You can start rolling your eyes............... NOW

The wife and I were having a chat the other night, and she has informed me that she does not like my use of the term "Spousal Unit" on my blog.

She finds it... unpleasant. *grimace*

(She said something about it reminding her of The Coneheads. I found this amusing. She did not. Alas, it did not help our discussion along.)

In light of this, I am submitting to you that I need something cheeky and in keeping with the tone of this blog to call my wife since "The Spousal Unit" is now off-limits.

The following choices...

"Mrs. Hoji"
"The Wife"
Any variation of "The Spousal Unit"

...are not options.

It should be quick, simple, and to the point. Keep it clean and respectful.

You may leave as many names or entries as you like in the comments. My wife will choose the winner.

To sweeten the deal, I will send the winner a $10 Amazon.com Gift Certificate or make a donation of $10 to the charity of your choice in your name or the name of someone you specify.

The contest starts now, and will end on Sunday the 23rd. I will publish the winning entry on Monday the 24th.

Be creative. Be cheeky. Enjoy.

New Photos

My wife has a pretty good eye and takes some very nice photos. I've just uploaded a new set of photos to my Flickr stream. Here's a sample.

The Other Game Which Shall Not Be Named

I think I have a new addiction.

I mean, any game where you can headshot an opponent and do this...

... has got to be good. (Large gear not included.)

I doubt it will supplant the original Game Which Shall Not Be Named, but it still is enjoying a bit of time in my 360.

Book Review: Historic Photos of Columbus

Disclaimer: I was contacted last week by Turner Publishing and asked to review the book Historic Photos of Columbus on my blog. This is not a paid review. I was given a copy of the book free of charge for my time and my opinion.

I'm sure you've all wandered through a new or used bookstore at one time or another and saw coffee table books that caught your eye. Maybe nature photography, art, pop culture, or otherwise. I'm sure if you're like me you just give it a passing glance, maybe leaf through one or two pages and you put it back on the shelf. You gather your things about you (which may include items you purchased and the family members you brought with you) and you move along to the next part of your day or the next leg of your journey.

While Nick Taggart's Historic Photos of Columbus isn't going (and doesn't try) to compete with bestsellers, I can respect his desire to share the history, spirit and essence of the city of Columbus visually. Living and working here every day, it's pretty easy for me to look around my city and see all that is there and not think about what came before or take it for granted.

Nearly 200 vintage photos across four eras of the city's history take you on a journey from the founding through the 1970s. As I looked through the photos, I mentally compared locations in the photos to present-day locations (as one would be expected to do.) I'm a sucker for good architecture and stonework, and it saddened me to see such beautiful buildings as the old Courthouse and the third Union Station razed to the ground to make way for the skyscrapers you see now.

I saw pictures of the construction of the AIU Citadel (now known as the Leveque Tower) which is still a major landmark in Columbus today. One picture of a construction worker on the top of the Citadel particularly caught my eye. Hanging from the pinnacle of the building by a single rope, he had a look of impatience and near disgust with the photograper. It was simultaneously striking, dizzying, and amusing.

You will find pictures of parades, funerals, monuments, snapshots of daily life, industry, growth, destruction, expansion, collapse, a degree of desperation, and always an undercurrent of community and hope. If anything, the book manages to capture the pragmatic midwestern spirit that (perhaps not consciously) permeates our city. It illustrates how Columbus has managed to survive by being in the right place at the right time in history - enabling the city to weather many an economic or social storm and continue to come out stronger.

While the book will have a limited audience outside of local interest, it is one man's way to share the history of the city with those that are willing to take the time to explore it. My only complaint is that it had a rather sudden ending. There was a preface that spoke of looking back on the past while casting hope toward the future - I guess I was expecting more of an afterword. It was a rather lurching stop to a comfortable carriage ride through the past. The history lesson was worth the ride however.

Historic Photos of Columbus can be purchased via Turner Publishing's web site, and can also be found at other reputable online retailers.

YES WE DID

Level Setting

I know I haven't made much in the way of substantial posts lately. Things at the office have been busy. Couple that with church activities and SBG keeping me busy and that makes for more trite blog entries. For this I feel shame. I seek depth to my content, and in this I phail.

When I first started this blog, it was mostly a personal mission to help my child or children understand me more in the hopes they didn't feel like I felt growing up. I'd kind of like to get back to that while still offering up my trademark oddities and eccentric sense of humor.

A lot of entries for my blog at the outset were cathartic releases. Dealing with inner demons and insecurities. Most of that has been handled and filed away neatly. Not to say that there aren't still things rattling around in this noggin of mine, but I'm growing past the pain and through the remnants of my childhood and the dreaded teen angst years.

I'm sure people have enough pain in their lives without trying to read and muddle through mine but I like to think what I put here is pretty open and pretty raw - a real look (sometimes) at who I am and what makes me me. Maybe you're interested, maybe you're not but that's OK. You can just skip those parts. They aren't for you. They're for that little blonde-haired nugget of mine that is currently bouncing off the living room wall.

I've also been toying with the idea of consolidating all my old posts from wordpress into blogger, albeit one day at a time. It would give me a chance to take one post at a time and polish it (fixing links and images mostly.) Maybe add a bit of a director's cut commentary on it indicating my thoughts, perspectives, and state of mind at the time. Sort of a lessons learned or how I've grown since then.

Meh.

I barely have time for everything else in my life. Trying to move over one blog post a day might prove too much for me.

Anywho, if it happens, it happens.

That's all for now. CARRY ON.

Thus Saith Version 2.0 - Biology 101

After helping 2.0 with her shower...

Me: *drying off the child*

2.0: *looking at her chest* "Daddy, how big will these grow?"

Me: "Thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat's a question you will want to direct to your mother."