Not sure why he didn't make it the first time.

But you can still vote Paul Konerko into the all star game by clicking here and voting him in in the final vote.

SIx words after a full day of work

I forgot how "real" labor feels.

Don't get me wrong I am not saying that what I usually do (teach the kids) isn't work. It not only is work, it is the most demanding (and rewarding) job I have ever had, It's just since 1992 when I graduated college all have my jobs have been office jobs with the exception of my work for the census last year, This summer I have contacted various agencies and have looked for summer employment. I have not had a great deal of success so far. Today I got a call at about 3:30 p.m. to work an 8 hour shift at a box factory. I worked 10 hours putting literally thousands of potential boxes in a box making machine. The work cycle was like this 1 to 1/2 hours of grueling backbreaking work followed by 1-2 minutes of adding fractions. I of course loved the fraction adding part. I would have done that for free,

If I survive the weekend I may get invited back next week to make more boxes. If that happens I will be glad for the chance to bring some money into the family and I also glad to be able to still do hard work as a man of my advanced years. But I will be especially glad that every hour and a half or so I can get paid to add fractions!

For more Six Word Saturday click here to head to Show My Face dot com.

Fragments, Photos, Tweets and Rants.

Yes you can sing my title to the tune of Head and Shoulders Knees and Toes if you want to. You got to know I will! That said, I have been blogging like crazy lately. I still have a lot to say and Friday Fragments is a great place to tie up loose ends

Fragment 1: I blogged earlier about former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich this week. Maybe I didn't mention that when he ran he said he was going to clean up corruption left in the wake of the previous governor. Now that George Ryan is in jail and Blago soon to join him I really like this new license plate and slogan proposal.

Fragment 2: I also have blogged some what inadvertently about the Pioneer Woman over the past two posts. They were really peripheral blink if you miss them comments beyond the main themes of the posts. It got me to thinking though that I do have a few pictures of her I wanted to post. Amy and the bigs went to a book store in Naperville this spring to get her new book.

She signed Spider Droid's book. and posed for these pictures.

She was impressed with his profound Lego skills. If I was The Next Big Thing on the Internet, I would have probably been "Next!" She, was incredibly gracious.

Fragment 3: As you may or may not know bad or inaccurate commercials drive me crazy. Today I was listening to Pandora while weeding the garden. (If you don't believe me check out this tweet.) A commercial for Lowe's came on and they said July 4th was finally here. That really ticked me off. (If you don't believe me check out this tweet.)

You see they Didn't say July 4th weekend was finally here. They made a single day into a season and then call the season by the day. This sort of thing really irks me, because making the day something it isn't, obscures what it is. In the Little House books, especially Little Town on the Prairie and Those Happy Golden Years, the 4th of July was a special day nestled in between 2 ordinary days. This gave it special meaning.

Our town's 4th of July fireworks were June 25th! 9 days before the actual event. Now they used to always have them the Saturday before the 4th, which I could understand. I even sort of got it when the 4th of July was on a Saturday, and they held the fire works the Saturday before. But 9 days? I mean they should have called them the Father's day fireworks since they were held closer to them, then the 4th of July. Many of the local area festivals which usually coincide with the 4th of July are ending on Sunday this year. I don't get it. The date has significance!

The timer just rang which means I have to stop this ranting and move on. (If you don't believe me check out this tweet.)


Fragment 4: I stole this picture along with the picture from Fragment 1 from the same Facebook account. I could type a lot more, but I think the picture speaks for itself.

Those are all the fragments I have for the time being. Click here to head back to Half Past Kissing Time for more Friday Fragments. (If you don't believe me, check out this tweet.)

The Next Big Thing on the Internet?!?

When I started this blogging adventure 2.5 years ago, I fully expected to be the next big thing on the internet. I didn't necessarily want to be. I just thought I was slated for fame. Now that it hasn't happened, I am not sure at all as to why not. Let's examine the package that is HomeSchoolDad.

1. I am young. (If 46 can be considered young.







2. I am vibrant (If taking 3 minutes to get off a couch can be considered vibrant.)







3. I am fun and exciting (I am actually fun and exciting. No, really.)







4. My children do things like this . . .




So, I don't understand with all that going for me, why I am not the next big thing on the internet. Maybe I should change my name to Ree and become the Pioneer Home School Dad?

Here is my first question for you. Why are you not the next big thing on the internet? Since an early age I have been a big fan of Steve Martin. It probably stems from watching him make balloon animals from unblown balloons on The Muppet Show. I memorized all of his stand up albums which are pure genius. I even love stuff I now disagree with. For example he once said:I believe that Ronald Reagan could make this country what it once was: A barren wasteland covered with ice. I love Ronald Reagan but that is classic misdirection and liberal or conservative, you have to admit: that's funny.

I say all this because I have been following Steve Martin's twitter feed. He has been doing this bluegrass thing and his new song about Paul Revere from the POV of his horse is lovely. If I ever had the chance to say something to Steve Martin, I would probably say something like, "Thank you for showing me that it was okay to view the world a little differently." This brings me to my second question for you: "If you got a chance to see a childhood (or adult idol )of yours, what would you say to him, her or it?"

So those are my two questions and I am sticking with them. For more of Thursday Two Questions click here.

Good Lorenzo Charles Reflection.

I was staying up late working on my other blog, tweeting and watching the White Sox lose yet another extra inning game when I saw a tweet from a former pastor of mine regarding this piece at SI.COM. For whatever reason I felt compelled to link it here.

Maybe it's because my last post here was about the NCAA tournament. Maybe because I remember the 1983 NCAA Finals very well because I graduated high school this year. Maybe it's because Lorenzo Charles was 47 and I'll turn 47 in a few months. Not sure exactly why I am sharing it here. But, like my pastor tweeted, it's a great article by a great sports writer. This is also a golden basketball moment . . .





My thoughts, condolences and prayers go out toLorenzo's friends and family.

Hopefully I'll post here again before another former pastor tweets about some sports moment. I was waiting to post until the Sox got rolling again. As Dr. Phil would ask "How is that working?"