue Man Group

Most kids Justin's age are into The Wiggles, Teletubbies, or Disney stuff. Not Justin. After a 3-month stint of Thomas the Tank Engine in heavy rotation, he has turned his focused attention to our Blue Man Group DVD. Now he wakes up and says "Pwana", which as near as we can tell means "Percussive Concert Video By The Blue Man Group Now Please!" His favorite track seems to be the Venus Hum cover of Donna Summer's disco classic (?) "I Feel Love". He will not tire of it.

Thankfully I also have the CD, so we can satiate him in the car as well. He performs "Rock Concert Movement #1, the Head Bob," in his car seat. It's hilarious!

Did I listen to music as a kid? I don't remember music being part of my life, apart from AM pop radio ("Delta Dawn," "Tie a Yellow Ribbon," Neil Sedaka, Foghat, Elton John...how do I remember this?). I think my 1st album was Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells, but I was probably 9 or 10 when I got that. (Still have it, too.)

PS: Don't be alarmed, however. His birthday party is still Thomas-themed, and he will be perfectly happy with that. As long as there are drums.

PPS: Please don't get Justin any drums for his birthday. We have plenty of tupperware.

PPPS: Now we have an alibi to go to Vegas, baby...

Rock on, Little Boy Blue.

Posted at 09:23 PM Read More

Sun - August 14, 2005

Play Day

After a tasty breakfast at Pipes, we took justin to the beach at Cardiff, where he proceeded to wallow in sand. He wasn't too fond of the water, but he loved the sand. (More pictures.) A café mocha for $2.25!

Later on we went to a local playground to swing till he was shivering from wind chill.

Posted at 09:49 PM Read More

Sat - August 13, 2005

Preston is 2

Preston is a month older than Justin (4 weeks exactly, I think), and we were invited to his birthday party. His mother asked him what he wanted for his birthday, and his reply was "trucks and trains." Thus the house-sized inflatable train-shaped jumper. It was pretty fun—for me. Justin will probably like it more next year.

Justin was a little rattled in the jumper; the birthday boy.

Posted at 09:39 PM Read More

Fri - August 12, 2005

BBQ

Justin hosted a BBQ for Allison & Matt on a nice warm Sunday evening.

The guests seemed happy with the food but the chef seemed frustrated.

Posted at 08:32 PM Read More

Wed - August 10, 2005

100 Weeks Old

Today Justin turns 100 weeks old. Seems like only 75 or so...

Posted at 06:50 AM Read More

Sun - August 7, 2005

Maybe You Shouldn't Invite Us Over for Awhile

Scott + Renee invited us over for dinner at their place, and when we arrived it became clear that (1) Justin was in kind of a hyper mood, and (2) the house wasn't prepared for a 2-year-old boy. We followed him around and lifted things he approached out of his reach, which made it hard to chat and catch up. We managed to have a good dinner, in spite of the fact that Justin knocked over a table, which used to have a wooden rim around it until it hit the floor. A quarter of it sheared off, and we're not sure yet whether it's fixable.

They are growing grapes for winemaking and have a garden, which includes artichokes. And (congratulations!) they're growing a baby, due around Thanksgiving.

Maybe we should meet at restaurants or in parks for a couple years, while Justin, and Justin alone, enjoys his "terrible twos."

Scott + Renee; Justin upside down.

Posted at 11:11 PM Read More

Thu - August 4, 2005

1,000,000 Minutes Old

According to Time And Date dot Com, Justin is a million minutes old today. How old are you?

Posted at 09:49 PM Read More

Tue - July 26, 2005

Return to Space

Justin wanted to watch Dragon Tales this morning, but he was impressed with the launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery when I told him it was the coolest truck ever built.

Melisa told him to enjoy it on TV, cuz she won't let him fly it when he grows up.

That's a truck?!?!

Posted at 11:33 PM Read More

Sun - July 24, 2005

Simon Says...

Sunday brought us up to Fallbrook, to meet Jeff + Trish's new baby, Simon. Got rain poured on us along the freeway on the way up. Turns out Fallbrook is just 10 minutes short of Temecula, so it's a 45 minute drive. I thought Jeff lived a lot closer to work than I do, but it's about the same.

Simon is a good little baby, considering he was born a month early. Jeff says he's up to about 10# now, which is double his birth weight.

Simon says, "Get away from me."

Posted at 11:21 PM Read More

Sat - July 23, 2005

Dog Days

It's been hot here for the past several days. And humid. Not as humid as it was in CT, but it's humid for San Diego.

We had a big thunderstorm cruise over the house at 3AM, and it dumped a good amount of rain, which was appreciated by the lawn.

We went to the pool with Greg & Cat. Audrey really wanted Justin to jump in and swim with her. Anna was happily bobbing around. After a few minutes of hesitation, Justin warmed up to the idea of getting in the water, and spent so much time in it he was shivering. We didn't get in the water cuz we forgot our swimsuits. Yeah, that's it.

