Chapter Three: "How to be a Cool Dad (or Mom)"

Do this. Halloween is coming. Do you have your costume ready? I have asked my wife several times what she will be dressing up as this year. No reponses. As you get older, it's the pieces of your childhood that you can keep that will make you a cool parent.

Chloe likes Star Wars. She's not obsessed with it, but she knows who is who and likes knowing it. She is tapping my arsenal for entertainment. Last week I picked up two new DVDs. I saw the classic "Young Frankenstein" and the movie "Labyrinth" for Chloe. She was ready for "Labyrinth" and I was too. If you've never seen it, check it out. It's like a modern fairy tale... well, pretty modern anyway. There are subtle hints here and there that you are watching a movie from 1986. There's a lot of synth music in the sound track, but it does hold up as a very timeless movie. I remember seeing it back in the eighties. I don't recall it being a blockbuster then, but it's got legs and it's still running after 20 years.

So will my wife get a costume? I don't know. She's pretty uptight. Whatever. I'll be the dad that ALWAYS dressed up and I will totally love being remembered that way.

Everybody's Workin' for the Weekend...

Saturday was a laborious and triumphant day. A painting that I have working on for months finally reached completion. It was pretty big. I think it was around 4 x 7'! A woman with a summer place in Sliver Creek on Lake Erie "commisioned" me to do it. I finally got a chance to complete the thing. Not my usual subject matter... people on a beach watching sailboats, but I enjoyed doing it, (much more than I thought I would). I came out good.

It rained for a good portion of the afternoon. I was stuck in the basement, finishing the afore mentioned project. I loaded the finished peice into the caravan (had to take all of the seats out) and pretty much just hung out, watched movies and got cell pictures from a friend at a bachelorette party.

Sunday came and I made a morning drive to Silver Creek. Silver Creek is in the north of Chautauqua County. It is beautiful. Grapes everywhere and Lake Erie. I dropped off the painting and was home by noon.

Chloe and I went to see the Simpsons Movie, AGAIN. I have created a monster. After that we visited one of the local natural wonders. Panama Rocks is about 15 minutes away from our doorstep, but it's one of those places you always forget is there. During the last Ice Age, giant glaciers dropped these friggin' huge rocks all over the place. It's so different from the rest of the surrounding terrain. You feel like you're in some strange low-budget jungle movie or "Lord of the Rings" rip-off.

We climbed all over the place and hiked around the trails. Then we went to miniature golf. It was a good day.