WJSeubert

Hallowe'en 2007

2008-04-26T19:06:00.000-07:00

For Hallowe'en this year Alex went as a stuntman. Laurie helped him with the facial injuries, and he adopted a crutch, a splint, torn pants and an "I do my own stunts" T-Shirt. We cruised our neighborhood with his friend Casey, then went for our anual visit with Nannie & Papa. I forgot to precharge my camera, so my picture taking this time was very limited.

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Wizard of Oz

2008-04-26T18:53:00.000-07:00

In August, Alex played the Wizard of Oz in the Kent County YMCA's production of "Wicked." He sang. He danced. He got laughs. He was "Wonderful."

Nana Visits

2008-04-26T18:14:00.000-07:00

In July, Alex's Nana visited us from Seattle. We made special trips to the Zoo and the Aquarium. This is Alex with his Nana at the Zoo.

Alex and his Nana visit the statue of Black Prince in the Roger Williams Zoo. This statue is very famous in Rhode Island. http://riroads.com/arts/sentineldog.htm

Every time we visit the Aquarium we have our picture taken with the Penquin.

Is there a Beluga nearby?

Music Award

2008-04-26T17:04:00.000-07:00

On June 19, 2007 Alex's sixth grade class held an awards ceremony for the graduating students. The kids received certificates for academic achievment, attendance, superlatives, athletic accomplishments and such. There were songs and speeches and words of encouragement and gratitude.

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Then, near the end of the ceremony, Alex was called up and presented with a plaque naming him this year's recipient of the Michael Sykes music award for his "demostration of a love for music" and his talent, kindness and dedication. Way to go! The plaque hangs in the school's front hall near the Pricipal's office.

Band Concert

2008-04-26T16:44:00.000-07:00

On June 1 (2007) Alex participated in the Holliman band concert and was a featured soloist in "Morning," from Edvard Grieg's Peer Gynt.

Spamalot

2008-04-26T16:34:00.000-07:00

On April 29 (2007) Alex appeared in the Kent County YMCA's production of Spamalot in the role of King Arthur. Here he can be seen approaching the Killer Rabbit that inhabits the cave of Caer Bannog, wherin lies a clue to the final resting place of the most Holy Grail.

Holliman Hornets

2008-04-26T16:14:00.000-07:00

On March 9 (2007) the Holliman Hornets sixth grade basketball team palyed a game against the school faculty. Alex was unable to participate in the game itself due to scheduling conflicts with practices, but we were able to attend the game as a family to lend support to the kids. After the game we leared that Alex had personally produced one of the team's spirit posters, which was autographed by the players and placed on display in the school.

All City Band

2008-04-26T16:06:00.000-07:00

On April 10th (2007) Alex participated in the All City Band, a gathering of band and orchestra members from all over Warwick. Alex discovered he was the only boy in the flute section, and this made him popular with the ladies. He also got to sit right up front where everyone could see him.

New Post!

2008-04-26T15:41:00.000-07:00

Ack! It's been a while since my last post. I promise to be a little more dedicated to this in the future.

Since Blogger won't let me embed videos from YouTube in these posts, I'll give you a small hint: Go to www.Youtube.com and search for "Seuberman" to find the videos that I've posted. There will be descriptions with each video.

Christmas Day

2007-02-25T15:02:00.000-08:00

What says Merry Christmas more than a big box of Homicide?

Unless perhaps a steamy hot mug of Eeyore?

Or some spectacular Pajamas? Look! The instructions for how to prance about in them come printed right on them! Woo Hoo!.

Can Alex show any more enthusiasm? Kids are supposed to get noisy things for Christmas. How else will they drive their parents Insane?

Well, there is the annual covering-every-last-square-inch-of-floor-with-clutter ritual. That's good for endless holiday joy.

But truly, Christmas is when you open up your house to friends and family...

... and they gather for the Whoo-pudding and roast beast.

I hope yours was as Merry as ours was!

Christmas Eve

2007-02-24T09:02:00.000-08:00

We hosted a family gathering for Christmas Eve. We spent most of Saturday and Sunday cleaning and prepping the house. Everything was warm, cozy, and full of Christmas joy.

Even the squadron of Attack Eeyores on the back of the couch was ready for their part.

A grand buffet was laid out in the kitchen. There were Christmas cookies, stuffed mushrooms, meatballs in beer, scallops with bacon, and hot crabmeat dip.

Alex shows Papa what his dinosaur can do.

Alex enjoys the company of two of his Nanas.

