Monkeys Monkeys Everywhere

We (the kids and Daddy) had yet another great weekend together last weekend, even though Daddy did not do such a great job of capturing the fun and frivolity on camera - oops, my bad!
Nevertheless, we did a lot of our usual things: we went to the Sensory Gym on Saturday morning and while Zach was busy running, jumping and climbing, Miranda and Daddy went to our cookie meeting to hear the message and see all of our friends.

Saturday afternoon we went to a party at our friend Yvonne's house and played with her kitties and made sculptures out of Playdoh and colorful fuzzy pipe cleaners - what fun! We even played some card games (Daddy won $3).
We had some yummy snacks and even watched some of our new favorite shows on TV. Zach curled up on a big comfy chair when he needed a break from all of the excitement.





































On Sunday we went to the horseback riding place for Zachy's session, which went great - he got right up on the horse and talked happily the whole time. Miranda got her usual lollipop (the kind that is bigger than her head) and a good time was had by all.

Not much more to add - just counting down the days until our next installment of Monkeyshines.

Just Another Technology Harangue

So I was sitting in front of the boob-tube the other night (that's the "telly" to some of you) - you know - just kind of flipping around through the 1000 or so levels of Hell that Time Warner provides for me, and I couldn't help but notice what I'll call an unfortunate theme: technology as the solution to all problems. Before I proceed, I should explain a little something about my viewing and content selection habits. I tend to watch a lot of science fiction and fantasy because I am interested in "the human condition" and I find that these shows, movies or programs often provide the best commentary on what it is to be human. Perhaps this is because, once the "normal" milieu has been stripped away, and the characters are in another time, space, dimension and/or reality, the only familiar point of reference that remains is the human. Oh yeah - I also watch because there are almost always incredibly hot alien babes in spandex - a nice bonus.

Back to the point: I was watching Stargate Atlantis (this is the one without MacGyver, though he sometimes makes a cameo) and the plot was the usual fare: a bunch of roving meanies from another galaxy show up like a bounced check, bent on domination or destruction or the like, and the heroic humans have to manipulate the available technology in such a way as to solve the problem, usually driving the bad guys into a collapsing black hole or other convenient astrophysical phenomenon - always just in the nick of time. The metaphor that is used for technology is what caused the audible "click" in my brain - the "click" that resulted in the formation of a hypothesis, which resulted in some research (channel-surfing), which in turn resulted in this post. The metaphor was that of the ubiquitous Dell laptop computer (I know they're Dells by the shape of the logo, even though they removed the lettering for the show).

As I watched, our heroes plugged their laptops into a 10,000 year old piece of alien hardware, activated it, and saved the day - hmmn? It was a good thing that these aliens were using standard USB ports 10,000 years ago, a good thing that the powercells still held a charge (unlike my relatively new cell phone), a good thing that these aliens were using a mathematical system based on 10's, 120 volt electrical systems, and Microsoft compatible operating systems. A good thing that these aliens spoke English. The list goes on. I mean Jeeeez! Most people can't even get their hardware to work if they go to Europe, much less the Pegasus Galaxy. But the most perplexing thing was that the heroes did not have to really "do" anything. They didn't have to run, jump or climb anything. They didn't have to brave harsh environmental conditions. They didn't have to question their beliefs or sacrifice the lives any of their comrades. Heck, they didn't even miss breakfast or dirty their spiffy matching uniforms.

So I flipped the channel, still considering what I had seen, and found myself watching CSI Boise (I wasn't really paying attention to what city it was, and didn't really much care - they all kind of look the same to me). In this drama, the laptops were plugged into microscopes, spectrometers, coffee makers, etc. And again, the heroes didn't really have to do anything, save hitting a few keys on their laptops to cross-index a DNA sample with a pollen grain from a dendroseris neriifolia with the tread print from a pair of 1970's era Adidas sneakers (originally sold in Red China). No doughnuts, no stakeouts, no exhausting rounds of interviewing witnesses. Just an impossibly clean laboratory full of exotic (but largely useless) glassware, lasers (there have to be lasers - right?) and of course plenty of laptop computers. I flipped on.

I found an "end of the world" movie in which a gigantic earthquake spelled doom for us all and, of course, a team of impossibly attractive scientists sat in front of their laptops in a mission-control type room, advising the President on exactly where the atomic bombs would have to be detonated to save the world.

