Dog Is Fact

I was helping my oldest son with his writing today by dictating sentences to him. One sentence was, ‘The dog is fast’, and he switched the s in fast with a c, and ended up with ‘The dog is fact’, which made me laugh. He was like, ‘oh, oops.’ but I said no, that’s actually a much better sentence.

I am the last person to catch onto many things. I have just ‘discovered’ Bob Marley. I am currently listening to Burnin', and it is really hitting the spot. Why is it that I’ve heard Marley’s music all of my life, to the point that I know many songs by heart and can easily recognize his sound, but have never been affected by it until now? It was like that for me with the Beatles and Johnny Cash too. Just muzak in the elevator. My son (6) got into the Beatles somehow, and that’s what got me listening to them, and as much as I hate to admit it I didn’t care about Johnny Cash at all until I saw Joaquin Phoenix play him in the movie.

Some Mormons came to the door as my sons and I prepared to go sledding this evening (the snow was nice and fluffy today, so it reflected the driveway light in a neat way, but was no good for snowballs), and I listened without asking any questions, and then, on the key moment where I disclose that yes, I have a book of Mormon in my house, and an elder asks ‘Would you be willing to pray and see if it’s true?’ I say that I am not particularly inclined to do that, but I think it is fine for them. This seems a little bit like a cop-out, but who has time to get into talking about the different ways that people manifest their personal quests for meaning into different religions, and that truly grasping God has to be more like that story about the blindfolded men who've never seen an elephant, being told to grab onto different parts of said animal and being asked to describe what the animal is than something as simple as reading an instruction manual? It would’ve become a whole-thing. They were very earnest though, and polite, and I find that appealing.

I am excited about the Iowa Caucus. I am the only person I know who is excited about the Iowa Caucus. I’m glad that my state (Ohio) is as important in national elections as it is, and would love to be an early primary state as well. It is also a small point of pride to note that Ted Strickland, our governor, is one of the first names that pops up as a potential running mate for Hillary Clinton. Governor Strickland has been doing a good job in Ohio, sending through the first budget in state history with unanimous yeses. The Governor is also very good at bipartisanship, and managed to not raise taxes in his first year. A democrat with fiscal discipline: a mythical beast if you listen to talk radio.

My dad bought me a watch today and brought it down to the house. It was a nice surprise. He bought himself a matching one. I like impromptu gifts like that. I had actually been considering buying someone a pocket knife a few days earlier, though I wasn’t sure who I wanted to give it to. I’m sure it will come to me.

I was reading about the subterranean world that exists beneath the continental ice sheets of Antarctica today in an article Mariana Gosnell wrote for Discover. Far beneath all of that ice is all of this rock, and these rivers and lakes. The sixth biggest lake in the world, Lake Vostok, is frozen under there. As I was looking at the little diagram at the beginning of the article, I was reminded of the underground world in Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere, and decided I would concoct a story around the world under the ice-sheets for my boys, and see if they would help me populate that icy-underworld with monsters.

I think that’s about it. Dog is Fact.