Facing The Beast

I am the hero of the house

A mighty lion, not a mouse

Because I saved my girls and wife

From a fate that’s fraught with strife

Specifically, an evil thing

That lived to screech and wail and sing

This vile creature got inside

Our home, upstairs, it tried to hide

So I went up to face the beast

Nervous? Yes, to say the least

I heard it screaming out its call

All the way from down the hall

I trailed it by its song of wrath

Right into the Master Bath

I closed the door, we’re both locked in

One must lose while one will win

I yanked aside the shower door

And faced the thing I’d come there for

It stared at me, a fearsome sight

Too many legs and black as night

I grappled it, quick as a wink

Before it had a chance to think

And then I wrestled it downstairs

Protecting home and wife and heirs

Out of the house, into the night

In all, a truly epic fight

I left it there, my task completed

I, the victor, him, defeated

And that’s how I became the hero

Daddy - one, the cricket - zero

Back To School

Another quick sketch, this time for everyone who is going back to school (or sending someone else there!)

Hungry Like The Wolf

Another quick sketch tonight, this time to celebrate both National S'mores Day AND National Duran Duran Appreciation Day!

Challenge Accepted

Today I was perusing my mom's blog when I came across an entry from about a week ago. In it, she was writing about taking her car in for repairs after a hit and run left a big black streak on her driver side door (you can read the original post by clicking this link!) Anyway, what really attracted my attention was her desire to write an ode to her old car (a Buick Rendezvous) and her new, temporary rental (a Nissan Versa). She was not able to come up with anything (probably because she wanted to write something good). I, however, have no problem writing complete rubbish, so here's my attempt:

Well, the hit and run coulda been worse-a

Though it mighta caused my mom to curse-a

When her old Rendezvous

Got a new dent or two

She ended up driving a Versa

The Brothers Wong

When you want paint that’s bright and strong

Go buy it from the Brothers Wong

Their paint shop is the best, it’s true

With every color, every hue

So since I had to paint my door

I headed over to their store

When I arrived, to my surprise

A million colors met my eyes

I looked around and up ahead

I saw a thousand shades of red

Yellow paints stretched out of sight

When I looked over to my right

And to the left it seemed to me

The blue paints spread out like the sea

Then through a pair of double doors

A lift to all the other floors

A floor devoted just to green

A hundred types of tangerine

And teals and lavenders and tans

Just like a giant box of crayons

So I thought, “Great! This has to be

The place that has the paint for me!”

Then off I went, searched high and low,

Front to back, and to and fro,

I looked until I thought I’d faint

But still I couldn’t find my paint

So after searching all day long

I went and told the elder Wong

“I’d like to make my door much brighter

Like eggshell, but a little lighter.”

He paused, then sadly told me “No”

And so I asked his younger bro

“Do you have ivory, maybe cream,

Or something like a cloudy dream?’

The younger brother shook his head

And then the older brother said,

“There is one color, sad, but true,

Impossible for us to do

Although we’ve tried with all our might
Two Wongs can never make a white!”

Lighthouse

Happy National Lighthouse Day!

The Window Saga, Part 1 - The Order

This morning we hosted a guest

He said that his windows were best

So we ordered a set

In a month we will get

All new glass, and I hope we’re impressed

We’re getting a new sliding door

Plus double hung windows - ten more

But the one that’s most fun

Is the kitchen sink one

It’s a garden type that we adore

(Here are some pictures of garden windows like we'll get in the kitchen. These are from this website - http://windowworldtx.com/products/category/garden - although we're getting ours from a different company.)

Good Luck Rosetta

In March, 2004, the European Space Agency launched a probe called Rosetta to rendezvous with a comet. Tomorrow, after more than 10 years, it will arrive. What's really exciting about this mission is that it's designed to fly right alongside the comet as it approaches the sun and becomes increasingly active, instead of just doing a quick flyby. Additionally, in November of this year it will release a small lander to actually touch down on the surface of the comet. Here's wishing them the best of luck.

Chocolate Chip Day

Hey everybody, it's National Chocolate Chip Day! Here to help celebrate is Chocolate Chip himself! So go, celebrate, make cookies (not while he's watching!) and if you have any extra, feel free to send them my way!

Cleaning the Garage

Petrified paint and some not-so-cool coolers

A pile of leaves like some horrid corsage

Spiders and crickets and yardsticks and rulers

That’s what you find when you clean the garage

Clearing out cobwebs and sweeping the edges

Working so hard that I need a massage

A thing that whacks weeds and a thing that trims hedges

That’s what you find when you clean the garage

Electrical cables and too many jump ropes

All tangled up like a rainbow collage

Frisbees and sleds and a sack full of Dove soaps

That’s what you find when you clean the garage

Now that it’s done and the dust and the trouble

Has faded away like a desert mirage

Order and peace has emerged from the rubble

That’s what you find when you clean the garage

(can you guess what we did this afternoon?)