Monthly Archives: August 2007

Aug 22 2007
8 Comments
event

Tagline Writing Contest

My blog is having an identity crisis.

I was never happy with calling this site, Tim Elhajj. Although pragmatic, it seemed somewhat clumsy and unimaginative. I tried to spice it up with a silly tagline — “white boy with a funny last name” or “another happy parent blogging about his kids” — but ultimately these didn’t satisfy either.

My wife suggested the title, Present Tense, and I love it. Holly is great with titles. My big project for the past two years has been writing my memoir (which is in present tense), but the name goes further than that, capturing the satisfaction I feel writing about the kids, my favorite movies, or even technology and my own unfortunate decisions. So here’s to Holly Huckeba!

But now I need a tagline and I could use some help.

If you can think of a good tagline that goes with the title, First Person, Present Tense, pop it into a comment or send it to me. I’m all ears. I am game for almost anything, but the funny ones will get the most attention.

Tagged , ,
Aug 16 2007
Leave a comment
Uncategorized

Steps To Be Like Kennedy

4-29-2007 024

Three simple steps to be like Kennedy:

  1. Try to do everything perfectly with minimum input from adults, and then when things go less than perfectly (as we all know they must), you must ball your hands into fists, stalk stiff armed into the next room, and wail like a banshee.

  2. At four years old, you lie in bed scowling and miserable, and because your opinions about the world and yourself are formed primarily by the board books you read and the cartoons you watch, when your Daddy asks you how you feel, you tearfully answer, “I feel like a burglar, Daddy.“

  3. On daycare drop offs, your brother may cry but you do not; instead you walk away from your parents with hardly a glance back,  seeking out and immediately charming one of your adult teachers, making sure your needs are always met.

Tagged
Aug 15 2007
1 Comment
family

Pantyhose: Not As Easy As You Might Think

Last night during dress rehearsal for the play, I tried on a pair of tights and was astonished at how difficult it was. You have to sit down and really work one leg into them at a time. I suppose it doesn’t help that I am over two-hundred pounds.

Also, it’s not obvious how one is supposed to get the crotch of the tights to meet the crotch of the wearer. I found deep knee bends and karate kicks to be the most effective strategies. Meanwhile, tugging the waist band and lifting the crotch are futile endeavors.

Wearing tights makes you feel warm. It’s either that or it’s the level of exertion required to get the tights on that heats you up.

The tights I am wearing are borrowed, which also makes me feel uncomfortable. Here I am describing a feeling that goes beyond a saggy crotch and warm legs. I feel as if I am borrowing skivvies or using an old toothbrush. Should I spray these tights with some sort of antibacterial before I put them on?

Tagged , ,
Aug 09 2007
2 Comments
family

What’s So Hard About Acting?

The hardest part of acting is learning not to giggle.

The best part about acting is forgetting your cue and then glancing over at your nine-year old daughter who is raising one eyebrow and waiting patiently for you to deliver your line. Kennedy has actually memorized all of her lines, my lines, and Aaron’s lines, too.

After prayers last night I told her that she was my favorite actress and that I wouldn’t even consider another acting project unless she were in it. We have one more week to go before our performance next weekend. Rehearsals are grueling, but necessary.

I can’t wait until I have free time again.

Tagged ,
Aug 04 2007
3 Comments
movies

The Bourne Ultimatum

the_bourne_ultimatum_34.jpg

This is just a great movie.

It’s about redemption, but not just for Jason Bourne, an incredibly likeable assassin who discovered (in previous movies) that he has been turned into a killing machine by the government. Moreover, he has lost his taste for killing. In this movie, we discover his own complicity in the nasty business of turning himself into a killer. The movie doesn’t actually say, but one imagines it was September 11 that drove Bourne to such desperate measures. Now he’s sorry and wants to make up for it, indicting (but not killing!) all of the right wing loonies he’s been in bed with the past few years.

Bourne is an American everyman in a Post-Iraq-Goat-Rope-Brought-To-Us-By-Our-Paranoia world. In this movie, he has finally come around. Good for him.

Good for us.

Tagged
Aug 04 2007
3 Comments
family

Hood Canal Camping

7-30-2007 037

We went to the Hood Canal for an overnight camping weekend. The name sounds much worse than what it looks; this “canal” is actually a huge sea-water channel. Here it is pictured at low tide. And here are more pictures of us camping.

The kids did some clamming, which we’ve never done before, but is really popular in this part of the world. If you want a chuckle, Holly blogged about the aftermath of our clamming experience.