Engy's Experiment

Welcome Evangeline!

2009-12-21T20:10:57.5284544-07:00

Not even sure why I'm posting this on such a dead blog...especially given Facebook...but dead blog or not this is newsworthy: Evangeline Imani Engstrom was born at 1:05 pm on December 21st, 2009 weighing 6 pounds 10 ounces and measuring 18 ¾ inches! Momma and baby are both doing great! Her first name means “Bearer of Good News” and her middle name means “Faith; Trust” in Swahili. We’ll call her Evy for short. Thanks for your prayers!

Batman, yep, Kenyans dig him too.

2008-11-02T06:23:16.0615-07:00

A movie is a movie no matter where you watch it, right? For the most part I’d agree, but my experience watching Batman: Dark Knight last night was spiced up a bit thanks to my Nairobi locale.

After a rather grueling month of orientation, training, and language learning classes, I was finally able to spend a night out on the town. Roxanne was incredibly generous in allowing me an afternoon and evening off from parenting duties as she took the reins on caring for Annikah alone from her afternoon nap all the way until her bedtime. The break was much appreciated!

Several of the women here were planning to attend M’zuri Monday Madness, a promotion that the movie theater at the Junction (upscale Nairobi mall) puts on each Monday. It’s quite the deal – 380 KES gets you a movie, small pop, your choice of hot dog or Mars bar, and popcorn. That’s a bit less than $6 for all of you non-Kenyans out there. Not bad, eh? To seal the deal, many Hollywood films now run worldwide release dates, and seeing that the new Batman was the fastest grossing film to hit $300 mil I figured why not.

My new Canuck buddy Darnell and his Kenyan language helper Ahmed joined us. As I was the first to arrive at the theater, I bought all of our tickets. My first surprise: in Kenya, they actually assign seats for a movie! Cool, eh? Most of the theater was already sold out, but I picked three seats on the touch screen 4 rows back. Not bad. America could learn something here – how cool is it that you do not have to show up 30 minutes early to nab a decent seat!

After an incredibly tasty chocolate shake at Java House (highly recommended if you are ever in Nairobi) we headed up to the theater around 5:45 (show “started” at 5:50.)

We were greeted by swarms of M’zungu mixed in with the upper crust of Kenya. I mean the place was PACKED. And I’m not talking American packed. I’m talking no personal space, sticky, often smelly, scared your wallet might disappear, and definitely not for the claustrophobic packed.

Oh well, we paid for our food, so we figured we’d still make it in before the previews were over. We reluctantly made our way into what I guess you could describe as a “concession line”. Herd is a bit more appropriate. For some reason, non-Western countries just don’t seem to do the “que” concept. We stood there for at least 10 minutes not moving and noticed that what we thought was a line was actually a hoard that rewarded those that fought their way to the counter first. Somehow the girls managed to get their grub, but the 3 of us were not so lucky. We finally worked our way to the counter. By now it was 6:10. Oh well – we were about to get our food, right? Hah!

Me: “Habari! Here’s our receipt – we’ll take 3 specials w/ Coke.” Kenyan woman: “I’m sorry, you cannot pick this up here. Make your way over to the other counter just there” as she takes my receipt and disappears. Wha?!! You are kidding me, right? Still determined to get our scrumptious hot dog meal, we once again fought (a bit more aggressively this time) and made it to the other counter. Surrounded by others demanding their hot dogs, popcorn and Coke, I finally flagged down our Kenyan friend, made some form of eye contact, and yelled Coke. She seemed to comply, but disappeared again. 6:25. For sure we’re missing part of the movie now. Just about to give up on the food, our friend reappears and amazingly has three boxes with our food. SUCCESS!

I was determined to get in the theater so I waded my way through the masses, threw what I thought was Ketchup on my dog (I know Chicago, not allowed – but when it’s just pork and bread, it’s warranted) (turned out it was hot sauce), and made it into the theater. To my amazement, the screen was blank and theater was still buzzing. It was 6:30 - ha - I guess the whole “African time” concept extends even to Western style movie theaters. Woohoo!

Batman: Dark Knight is a fantastic film – I loved spying all the Chicago scenes. It’s always fun to analyze a movie when it’s filmed in your hometown – driving sequences NEVER make sense! The movie was incredible even when:

· Your “reserved” seat is being sat in, and requires an usher to bust out 5 minutes worth of Kiswahili arguing before it is vacated.

· The first thing that happens when the theater gets dark is that the Kenyan flag is projected, all rise, and the Kenyan national anthem plays!

· The audio continually flickers between blaring 5.1 surround sound to a tiny, muffled, single center channel speaker and every time it does, the audience groans.

The evening was capped by the audience’s enthusiasm. I’ve only experienced this kind of interaction a few times in the States; most often at a theater packed by drunken college students or watching a movie like Shaft in central Atlanta. My favorite moment was when I heard someone howl out a “Sawa Sawa” (translation: SWEET!) after a scene where a semi flips end over end. Needless to say, it was an entertaining night.

After the movie ended, Ahmed had dropped his mobile phone, and we searched for it for a good 15 minutes. Thankfully it turned up in a hot dog box. Turns out we didn’t really lose any time – the ingenious architect designed one way out for each theater, and they all dump you right into the swarms that are fighting their way into the theater, probably wondering why the movie they paid for is starting over an hour late!

