Episode LXXXVII: Christmastime with the Norrises

Went home for the Christmastime, as per usual, but I had to make this trip shorter, as I was leaving the country for Brazil on the 31^st. Nonetheless I managed to pack quite a bit of things into a brief week-and-a-half:

We had some good family time in which I got to see the entirety of the (local) Norris relatives, including the very well-protected and sporty Logan Sanchez.

I received my traditional biannual shear, thanks to my mother. Probably lost a pound or two, as seen below (also seen below, I turned from a friendly teddy-bear into a startled thug…)

We celebrated Christmas! Day One with the immediate family, which was lots of fun…

…And Day Two at Grandma Shearer’s, which was also lots of fun! Here was one exciting gift of the day (though by no means the most exciting): an afro pick for Kyle!

It was also Brian’s birthday, a mere two days after Christmas.

And finally, the family took a wintry trip up to Yosemite. On the way, we made a stop at Costco and I had my first ever $1.50 jumbo dog / soda deal, under an umbrella, indoors!

While there, we had our first cross-country skiing experience ever. It went pretty well until we made it to our destination, and then my ski binding failed, and I had to hike back the 1.5 miles with my skis and poles in tow.

It snowed quite a bit our second day in Yosemite. Here is the view from the parking lot, with Yosemite Falls in the background. Wishing you a Merry Christmas / Happy New Years from the Norrsises! And now I am off to Brazil!

Episode LXXXVI: Wrapping Up the Semester

It is the end of the year, the end of the semester. The end of my last fall in Kansas, in all likelihood. Here are some of the random things I have been up to.

Dining with Dinosaurs

My girl and I, being the mature adults we are, had an absolute blast going on a date to a dinosaur-themed restaurant the other day. We ate inside a giant clam-shell booth, underneath an even-gianter octopus and various jellyfish (my all-time favorite animal, should you not already know that).




Afterward we decided, being the mature adults we were, to forgo Chuck E. Cheese and instead play arcade games at Dave and Busters. (Meg won the Jumpin' Jackpot! A game you should definitely play, by the way.)


Eating Spongebob

I ate Spongebob Squarepants. In the form of a cookie.

9th and Vine

As a belated birthday present to Rafael, I took him to the historic 9th and Vine district of Kansas City, a really nice little area paying homage to the excellent jazz history that occurred in Kansas City in the 30s, 40s etc. For instance, Charlie "Bird" Parker, who just about invented bebop jazz, grew up and started his career in this very neighborhood. Here I am kindly cleaning out the earwax from his likeness.

They also pay homage to Negro League baseball at the very interesting and very well-produced Negro League Baseball Museum. Honestly I really knew nothing of the Negro Leagues before attending, though they were the home of some of the greatest players of the 20s and 30s, including Satchel Paige, who is posing with me below.


Fame and Fortune

The band of which I am a member, New Inhabitants, has been playing some good shows recently, after training our new drummer. It's been fun, we have improved, and- we made it into the Lawrence paper as a Best Bet for the evening!