All this to say, that this morning I had a really interesting one. Melissa and I watched Paranormal Activity 3 last night. Her pick (I get scared easily). One of the reasons I dislike those movies is that I become hyper-aware of everything around me. After 75 minutes of staring at the TV trying to pick up on all the little details intended to creep me out it makes sense that I would feel uptight.

This led to a dream-cycle that was easily influenced by this film. Oren Peli should be proud of the team that made this sequel / prequel. I kept finding myself in scenes from the movie. But here’s where’s it gets curious.

Do you know who is appearing as the demon affectionately referred to as “Toby” by the little girls? Rick Perry. Yes, that’s right. Former Presidential candidate (and former Texas Governor) Rick Perry. It was scary as hell.

The next logical step for me was to play around in Photoshop. Now you can see what I saw. Please enjoy in all of its right-wing, paranormal freaky-ness.

5. Chicago – it was great to finally walk the streets of the windy city (not once but twice). Look out Chi-town, we’ll be back in 2012.

4. Hello, My Name is “Submitted Photo” – As minor of an event as this really is, it’s still really cool to have photographs published. (see last post)

3. The Barbie Movie – I made a movie with Madison (and the rest of the clan) in the Spring.  Mads is currently penning the sequel.

2. My baby isn’t a baby – Izzy turned 5. My mind is still blown. Blown I say.

1. The First Decade – Ten years of blissful marriage and counting. I really can’t imagine slugging through this life without Melissa.

It was a big year for me in terms of getting published. In August and September, the Daily Journal published several of my pictures along with a feature in their Go! section. They were covering our Band Builders program at the store for a six weeks. They used my weekly shots during the session from the second article until the sixth.

It’s a bit disappointing that they can’t actually credit me for the photographs. Not certain why that is and the shots appear as “submitted photo.” I’ve joked about changing my name to reflect the publishing.

I’m trying to not make too much of this. Not doing a great job, because I keep clapping my hands together and yelling “sqweeeeeeeeeee!” It’s exciting and I’m horrible at repressing glee.

I think this goes to an overall flaw with my annual goal list. Like Lt. Telsij said in return of the Jedi “there’s too many of them!”* It’s difficult enough to complete 31 goals in one year, but more so to pick out 32 goals for the next one. I can plan to make a grand needle-felting project, but who says I won’t be into crocheting by next spring? I just don’t know what the next year is going to hold, so to commit myself to a list is just increasingly unrealistic.

By the time my birthday came around in October I was pretty bummed that the goal was so sparsely successful. I didn’t cook all those Jamie Oliver recipes or smoke those cigars.  The backyard still doesn’t have a fence and my “office” is an empty room right now.

But that’s okay.  Heading into 2012 I don’t need the office that I thought I did in 2010.  In fact, my new vision is more of a craft room for Melissa and I. I have some great ideas (and hers aren’t so bad either).

So instead, I’m just going to make a few New Year’s goals this year.  Probably some classics like lose weight and learn French. Of course German is pretty cool too.  Creatively, I’m not going to stress myself out with deadlines because then it ceases to be fun. If I want to, I’m just going to make things.  Today, I’m going to paint some of these. And it will be fun.

Here’s a quick little graphic about the beers I drank just to complete that goal for the year:

*I knew the line, I had to look up the character’s name though (thanks to this blog for knowing the answer). My nerd-dom knows some limits.

I received an email from the NaNoWriMo team this week informing that week 2 was “The Failing Week” (aka The Monster Week and or the Killer Week). I hadn’t thought about how many people must join and then quit.  I myself have been struggling the past few days to get anything written. But quitting this adventure? Hell no.

Honestly the main obstacle I’ve been struggling with is time. I knew this was going to be the issue and while it is very discouraging I’m refusing to let it stand in the way of me completing this “competition.”

I’m realistic, and I know that 50,000 words is going to be an uphill battle. I’m just over 4000 right now (and I do mean “just”). That’s not only daunting, but downright terrifying.  However, I was able to knock out 800+ words in less than an hour the other night, so if I can start blocking out a little more time, I’m confident that I can reach that almighty word count.

I’ve been keeping a second Field Notes book in my back pocket specifically for writing my novel. With several Rushmore pencils made from TiniestJ’s Etsy shop. With a sharp pencil I can fit approximately 600 words on two pages, so I should make it into a second book if not a third by the end of the month.

I tried writing on Gus directly into Word, but it was difficult to keep progressing. Writing by hand helps the flow and allows some minor editing upon entry into the computer. It’s amazing how a quick sentence written by hand can springboard to another paragraph or two when being typed later.

Heading into the weekend, I’m not going to feel discouraged. Scared? Maybe.

Not that I’ve been slacking off. September and October were very busy months for yours truly.  November certainly doesn’t look like it’s going to be much different, but I’m determined to bring back some balance to my schedule.

Based on my stats, I need to write nearly 2000 words a day to complete my goal.  That is definitely going to be a challenge.

So far I’m writing mostly in Word. I need to sharpen up some of my “Rushmore” pencils, to use with either an empty Field Notes book or an obliging Mead Composition notebook.

Very similarly the two of us are entering our second decade together and I again feel this sense of, let’s call it “peace.” It is a milestone to make it ten years years as man and wife.  In reality, it is only a number. I expected some sort of validation, but the fact is that Melissa was my best friend then and she is still that today.

There is an often quoted line in our household from my favorite Hitchcock movie,  “Rear Window.” Stella, the physical therapist assigned to Jimmy Stewart’s L.B. Jefferies, takes a moment to describe the relationship with her husband. “When I married Miles, we were both a couple of maladjusted misfits. We are still maladjusted misfits, and we have loved every minute of it.”

