It's Been A While

OK, so it has been just over 4 months since I last wrote a blog post. Here's a summary of what happened.

• After being out of work for month I got a job at a 3PL called Pro Star Logistics.
• I finished my yearly reading of Harry Potter.
  
• My new favorite currently running show "Once Upon a Time" premiered. (LOST is still my all time favorite show in case you were wondering)
  
• The 5th and Final Season of "Chuck" Premiered.
  
• We had a fun Halloween in which I dressed up as a member of The DHARMA Initiative, Alisa was a witch, Collin was a dinosaur coming out of an egg and Liam was a pea-pod.
• We had a fun Thanksgiving at Grandma Norberg's house and one at my in-law's house in Idaho.
• I began my yearly reading of The Lord of The Rings.
  
• We all celebrated Kari's return to her family.
• Season 19 of "The Amazing Race" concluded.
  
• The first season of "Terra Nova" concluded.
  
• Collin (or one of his little friends) threw something at my TV and cracked the screen causing an annoying black line that extends from the crack to the edge of the screen.
• We had a wonderful Christmas.
• 2011 ended.
  
• 2012 began.
  
• I began watching the 4th Season of "Merlin" via iTunes
  
• I lost my job at Pro Star and became unemployed again.
• "Alcatraz" premiered.
• Liam turned 1 year old.
  
• The 5th and Final Season of "Chuck" Concluded.
• Alisa and I started watching the show "Prison Break" on Netflix while up in Idaho and got ourselves hooked.
  
• I finished my yearly reading of The Lord of The Rings.
• Season 20 of "The Amazing Race" began.

So, that's about it. At the moment Alisa and I are waiting for the next few DVDs of "Prison Break" to arrive at the library but my main focus is job searching. Things are going pretty well. I have had several interviews and one coming up tomorrow and I'm actively networking. More posts soon.

Christmas Books

So, when it comes to reading I have certain traditions. Around Easter each year I read The Chronicles of Narnia. During the summer I read Harry Potter and around Christmas time I read The Lord of The Rings. Last year I also started reading some Christmasy type books during the month of December. During December 2008 I read several such as The Autobiography of Santa Claus by Jeff Guinn and The Lump of Coal by Lemony Snicket. I continued the tradition this year. Of the five I read this year my favorite was the wildly inappropriate yet ferociously funny The Stupidest Angel by Christopher Moore.

As for the rest of the books I read I have to ask: "What's the deal?" Why is it so many Christmas books have to be about someone (usually a parent) dying of cancer? Hello, can't we come up with something else to get people in the Spirit of Christmas? I gotta tell ya, 'twas a little depressing after a while. I had also checked out the book The Christmas Shoes but having heard the song it's based on I figured it would be in my best interest to skip that one and just go back to my beloved Lord of The Rings.

About Time

So, two years ago my sister Shanna (a.k.a. "The Cross Stitch Queen") made us a really beautiful cross stitch and gave it to us for Christmas. As much as we loved it we have never hung it up because its size was not one of the standard frame sizes so we knew we would need to get it custom framed. That can be expensive so it stayed rolled up in the top of Collin's closet. Anyway, this morning, Alisa surprised me with an early Christmas present. She had managed to finally get it framed (there was a sale). So, after two years of waiting we now have this lovely decoration up on the wall where it belongs.

On Fatherhood, Christmas Stockings and Talented Siblings

If I may, I should like to wax philosophical for a moment. I wish to address and attempt to answer the age old question: When does a man truly become a father? Does he become a father when his child is born? Is he a full fledged daddy when he changes his first ferociously rancid diaper? How about when he gets barfed on for the hundredth time or the first time his little spawn scratches his face and actually leaves a mark? None could deny that these are all important and defining moments in the development of fatherliness in a man's life. However, none of these truly represent the moment that a man ceases to merely be a male human who happens to have donated genetic material toward the production of a child and becomes a father. So, when does he become a father? Well, I will tell you. A man becomes a father when he receives a Christmas stocking that no longer bears his actual given name but that displays simply the word "Dad."I have a very talented sister. Actually, I have three talented sisters but at the moment I'm only talking about one of them. Last year my sister Shanna used her mad cross-stitching skills to make Collin a really beautiful Christmas stocking. This year, as a present to our family, she made stockings for Alisa and I as well. It was a very nice early Christmas present and one that Alisa and I both greatly appreciated. Thanks Shanna Banana wearing Purple Pajamas!

A Christmas Carol

This past weekend I went and saw the new computer animated Christmas Carol movie from Disney. Now, the last time I had seen a movie in 3D in a theatre it was when I saw Captain EO at Disneyland so I was pretty excited to go see this. Since it had been so long since I had experienced the whole "3D thing" I decided I needed to find the biggest movie screen I could. Therefore, I went and saw the movie at the IMAX Theatre at Jordan Commons. I did think the 3D was pretty cool even though it did give me a bit of a headache at times. I also noticed that if I tipped my head to the side that the picture became all blurry. It was especially cool on those shots were something appeared to actually come out of the screen. I also enjoyed the parts where you were flying through the city.
As for the movie itself; it was your pretty standard Christmas Carol adaptation and wasn't really much different from the dozens of other movie versions of Charles Dickens' classic tale. Most of the lines were directly from the book with no significant changes. The only thing that really made this one unique was the fun computer and 3D effects. Now, for those who might be considering bringing their young kids to this show, I would recommend that you don't. There is one somewhat disturbing and scary part associated with the Ghost of Christmas Present and the two little children "Ignorance and Want" that might be a little too much for younger kids. The Ghost of Christmas Past is also a little creepy. Anyway, if you're looking for a kind of fun Christmas movie (Yes, I said Christmas not Holiday. Take that Politically Correct establishment!!) than this is a pretty good one to go see.