Jay and Christine have a good time. Sorry, Christine, No Taters.

Thanksgiving

2007-02-24T04:47:00.000-08:00

You might be able to dress a kid up,

But you still have to worry about what he might do in a fancy restaurant.

Egypt Project

2007-02-24T04:14:00.000-08:00

Alex had to make a diorama for school. They were studying Egypt. This lovely arrangement is made from a shoe box, parchment paper, colored pencils, rubber stamps, plasticine, ruby decors, and bits of Legos. Inside the sarcophagi is a smallish GIJoe wrapped in an ace bandage. Hey, if I were six inches tall, I'd sign up for a resting place as cool as this!

Tree Tagging

2007-02-24T03:39:00.000-08:00

On November 5th we went out to Big John's for our annual tree-tagging jaunt. Our previous record for finding and tagging a tree was under five minutes. Could we beat our record? Laurie scopes out for the perfect tree.

Alex eats the obligatory bag of popcorn.

Tree found, it is wrapped with Valentine's Day party decor, tagged, and released back into the wild to await our return in December.

Alex also visits with the antique fire truck. An annual tradition.

As well as the annual post-tree-tagging visit to the Cracker Barrel restaurant for orange cream soda, Lima beans and pie.

Halloween

2006-11-05T08:42:00.000-08:00

This year Alex wanted to go out as a Mime. His Idea, really. Laurie did an excellent job of making his plan a reality, and I got to escort a really quiet kid around the neighborhood. His costume received a lot of praise from the neighbors, and his mime-ish antics earned him a few laughs and some extra treats. I hope everyone had a great Halloween this year!

Old Stone Age

2006-10-25T06:58:00.000-07:00

Alex had to make a diorama for his Social Studies class. They're studying Stone Age culture . The students could choose a scene from either the Old Stone Age or the New Stone Age (differentiated by a change from hunter/gatherer to farming/settlement). Alex chose an Old Stone Age setting. Laurie and I helped with supplies, but Alex did all of the work. His project was so well received that his teacher, Mrs. Bell, offered to buy it from him so she could show it to next year's class as an example of what the assignment should look like when completed. Way to go, Alex!

Old Stone Age
A Project by Alex Seubert

In my diorama Chiefette (the woman) is picking berries out of a small bush. Chiefy Jr. (the boy) is just waking up in a buffalo skin tent, to a fresh pile of meat. Chief (near left) and Ryan the temp (far left) have just killed a buffalo to last for two days. The sun is just peeking out of the clouds. The buffalo are roaming on the nearby hills.

Life would be tough for these people because they don’t have the right clothes, food, shelter, or medical care so they don’t live as long. Also, if one of them dies it would be hard to get the right food or enough food. If they’re hunting, they can’t bring all the meat back at once so they may not get enough for everyone to share it equally.

Alex's Birthday

2006-10-16T18:18:00.000-07:00

Alex turned eleven on the 7th. We celebrated with an early dinner at the Longhorn Steakhouse and then with cake at home with friends and family. He received gifts of cash, clothing, gift cards, toys and a new bicycle. Happy Birthday Alex!

Beer & Movies

2006-10-16T18:04:00.000-07:00

Saturday night we had some friends over to eat take-outs (Chinese & Pizza! Yum!) and to drink beer and watch lame '50s horror flicks. This time around it was the 1959 classic, The Tingler, starring Vincent Price. The grown-ups enjoyed the camp, the kiddies thought it was lame. Vince was an excellent actor. He could make even the lamest dialogue sound natural and convincing. Now, if only we had joy buzzers built into our seats...

Hash

2006-09-10T08:28:00.000-07:00

I love hash with breakfast. A few more minutes on this side to get it good and crispy, then I'll flip it over and do the other side. Then we can eat. Yum!

More Baseball

2006-07-25T15:51:00.000-07:00

Alex was invited up to the Apponaug 10-year-old All Stars team, which entered into a double elimination playoff with five other teams. His team played four games: W-L-W-L.

In game three, Alex got to pitch for two and a half innings! His twenty-minute windups and viper strike delivery had the other team shaking in their cleats.

Laurie gives Alex a good-luck hug before the first game.

Yardwork

2006-06-15T07:38:00.000-07:00

Each year it seems that I battle my front lawn to a truce. Last year it gave up the ghost. My neighbor's lawns were coming in fine, mine was a wasteland of weeds and thatch. All I needed was to roll in a tire, a bathtub, and a few broken beer bottles and I could have applied for a federal superfund grant.