I could write more. So much more and it would get even sappier very quickly.  I’ll spare everyone that display and simply say this: I love my wife and her role in my life is irreplaceable. Ten years or ten minutes it won’t change the fact that Melissa is my soul mate. I’m so happy that instead of waking up on couches, I have a beautiful wife next to me in the morning.

So where was I? Oh yes, the family had just finished taking in the glory that is “The Bean” inside Chicago’s Millennium Park.

We began walking towards the east side of the park when we took a break at the Lurie Gardens. The kids took their shoes off and plopped their feet in the water.  It was a nice moment for everyone to relax and for Melissa and I to decide where to head next.

We walked over to Lake Michigan, south of Navy Pier, and checked out all the sail boats. There was a flock of geese. It’s amazing how the same exact birds we see everyday in Indiana are so much more appealing in Illinois for the girls.  Izzy wanted to just sit and look out into the blue water.  Mads was busy posing for pictures in diving form.

From there we strolled down lake Shore Drive to the famous Buckingham Fountain. The weather for the whole day was perfect (a little hot for Madison’s taste as she tell you). The entire scene was very picturesque for us and the mist was an instant draw for the kids.  We were there for a while; Melissa and I both took pictures and talked, the kids ran back and forth enjoying the fountains cool water.

We began heading back to find a place to sit and possibly have a refreshing treat.  The girls were beginning to get tired. We strolled down Jackson again and sat outside a Starbucks near the L (thanks to “The Fugitive” I kept hearing Tommy Lee Jones talk about elevated trains in my head). We chilled out there enjoying the breeze. The girls drew some pictures of birds and trains.

At around 2:30 we started walking back toward Union Station. There was a pizza parlor that I saw on Jackson shortly after we began walking.  It didn’t seem right to hang out in Chicago and not enjoy some deep dish.  So that was our next stop.

Izzy began whining about being tired almost immediately. I understand, she’s only 5, it was an early start and she’s been walking all day. So I picked her up and within 2 minutes Isabelle was asleep on my shoulder.  For the next 6 blocks I carried Izzy with a break near the sky tower while Melissa and Mads popped into a 7 Eleven for some train ride snacks.

We walked over to Luke’s and woke up Izzy.  Inside, we found a table and I ordered a 16″ sausage pizza.  It was good, really good. Too big for us to finish in one sitting so we took it back to the train in boxes.

The train ride back was a little more eventful. We left right on time at 5:45 but stopped in between Chicago and Dyer, IN for over an hour. Something about freight trains, the “conductor” was less than explicit as to the cause of our delay.

The kids fell asleep eventually (as did I) and we were back in Indianapolis around 1am. This left everyone a bit groggy on Tuesday, but the memories were well worth the lack of sleep.

The plan was hatched several weeks ago after we began planning a birthday bash for the girls. Melissa and I created a guest list, menu; all the necessary planning for such an event.  A party was coming along nicely until Melissa had that gleam in her eye. This clued me that something interesting was in store for us.

The plan was simple: board a train to Chicago in the morning, explore the windy city and then hop back on a train home that evening. At less than the cost of a birthday party, Melissa and I could give the girls a memorable “celebration” of turning 9 and 5 respectively.  Plus, they will get to ride on a train (which is something that took us 31 years to accomplish).

The train ride to Chicago was fantastic.  Roomy seats, a lounge car where we played cards and plenty of time to sit and talk. Much nicer than driving even if it takes a longer time.

We arrived at Union Station right at 10am and took the escalators up to Jackson Blvd and the Chicago River. Let the walking and picture-taking begin.

For such enthusiastic planners as we are, Melissa and I are growing pretty adept at throwing caution to the wind and just going with the flow.  Melissa wanted to see the Buckingham Fountain and I wanted to see Cloud gate (aka The Bean).  And thusly, we were off.

Our first stop was in front of Calder’s “Flamingo” sculpture. Here, we met a helpful local that pointed us in the direction of a few more Chicago landmarks. But first we stopped to get the kids some food and boost their energy.

We took in the Chicago Picasso next. Quite possibly the highlight of my day was seeing my two children take in a cubist masterpiece in the only way they know how – sliding down it over and over again. I’m going to have to learn to make some animated .gifs with the pictures that I took.

We strolled east and stopped to rest and check the map.  Then we realized that we were in Millennium Park. Our “let’s just wing it” attitude was not completely ignorant of Chicago’s offerings. We found Cloud Gate and I got my picture on. Maddie and Izzy loved it. Absolutely loved it.  Especially its propensity to attract pigeons.

I’m realizing now that this is going to be a two-parter. Since this is as good as any point to pause I’m going to hit “publish” and finish this up tomorrow.

I really liked the selection for August – New Belgium’s Somersault.  Melissa picked up a twelve pack of Somersault from Meijer at the beginning of the month and I ended up drinking most of the beers (it gave her a headache, unfortunately). Brett – for the win. It was a substitute for the New Belgium Sunshine wheat that she snuck out of the back of the fridge.

I’ve written this before, but if there is one critique of this brewer it’s that all their beers taste like a slightly altered Fat Tire. It’s a minor point, because I absolutely love Fat Tire.  In the case of Somersault, the alteration is a hell of a lot more citrus flavor.

Having three-quarters of a 12 pack, I’ve consumed this beer nearly every way possible. In a bottle, in a glass (chilled or not) it was equally good in all circumstances. This beer, while not as light as Red Stripe, certainly fit the qualifications of a summer brew.

Heading into the fall I’m looking forward to some heavier beers. I believe some wheat beer is in my immediate future.