I totally forgot both how good and how long the Iliad is... 

Studying Homer, Dante and a few things inbetween.  Looking forward to it.  It's amazing how much you forget in the 20 years since high school reading lists... 

I find that I really miss Cleveland, regardless of the fact that this is my first time staying in this city.

It seems to have more snow than I remember

And where are the Nutter Butters?

4th time watching it tonight.  Still have time for a couple more

Is it actually possible to watch this video too many times?

Air Supply - All out of Love

According to Asher, it is Pontius Pirate.  We're working on straightening it out, but for now...it's funny.  I know he doesn't translate this into Jesus walking the plank before the crucifxion (or anything remotely irreverent, per se), but it does make me giggle sometimes when we pray. 

He knows the word pirate.  He doesn't know that word Pilate (or pilot), apparently.  This is a little odd since I work with the airline industry.  I guess my long talks with him about the airline labor movement and NWA-DAL merger negotiations hasn't been sticking.  John Prater isn't nearly as exciting as Johnny Depp...

I consider this NSFW because I almost wet my pants laughing so hard....

There's not actually any offensive material, unless you're offended by very bad taste.

50 Worst Album Covers...

I totally want to hear the Little David Wilkins album (#18)

Someone at work printed up this Web page and left it in the tray, all afternoon.   I couldn't help but notice it.  I couldn't resist going to the site.

Can you believe how awesome this is?  It's a rock band comprised of a bunch of mimes.  But they sing....

Apparently they get trapped by invisible walls and do the moonwalk between acts.  Or something...  So bizarre.

I <3 the '60s

http://www.thecoolgroove.com/hello.html
(There is a YouTube clip at the bottom of the page.  It's fantastic!)

"Spring!" scoffed the old, German man, who works on the 4th floor.  "In the Old Country, we had a real spring."  He leaned on the railing and looked out at the few budding trees nearby.  "Here?  Spring is a like a beauiful lady, passing quickly with a smile.  It is a romance, you see.  We wait for her all year, in marvelous anticipation.  She never stays to pass the day."  A cold breeze came by, and he paused to light his smoke.  "Spring!  Bah!"

It seems to me that there are two main paths in the pursuit of happiness, albeit with complicated overlapping. The first being a pursuit of situations that cause you to feel happy. The other being a pursuit of finding happiness with your current situation. I’ve long considered myself to be entrenched in the latter, to varying degrees. I consider myself blessed to have the life that I live, but I’ve never been able to shake my fixation on the former.

I tend to require tasks and benchmarks of accomplishment to feel on track. Be it a writing project, adjustment to daily routine, greater financial discipline or any other goal, I always find myself not only focusing on nearly a dozen of these at any one time but also feeling guilty or unhappy about not having progressed on them at the pace I’d prefer. Though I am starting at a happy place and merely pursuing an enhancement of that happiness, I continuously fall into the trap of making myself unhappy about not being more accomplished in my happiness.

Sigh...

I started rebelling against this idiocy some time ago, but I’m only now becoming more consciously aware of the dilemma. My rebellion was starting to feel like the onset of laziness – of accepting lesser standards and failing. The emotional confusion of this all has largely contributed to my distractions and impulsiveness of late. I seriously feel like a happy person, who is also unhappy, rebelling toward accepting happiness but being unhappy about allowing myself to be happy. At the same time, it’s not a huge problem in my life because, in truth, I’m very happy. I’m just a little confused.

At this point, I think I just need to accept that pursuing growth and creating goals of accomplishment are wonderful and necessary parts of being who I am and advancing my life; however, when I fail or fall short or even lose interest, the worst place I’m falling back to is “being happy,” so it’s okay. I don’t have to fear becoming static or falling into a rut or losing the potential for growth. I don’t have to see these opportunities as deadlines. That’s an important thing for me to overcome. After all, the vast majority of these interests have the rest of my life to be realized.

So far, so good. Asher is absolutely enamored with his little sister.

Here’s our new beautiful baby girl!

Esmé Michaela Balmes
7 lbs. 10 oz. / 20”
10:59 p.m. February 1st

We just got back from the hospital a few hours ago. Asher is excited to have his sister home and has been eager to play with her. Esmé has been enjoying not being stuck with needles anymore. Mom is recovering well (and also happy not to be stuck with needles). Doing our best to settle in before the big game and looking forward to eating some real food.

We’ll upload the larger picture sets to the Kodak gallery soon and send that out when we have a chance.

Cheers!
Gabriel, Becca, Asher & Esmé