Browsing Tag

Family

2022 Continues to Be Okay I Guess

Posted on April 26, 2022

I didn’t mean to leave you hanging this long. My apologies. In my last post I said I’d come down with “something” that may or may not have been COVID.

Long story short, I don’t know if it was COVID but it only lasted a week or so and I feel fine now. I did end up finding a way to get tested, though. The kid’s school has a deal with some testing sites and he and I went to one, waited three hours, and got a swab shoved into our nostrils so far it came out our ears.

No, not really. It just felt like it. Of course, I went first to show him it was no big deal. He was very brave, especially after the first nostril. We got ice cream after, as you do.

We both tested negative, so who knows? He did end up up getting sick too and lost his sense of taste and smell for a couple days, which seemed like COVID to me. But again, he tested negative so we’ll never really know I guess.

We’re both fully vaxxed, by the way. If we did have COVID, I’ll assume that’s why we didn’t have more serious symptoms. I’m must glad it wasn’t more serious no matter the reason.

Since then, we’ve avoided any more sickness at the house and Summer is a month away. Fingers crossed we make it without further incident. The kid continues to wear a mask at school, even though it’s not “mandatory” anymore.

Removing the mask mandate was yet another fucking stupid decision on the part of our government, but I’lll try to keep my rants to a minimum this week. No promises, though.

Let’s just say I’m still not impressed with the way our governments, Federal, State and local, have handled the pandemic. We’re just lucky it wasn’t much worse. Of course, tell that to the families and friends of all the people who’ve died from COVID. They’re probably not too impressed either.

And as if we didn’t have enough problems, it looks like man-child Elon Musk is buying Twitter. I’m sure he’ll make it a much better place to socialize. Yeah, no doubt in my mind whatsoever. Yeah . . .

In unrelated news I’ve started to explore alternatives to Twitter. So far, I’ve landed at Micro.blog. I’m @ChrisU on there, just like on Twitter, so I should be easy to find. You may want to check it out.

I’m also making The Flickcast podcast every week with my pal Joe Dilworth. It’s going great and still fun, so I plan to continue doing it until people tell me to fuck off. So far, so good.

Finally, I’ve started drawing and painting again. I was inspired by my friend Dave Caolo, some books I saw on Urban Sketching and the Urban Sketching World website. Basically, you go to a place (city street, cool building, wherever) and sketch/draw it with pen and ink and then add some color with watercolor paint.

It’s really been fun, even though I’m not very good at it (and that’s being kind). Still, art of any kind is wonderful. It’s also great therapy and allows you to free your mind and not think about horrible shit all the time. Not that I do that.

I only think about horrible shit the appropriate amount of time.

Okay. I’ll try not to make the time between posts so long from now on. I know you all miss me when I’m gone too long.

Oh, that’s one of my drawings at the top of this post. It’s a photo of it from my sketchbook. Yes, I have a sketchbook. I’m an artist now, don’t you know.

It’s not the worst I’ve done and I don’t hate it, so that’s something. I’ll keep at it.

Okay. Gotta go. Until next time, be kind to each other.

The Family Way

Posted on April 5, 2017

It’s been awhile. Yes, I know, you’ve missed me. I get it. I’ve missed you too. We used to have a pretty good relationship. And then I went and messed it up by not being around for, what, almost a year? Sorry about that.

It doesn’t really seem like its been that long. But time flies. Oh yes it does. In case you’ve forgotten what’s happened recently, here’s a bit of a refresher. I left LA/California and now live in Austin, TX. I’m a father. It’s a boy. He’s three. I’m semi-retired and stay home with him, which basically makes me a stay-at-home dad.

I love my life. I do, however, sometimes miss work. It was fun (mostly) and I’ll probably do it again one of these days. But I can’t complain, my kid is awesome and I get to watch him grow up every day. I’m very fortunate to be able to do that.

Also, I still do a podcast called The Flickcast with Joe Dilworth, my awesome co-host. And I take photographs, make things from wood and occasionally write. That pretty much catches us up.

Well, there is one other (pretty big) thing that’s happened since we last got together. As some of you may know, I’m adopted. Both of my adoptive parents are no longer alive and I miss them every day. I especially miss them when I want to ask parenting questions, but pretty much the rest of the time too.

I realize I’m far from perfect, but I think they did a pretty good job with me considering how much of a pain I was growing up. Spoiled only child and all that. Yes, I was quite the troublemaker. But in the end, I think I turned out okay. I only hope I can do the job half as well as they did. I’ll keep working on it.

But that’s not the big news. This big news is I’ve found my biological mother. Well, actually, H found her. H is good with stuff like that. But found she is and contact we have had. Quite a bit, actually. She’s great and we’ve discussed all sorts of things.

I’ve been to see her twice so far and plan on going again soon. I’m looking forward to it. But wait, as Steve Jobs used to say, there’s one more thing (at least). I’ve also got a brother and sister. And a niece. I know, right? A whole new family I never knew about.

