a day in the life of will.

here are some things that will has been up to lately.

kickin' back on a walk with mom and dad. (and yes, that is a lint roller that he is playing with. it's his new favorite toy--it goes wherever he goes. what can we say? we have a child who abhors lint.)

being a skeleton when he goes to bed. these pajamas help out in his bedtime routine, which is to recite to us the names of all of his bones. yeah, he's advanced for his age.

going shopping with dad. it's about time will started carrying his weight around here, so we make him carry the grocery bags.

sucking on his toes. beats having to wait to eat until we get where we're going.

Who is David Foster Wallace?

According to the Los Angeles Times book editor, DFW is "one of the most influential and innovative writers of the last 20 years."

So why I do care about that? Until this evening, I had never heard of such a man. Either I am totally clueless to influence and innovation, which is the most plausible answer, or the LAT book editor was using some hyperbole. Let me ask this. Have you ever heard of him?

I'm kinda curious to read his writing. His wikipedia page speaks pretty highly of him.

Again, so why do I care all of a sudden about David Foster Wallace? Well, according to I Write Like, my writing mimics Mr. DFW.

I read about this writing analyzing machine on the HuffPo and decided to try it out. I used some of my old writing from my original blog when I thought I might aspire to become a serious up-and-coming writer and took myself seriously, maybe too seriously, yes, too seriously. Then I put in multiple articles from my column in the Pacific Citizen, and to my dismay, most, if not all, of my writings popped up with I Write Like David Foster Wallace. When I put lighter, simpler stuff, a la this blog, I got a couple more DFW, a few Stephen Kings, and even a Dan Brown... (embarrassing, I know). But when I read that Obama's inauguration speech got him a DFW write-alike, no more was I so disappointed that I write like some obscure "genius"... (I was really hoping to get assigned with a Leo Tolstoy, my literary hero.)

So I guess my dreams of being the next great American writer will have to wait until another day. But in the mean time, go to I Write Like, and check out whose words yours resemble... Let me know, I'm curious.

Or if you'd rather, just enjoy some pictures of my son being whatever he wants to be... Which is usually straight-faced when the camera comes out...

TAR BALLS!

as we all know, this week as tar balls hit texas, it meant that every gulf state now has oil washing up on the shores. sad. i know. they even found oil in crab embryos in the Back Bay (not technically the gulf, but connected), which means that the oil has officially ruined sea life at every level of development now.

anyway, in light of the oil washing ashore. we thought we might go hunting for some tar balls today, A.K.A. liquid gold, black gold, etc.

instead, we found this little rascal. he thought it would be cool to walk around out at the beach and make dead serious faces at us. i think he succeeded.

he hasn't spent many of his days with sand between his toes, and i think he sorta hated it. i just hope he gets over it with time, because we will be spending plenty of time at the beach over the course of his lifetime.

as you can see. no tar balls at biloxi beach... just two parents and a son who aren't quite sure when the camera is going to take their picture.

so after our black gold/tar ball hunt turned up short. we decided to resurrect our new yorker spirits. and since their aren't many good brunching establishments, we opted to go antiquing...

and i must say. we definitely struck gold! check out these original F.W. Dixon Hardy Boys books...

so amazing. i used to read these with my dad as a kid. by that i mean, we would read the same books he read when he was a kid. however, his collection of Hardy Boys books have been split amongst my dad's brothers and presumably their sons too.

way back when, my dad and i looked all over to find more originals. i think we even went to a couple D.I.'s to look. and knowing my mom, maybe even Sam Weller's in Salt Lake, but my memories aren't that sharp. but i do remember, they are impossible to find. especially in large quantities. long story short, i know a gold mine when i see one when it comes to original HB collections. and speaking of collections, if anyone has a spare $895 for the COMPLETE set of F.W. Dixon's Hardy Boys with the original dust jackets, let me know, because it was also for sale where i picked up my newest six...

i also picked up these rad wide camera straps for $5 a pop. classically awesome. but i'm not sure which one is better:

option A?

or option B:? what do you vote for?

i almost wish i could put them both on at the same time. but i have to decide, because i'm pretty sure emily wants to put the other one on her point and shoot.... and i'm not sure if she's kidding. ;)

let freedom ring.

From the lakes of Minnesota,

to the hills of Tennessee.

Across the plains of Texas,

From sea to shining sea.

From Detroit down to Houston,

and from New York to L.A.

Well there's pride in every American heart,

and it's time we stand and say.

That I'm proud to be an American,

where at least I know I'm free.

And I won't forget the men who died,

who gave that right to me.

And I gladly stand up, next to you and defend her still today.

'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land,

God bless the U.S.A.

on this beautiful 4th of July, i'd like to announce our family's gratitude for an amazing country and keep in line with the Keesler AFB trends (remember the video from this night at the mardi gras ball?) by quoting a few special and meaningful lines from "I'm Proud to be an American." from the majestic hilltops of salt lake, to the oil-filled air of biloxi, to the buzzing new york city streets, to the sandy beaches of los angeles, we frandsens are proud to be americans!

in celebratory manner, our good friends, the olsens came to visit for the weekend. together we basked in the luxuries of living in a free country. this will be the olsens' last 4th of July in our great country before they head to the schnitzel and lederhosen land of Germany. we feel privileged that they would spend such an important weekend with us here in biloxi, ms. to express our brimming emotions of patriotism and friendship, we dedicate this movie to you, Olsens, and to you, USA.

total eclipse of my heart

A.MA.ZING.

last night, to celebrate the arrival of our friends mark and ashley, we got some babysitters and went to eclipse. emily and i were worried we may not get tickets, so we bought our 8:30 tickets at 1:15 pm. then, we were worried we may not get seats, so mark and i went 45 mins early to get it done.

much has been said on the world wide web about this movie saga. i will say this. best one yet. (although, that's not saying much either).

oh yeah. and we're totally team jacob. or at least i am...

when jacob said, "plus i'm way hotter," mark pulled a perfect george costanza and yelled "Amen!" to much applause and laughter. classic moment...

anyway. i can't wait to break the dawn.