Coolest Car on the Planet

No, it's not the Delorean I dreamed of owning, but it's still pretty darn neat.

The Toyota Hybrid Prius. I get more compliments and comments about this car then any vehicle I've ever owned (even my Katana, which was my 2nd most favorite ride).

"Do you really get 60 MPG in that thing?" No, somewhere between 48 and 55 MPG.

"I heard you have to replace the batteries in those things every 4 years." I heard that, too. I'll let you know in another 2 years.

"Does that thing go faster than 55 MPH?" Yes, but I seldom drive above 65 MPH. My wife is a lead-foot, however, and has had it well over 70.

"I heard those things were bad for the environment, because of all the strip-mining they have to do for all that nickel that goes in those batteries." Really? It's a good thing I'm not an enviromentalist-whacko. I might never have bought one. Then I'd be spending a lot more money on gas tank fill-ups.

"Can you fit all the kids in there?" Yes, but we have an enviromentally unfriendly minivan, which we usually use for family stuff.

"It's not exactly a jaguar, is it? Bet you haven't gotten a hand-job in it." No comment.

The Ways of the Force

I have something here for you. Your father wanted you to have this when you were old enough, but your uncle wouldn't allow it. He feared you might follow old Obi-Wan on some damn fool idealistic crusade like your father did. It's your father's lightsaber. This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or as random as a blaster, but an elegant weapon for a more civilized age. For over a thousand generations, the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic. Before the dark times, before the Empire.

Ready? One, two, three ... Grimace!

Why is it that most photographers, when taking a picture of someone else, ask their subject to smile? And then the subject has to hold the pose, and wait, and wait, and wait for the shutter to snap. The photographer is never happy, of course, with that first smile. "No, not like that. Smile like it's your Birthday. Big smiles. Big, big! Show me your teeth. No, don't grimace at me ... SMILE!"

Not me, not ever. I hate those canned smiles. I much prefer catching someone in the "act" of just being themselves. Even, and perhaps especially, when they are not smiling.

But my kids, so conditioned by hearing other photographers telling them to "smile", they just do it instinctively, whenever someone is pointing a camera in their direction. It's a habit I'm trying to break them of.

Smile when you're happy, not when someone is pointing a camera lens at you.

Wiped Out

I know what you mean, kid. There are days that just wipe me out, too.

What Do You Want to be When You Grow Up?

Mom: So Julian, what do you want to be when you grow up?

Julian: Mom, I'm only 9 years old. I'm just a kid. I don't know what I want to be when I grow up yet.

Mom: Ok.

Time passes.

Julian: Mom, I think I might want to be a marine when I grow up.

Mom: A marine? How come?

Julian: So I can help protect my country.

Mom: Well, do you want to be a marine with a gun in a battlefield, or to do you want to be one of the generals making all the plans.

Julian: I think maybe a general ...

Mom: Well you have to get really good grades in school, then go to officer's training and the military academy. You know, you might not be able to be a marine because you're going to be so tall. They told grandpa he couldn't join the marines because he was so tall.

Julian: Really?

Mom: Yes, but he helped defend our country in other ways.

Julian: How?

Mom: He went to college, became really smart, and then helped pioneer the development of aircraft radar, which the military installed on those big AWAC planes.

Julian: Oh.

Time passes.

Julian: I think I want to be a marine.