Carsten's words

At just over 19 months, Carsten, pictured above, not only has fantastic hair, but an ever-expanding vocabulary. For the sake of history, here's a list of the words he knows how to "say," which reveal more about his family's influence than any of us would care to admit. Since he's learned words in various ways, I've broken down the list into several categories, and included pronunciations, as best as I've been able to translate. This is, of course, a work in progress.


Words + Signs
Mama / Mommy
Dada / Daddy
Ball
Football
Up
Baby
On
Bear
Wind / windy ("bindy")
Duck
Banana ("bana")
Piggie
Tree
Grandpa
Grandma
Cheeks ("geeks")
Wait


Words + Sounds
Puppy (+ "Arf Arf")


Signs + Sounds
Bear (plus "roar")
Lion (plus "roar")
Tiger (plus "roar")
Cow (plus "moo")
Horse (plus "neigh")
Frog (plus "ack ack")
Car (plus "broom broom")


Names
"Nanda" (Miranda, his oldest sister)
"Gaga" (Keira, his other sister)
"bitsy bitsy" (the Itsy Bitsy Spider)


Signs Only
Help
Eat / Food
Squeezie Packs (a made-up sign that I taught him; he pretends to squeeze near his mouth)
Milk
Diaper
Hot
Cold
Computer
Silly
Piano
Rain
Sleep
Drink
Socks
Fan
Hurt
Happy
Please
More
Zebra
Hair
Hat


Words Only
Burp (pronounced "bip")
Funny (often goes along with "bip")
Vent (just above his changing table, and so, a constant focal point)
Candy ("dindy")
Truck ("guck")
Yuck ("guck")
Uh-oh
A-choo
Choo-choo
Boo
Bed ("butt")
Bubble
Hockey
Bus ("bush")
Ice
Rug
Pizza
Bite
Cookie
Fry (for "French fry")
Draw ("daw")
Moon ("min")
Meat ("mean")
Pants ("bents")
Blanky ("binky")
Tissue (one he says almost perfectly)
Sofa ("fofa")
Sky ("guy")
Down
Elbow
Knee
Eyebrow
Eye
Eyelash ("eyechah")
Eyeball
Tea
Tie ("die")
Try ("jie")
Bunny

Colors
Orange ("awnj")
Blue ("boo")
Pink
Green ("geen")


Sounds Only
"Mow" (for cat)
"Arf Arf" (for dog)

improving borscht

The other day, we made borscht. Well, beet soup, really, as "borscht" has a certain charm that "beet soup" just doesn't merit. Our beet soup may have had flavor, but it had no class.

We used Slate's "You're Doing it Wrong" recipe, which is fine, especially the lemon juice part, although it takes longer to cook the beets to puree-able softness than L.V. Anderson (no relation) lets on.

The real secret to delicious beet soup: let it sit a day in the fridge after cooking. Lazy flavors taste better on the palate. Cheese, aged beef, wine, borscht, all the foods that lounge on the sofa and won't even get up to find the remote so they're watching infomercials at three in the afternoon, not even Judge Judy. Sloth makes taste.

(Don't eat sloths. Wrong noun.)

Since L.V. Anderson could improve beet soup through good old fashioned gumption, I figured this Anderson (no relation) could do the same. So I grabbed an armful of spices from the cupboard and sauces from the refrigerator, donned a hazmat suit, and got to work.

Here are the tasting notes. In all cases, I added a dash or a drop to a tablespoon of otherwise unadulterated soup.


Sriracha ("Rooster Sauce")
Do you like spicy beets? You could probably learn to like spicy beets. They taste like regular beets, only spicy.


Cinnamon
"Tastes like fall." Serve with turkey and deep-fried political angst. See also: Parsley.


Soy Sauce
Accentuates the potatoes, says Stef. I notice extra savor, but little more. Should beet soup have extra savor?


Tapatio
A warmer, smokier spiciness. Not bad, but not exactly delicious.


Worcestershire
Little difference in flavor, but I'm just proud of the fact that I can type "Worcestershire" without having to check the label, and that I can pronounce "Worcestershire" properly, as I am a chimney sweep.


A1 Steak Sauce
It is impossible to tell when A1 Steak Sauce has gone bad. Pass.


Nutmeg
Beets taste beetier with nutmeg.


Mustard Powder
Gives borscht a fruitier complexion. I'm not sure why I included mustard powder in the tasting; it's not really a reach-for spice in the Anderson house.


Ginger
Spicy, of course, and bright and zesty and prone to bust out an accordion.


Sage
Not good.


Tapatio, Soy Sauce, and Pumpkin Pie Spice
A bonfire by piles of fallen leaves. Hot cocoa. Brisk mornings and first frosts. Football on the television. None of this has anything to do with beet soup. All of this has everything to do with beet soup flavored with smoke, salt, and love.

a blog reborn

I'm back.

