back to being a working stiff

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but this is what it's really about, now.




...and for ms. violet it remains about this.


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calling in well

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it was a rainy day. we stayed in. it rained most of yesterday and last night. it rains once a week here. beautiful storms with such amazing thunder that it makes you think this one might be too close. i feel like calling in too well to come into work. it's my first day back to the grind. i hope i can make it seem like i care when i just want to be here right now.




these eyes are looking at you. they love you.


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into the unknown with a cartoon danzig

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oh my. she's a beauty. these are some pictures i just got developed from right when we were moving out here and went to SF.


"heart of gold, fists of fury"




i used to live near danzig. we had a plan to t.p. his house. never did. can you imagine getting chased out of a yard by danzig? i guess you don't get credit for things you wanted to do, but i still want to next time i'm in L.A., maybe. any takers?


... and a few from our our wedding day. the cliff we got married on.


the sea and cake,


...into the unknown.


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grandpa K is on a plane home

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sitting here thinking...


this is how we sleep around here right now.


grandpa is getting a quick tour of k.c. and is heading home.


it's been really good to have them around to steady nervous souls.





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one week old today

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today marks the first week for our little flower. we are so lucky to have the grandparents here to fill in some of the blank spaces. we are adjusting slowly but loving it as well.



time for your weekly bath whether you need it or not little miss.


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deep fried twinkie time

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today we left grandma kemptner in charge of ms. violet and went downtown to give grandpa a chance to get some kansas bbq at the vermont st. bbq.




the pulled pork sandwich is amazing. last time we had the deep fried mac'n'cheese bits. heart attack city, elvis-style. is it true that he used to deep fry twinkies? i'm actually completely in favor of that.


tonight was violet's first manicure and it went well. i guess.


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babies 'r' not us but kinda are

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i finally gave in and made the trek to the babies r us. an enormo-block of a warehouse full of consumerist delights. everything to make you feel like you're not doing enough for your baby simply because you don't have a $900 diaper disposal system from Italy. This is a racket I'm getting into. They're making a serious killing and it makes you want to get jaded and then you finally are and then something catches your eye and you start to think, "well, at least this isn't all hideous and primary colored plastic looking", how much does it cost? i didn't even think we needed something like that. maybe we do need a widget that squidgets. am i a bad parent or husband if she doesn't have this thing? yikes. fear rules the baby marketplace.




...but then you come home to this and none of it matters. all the traffic and big box silliness and looking nervously at other parents in big suvs desperately trying to assess your level of neurotic craziness in relation to theirs - all melts away in her million expressions that just crack us up endlessly. violet rules.


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split lip rayfield's last stand

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with the grandparents in town, i got a chance to go out for a few hours and see a local phenom named split lip rayfield at the bottleneck. they call themselves alt bluegrass and it was an experience i'm glad i got to see. definitely not a cali thing.


the shuffling around the bar pre-show music was the replacements and X and i thought "alright, I can dig this", then it started heating up as they came out to 'reign in blood' by slayer. hilarious. the one guy is playing a gas tank with one fishing line across it for a bass. bizarre hillbilly action for sure, but the right sense of humor. the guitarist on the left has been undergoing chemo for cancer and was told that he had 2-6 months to live and decided to cut the chemo and go have fun and most likely die doing it. this may be one of their last shows and the locals love them. i loved that spirit as i think most people there did. they were all there to celebrate that lack of self-pity and go down swinging attitude. it was a pretty amazing scene, so far from what i grew up with. white people can be so awkward.


someone had a small baby at dinner and when he went to pass it to his wife, i reached over for it in my delirium.



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wild violets and other flowers

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We have wild violets that grow in our yard. They aren't in bloom now but they felt like a sign of being in the right place.


Ariana came over with Nicole to see her new friend.



she brought over a mangled little flower that she had picked as a present. she's been waiting to meet her and seems very excited but a little bit shy.



David and Nora came over for a visit, too. David had some good ideas about infant appropriate films for our daughter. He's not allowed near her anymore.


ruca is moping around. she's not the only baby girl anymore. she's getting plenty of attention but she needs A LOT. She has been really good. She sits and watches her and gets very upset when Violet is upset.



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day 3 - a day for making faces

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not very much sleep but a lot of love adrenaline.


a little bug is on my chest and i can't get it off.


this is uncle Tom. We were waiting for three days to use that joke. he came over to see the little one tonight with Linda. They are responsible for the Kansas Jayhawks outfit. She is a the youngest Jayhawk fan at present.



it will be great when she has an intentional expression. it seems like she is but it's just gas. she makes forty faces in ten minutes. it's amazing. this one says "hair metal will NEVER be cool, even if hipster irony tries to resurrect it", or something along those lines. it could be lack of sleep making me read too much into it but I'm probably close.


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