Devin, my nephew turns one!

We took Conrad to the Fair on Sunday. This picture is from the top of the very first ferris wheel Conrad had been on.

Conrad and his parents invade Disneyland...

Conrad, Adrienne, and I decided to take a trip on the Metro into downtown and Olvera Street

Adrienne: All I want for my birthday is Lobster, I want it by the beach, and I want to be treated like the goddess I am.

Conrad walked into the bathroom the other day while Adrienne was getting ready for the day. Put his finger to his lips to let Adrienne know she needed to be quiet, then slowly, deliberately put a series of letters and symbols on the counter...I...(heart)...U...2

Matthew's birthday party had this really cool inflatable water slide that conrad played on for about 4 hours straight...hehe

When Adrienne and I took the tour of Conrad's new pre-school we were both wigged out by how cute these little "potties" were.

We had this discussion yesterday in our chat room that got me thinking (I've edited liberally and changed some names to protect the innocent) person_x: the big question I've been asking xxx the past few weeks is: person_x: What is a terrorist? person_x: everyone seems willing to use it but no one can tell me what it actually means person_x: especially in the context of current public discourse That initial question quickly devolved into joking of course entropyhed: a terrorist is some one who comes into your house steals the uneaten flan and urinates in your beer person_y: "instigating factor isn't so much a 'behavior' as a spread"... person_x: they can ahve the beer...the flan though is grounds for war ;) evolvedskeptic: I'd say death penalty is too light for E's terrorists entropyhed: draw and quarter? evolvedskeptic: some form of torture mayb person_y: We could flay them slowly.... evolvedskeptic: pour ranch dressing up their noses, shove is some steak fries and leave 'em in a fire ant pit entropyhed: we could remove the top layer of skin from their feet and force them to walk across slat flats : person_x: eep! A check of the OED by our resident expert produced these definitions: evolvedskeptic: volume XVII, page 821 - OED evolvedskeptic: terrorist entropyhed: one who engages in terrorism? entropyhed: hehe person_y: Heheh. evolvedskeptic: 1. As a political term: a. Applied to the Jacobins and their agents and partisans in the French Revolution, esp. to those connected with the Revolutionary tribunals during the 'Reign of Terror' evolvedskeptic: (oh, the irony) entropyhed: at least that isn't obscure person_y: Gotta love the mob....not. evolvedskeptic: b. Any one who attempts to further his views by a system of coercive intimidation. person_y: Oh oh! That sounds like D's "small t terrorism". entropyhed: i haven't seen anything about flan, so I'm obliged to dismiss the OED as a hack job chaos_mine: hmm, so what your trying to say is that someone who terrorizes someone is a terrorist :) chaos_mine: or is it that a terrorist terrorizes evolvedskeptic: I'm still chuckling that an actual, capital 'T' Terrorist is a Frenchman :) chaos_mine: hehe, very appropriate though person_y: Man, that was a brutal time... person_x: those jacobites... person_x: you bring up an interesting point though person_x: if the OED points the finger at the french... person_x: who do the french think fits the definition? entropyhed: americans? evolvedskeptic: 1818 Herve Beauties of Paris II. 296 (Jod.) He assisted La Fayette in endeavouring to defend the king from the Terrorists. person_y: I don't think there are many "Jacobins" left... After the nobility was...shortened... And after they turned in on themselves a bit, I think the blood lust was sated somewhat. evolvedskeptic: 2. Dyslogistically: One who entertains, professes, or tries to awaken or spread a feeling of terror or alarm; an alarmist, a scaremonger. evolvedskeptic: 1805 W. Taylor in Monthly Mag. XIX. 570 Some book of the religious terroritsts, which intended to infuse the alarm of foul perdition. Later� entropyhed: 101073217709889664 evolvedskeptic: big number entropyhed: :) entropyhed: the first 7 digits speciiy the at&t network evolvedskeptic: or the FBI center? evolvedskeptic: :p entropyhed: is there a difference? evolvedskeptic: not any more entropyhed: oh no! I'M a terrorist! evolvedskeptic: oh, oh! entropyhed: ack! evolvedskeptic: [points finger] evolvedskeptic: oui entropyhed: [runs away] evolvedskeptic: oh! evolvedskeptic: I'm a Terrorist person_x: voila!~ person_x: je suis un petit rasoin evolvedskeptic: plus sa change, plus ce le mem chose person_x: me oui! person_x: ::starts looking confused evolvedskeptic: [tosses some water on her] person_x: J'ai besoin d'une attention m�dicale. person_x: Prenez-vous des beignets ? person_x: Je suis trop fatigu� pour le Fran�ais. person_x: and wih that...exit...stage right And what�s my point in all of this? The question lingered with me a bit and I stumbled across this series of 4 books that I think would go a long ways to explaining the terror, terrorist, terrorism zeitgeist. If I can find room in the budget I think I may pick them up. The Psychology of Terrorism

My Nephew Devin just keeps getting bigger, prolly cause he eats a scary amount of food. :)

On Sunday Kathleen and Jojo had us over for a beautiful and yummy dinner. Thanks again guys

Conrad turns 4 today. This image is from his party last Saturday. I love you son.

Finches at play in the fields of our home

Mr. Evolved Skeptic pointed out this really cool optical illusion