I should say: we're back.

I never anticipated reviving decorabilia, but with my wife's encouragement and blessing, and with (slightly) fewer professional obligations these days, and with a brain full of ideas and a need for an archive of interests and experiences--not to mention an LD program at CHS that's undergoing a renaissance--I have every reason to blog again, and no good reason not to.

Here are a few photos that illustrate how much richer and amazinger my life has become in the past three years.

These cherubs are Miranda and Keira. They're 11 and 10, full of energy, wit, and charm. The pumpkins are nameless.

This is Carsten, the newest addition to the family. At nearly sixteen months, he already knows everything.

And, of course, my wife Stefanie, whose smile captured my heart from the first. She's a co-founder of Olympia's only doula triumvirate.





For its biggest fans--high school debaters, my family, and various flotsam of the wide open Internet sea--decorabilia will be pretty much the same as it always was. I may update the look at some point, and you may see ads popping up--if you didn't notice, I have three kids whose tuition is being banked daily--but the heart and soul of the blog will never change. It'll be as random and as insightful as I can make it, or it won't.

Here's to new beginnings and second chances, resurrections and reincarnations. Here's to thinking and writing and experimenting. Here's to love and family, which matter more than any of the rest of it.

Here's to an unknown future, a future that once again includes this blog.

barbecue tour photos: part deux

[first installment here]

is your car winking at me?

Problem: your car isn't flirtatious enough.


Solution: eyelashes!

Olympia in springtime

Robert "Berd" Whitlock is one of Olympia's indispensables, a photographer who blends politics, philosophy and imagery from his unique, and uniquely Olympian, perspective. Regardless of your partisan proclivities, you can enjoy his work--and, if you're like me, it'll inspire you to go outside / get a better camera / learn how to actually use the better camera.

Here's his latest set, in which he somehow manages to make the Ugly Building look beautiful.  And here's his Flickr stream.  Enjoy.

WEA Chinook rallies at the Capitol

WEA Chinook hosted an impromptu rally at the state capitol Tuesday, and about 110 teachers showed up to gather, mill about on the capitol steps, and wander peacefully into the building to chat with whomever might still be around. It started at 4:00 by the John L. O'Brien building, and ended roughly at 5:30, with a few latecomers trickling in as the early birds departed.

It was a low-key, friendly protest, with nary a chant or incident. Did it accomplish much? Probably not in the grand scheme of Washington politics. But it did remind this sometime-jaded political participant/observer that even in a maelstrom of despair, there are a lot of good people holding on to hope.

Pictured at the front of the slideshow is Capital's own Mike Deakins, a master of activism and sloganeering. (Ask him to write you a ditty sometime.) I hope to add links once the WEA posts their own official photos / writeup.

Update: WEA photos are now available. If you look closely, you'll find me in a few of them, protesting and such.

nerd is a nerd is a nerd is a nerd

Me, circa a long time ago.

make your own ice sling

Problem: You have a separated shoulder, requiring ice every few hours. But you can't just hold a Ziploc bag up there for twenty minutes at a time; after all, you have books to read, or topics to blog about.

Solution: Make your own ice sling.

Materials: Ice, quart-sized freezer bag, duct tape, neck tie.

Painkillers and holiday arrangement not included.

Steps:
1. Take an empty freezer bag and press it flat on a countertop. Set aside.

2. Cut 2 pieces of duct tape, in roughly 1.25" (3.2 cm) and 3.25" (8.3 cm) lengths.

3. Carefully place a shorter piece in the middle of a longer piece, adhesive-to-adhesive. (This is for making a "belt loop," with an inch of adhesive on both ends.) Affix to the front of the bag, about 1 inch from the edge.

The ice sling in action.  Note its stylish comfort.

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3, affixing the second loop near the other edge, completing the belt loop.

5. If you want, you may reinforce your loop by adding a strip of duct tape above and below (see illustration).

6. Thread the necktie through the loops, fill the bag with ice, place it tape-side down on your shoulder, and tie the tie around your neck. (Its's probably best to have a friend assist you at this juncture; if unavailable, tie the knot loosely before placing the ice, and adjust using a mirror.)

7. Ice your shoulder as recommended by a physician.

8. Blog about it.

the beard is dead, long live the beard

From To Beard, or not to Beard

It was fun while it lasted--fun for everyone else, at least. Thanks to everyone who gave, and kept giving, and helped the CHS Debate team raise $520. I can promise you, it'll be $520 well spent.

As you can see, shaving off a full beard is a miraculous instant weight loss and age-defying formula. I'm afraid the incredibly coarse hair may have destroyed my clippers, which mowed it down to less than an eighth of an inch before tiring and tagging out. The Gilette Mach 3 Turbo finished the match.

At last, I have my face back.