I opted for the retry. I got out my trusty leaf rake, and put in several hours of ab-strengthening hand blistering labor, followed by a dusting of seed. The results look favorable, especially after all of that glorious free water we had falling from the sky.

I took about eight trash barrels of weeds down to the compost pile at the end of our street

(Left side: What nature gave me this year. Right side: After the raking. Foreground: Old broken paving slates.)

I've taken a few days off from work this week, and have continued with some more yardwork. I replaced our splintered front walkway with new paving stones, found and repaired the French drain that keeps our back steps dry, and replanted the garden over Jimmy Hoffa. Wrong farm, fellas. (See all of that new grass left of my new walkway? I'll get to mow it soon! Oh, BOY!)

Baseball Season

2006-06-15T06:40:00.000-07:00

This year Alex moved up to the Majors, and ended up being the youngest (by a day) and the smallest (by a pound or two) kid on his team. They concluded the regular season with a 1-14 record.

He's been playing second base, and left- and center field. He's pulled off a spectacular catch or two, and has a good long throw. Due to his size he has a small strike zone, and is often walked to first. He only had one actual on-base hit this season. His other hits were fielded, thrown out at first, or inning ended (other runner out) before making it to first. But he was walked there many times, and brought home some runs.

All throughout the season you could hear his little voice piping out that he could pitch, and wondering if coach would try him out on the mound. Baseball politics gives the mound to older, bigger kids. Alex was way down the list for potential pitchers. Our second-to-last game was a forfeit (we didn't have enough players show, but opted to play for practice) so coach let him take the mound in the fifth inning. Alex struck out two. Our last game Alex pitched the last three (out of five) innings. Seven more strike-outs. I think he may have gone up a notch or two in some people's estimations.

During one game Alex, who is small for ten, got to share first base with Brandon, who is big for twelve.

Annie the Snake

2006-06-15T06:18:00.000-07:00

The other day (May 26), I was tending to some yardwork and spring cleaning. There was a small plank of wood under our park bench, and when I picked it up was startled by a small Garter Snake. "Whoa!" I exclaim. "Hey Alex, wanna see a snake?"

He comes running. "Can I pick it up?"

I give him the sideways glance of dubiousness, and ask him how he proposes to pick up the snake. He patiently explains exactly how an unknown snake should be apprehended, including the use of a stick to pin it down and the proper grip on its neck so it can't give you a bite.

"Watching much Jeff Corwin?" I ask.

"I pick up snakes at camp ALL the time."

I consider that there are no poisonous snakes native to Rhode Island. I look again, and this one definitely looks like a Garter Snake (like the one Laurie found in the laundry hamper one morning).

"OK, go for it."

Two shakes of a rattler's tail later and he's showing me the bottom side of the snake and pronouncing it a girl and its name will be "Annie the Snake."

I fetch my camera and grab a few pics (most of them auto-focused on everything but the snake) and then we let her go. She glides into the crack between the house and the front steps.

"That was cool," I say.

"Yeah," he concurs.

Christmas

2006-02-20T06:40:00.000-08:00

Wow!

So much time has slipped by, forgive the delay, please.

We had a lovely Christmas this year. Alex took in the usual haul, topped off by his own personal iPod Shuffle (with iDog attachment) and his own personal bow. What could be better?

There's also the joy of making holiday cookies, and getting them off the pan without a sand blaster.

Astronomy

2005-12-18T05:50:00.000-08:00

I'm one of those casual astronomers who loves to look at books** about the planets, stars, galaxies, etc., but who know the names and locations of very few of the visible constellations.

**(and the internet! Try http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html for the astronomy picture of the day!)

One of my favorite activities is looking for the visible planets and the moon. I get great satisfaction being able to look where I expect to find something, and saying "Yep, there it is."

I've got a small telescope, a 4" reflecting telescope from Edmund Scientifics called the Astroscan. It's very nice for very casual observation of things like the moon and the nearby planets. I've seen Jupiter's cloud bands and the four Galilean moons, and Saturn's rings.

One day, I tried to capture the moon with my Kodak digital camera by holding it up to the eyepiece. There's a small red LED on the camera that reflected into the image in an interesting way. I'm sure that most most backyard photoastronomers would groan at the interference, but I thought the effect was very "arty."

Here's also some pix of Alex helping me observe the transit of Venus on the morning of June 8, 2004. I didn't have the Kodak then, so the pix are courtesy of the camera in my PalmPilot.

In the picture of the Sun, Venus is the little black dot near the edge in the vicinity of 11:30. We projected the Sun's image through the telescope onto the piece of paper that Alex is holding.

