Posting for posterity… I do this a lot, actually…

That’s my dad.

Always posing with strange women… He loved (loves!) to wear his work uniform and get messy.

The upper left picture is from his many years as a clothes spokesperson for a group of stores here in Milwaukee. I think he qualifies for the Studmaster General Club.

OK, the real reason for posting this! As kids, we loved going down to Chicago for the photo shoots, and here I am in the upper left going to bat with Popster. Upper right: Chris, Dad, Nick, and Perry. Lower left: Perry in the classic striped suit coat (probably in the matching red pants, too). My brother David crying in my dad’s arms (what kinda glasses are those?). I’ve got my back to the camera, and Chris is laughing in the stroller. Hehe… Lower right: I remember ordering McD’s that day! And learning that they serve salads!

Thanks for joining me on memory lane…I’ll scan and post my modeling pics when I’m not up so late!

 Do I have theories?

To me, it’s more of an observation, and before I share this observation
of mine, a few obligatory starter points. This likely varies from
person to person, it may not apply all over, I do reference gender
roles, my approach is entirely heterosexual, and I’ll likely get
lambasted in the first reply, but I just want to share this and get feedback.

So we live in a world today where men are the initiators in personal
relationships, a setup that I’m aware of, getting familiar with, and
becoming comfortable with over time. Still nowhere near figuring it
out. As a guy, the first step is to express interest in a girl – in
some way, on a low level at first, I would hope.

The ball lands in the girl’s court. What to do? Is this really someone
I want to be with? Is it serious or can we just get to know each other
without leading him along? A harder question that girls will wrestle
with more than guys – what other options do I have? Unlike a guy, girls
tend to be sorting out the interest coming their way instead of
figuring out where to initiate. Which limits options at first, but as
far as I can tell, responding to attention has better odds!

Again, I’m not proposing changes to this, I’m observing. I think there are pluses and minuses to both sides. Here’s the rub.
The power dynamic switches sides frequently. The initiator. The
reciprocator. Back to the first side to decide if it’s a good idea to
continue. But that is held in check by the one who decides to continue
to reciprocate!

Basically, my outlook is that there’s a balance here. This was somehow supposed to make more sense.

Attracting young kids late at night.

[01:55] woa itschchelsea: hey

[01:55] Thoughtathat: [*] chelsea?

[01:55] woa itschchelsea: what?

[01:55] Thoughtathat: who is this?

[01:56] woa itschchelsea: amanda

[01:56] woa itschchelsea: but im on my friends sn

[01:56] Thoughtathat: oh…

[01:58] woa itschchelsea: i totally adore you

[01:58] Thoughtathat: blah

[01:59] woa itschchelsea: what?

[01:59] woa itschchelsea: bahhhhh bahhhh!!!!

[02:00] Thoughtathat: where did I just find myself….

[02:01] Thoughtathat: so where are you?

[02:01] woa itschchelsea: inside a sheeeeeeeep!!!

[02:01] Thoughtathat: nice

[02:01] woa itschchelsea: i know

[02:01] woa itschchelsea: lol

[02:01] woa itschchelsea: ur a total hotty

[02:01] Thoughtathat: is this a furry sheep?

[02:01] Thoughtathat: or is the outer coat gone for the summer?

[02:02] woa itschchelsea: no its a soft perty one

[02:02] Thoughtathat: are you going to call me?

[02:03] woa itschchelsea: uhh..no in ur dreams mister!

[02:03] Thoughtathat: what’s my name

[02:03] woa itschchelsea: idk

[02:03] Thoughtathat: guess again

[02:04] Thoughtathat: you get one more guess

[02:05] woa itschchelsea: whorish fag

[02:05] Thoughtathat: errrrrr

[02:05] Thoughtathat: a/s/l

[02:05] woa itschchelsea: 52454254jkbgf’

[02:05] Thoughtathat: sweet!

[02:05] Thoughtathat: a totally hottie

[02:06] woa itschchelsea: or course!!

[02:06] Thoughtathat: is this [*]‘s computer?

[02:06] woa itschchelsea: yeaaa

[02:06] woa itschchelsea: //?

[02:06] Thoughtathat: [*]‘s?

[02:07] Thoughtathat: ok, let me guess

[02:07] woa itschchelsea: sobby bang bng

[02:07] Thoughtathat: you’re underage and drunk

[02:07] Thoughtathat: you went to Xanga.com

[02:07] Thoughtathat: clicked on recently updated

[02:07] woa itschchelsea: cchoo train

[02:07] Thoughtathat: and found mine

Long
work day today – I ended up literally moving a million pounds of
compost around waiting to see how my evening would pan out…but I’m so
tired! I have a trip to Appleton to make in the morning.

Oh, but the compost. It’s so much fun with diesel equipment! I was
tearing it up – you have to turn a compost pile over periodically, and
it was long overdue. The middle was getting incredibly hot – to the
point that it kills off the microorganisms that do the decomposing.
Ours is like a municipality’s pile – many, many truckloads worth. But
it saves us money to compost debris versus landfilling it, and I feel
better about doing that.

Yesterday, there was a plane collision in Saskatchewan that involved
stunt pilots Matt and I saw last summer at the EAA Air Show in Oshkosh,
WI. I can’t imagine what the family felt like watching it take place…

News Story

Website of the stunt team.
These guys were the stars of the show with an amazing jet-powered truck
with 25,000 hp – it lined up with a bi-plane and broke 300 mph in a
half mile, passing the plane before it had to stop at the end of the
runway.

I love my sisters.

They took turns being behind the camera…it was hilarious… Followed
up by “spin me around…play a song on the piano…” you know how it
goes.

Oh, how’s the wall color? I’m digging it myself…

So much to update about…

I spent the morning with my little brother Joe, counseling him on how
to woo women with instant messaging. Well, at least the love of his
life. First and only lesson: it’s all about HER.

Matt and I are thinking of seeing Jeff Deyo of SonicFlood fame in West Bend on Saturday. Any takers?

I’m thinking of going to Scafidi’s tonight for pool with Chris and
Chris and Chris’s girlfriend since they’re back in town for 2 days. Any
takers?

Oh, and I didn’t turn on my PocketPC so it forgot all its settings.
Good thing I believe in backups. OK! Back to paperwork on this
much-needed rain day.

If folks could share the love, my Chi Alpha homie
just opened a Xanga account after I told him that he should comment!

For anyone else out there – Xanga is free! You can pay for premium, but
it costs you nothing to have a site or make comments.

The Summerfest run-down with the best moments:

Death Cab for Cutie – being the oldest person at the concert (besides the journalist doing the review for the newspaper)

Kenny Wayne Shepherd – watching the man tear up the guitar with one hand

The Donnas – realizing they a chick band then rocking out solidly

AlterBridge – being asked by a 16-year-old girl (so she said) to buy her beer…mmm…beer…no

Whitesnake - being the youngest person at the concert

Isaac Hayes – being the most cracker-ish person at the concert plus his warbling monologue on how to treat a lady