Justin had a lot of fun with Greg + Cat + family. Justin was in so long he was shivering after awhile.

Posted at 10:51 PM Read More

Thu - July 21, 2005

Dentist Visit

Justin went to the dentist to get his tooth checked. We dodged a bullet there, since his tooth has tightened up and there's no sign of root damage or damage to his permanent tooth buds from that little incident a couple months ago. Whew!

Afterwards the dentist checked all the rest of his teeth that he would have had checked at his 2-year-old checkup, and the hygienist cleaned his teeth. He cried a little as she scraped the tartar off, but he was very good. We learned some new techniques for cleaning, and Justin has been cooperating by letting us use an electric toothbrush. Good little kid.

Posted at 10:37 PM Read More

Sun - July 17, 2005

Meeting Zoe

Zoe is Renee & Farsh's new baby girl, about 9 weeks old now. Renee and Zoe were in town visiting her parents and we had an opportunity to visit and meet her. Justin had a good time running around with Audrey, and Zoe took a half-hour nap in Melisa's arms.

Happy Birthday to Grams, who is celebrating her 29th birthday for the umpteenth time. :)

Baby + Mama; Baby being held by Justin's Mama, and he's not OK with that.

Posted at 10:06 PM Read More

Sun - July 10, 2005

Take a Hike!

It seems like it's been years since we got any decent exercise, so I thought it would be a good idea to take a short hike up Mt. Woodson, which is only a few miles from our house. We have a nice 3-wheeled jogging stroller and the trail up to the peak is actually a steep paved road.

Well, it turns out that Justin doesn't like hiking. He wouldn't ride in the stroller, because the sun was in his face, and yet he won't wear a hat. He kept yammering on about "cracker", "cookie", and milk. He didn't want to walk, at least up the hill. He wouldn't ride on my shoulders. All he wanted was to be held by Mama. So Mama held him and I pushed the stroller up the mountain. It was slow goin'. We decided to stop when we hit an hour and figured the ride down would be much faster. It wasn't. Took 45 min to go down! But we saw a lizard, so that was good.

That is a nice trail and the hike is rewarded with a panoramic view of Poway and the Pacific Ocean on less hazy days. One of these days we'll see it.

"I'll just have a little snooze here on the road, and you can pick me up on the way back down, OK?"

On another note, Justin is adding more words to his vocabulary. Some new ones include "apple", "truck", "car", "bird", "cookie".

Posted at 07:17 PM Read More

Sat - July 9, 2005

Totally Thomas

Justin has liked trains for quite a while. Thomas the Tank Engine has apparently been around for 60 years, but it's a recent discovery by Justin and his parents. He has a DVD now, which is literally in heavy rotation. It's actually pretty neat because of the detailed photography of the train sets, as well as George Carlin's voice talent as the storyteller. I was surprised to hear his voice on the show, knowing his comedy, but he does a great job with all the voices.

Justin's addiction has got to the point where when he wakes up his first word is "wooo-woooo". Today we took him to a toy store nearby, which is a large outlet for Thomas. Justin walked inside and headed straight for the display table and started playing, but as time went on he realized that the entire wall was filled with various Thomas trains and accessories. And then, across the room, he spotted it: a 5 foot tall Thomas display case. That was too much for him. He literally crapped his pants, and we had to change a diaper in the car.

So I guess we have to be on the lookout for all Thomas events, which apparently include an actual working engine that tours the world. If you know about when it's coming to San Diego, let us know.

Prediction: this is going to get expensive.

Posted at 11:03 PM Read More

Fri - July 8, 2005

Yet Another Day Care

We have enrolled Justin in a daycare that's just a mile from our house. It seems like a good place because they're way more flexible about drop-off and pick-up times, they'll let him sleep as long as he needs to, and they even practice the Redirecting Children's Behavior techniques that we've talked about before. And he gets to play in real dirt. He'll love that!

It was a tough start. The 1st day was fine—it was a new place and there was plenty of stuff for Justin to do all day. But when I dropped him off on the 2nd day, he realized that he was going to be there all day again and we wouldn't be with him. We were just on vacation with him for over a week, so he is used to being with us. Finally, on Friday, he was able to part ways with me without crying.

Posted at 11:50 PM Read More

Mon - July 4, 2005

4th of July

Today we went to our annual local parade and festival. It's a nice parade because they don't advertise (do press releases) so it doesn't show up on the list of parades on the news, but it is really large and includes all the usual local political dignitaries. Et cetera.

The SPMC is one of the most popular "floats" in the parade.

Since the Cedar Fire, the SDFD has been especially popular. Justin got some time on the swing a the party in Hoyt Park.

That evening we went to the Target shopping center parking lot to watch the Mira Mesa fireworks (see those pix on Flickr).

Posted at 11:33 PM Read More

The 6 Simple Machines

Family Resemblance

Jonathan's Dream Playground