Also, there's this picture of the October 27, 2004 Lunar eclipse I took with my PalmPilot held up to the eyepiece of the telescope. Wasn't there a Sox game on that night? I was too busy looking at the moon to notice... Lots of yelling in the neighborhood...

Someday, I hope to have the equipment to take some pictures of Jupiter and Saturn. The cameras that I have can't connect directly to the telescope that I have, and so I'm very limited as to what I can attempt to photograph.

But still, I do find satisfaction in what I can accomplish right now, which is more than the early astronomers could. Galileo didn't have any cameras.

Tree

2005-12-10T19:43:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, we had that horrible snow storm that went from snow to slush to rain to slush to sleet and back to snow again. I had to work until midnight, and wasn't able to shovel the driveway until later today. We had some very interesting clouds at sunset. These are to the east, lit by a sun peeking through a gap between the cloud cover and the western horizon. This effect lasted only a few minutes, but was pretty nifty while it lasted.

After Karate this morning I went down to Big John's tree farm (with Laurie's mother) to pick up our tree. The drive to and from the tree farm was an idyllic tour through a crystal wonderland. Our poor tree was plastered with frozen crust, and most of the snow clung to its branches throughout the cutting, dragging, baling and trunk-stuffing.

Laurie wanted to have it in the house for decorating as soon as possible. I recommended we leave it in the baled state until the snow within had melted out. We placed towels around the base to sop up the melt water as it dribbled out. Alas, Laurie felt that the snow would melt out quicker if we sprang the tree from its baling twine. My thought was that a baled tree would drip in a smaller area than a fully opened tree would. Laurie felt we could handle a little snow, so I tentatively sipped some twine...

SPROING! SPLAT!

"Well," she says, "we should get the dustpan and broom for all of that ice..."

"What do you mean 'We' Kimosabe?" I ask...

The next hour or so was spent collecting ice clumps and changing out towels as they became saturated, the soft and gentle sounds of indoor rain, the smell of pine...

I highly recommend the experience. Please try this out for yourself...

Later, after dinner, we got the lights on the tree, and began to hang our ornaments.

Burn

2005-12-10T19:36:00.000-08:00

Mr. Clumsy has yet again injured himself, this time an accident with microwaveable soup.

Fortunately, the burn was only first degree (no blisters). Laurie commented on how it looked like a shadow puppet of a bunny. I saw it differently.

Fishy

2005-12-10T19:22:00.000-08:00

Alex suffered the loss of his pet, Fishy, on November 30.

Fishy was a blue Siamese fighting fish, and he had lived with us for five years (as far back as Alex can remember). We've since learned that the life expectancy for these fish runs about two years, so we were fortunate to have Fishy with us for so long.

He is buried in our front garden, below Alex's bedroom window, in an instant coffee can.

Fishy has been replaced with three new fish, Fishy Junior (a greenish Siamese fighting fish), Jeff, and Junior.

Collectively, they are the three stooges, and they are now enjoying the Bikini Bottom tank that had been Fishy's home for so long.

Thanksgiving

2005-12-05T03:52:00.000-08:00

Alex had everyone in stitches when he asked if someone would pass the canberry sauce.

Here he is making the taters, and later Christine enjoys them!

Veteran's Day Weekend... At Disney!

2005-11-22T03:37:00.000-08:00

I finally made it to Disney!

Veteran's Day Weekend Laurie, Alex and I went down to Disney with Nannie, Papa, Uncle Jay and Aunt Christine. I was pretty impressed, mostly by the many little details they've snuck in. If you're just going there for the rides, you're missing so much!

We had tickets to all four parks, and a park hopper pass, so I could se a variety of stuff each day. I enjoyed the Animal Kingdom very much. Alas, the Haunted Mansion was closed for refurbishment. (Laurie says that gives us a reason to go back soon!)

2005-11-05T16:43:00.000-08:00

Today, after Karate, we went down to Big John's to tag our Christmas tree. We've set our new family record for finding a tree: One minute. (And I feel pretty good that I was the one that said "how about this one?" )

While Mommy and Daddy wrestled with the grid mapping of our tree's location (and strapping on the tag), Alex found a little buddy in the grass.

Later, in keeping with established family tradition, we went to the Cracker Barrel for lunch, and stocked up on rustic knick-knacks for 'round the house.

-John

Hallowe'en

2005-11-02T03:29:00.000-08:00

We had a busy holiday weekend:

Friday night Alex had a "dance" at his school. At this age level it's lots of running and screaming. With a DJ. And snacks. For two hours. In costume.

