Bathis are for not boys
A few days ago, while waiting for me and the girls to get to the truck, my wife and son were having a conversation. He is getting to that age now and it makes sense to occupy him with talking rather than him overwhelming you with screaming.
So as Sandi was talking to him she mentioned to him that he needed to take a bath. He originally said not, then said that he wanted to take a bath. The he said one of the funniest things I have ever heard him saY:
"Bathis are for not boys. Bathis are for girls. Showers are for boys."
Yes, he knows the differences between showers and bathis. And he knows the difference between girls and boys.
And somehow he managed to equate boys with showers and girls with bathis'.
Of course he will not take a shower to save his life, but that is a different topic for another time and place. 
I have met my Sanjaya for 2008
And her name is Kristy Lee Cook.
This is going to be interesting this season. For two weeks now Kristy Lee Cook has blown it. Badly.
And she has been in the bottom two for both of those weeks. Yet she manages to come out of it unscathed.
Last week it was beating out David Hernandez. This week she beat out Amanda Overmeyer. When is this madness going to end?
Amanda is a great performer. She is bluesy and rockerish. And she had a terrible night this week.
Kristy Lee Cook on the other hand has a great audition and a great Hollywood week. But outside of that she has yet to show why she is in the top 12. This week was no exception.
Perhaps her run will come to an abrupt end next week? That is yet to be seen. But one thing is clear. Kristy Lee Cook has become this year's version of Sanjaya Malakar for me. And I hope that little situation ends sooner this year than it did last year.
KLC for the second week in a row
DISCLAIMER: I missed the first four performers and can only speak of their performances based on the run down at the end of the show.
Last night was an abysmal night for American Idol. The songs were rough, the theme (Beatles) was even rougher and the performers seemed to be completely out of sorts. While I thought David Archuleta, David Cook and Chikezie all did very well, the rest of the performances were just ok if not horrible.
Kristy Lee Cook, in my opinion, needs to go home this week. Her performance lacked everything a good performance has and her singing was awful. Amanda Overmeyer, a favorite of mine for a while, blew it hard. Michael Johns did a terrible job and Jason Castro stunk it up too.
The rest of the performers were just OK.
I am not sure if it was the stage, the music or the theme tonight but all of the singers just didn't bring it. I hope next week they will.
But for this week I think the three to watch for being in the bottom three are: Kristy Lee Cook, Amanda Overmeyer and Syesha Mercado.
The barber of WTF?
I have noticed, as of late, that my barber has been killing my cuts. He is kicking butt on my son's haircut. But when it comes to me he has lost his touch I think.
The worst part is that I have been going to this man for the last 20 years or so. That means that finding a new barber will feel like I am finding a new spouse. Or a new parent. We are tight.
But that does not supersede the fact that his role in my life is to cut my hair according to my wishes. My wishes have been, for the last 15 years or, to have my hair cut with a 000 blade in a fade on the sides with my top cut to about a half inch high. It resembles a flat top that has grown in and been trimmed cleanly. Sort of like this:
Except recently he has been cutting my hair like he did today. Like this:
What is that all about? Seriously, the first photo above was taken a few months ago. The cut was done by my barber's sister who also cuts in his shop. When I told her what I wanted she gave it to me without an issue.
But for some reason my barber cannot seem to get the concept of "straight up the sides like a fade". I want him to. So badly.
Because I cannot stand wearing a haircut that seems to take months to grow back (I know it is only going to be a couple of weeks, but it feels like forever). Worse yet I cannot stand sporting a do that I did not ask for. Or more importantly, I really do not like the fact that I am not wearing the haircut that asked for.
So I believe the time has come for me to start looking for a new barber. I don't want to do this, but I think I have to.
In the photos above, try your hardest to not focus on the multiple chins I am sporting. I didn't realize how fat my head really is until I saw those photos of myself.
A day at the Tech Museum of Innovation
I had the wonderful opportunity to join my wife and children on a homeschooler's field trip today. We went to the Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose.
Getting there was rather uneventful (save for us almost running out of gas AND not finding validated parking). However, once we got in the first thing I could think of was "Why had I not been here before?". The place is amazing. It is family friendly, homeschool friendly, group friendly. It is just a plain friendly place to go.
It is also very rich with technological history. There are references to Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard on the exterior walls of the building. There is mention of IBM, Adobe Systems, Apple and Microsoft everywhere and there are historical relics all over the place.
We stayed there for about two and a half hours and even at that there was almost another two hours that we could have stayed there. It was a great field trip.
On a side note, Sandi and I did notice that there were a lot of other kids there. I believe it was a "free" day where the museum does not charge admission fees. This meant that there were a whole lot of public school kids there along with us. What made them especially noticeable was their complete lack of courtesy and respect for others.
The homeschool kids we run with are remarkably well behaved and courteous. They use their manners, they respect their elders, the consider others first. The other kids... not so much. Which kind of makes me wonder what the benefit of public schooling really is?
Anyway, I have no desire to launch another debate on homeschooling versus public education. I know the details that make my decision very clear.
And besides, we get to go on some outrageous field trips. 
Dude, I was way off
Well, not really. But I was wrong.
I was almost certain Kristy Lee Cook's destruction of her performance was the wet sponge on the envelope of her demise. But it was not so.
No, instead America found that David Hernandez provided the appropriate amount of suck to be sent home. So there he stood on stage flanked by who I thought was being canned and Syesha Mercado (come on America, Syesha?). When Syesha was told to head back to the seats I just knew that Kristy Lee Cook was packing. She knew. David knew it.
Then Ryan did the unthinkable. He said the name "David Hernandez". And the sky fell.
Well, okay, maybe it was not that dramatic. But to me it was. I wanted to be right (I always want to be right) and all of a sudden I wasn't.
Worse yet is that I will need to wait an entire week before I get the chance to try to be right again.
But believe you me I will be putting every effort into being right next week. After all, absolutely nothing depends on it.
Goodbye Kristy Lee Cook
Oh yeah, she is the one. No, not the one. The one that is going home this week.
While I thought that Ramiele could have been the one to call it a week at American Idol, I was reminded that there could be worse performances when David Hernandez took the stage. Thinking that our male callboy was through with his stint, I was content to watch the rest of the show as a watchful spectator.
Until Kristy Lee Cook. She said in her short film before her performance that she was going to take a risk and make a country style song out of her performance. What she didn't say was that to her country style means sort of 1950's bluegrass fiddling type country.
That was just stupid. Not so much risky as just plain stupid.
And for that she is out of here. I think we all know it. I think she knows it.
Let's just see.
On a side note, I think David Archuleta fell from grace last night when he forgot his words. Come on dude. This is the big time. You have been wowing us since day one. What gives?
Chikezie, however, and David Cook rocked it hard for the boys. Chikezie reminded me of a Ruben Studdard with his outstanding performance, and David Cook finally showed that he can take the stage without his trusty guitar. Both are contenders for the crown if they can maintain that style of performance.
For the girls, Carly Smithson and Amanda Overmeyer tore it up from top to bottom, offering magnificent performances with a rocking hard style. I wish Amanda would enunciate a little more. But overall, I think she rocks.
Tonight should be interesting. But I think it will also be predictable. Goodbye Kristy Lee Cook.
