avablog

The trick is, you can’t really jump the shark if you were never The Fonz in the first place. I trust at least one of my readers will know what the hell I’m talking about. Fortunately, you don’t really have to know to enjoy this:

[Read more →]

Are you seeing the trend? Anyway, Kevin just informed me he’s been auditing the products from a new-to-him brewery in WI called Viking Brewing. Perusing their brew list, I knew right away it was the brewery for me when I spotted the following two offerings: Big Swede is a Swedish Imperial Stout brewed to the [...]

[Read more →]

My cool wife just sent me this link to a story about a photographic treasure trove. But the rolls turned out to be in remarkably good shape despite being almost untouched for 70 years. And so began a painstaking process of unfurling, scanning and trying to make sense of some 4,300 negatives taken by Robert [...]

[Read more →]

My new wetware pal Danny came to town over the weekend for a soggy, slightly chilly visit. We had a small grilling session at a nearby park on Saturday afternoon, which was lots of fun. Especially nice was that all the kids were in famous spirits; it would’ve been really nice to have had Danny”s [...]

[Read more →]

I’m not sure whether to be more astounded that this hit my gmail inbox or that someone’s still working the Nigerian scam. Either way, it gave me pause.

[Read more →]

Me again, unborn baby. I thought you might enjoy hearing a funny thing your mom said today. She and I were talking via IM about switching up our usual pizza night to accommodate the fact that I’ll be out of town on Thursday. Your mom’s been feeling frustrated lately with comments people have been making [...]

[Read more →]

On NPR this morning, they were covering reactions to President Obama’s recent trip to the Middle East. Most accounts consider it a disappointing visit. But I wondered at this effort to fit the square peg of Democracy into the round hole of thousands of years of theocracy and sectarian struggle.

[Read more →]

Hey there, unborn baby. This past weekend your mom and I spent some time getting your new room set up. Isn’t it weird to think there’s a special space just for you waiting out here? You’ll be in our room with us for a while, but eventually, these will be your digs: Your mom would [...]

[Read more →]

I hate it when I’m all ready to plow headlong into a story with snarky comments and exaggerated demonstrations of disgust/indignation, only to find that that it actually turns out to be genuinely heartwarming, albeit a bit weird. I breastfeed my dad As Georgia Browne breastfeeds her baby son Monty, nothing could seem more normal [...]

[Read more →]

Nice, mostly relaxing weekend at home. Here’s Ava as we prepared for our weekly walk downtown to coffee:

[Read more →]

We went on a family walk last night after work, which usually looks like Ava and Leah strolling down the street with a backwards-walking paparazzo in front of them. No matter. I can’t resist getting pictures of my girls!

[Read more →]

This is NOT a political blog. That said, we could use a few more citizens like this dude. Speak truth to “power,” brother! Story here.

[Read more →]

If you hated the Dallas thing I put up recently, don’t bother viewing this; you won’t get it.

[Read more →]

I was reading a magazine to Ava last night, and at one point, she stopped me and pointed to a word on the page. Then she started to sound out each letter. Leah walked into the room while this was going on, and with our encouragement, Ava finally read her word. It was pretty thrilling. [...]

[Read more →]

I cannot pretend to be offended by these ads. Young men are coarse, callow, emotional imbeciles with suicidal dietary habits. In other words, from a marketing perspective, these ads are perfection itself, practically verite. Meanwhile, if I put on my magic deconstructing spectacles, I can see neo-feminist subversion in these messages. Note the tagline of [...]

[Read more →]

We’re closing in on it, unborn baby. We had an appointment this morning, during which we heard your little heartbeat (it’s really not little, but it is rapid). The doctor also checked your mom’s cervix, which — gosh darn — looks to me just like all kinds of fun! I routinely think on the myriad [...]

[Read more →]

Alien hand syndrome masturbation “Don’t knock masturbation — it’s sex with someone I love.” –W. Allen ca. 1977

[Read more →]

Ava had Easter overload this past weekend. Her Grandma Georgie came down from Decorah with all sorts of fun plans, which included dyeing eggs and frosting cookies. On top of all that, the Easter Bunny dropped off a fun new pal for Ava. Meet “Pinky:” And a bonus shot of three generations of Miller/Klevar/Palmberg women:

[Read more →]

No? Pity. Let me help!

[Read more →]

There’s no way I could resist sharing this shot of Ava as an Easter greeting, even though it was taken in July last year.

[Read more →]