Two asides here: 1) are atom bombs now a good thing and should we be grateful that we have them? and 2) how come (Barack Obama and Hillary notwithstanding) there is always a black guy or a woman president in the White House, when a giant meteor is about to hit New York?

I wondered who writes the software that these laptops are running - Adobe Earthquake 3.0? Sun Mirosystems Nuke-O-Matic 2.7? Oracle Plate Tectonics Wizzard (still in Beta)? It's pretty absurd when you really think about it. I mean, I'm all for suspending disbelief and all, but it is everywhere in our culture! When we look at schools for Zach, the tour-givers always brag about the fact that there is a computer in each classroom, or that they have a computer lab - as if that means that he will get a "real" education there, or that these machines will somehow cure his autism. Window dressing - nothing more.

I wont bore you with the rest of my surfing (research) but be assured I encountered plenty more of the same. It would have seemed that my initial hypothesis had been confirmed... until I got around to Battlestar Galactica - let me elaborate. The refreshing thing about this show is that nothing works! The Galactica is a totally out of date, barely space-worthy ship that was being turned into a museum when the Cylons (the bad guys) attacked. The paint is peeling, it is filthy and rusted (inside and out), the lights don't work so well, they actually use big f@cking old-school phones (with cords) to talk to other parts of the ship, the bathrooms are small, cramped and kind of disgusting, the food sucks, and people die ignoble deaths - everything is broken! It is all very human. Yeah there are some computers, but most of the time a human has to go and physically do what ever needs to be done. The plot is about humans - humans facing their fears, dealing with their flaws and defects, overcoming their prejudices, helping each other through hard times and clinging to hope and their faith under impossible conditions. Humans: no laptops required.

Poem For Zach's School

In honor of Autism Awareness Month, the parents of all the kids in Zach's class at school were asked to send a favorite picture of their child and to write some nice things. These were to be included on a bulletin board, outside the classroom, that Zach's teacher was making.
I didn't really know what to write, so I wrote a poem (one of many that I write about the kids - it is great therapy). Anyway, the social worker at the school made such a big deal out of it on the phone with me the other day, that I decided to share it, so here it is:

Zechariah “Bumble-bee” Miller

Zach wakes in the morning, and I know –

even from the other room, I know –

for I hear his daily song begin:

a rhythmic commotion.

He hoots and hums, chirps and babbles –

he is melody in perpetual motion

His funny deep chuckle makes me sure,

that he is much bigger on the inside than the out.

He loves music, cuddles, tickles, slapstick,

spinning, swinging, climbing to the sky –

He is so hardworking, yet so silly –

a curious, goofy little guy

And sometimes Zach is a mystery –

when he goes to that place where no one can follow –

he lines up his cars and fades deep inside himself.

I stand watching, wondering, worrying…

Then, he stops and grabs me by the chin and,

looks me right in the eye, from mere inches, as if to say:

“I’m right here dad… I’m never that far away…

I just hear a different drummer” –

and almost – almost – as soon as it begins,

the moment slips away... but there’s that glimmer...

Zach loves counting numbers and his ABC’s –

gears, wheels, springs and spinning things,

he plugs his ears, he laughs, he talks, he sings –

He’s a puzzle piece, my pride and joy…

He is loving and patient, smart and kind –

Zach is my perfect little boy.

Gumball Anyone?

1971 was a notable year for many reasons: It was my first full year living in Pittsburgh (Mt. Lebanon actually), The 26th amendment lowered the voting age from 21 to 18 (I was 6), Walt Disney World opened that October 1^st (we went a couple of years later), Lieutenant William Calley was found guilty in the My Lai Massacre and President Nixon vowed to end US involvement in Vietnam. Charles Manson was sentenced to death (we're still waiting, but the swastika he has since carved into his forehead has been a nice touch), All in the Family, and The Electric Company premiered on television, Muhammad Ali was cleared of draft dodging and soon after Joe Frazier beat Ali in 15 rounds - each received 3.5 million. Sadly, the San Francisco Giants beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 5 to 4 in the National League, but astronauts drove on the moon in a lunar buggy. A largely unknown company called Intel invented the 4004 microprocessor. Soft contact lenses (actually invented in 1962) received FDA approval. Soviet dissident Andrei Solzhenitsyn received the Nobel Prize for literature. The Supreme Court upheld a measure to bus children in order to enforce integration in schools (which did not affect us at all). Idi Amin overthrew Ugandan president Milton Obote (ushering in all the fun that followed there). Joy To The World by Three Dog Night was the number one song of the year, and I listened by tuning in to KDKA and 13Q on my AM clock/radio. It was also during that hot summer, made happily endless by the skewed time-sense of the very young, that my love affair (an affair that continues to the present) with the common gumball machine began, during trips with my mother to the local Kroger.