I’ve spent time with my new Bro and Sis too. They’re terrific people and I look forward to getting to know them more. Actually, my sister, her husband and their daughter (the niece I mentioned) just visited us. And yes, a good time was had by all.

Just when I think life can’t get any better . . .

A Second First Father’s Day

Posted on June 15, 2014

Last year, around this time, I waxed sentimental about the loss of my own father and how I was very much looking forward to, finally, becoming a father myself. Now that my son is here, and has been for nine months, I feel I’ve gained some insight into what it really means to be a father and also some idea of what my own father went through with me.

Unfortunately, I’m too tired to tell you about all that right now. But here’s the gist: fatherhood is the most amazing and most terrifying thing I’ve ever done.

I can’t believe I waited this long to do it, but I’m so glad I did. I got the exact kid I was supposed to get (if you believe in that sort of thing) and watching him grow up and experience all life has to offer (and helping guide him on his journey) is a privilege I will treasure always. I will also try very hard not to screw it up.

So Happy Father’s Day to all the dads, but especially to mine. I get it now Dad. Thank you.

A New Episode of The Flickcast

Posted on June 11, 2014

As I’ve been busy doing things (taking care of a baby, for example), I’ve been neglecting other responsibilities, like this site. Well, only for a week or so. Still, I want you to know I care.

I do. Just not right this minute. Or, more to the point, just not all that much right this minute. You know, busy. Like I said.

However, I do care about at least one thing right at this moment: a new episode of The Flickcast. That’s right, another week has gone bye and there’s a brand new episode. See if you can guess from the pic above what Joe and I might be talking about. Not for the entire episode, mind you, but a chunk of it to be sure.

Give it a listen, why don’t you? And if you’re feeling saucy, feel free to tell a friend or two how much you liked it. That would be nice of you.

And don’t worry, I’ll be back here with even more caring, insightful (and all that other stuff) writing very soon. I just can’t get enough.

Christmas Aftermath

Posted on December 26, 2012

In a nutshell, I’m tired. Christmas has come and gone and it was a long, long day. And we don’t have any kids and didn’t have to fly anywhere.

I can’t imagine how my parents did it or, for that matter, how other parents do it today. it must be exhausting, especially if you have to travel a long way and keep some young ones entertained.

As for us, we had a very nice time with H’s parents, her brother and my Mom. Just the six of us in the comfortable environs of Ventura eating lots of food and opening a metric crapload of gifts.

We may have even had one or two drinks too. Good times all around.

Out of the many, many gifts, we all got some really nice stuff. I will probably even keep the vast majority of my gifts. . . Probably. Nah, they were all great. I’m keeping ’em.

That’s a pic of our tree. Pretty nice, huh? I think so.

Hope you all had a very good day. Now, to the nap chamber!

Merry Christmas

Posted on December 25, 2012

We are about to hit the road and head to H’s parents’ house to celebrate Christmas. Naturally, we’re taking a few gifts.

And yes, even though I didn’t ask for anything, one or two of these are for me. Have a great Christmas everyone.

A Few Words About Loss

Posted on January 3, 2012

I don’t want this post to turn into anything overly maudlin or depressing, but given recent events, I just wanted to say a few words about loss. I will try not to kill your buzz too much.

For the most part, I’ve been very fortunate in my life. I almost always get to work with great people, have a lot of good friends and caring people in my life, work on interesting and fun projects and generally speaking, up until recently, I’ve never had to experience any type of loss of a family member, friend or other generally catastrophic event.

Then, a few years ago, my father died.

A month later, one of my best fiends since childhood died. Then, I got divorced and had to completely change my living arrangements, how I viewed and lived my life and my feelings about the future. Two months ago my favorite Aunt died followed, this week, by my favorite Uncle.

But wait, there’s more. During the time my father was ill and around the time my childhood best friend died, I also had a brief period where I thought I was sick. This is something almost nobody knows.

In the end, it turned out to be nothing. But let me tell you, the time between when you first discover something and the Doctor tells you it’s nothing can seem like a fucking eternity.

I don’t recommend it.

My Uncle dying this week has brought to the surface a lot of feelings about death and loss. The sad fact is we’re all going to die someday. I hope for all of us that day is a long, long, long time from now. However, we just don’t really know.

This time two days ago my Uncle was planning a vacation with his family. He had gotten a diagnosis of Leukemia last year but it had responded to treatment and he was doing well. Then, he got sick. At first, it seemed like a cold but it got progressively worse. 48 hours later he was gone.

This is the part where I roll out the chestnuts and tell you that every moment of life is important. I don’t care if countless people have said it before, and better. Doesn’t make it any less important.

So, for those of you who still need to hear it (and the rest of you who think you don’t) here it is:

Make the most out of life because you never know how long you, or your loved ones, have. In other words, life is short. Get it? Good.

I know I promised not to be overly maudlin or depressing, so I’m trying to end on a high note. The good news is most of us will have a lot of years to live our lives to the fullest and every day is a new chance to do something great and wonderful for yourself, for others and to live your life to the fullest. Take that chance and run with it.

See, that wasn’t so bad.