To Beard, or not to Beard

Capital's debate team is holding my beard hostage. If they can raise at least a hundred dollars next week, I can't shave it. Repeat the feat the next week, and I'll continue suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous facial hair. So, if you are a fan of hockey and lumber jacks, or if you love torturing the hirsute, or if you are a fan of CHS Debate, join the fun.

Click on the photo, or this link, to watch the beard, and my indignity, progress in time.

Oh, and of course, there's a Facebook page.

I'll keep a running beard diary right here using the label "beardathon." Why? Because blogging is how I cope. With the itching. Which started today.

politics and daffodils

This Monday afternoon found the legislature in special session. Sign things will wrap up quickly: on a warm March day, the Capitol parking lot emptied precisely at five.


And, really, why would you want to be stuck inside the Capitol when daffodils are blooming?

[Photos courtesy of Melissa Anderson, who shares my political philosophy regarding unreasonably springlike weather.]

I used to like having my picture taken

Mom sends along some photos taken by a friend of the family, a long, long time ago, back when we lived in Gimli, Manitoba (named after the scrappiest member of the world famous dance troupe Lord of the Rings).

I had a stage in my life where I absolutely hated being photographed--well after these were taken, it appears.


I was pretty fashionable for a toddler; Dad was pretty fashionable for a dad.


From left to right: brother Matt; Dad; me, rockin' the vest; Mom; sister Cathy. Not pictured: slacker sister Caroline, who waited years to be born.

bear fail

From Newcastle Trip '09

Even though we knew what the sign was trying to accomplish, every time we drove past it, we cracked up.

at the Museum of the Rockies

Earlier this summer, a group of unrowdy atheists, agnostics, freethinkers, and otherwise scientifically inclined skeptics descended upon Ken Ham's infamous Creation "Museum" in Petersburg, Kentucky. Pseudoscience-bashing fun was had by all.

As an intellectual palate-cleanser, I'd recommend that they make tracks to the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, Montana, which I visited for the first time a few days ago.

The Museum--which covers many other aspects of Montana's fascinating history--seems to have little patience for pseudoscience. Which is good. Though it lacks the size and grandeur of the Royal Tyrell Museum, its neighbor to the north, it's also a lot cheaper ($10 for adults) and a lot cleverer. Consider it the anti-Creation-"Museum."

Here are a few of the photos I took.

hooperhacking

Last weekend, Melissa and I helped Mom and Dad move to Newcastle, Wyoming. On a Saturday evening, after we tired of unpacking, the folks suggested that we take a drive through the area. (We brought our cameras along.) Mom says that when she was a teenager, she and her friends would similarly roam about the countryside, a practice she calls "hooperhacking."

At this point on the World Wide Web, this very blog is the only reference to such a cultural phenomenon, so I cannot say with any authority that the term "hooperhacking" belongs anywhere but in her crazy imagination.

a most amazing minivan

A Dodge Caravan limousine, seen outside a Wyoming grocery store. More for your dollar, indeed.

the history of South Dakota tourism

To understand the profusion of roadside attractions along Highway 16 from the Wyoming border to Rapid City, you have to know your history.

In 1934, the United States suffered through a crippling Depression. As a way to spur economic development, Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Tourism Restoration and Protection Act* into law, designating the southwestern corner of South Dakota as a National Cash Extraction Zone. The Act provided for the construction of a gigantic statue carved into the Black Hills, to be called the Mount of the Three Presidents, honoring Lincoln, Washington, and Jefferson.**

The TRPA enjoyed limited immediate success, bearing most of its fruit after the end of the Second World War, as hundreds of thousands of Americans, hungry for a sense of normalcy, descended upon South Dakota like gnats on a banana.

In 1964, the United Nations proclaimed the region a World Old-Timey Heritage Area,*** ensuring the maintenance of Reptile Gardens, Cartoon-Based Theme Parks, Chuck Wagon Dinners, Mystery Areas, and Ridiculous Tram Rides for generations to come.




*Or, as it was affectionately known, the Tourist Trap Act.
**Teddy Roosevelt's bespectacled face was added to the plan upon the insistence of nephew Franklin Delano, who refused to sign the TRPA without it.
***Only one other site in the United States has merited such a designation: the Drug Store That Shall Not Be Named.

origin of the Usain Bolt pose

I kept thinking, I know I've seen that Usain Bolt pose before.


Because I had. Milk River, Alberta, 2006.

As you can see, Bolt's pose is the universal symbol for "Shower Me With Endorsement Contracts."

Astoria trip photos: part I

My wife and I took a weekend jaunt to Astoria, Oregon (and then north to the Long Beach peninsula) to celebrate our fifthiversary. Some of the photos are available here.

Update: I've added fifteen more shots, previewed below.



Update Update: There will be no Part II. Instead, I added captions.