The Greek mathematician Hero of Alexandria is the first known inventor of a vending machine, and in 215 BC he invented a machine that dispensed holy water in Egyptian temples. The first commercial coin-operated vending machines were introduced in London in the early 1880s - they dispensed post cards. In 1888, the Thomas Adams Gum Company introduced the very first vending machines to the United States. These machines were installed on the elevated subway platforms in New York City and sold Tutti-Fruiti gum. In 1897, the Pulver Manufacturing Company added animated figures to it's gum machines as an added attraction. The round candy coated gumball and gumball (vending) machines that we know today were introduced in 1907. Vending machines soon offered everything including; cigars, postcards, stamps, etc. In Philadelphia, a completely coin-operated restaurant called Horn &Hardart was opened in 1902 and stayed opened until 1962 (damn! – I missed out on that one).

The grocery trips with mom were an exercise in minimalism. Money was tight and both parents were strong advocates of what was perceived as healthy eating at the time. Eggs and liver (we hadn't heard of cholesterol yet) were on the menu, but any kind of cereal that didn't taste like bark mulch or packing material was not on the menu. Soda was something that existed at other kids' houses not ours, but we could occasionally coax some Tang into the shopping cart because the astronauts drank it! Snacks consisted of bagged apples and bread & butter (purchased in economy sized tubs - tubs that were carefully washed, filled with left-overs and archived anonymously in the freezer). Mostly it was a voyeuristic experience, passing isles of brightly colored Hostess and Frito Lay products, as mom tsk-tsk'd and clicked her little red plastic tallying device that she used to stay within budget.

The payoff (if we were lucky and the budgetary limits had not been exceeded) came at the very end of the excursion when, after begging some coins from mom, we ran to the exit vestibule where eight or so vending machines were anchored in a two-tiered arrangement. Inside the glass globes were... possibilities... treasures... adventures perhaps. Jawbreakers, die cast jewelry, parachute guys, high-bouncing rubber balls, and GUMBALLS! The lower tier of machines consumed nickels and dimes, but the good stuff, the most coveted booty resided in the upper tier and cost a whole quarter - half the price of a gallon of gas at the time. We were relegated to the lower tier (and were grateful enough to get that) but I remember swearing solemn oaths that someday (when I was rich) I would buy all of those things that I didn't get when I was young.

Zach and Miranda seem to have developed the same fascination with these machines as I had so many years ago. Although there are no Krogers in Brooklyn, these ubiquitous devices appear in front of most delis (we know where to look). And although I don't let them buy the gumballs (mostly because I am afraid they will choke on them), we have great fun pointing to the exact prize we want, putting quarters in these machines (gas is now well over $3 per gallon), turning the handle, wondering why we didn't get what we pointed at, but hoarding our treasures anyway. Zach usually goes for a superball, while Miranda has been collecting the tiny trolls that come in the little plastic eggs produced in some factory in China. We have accumulated quite a trove!

I guess the lesson that I can take from this rumination, as I sit mired in economic insecurity, is the fact that I am truly rich today, by at least one measure, even if it is only the financial yardstick created by a six year old boy in 1971 western Pennsylvania. Hooray for me!

Easter Fun Monkeyshines

Zach has begun spelling lately, so I went out and bought a pack of poster letters for us to work together with. We were in the midst of our Easter preparations, when I looked down at the floor and Zach had spelled "fun" - hopefully this was commentary on his part.
We went over to McKinley Park on Saturday for the big egg-hunt being held there. Although the moon-walk was great fun, the kids were mostly just glad to get back on the swings.

Both kids showed extraordinary patience waiting for the hunt to start. Zach ran on the grass and rolled down the hill.

He even found a friend to climb a tree with.
























At last all the eggs were "hidden" in plain sight on the grass, and it was time to start!

Miranda supervises the dying of the eggs (Zach was in charge of putting the stickers on the eggs)

After dying our eggs, it was time to invent games to play with them - after all we play with our food here in the good ole' US of A!

Miranda poses with her Easter Basket - she looked everywhere, but the only sign of the Easter Bunny was the half eated carrot we left out for him.

