My portrait

I've recently been doing a few different things online, making some changes. I left Twitter, for obvious reason, and instead made a profile on Bluesky. Along with a new profile, I figured I could use a new profile image. I asked my son, the resident artist, if he could make an image of me in his style. Here is what he came up with- and I love it! Is he way too generous with the hairline? Sure, but I'm willing to pretend its accurate...

A Big Thanksgiving

After having put in our time with my folks, we headed down to spend the rest of the weekend with Diana's family! We stayed with Mom and David, but made our way to Barbara and James' house for the big meal. James is quite the cook, so he whipped up some really great food for everyone. The weekend was filled with visiting family, catching up, and lots of laughs. The biggest challenge of going down there to visit is always convincing Ledge that he has to come home with us when it all over!

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A Small Thanksgiving

With everyone having plans for the Thanksgiving holiday, we weren't able to have a big get together with my side of the family. Well, we still found an evening to spend with my parents- Thanksgiving evening, in fact! The rest of the family wasn't able to come that day and was planning to see them later in the weekend, but our plans were to head down to South Bend for the weekend, so we had to get our time in while we could. My mom, as always, made us an amazing meal and gave us all tummy aches because we ate too much. Even still, it was nice to see them, as always!

Flick or Treat

After our epic trick or treating with the boy, we made our way back home and ordered some pizza from the local place. The boys were in no hurry to leave, so we filled our plates and went downstairs into my movie lair! I got to show it off to Adam. He actually lives in LA where the movies are made, so he appreciated my shrine to all things film. After telling him all about it when we came to visit him last year, he was very pleased to see it for himself in all its glory! (Aaron wasn't all that impressed, he's seen it many times before).

With it being Halloween, we had to pick a horror movie, of course. Everyone was down for some cheesy horror fun, so we watched Critters. The movie was surprisingly better than expected, throwing in random sci-fi elements, which of course I loved. After some good food and good laughs, it was time for them to pack it up and call it a night. We had a blast- we'll definitely have to do it again sometime soon!

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Trick or Treat Gang

It's Halloween! About a month ago my friend Adam said he was going to be in town for Halloween and asked if he could hang out with us for it. Of course! I talked to Aaron and invited him to join us as well, you know, make a whole party out of it.

That afternoon the boys came over, the boy got his alien costume on, the wife all set up to hand out candy, and the four of us went to mosey around the neighborhood and enjoy the holiday. I know I often talk about how much I love my small town, but this particular day was one of the best! The cool weather, the spooky time spirit, and the local kids wandering around getting candy all mixed together to create a perfect small-town evening! It genuinely felt like a scene out of a movie: the beautiful town, the kids in cute costumes, and a joyful fall scene. It hardly felt real- and what a perfect evening to share with my favorite people in the world!

Ledge stopped by each house, getting more and more candy, as he laughed and mingled with all the neighborhood kids along the way. The three of us following at a distance, laughing and commenting on the different costumes and decorations. I really was able to show off how great our little life is here.

The whole thing just really made me feel like I'm a middle-aged dad doing stereotypical dad stuff. I mean that in a good way! I've said it before and I'll say it again: I love this town!

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The Annual Boo Fest

One of Ledger's favorite traditions for Halloween is rewatching an old classic: Curious George: A Halloween Boo Fest!

When he was little this was his very favorite movie. He would often watch it twice in one day, just start it up again immediately after he finished it. As the town gets ready for the fall fest, the man in the yellow hat tells the story of a spooky scarecrow from the town's past called 'No Noggin'. Absolutely harmless but also adorable!

We all gathered in the living room for the special screening, popcorn and drinks ready to go. We accidentally forgot to watch it last year, so Ledge was champing at the bit to see it this year! The whole thing is actually quite delightful and cute- it's even got a few banger songs that were stuck in our heads for the next several days...

After a really fun night, the DVD goes back on the shelf. We will make sure we don't miss it next year!

BSG Con

It's been a few years since they held a Stargate convention, much to my despair, but I happened to notice a few months ago that instead they were holding a special convention for Battlestar Galactica. Now, I had never actually seen the show before, but I knew Jon absolutely loved it and was obsessed. So I had a little talk with him to see if he would be interested in attending the BSG Con in the fall, and he almost exploded with excitement at the very notion!

With our tickets purchased and our hotel room booked, I had some homework: I had to actually watch the show! Over the next month or so I made my way through the mini-series, 4 seasons, and 2 movies. After watching the first few episodes I am relieved to tell you that I totally loved it! What a relief, how much would it suck if I didn't like the show and still had to go to the BSG Convention and pretend like I did?

Finally, October came around and it was time to head off to Chicago for the weekend and nerd out! Jon picked me up and we made the long trip. We scored a pretty good hotel room at the hotel it was being held at, so that made it so much easier for the rest of the weekend. Before we could settle into our hotel, we got to attend a few events with the special guests who were there for the convention. Turns out it was basically every single main cast member of the show! It was awesome to see them in person and hear their great stories about their time on the show and what other projects they have been up to since then.

I know there are a ton of attendees who take this whole show and convention really seriously, but that's not how Jon and I do it. We are super laid back, attend the panels we want to, otherwise we wander around the merch room or wander down to the seven eleven and get a slurpee or something. 

That night we walked over to the bar and got some great Chicago style pizza and hung out. I wasn't able to stay up too late that night. All this messing around with my sleep schedule had me a bit loopy and I zonked out pretty quick. By morning we were both up and ready for some more Battlestar Galactica love!

After two full days emersed in all things BSG, it was time for us to pack up and go. We had a total blast- a chance to leave our family worries behind and just be really nerdy. I loved it!
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Moonlight Jack Returns!

Guess who's back! It's time for some Halloween decorating because Moonlight Jack has paid us a visit! As everyone knows, you are not allowed to start decorating for Halloween until Moonlight Jack shows up. And look- this time he brought his son- Moonlight Junior! Oh, we are very blessed this year to have them both stop by. Who knows what sort of fun and frivolity is ahead for our spooky season!

(In case you somehow forgot the legend of Moonlight Jack, here is a retelling of that old famous tale!)

Special Showing

One of my favorite things about my small town is the local movie theater. It's an old one screen movie house from 1919 that was bought by the town and restored. They show recent movies each week, but every once in a while they have special events. I've attended them before, in fact, I try to attend every single one I can! Not just to see whatever they are showing, but also to support the town and movie culture in the area.

They had a special event recently that I was able to go to. This one was a short documentary called 'Jeanie's Face Exploded' that was created by someone in the area about Jeanie Jeffries, a woman who played an important part in the old horror movie 'Dawn of the Dead'. She played a small part in the movie, but was an important part of the make-up and effects as well. The documentary was an interview with her along with old photos and behind the scenes looks at the whole process. What was really neat is that Jeanie was at our showing as well as the director. They went up and discussed what went into making this doc and a few extra stories not included in the film. It was really cool to be a part of the premiere of the doc and everything!