April 2005 Archives
I got a new macro lens for my birthday. I used it on a spider I found on the ceiling tonight. I looking forward to finding more spiders that I can focus on without holding the camera over my head.
Ava finally made the transition from baby to toddler. This is how it went down.
Zoe and I were practicing volleyball in the front yard. I was teaching her how to set the ball, and she was catching on more quickly than I expected. Ava sat in the weed infested dirt that passes for grass in our yard getting increasingly frustrated at the situation. She had an array of balls in front of her in a variety of colors and sizes, but she naturally wanted the standard issue white volleyball we were using.
The combination of being ignored and not having the volleyball finally proved too much. Ava knew her only option was to do what she had been toying with for three weeks. She stood up, moved one foot and sat right back down as soon as I paused to look at her. I went back to playing volleyball, but I kept one eye on Ava. It only took Ava a minute to figure out nothing had changed. She stood up again. I made a point of not looking at her this time.
After a short pause to collect her strength, Ava started to walk toward me. I turned to Ava and encouraged her to keep walking. She took no more than six steps before I scooped her up for a well-earned congratulatory hug.
Volleyball was forgotten as soon as Zoe saw this. We walked Ava around by her hands occasionally letting go to let her try steps on her own.
After a while it was clear that Ava had tired of our attention, so Zoe and I went back to the playing ball. This time we played with the blue utility ball. We started out handing the ball back and forth and took a step backward after each successful pass. Ava got tired of watching this after a while and decided to walk around on her own. This time we just watched her from across the yard.
I sent Zoe to get Sarah. By the time Zoe got Sarah outside Ava had lost interest in walking. We coaxed a few steps out of her for Sarah's benefit, but she was pretty much done.
We went to the back yard where the baby slide is. Ava played on the slide for a while. She took a few steps in the back yard, but she mostly crawled between the slide and the stairs.
At dinner time Ava threw her nightly temper tantrum about having to come inside. No walking was attempted inside tonight. Ava may think walking is an outdoor sport. We will find out tomorrow.
Ava took her first unassisted step yesterday. She doesn't seem eager to repeat the feat.
The step was set at Gramma and Grandad's house; on the cement walkway leading to the front door. Ava was using her walker and Zoe moved it slightly out of her reach leaving her standing unassisted. Her usual reaction to being left standing unassisted is to sit down immediately, but for whatever reason, this time she decided to make a go for the walker. I'm happy to report that Ava successfully walked to the walker - even if it was only one step.
Ava has a new toy. It's a walker. I wish I was at home watching her walk around now instead of working...or blogging while I wait for a process to finish.
Ava has been joking with Sarah lately. When I'm not around she will call Sarah "Dadadadadada". Sarah says "No, I'm Mommy". Ava laughs and continues calling her "Dadadadada", but she finally relents and calls her mama. Those of you without kids may not be impressed by this, but understanding humor at 16 months is a sure sign of genius. It is also a bit of a relief for me. I've been worried since 14 months when she started telling "you might be a redneck" jokes.
As I said before, we are reading Clive Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia to Zoe starting with The Magician's Nephew. The Magician's Nephew introduces Aslan in chapter eight. Within about two pages of seeing Aslan, Zoe said, "The lion is like God".
I should mention that this photo is one of many in this slide show.
INT. BREAKFAST ROOM TABLE - MORNING
AVA is sitting in her booster chair eating a plain waffle. ZOE is upstairs dressing for school.
SOUND OF ZOE COMING DOWN STAIRS
ZOE enters the breakfast room and and inspects AVA's breakfast.
(Laughing)
Ava's having waffles. I had waffles,
but I had a banana too.
(Looking around for a banana on her tray)
Uh-oh
I would like to have a Kevin Bacon number. Preferable a low one. It would make a nice conversation piece1.
It is in the spirit of wanting a Kevin Bacon number enough to think about it but not enough to do anything about it that I offer this idea to anybody who wants to act on it.
Get a video camera and record yourself and others telling people how much you want Kevin Bacon numbers. Edit in some footage of Kevin Bacon on a talk show talking about the Kevin Bacon game. Give your film a name and submit it to IMDB2. Be certain to credit Kevin Bacon and everybody in the film who wants a Bacon number.
After you've done all this, you can sit back and watch as your friends and acquaintances react with amazement upon finding out that you have a Kevin Bacon number of 1 -- which is better than even the Queen of England can claim.
1. It would come up in conversation because I would wear my Kevin Bacon number on a pendant around my neck.
2. You may have to trick a theater or film festival to screen your movie before IMDB will accept it.
It turns out I like getting comments on the ol' blog. I turned on Typekey authentication to cut down on comment spam. It worked, but it also cut down on legitimate comments1.
I'm turning off the Typekey authentication, so Paperhat comments are once again an open forum for friends and v1Ag8a peddlers alike.
1. I am particularly curious what DVC comments I missed.
King William IV (1830-37) is the most recent British monarch without a Kevin Bacon number.
Queen Victoria (1837-1901) was the first Brittish monarch to appear in film in Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee (1897), but she got her Kevin Bacon credentials in Queen Victoria's Funeral (1901) where she did a stunning job playing herself. See if for yourself.
Queen Elizabeth II was in Grey Owl (1999) with Richard (I) Jutras
Richard (I) Jutras was in Criminal Law (1988) with Kevin Bacon
King George VI was in Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress, The (1944) with Arthur (I) Kennedy
Arthur (I) Kennedy was in Sentinel, The (1977) with Eli Wallach
Eli Wallach was in Mystic River (2003) with Kevin Bacon
King Edward VIII (credited as Duke of Windsor) was in King's Story, A (1965) with David (I) Warner
David (I) Warner was in In the Mouth of Madness (1995) with Paul Brogren
Paul Brogren was in Cavedweller (2004) with Kevin Bacon
King George V was in Nostradamus Says So! (1955) with Queen Elizabeth II
Queen Elizabeth II was in Grey Owl (1999) with Richard (I) Jutras
Richard (I) Jutras was in Criminal Law (1988) with Kevin Bacon
King Edward VII was in Engelska konungaparets besok i Stockholm (1908) with Queen Alexandra
Queen Alexandra was in Great Love, The (1918) with Lillian Gish
Lillian Gish was in Sweet Liberty (1986) with Lynne Thigpen
Lynne Thigpen was in Novocaine (2001) with Kevin Bacon
Queen Victoria was in Queen Victoria's Funeral [Number 2] (1901) with Kaiser Wilhelm II
Kaiser Wilhelm II was in Gewalt gegen Recht (1920) with Ernst Stahl-Nachbaur
Ernst Stahl-Nachbaur was in Hauptmann und sein Held, Der (1955) with Ingeborg Schoner
Ingeborg Schoner was in Tod eines Fremden (1973) with Jennifer Jason Leigh
Jennifer Jason Leigh was in In the Cut (2003) with Kevin Bacon
When I saw The Net in 1995, I thought it was rediculous that Sandra Bullock ordered a pizza online. Who would do that, if you could just make a phone call. At the same time, I wanted to order a pizza on the Internet. I tried several times after that. A few years ago, Mr. Gatti's site offered online ordering, but it always seemed to be broken.
Finally, ten years after The Net, I placed an order for a Papa John's pizza online. It was everything I expected, but now it doesn't seem like the big deal it did in 1995.
It's trivia time. Who is the most recent British monarch not to have a Kevin Bacon number?
