Our new niece Katelyn Dorothy arrived on Tuesday! She has many excited brothers, cousins, parents, aunts and uncles!!
Archive for February, 2008
Welcome Baby Kate :)
Sunday, February 24th, 2008Our Fort
Sunday, February 24th, 2008Jill was sitting by the heater reading today and asked me if I could make a fort. So I did!
In my youth I was an expert fort builder. I had a huge bunk bed I shared with my brother, and all three of us would spend hours making near-dark forts with tons of blankets, books, and pillows. Then we would spend more hours playing “groundhog”. Our forts were great for groundhogs, as they had three levels. Jill’s fort is nice and toasty as it traps most of the hot air from the heater.
Crocheted Friends
Tuesday, February 19th, 2008I have finally attempted the world of crocheted animals! i have some friends who are very good at it and I have been, I can admit it, jealous whenever I see their fabulous creations. So, I set out to learn this skill too, and here is what I came up with! Turtle and Wiener doggy 
Great Day
Wednesday, February 13th, 2008The weather today was awful. Cold, hard rain, and snow turning to slush and flooding. But I had a very good day. Jill had school cancelled so she stayed home and made a nice lunch and we had time to just hang out. I helped out at the Young Life office for an hour and felt like I helped a bit.
This afternoon was the Pioneer Girls’ Valentine Mother-Daughter… event. What girl can resist two whole tables piled with brownies, cookies, a chocolate fountain, candy, and muffins? And I was the ONLY man there. There were about 40 women in the same room… and me. So it was a bit weird, but fun at the same time. I definitely felt very manly. I was there to play guitar. They also read my bio out loud as they introduced me, which said:
Ben Holt is either a musical geek or a geeky musician. He teaches private guitar/bass lessons, designs websites, writes code for fun, and generally spends too much time on computers. He has a degree in music education. He teaches at his home in Boxborough and at a school in Marlborough. He has a good sense of humor and will laugh at just about anything, including himself. While popular with ladies of all ages due to his handsome appearance and suave demeanor, Ben is a one-woman kind of guy. He lives with his beautiful wife Jill (and two cats) in Boxborough. Jill works at a special education school in Chelmsford. She likes to craft and do wifely things that Ben can’t really understand.
I played before the event, just some stuff I made up on the spot. Then I played for the little girls as they sang “Shine Jesus Shine”. They sang great. Then Jill and I played a Third Day song, “I’ve Always Loved You”. It went great, and I required no amplification even though I brought it.
My sister-in-law Julie ran the event, and she gave a good little talk and paid me for playing. Everyone was very encouraging and said I played well and it sounded great. Jill said it sounded great too. One person said they liked my version better than Third Day’s, which was high praise!
Immediately after this Jill and I went to volleyball. There are normally two games that go on, the “recreational” one, and then another game with a bunch of more “serious” Chinese players. The Chinese are very good and I’ve always wanted a chance to play with them. Tonight I got to. We had too many people and they didn’t have enough. I don’t speak Chinese but they spoke a little English and so they could tell me where to stand.
Well, I did great. I had so much fun and felt like I actually contributed. The Chinese were friendly (especially this guy Lee who hi-fived everyone after every play). I was on the ground half the time and got comments like, “You saved the game”, “You’re so fast!”, “You are very swift”, “Nice play”, “We want him on our team”, and so on. They were constantly joking and laughing and we really had a lot of fun playing. I also have a ton of fun playing with the people Jill and I normally do, but this felt like a bit more my skill level – many people were better than me as well, especially at spiking, serving, and setting.
It was a good day because everything I did met with success!
Young Adult lit.
Tuesday, February 12th, 2008I am so in love with my class – Reading Interests of Young Adults – and have been enjoying my projects and research so much! I need to keep a log of various YA media and write reviews. In order to get a good variety I have been asking different teens I know for advice on books. One student brought me in some anime books, and i started reading one last night. It took me a while to figure out that it reads from back to front and right to left! Once i finally got it, i could actually read and understand it – hoping to finish it tonight! I need to do 35 reviews total (music, tv, books, etc) …anyone have recommendations?
Crohn’s
Tuesday, February 12th, 2008I have recently done some tests to follow up on general GI issues. The end result is that I have Crohn’s Disease! This just means that a certain part of the GI tract is inflamed and can flare up and cause discomfort now and then. For me it is a mild case, nothing that I need to take meds for or anything. I guess I am actually pleased with the news because for years I have had bouts of stomach cramps that I havn’t quite been able to explain. So, now I have a better idea of what is going on inside there and some things I can do to make it better.
Hilarious Japanese Training Video
Tuesday, February 5th, 2008I guarantee this will get stuck in your head… all day. Jill and I walked around the house tonight singing it to each other and giggling.
The Super Bowl & TV
Sunday, February 3rd, 2008Jill and I watched the Super Bowl tonight at home by ourselves. It was a very nice date; we got pizza and drank a beer together. I like spending time with Jill. I don’t care one bit about football. Not only is it a silly sport but the networks totally ruin it with dumb commercials, product placement all over the place, and ads for more TV shows.
I’ve never been much of a TV watcher. Sure, my siblings and I watched our share of movies and shows as a kid. But ever since I discovered the fun of gaming, I’ve been hooked. I’d rather play a game with graphics like this…
…than watch a TV show. Really. Here’s a couple reasons why:
1) Role playing games are like making your own TV show – you are the main character (even if the digital representation of your hero is an “@” symbol). Using your imagination is often more fun than mindlessly taking in what others have already imagined.
2) I don’t get interrupted every ten minutes by five minutes of people trying to sell me something I never want to buy, ever. Bud Light was already a disgusting beer, but it got mentioned tonight on the Super Bowl enough to really make me despise it. I’m not buying a $30,000 SUV, truck, or car. I’m not shopping at Victoria’s Secret because some model in lingerie tries to be seductive. Since I haven’t watched TV for so long, I couldn’t believe how annoying commercials really are. I hoped they’d be funny, but all I thought about was how invasive and disruptive they were. It made me want to NOT buy all the stuff they tried to sell me.
3) I don’t have to wait a week to find out what happens next.
4) I don’t have to feel guilty for watching all the filth that’s on TV. And yes, it’s filthy. “Viewer discretion is advised” was said about every show they advertised tonight! As people that choose what entertainment enters our houses, we should exercise the right to show discretion. Every show I’ve seen over the years seems to get progressively more sensuous, violent, and vulgar. Do we choose to acclimate ourselves each time we see more, or is there a limit somewhere? Hasn’t that line already been crossed? Isn’t it true that we don’t want to put our foot down because we LIKE what we see? The networks know a lot about people and what keeps their attention. It’s their job. It’s time we took responsibility and filter what we watch.
5) Have you ever watched something on TV and started to feel dizzy or disoriented? Video editors do everything they can to keep viewers interested and “tuned in”. Constantly changing camera angles and other similar techniques force your brain to re-adjust to what you are seeing, and consequently keeps you from changing the channel. This has gone way overboard. Watch five minutes of an old black and white TV show, and then watch five minutes of MTV. You will see instantly what the difference is.
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These are some of the reasons Jill and I got rid of our TV. We still have the capability to watch on the computer (for Jill), but I could easily not have any kind of TV and be happy.
The internet isn’t without its own set of filth and immorality, but at least you can easily avoid it. There are ads but you can block some of them and the other ones are mostly stupid and easily ignored. Also, gaming is just as addictive as TV and that’s an area where I tend to excess.
As for entertainment, I think I’ll play a board game with Jill instead of watching the Super Bowl next year
