i'm not sure how i missed this. he passed on july 7th. nothing confirmed, some say diabetes, some say cancer. maybe he'll finally get some much needed sleep. rest in peace.

if i were a rich man...

my life has been filled lately with news too big for the blogosphere at this point...so, instead, i'll relate an amusing conversation i had with a five year old last week.
ernie and i were fortunate enough to be the caretakers of a lovely five year old girl last weekend, while her mother (ernie's cousin) is in africa helping build houses in rawanda. her name is olivia, and she's quite precocious, and always witty. one of her favorite things to do while at our house (other than play with, or 'terrorize' our five month old hound dog) was to lounge around on the hammock in our back yard. one day, while her and i lounged on the hammock in the sun, she said the strangest thing to me.
olivia: 'can i ask you a question?'
me: 'sure'
olivia: 'why do you guys live in an apartment, if you're so rich?'
me: 'what??!, why do you think we're rich?'
olivia: 'well, you have a hammock, and a dog, and a shed, and you can watch movies in your back yard...' (back story, ernie and i occasionally borrow his projector from work and hang a sheet in our back yard and watch movies outside...while olivia was here, we watched 'mulan 2', and she loved being able to run in front of the screen and interact with the characters).
me: 'we're not rich, we're just fortunate.'
olivia: 'whatever'

it's funny to see your life through the eyes of a five year old...

it was an interesting day for us when we found at that our dog, could in fact, fly. 

just peachy

i suppose my favorite part of summer must be eating fresh peaches. unfortunately, i've recently discovered that peaches, at their ripest and juiciest perfection, do not commute well and bruise easily.