Saturday we had dentist appointments, guitar lessons, and the Hallowe'en party at the YMCA. More running and screaming, with props and snacks.

Sunday there was a little league game (last of the season - until "winter league" sign-ups go around), swimming lessons at the YMCA, a Hallowe'en themed birthday party for our friend Dave's daughter Ava, who's now three, and finally Karate lessons and visiting with Nannie and Papa.

Monday, of course, was Hallowe'en, and we walked the neighborhood with Alex's friend Dakari, whose mother had to go to school that night. We trick-or-treated for about an hour and a half, and those grocery bags got half full of treats.

Alex designed the jack-o-lantern. Mommy enjoyed the seeds.

BOO!

-John

2005-10-23T08:40:00.000-07:00

I was going to use this location to post new happenings and photos, but my Aunt Sandy asked for updates on what was new with me and my family, so here's some stuff to cover the past few months:

In no particular order, and concentrating on my son Alex:

He plays baseball for the Apponaug Babe Ruth Baseball League (Cal Ripken Division)

He likes to ride his bicycle on our quiet dead-end street, and on longer jaunts with Dad

He recently celebrated his tenth birthday with a tie-dye t-shirt party at the YMCA

He flew a kite at the Connimicut Point Park on the Narragansett Bay

He visited the dinosaurs at the Roger Williams Park Zoo

He got all dressed up sharp for the first day of 5th Grade

He participated in a "Create your own Island" geography fair, and co-invented "Magma Island" with his classmates, including T-shirts, posters, pie charts, sports teams, transportation systems, maps, graphs, government, and national anthem. Wow!

He visited a fire house in Providence with his friend Keegan, whose grandfather is a retired fireman. There they were able to try on the (Heavy!) coats and boots, and were allowed to operate the ladder controls for Ladder Truck #7. We also got to take the truck for a ride aound the block!

He visited the Mystic Aquarium with his Parents and Grandparents

Some time in June we decided to repaint the house to match the new roof we had to buy because a winter storm had blown some shingles away. Laurie picked the colors and I climbed a lot of ladder. We're now 3/4 done painting, but you can't tell from the street that the back of the house is still blue. Isn't that a nice shade of raspberry?

Alex and I are now taking guitar lessons from a nice young man who plays in a Black Sabbath tribute band. I promise not to play at 78 speed. Alex is learning bits by Green Day, and I've got some Beatles and Emerson, Lake & Palmer to attempt competency at. We're both learning to master the 12-bar blues riff.

We also both take Karate; Alex is in a structured youth class with colored belts, and I'm in the adult areobics class which is good for saturating a t-shirt with sweat twice a week. The thumb I broke on Butchie's head last April is all better now.

Alex also swims weekly at the YMCA, where he has graduated from the "Shark" level of instruction, the highest level of instruction they have. We're deciding if we want to keep strapping on the fins and teeth each week, or be more diligent in attending the Family Swim hour. The paid-for nature of the lesson makes it more certain that we will attend, and I've been using the 45 minutes he's in the pool to work a round of Nautilus in the gym.

Futher updates as they come along, or as I think of other stuff to tell about.

(and as Blogger will allow: I've had the darnedest time getting all of these photos into one post)

-John

My first post to a new blog

2005-09-18T19:50:00.000-07:00

Just a test, mind you. To see if I can get this to work. Sophistication will come later, I'm sure. We'll see what happens. Meanwhile, here's a picture of me:

No comments allowed. Keep your smart remarks to yourself. Thank you.

About Me:Eagle Scout, Vigil Honor, BS in Business Administration. I've done some Theater in HS & College, and played a bunch of D&D & Traveller. I'm learning to play my Schecter 006 Elite, I've broken both thumbs and a toe learning Karate. I've backpacked 350 miles of the Appalachian Trail. I've backpacked the Gore Range trail in Colorado, and the High Uintas Trail in Utah. I served seven years on staff at the Yards Creek Scout Reservation. I've been to Disney World twice. I love tacos. I have no interest in organized sports, and fail to understand why anyone would be interested in watching other people play them. I've lost my religion, but not to the detriment of my upbringing. I have a collection of bread clips from the year I worked at Friendly's. I shop for scouting memorabilia on eBay. I love to look at stuff through my Astroscan telescope, but can name only a few constellations or stars. I can usually spot Venus through Saturn. I’ve only seen Mercury once that I can be sure of.