Zach stacks blocks in imitation of his Leapfrog video.

Miranda creates a living space for her Polly Pockets.

All in all, it was a fantastic holiday weekend - many good memories were created and a good time was had by all! Keep tuning in for more Monkeyshines.

After 5 1/2 Years

Warning: This one may bring a tear to the eye.

I was pushing Zach and Miranda up 75th Street towards McKinley Park on Saturday, so that we could go on the big Easter egg hunt that was been held by our local state senator, and the most amazing thing happened...

Zach, who was standing in the back of the stroller facing forward (doing a little happy dance, hopping from one foot to the other, because he knew we were going to the park) turned around, looked me right in the eye and said (actually said!) "I love you."

Zach has some words, can label objects and is able to make simple requests, but it was the first time he has ever said anything about how he was feeling to me, and it was the one thing that I've waited five and a half years to hear and to know and to savor! I love you too Bumble Bee!

Spring Has Sprung

Even though today is the first day of Spring, I noticed the first red robin of spring on my front lawn yesterday morning (apparently they didn't get the memo) - actually there were four of them. The trees are budding and all of my colleagues who suffer from allergies are hacking, wheezing and blowing snot in a most disgusting fashion. All of which means that the long New England winter has passed and summer is on the way.

I have the kids for a three-day weekend starting tomorrow, and plan to dye Easter eggs and do all that fun stuff. Hooray for us!

The Fat Lady Has Sung

The difficulties between Zach and Miranda's mother and I have, at long last, been resolved - and quite favorably to me by the way. Although I haven't published the entries (for obvious reasons), I have written extensively as this divorce fiasco has plodded along. Fortunately, Blogger has some features that are perfect for situations like this and the entries have all been saved in my archives with all the images and formatting, all post-able with a single mouse-click - cool huh? The reality is that I will not bother, as the therapy was in the writing not the posting and no good would be served. I will simply go back and reread them every now and then when I need to be reminded of where I came from.

To live only for some future goal is shallow. It’s the sides of the mountain that sustain life, not the top. ~ Robert M. Pirsig

Now it is time to pause and reflect - to "selah" (see my post of Friday, December 22, 2006 for the reference) if you will. Mostly, I am looking forward to rolling up my sleeves and raising me some kids.

Peace and love to all of you who have stood by me so loyally. Many thanks - Mark.

Blue Ribbon Bumble

Zach's principal informed us yesterday that Zach was nominated for the YAI Profiles of Excellence Award this year and has indeed won. This is an award that is given annually, to consumers / children in YAI programs, who have made significant strides and progress. This year there were 6 awards - four for adults and only 2 for children. His teacher Jessica nominated him.

Someone from YAI will be coming to the school to take some photos of Zach (and the proud parents) and perhaps ask us some questions. They may also be making a short video clip. This should take place on April 4th, 2008 at 10 am.

GO BUMBLEBEE!!!

Startling Likeness Methinks

About two weeks ago, Miranda did her first portrait of Daddy and I thought I'd share it with you all - I think it is amazing! Now, you may be wondering why I have four legs, and .... I don't know? It is an interesting peek into the mind of a three year old however.

Birthday Party Monkeyshines

This past weekend was witness to another action-packed episode of Monkeyshines. We did the usual Sensory Gym thing Saturday morning then went to a birthday party at our friends Sinead and Maisy's house. Miranda wore her pretty new pink party dress (she said that she looked like Cinderella) and Zach was a big hit with the other rugrats with his portable DVD player. We decorated party hats and played pin the tail on the unicorn.







On Sunday, we went horseback riding (Zachy rode Zippy, a huge horse) and then went swimming on Sunday evening at one of the local high schools. Sheesh! ... I'm getting tired just thinking about it.

Haircuts, Glasses, Etc.

This past week was kid maintenance week which meant haircuts for young Miss Miranda and also for shaggy young Master Zechariah. We went to the Mane Event and watched videos and played on the car-chairs while the offending locks were removed.


































































































After the haircutting extravaganza, we went over to 5th Avenue to have Zachy fitted for glasses - apparently he is far-sighted. He will look very distinguished in his new specs once he has adjusted and figured out how to wear them... and stops making goofy faces.

Deep Freeze Monkeyshines

These yummy pictures are from a couple of week ago durring a regularly scheduled episode of Monkeyshines. I still have several snowballs carefully preserved in my freezer, so I know that it wasn't just a pleasant dream.