After a ride back in the guest house’s Matatu (van) and avoiding the massive potholes, Kenyans running across the street in all directions, and spiked rumble strips the cops conveniently placed on the road to seemingly cause head on collisions, we finally made it home, having enjoyed a little cross-culturally flavored taste of home. Well worth the price of admission!

My Adventures as Mr. Mom (and why I love my wife even more!)

2008-03-09T13:38:35.949-07:00

Well, I'm finally able to sit for a few minutes at the computer while Annikah naps - it's been an interesting weekend playing Mr. Mom!

For the first time in Annikah's 18 months of life, I've spent the entire weekend taking care of her while her momma got some much needed time away. Sure, I play my part as her caretaker as much as possible given my daily schedule (which usually involves waking her up, changing her diaper, playing/cuddling, then leaving for work. More playing/cuddling when I get home, bath time, and then reading and putting her down - about 1.5 hours each day.) I also try to do as much as I can to pitch in and relieve Roxanne on the weekends. I've taken care of Annikah for entire days before - just not an entire weekend. I can honestly say it's been fun (for the most part) and that I've learned quite a bit from my experience:

Things I know now that I didn't prior to 10 AM on Friday, 3/7:

I understand why Rox hates me leaving the coffee pot in the sink! It makes it a lot harder to clean the high chair tray with a coffee pot in the way!
I also understand why Rox likes the kleenex box at eye level sitting on the book case vs. my preference of under the coffee table - it's a LOT easier to grab that much needed kleenex for nose wipeage when it's in between the kitchen and the family room and out in the open. I've now put a box under the coffee table and on the book case :-)
Making a demanding toddler a meal while she's begging you for "UP" is not easy! The baby backpack comes in handy - but it's T-Minus 5 minutes once you put her in there before she's demanding "UP" again.
I finally understand the complaint I've often heard from Roxanne before - and believe me I sympathize with her much more having gone through this weekend. The issue: taking care of a young child is repetitive, demanding work. No matter how often Roxanne told me her life often feels like a Groundhog's day of cleaning/cooking/diapering/and more cleaning, it has been hard to fully grasp what that meant until now. I've noticed a pattern about the day - it is centered around the kitchen (often the sink) and moves between the family room, Annikah's bedroom, and the basement for laundry. Repeat. Basically, you make a meal, feed her, clean up the meal, leave the kitchen for some play, then its back again for the next meal. A lot of repetition here!
With all the clean up that goes into a day's work, and with a toddler that can only communicate 20 or so words, there is a lot of time to think about things. This has actually been enjoyable for me - a mild introvert - and this very post is a product of that time. My job now leaves me little to no room to think about anything but the tasks at hand - having some time to reflect has been fabulous!
I can make a mean blueberry pancake and have perfected the microwavation of Dino Nuggets.
I can successfully be a full time papa!
Finally, I understand why often times Roxanne is conked out by 9 PM. This is tiring work!

All of the above sums up why I love Roxanne even more now - she is a rockstar mama! Of course I always knew a full time stay at home mom leads a challenging life, but I can appreciate just how difficult her role is as a mama even more now. And when I think of who she is - someone that is good at just about anything she does but certainly prefers doing many things over cleaning, cooking, and diapering, I love her even more for the sacrifices she has made for our family. Having a daughter raised by such a loving and caring woman is a gift. I know many days Rox would rather be laying the smack down on her South Side students, planning a Christmas play at church, or fighting for any number of noble causes - but she lays this all aside to bless her family. Thank you Rox. I love you!

Finally, being a statistics guy, here are some numbers for the weekend:

Diapers changed: 11
Disaster diapers changed: 1 (Thanks Greg, for sparing me the other one!)
Meals prepared: 7
Miles driven with Annikah: 24
Miles driven while Annikah was beside herself wailing uncontrollably: 5
Grapes fed to Annikah while wailing: 43
Number of Large Pizzas consumed by 3 other "Mr. Mom" dads and I this weekend: 2
Elmo's Worlds watched: 3
Safety Deposit Boxes Visited: 1
Trips to Target: 1
Minutes overslept due to daylight savings change: 60
Church services attended: 1
Minutes above and beyond Annikah's threshold for being happy in the church nursery: 20
Minutes I have been priveledged to father a wonderful child this weekend: 3,240
Minutes spent writing this post: 25
My love for my family: Beyond measure

Tax Rebate Checks: Not really free money

2008-02-08T10:14:44.3005-07:00

I'm sure you are all looking forward to the rebate checks uncle sam is dishing out to us, but I just found out something I did not realize:

From CNN:

"The checks are an advance on next year's refunds, and most, if not all of the money, will be deducted from taxpayers' refunds in 12 months' time. "

So, be aware - the reality is that you will just get that much less money on your refund at the end of next year. To me this is very sneaky, and I did not realize this is how it was going to work! I just figured we'd add to our $5 trillion debt and let the next generation figure it out ;-)

My wife is a blogger!

2007-03-11T11:56:41.764-07:00

Hey whadd'ya know, my luddite wife is showing me up in the blogging department! That's right - she started a blog dedicated to her new role as a mother. It's called Lil' Monkey Days, and there are some really cute vids of my beautiful daughter. Check it out! It's much more entertaining and more often posted to than my own!

Way to go Rox!!

I am Sawyer

2006-12-20T20:42:42.954-07:00

I know this is a TOTALLY lame post considering it's my first one in 3 months...but oh well:

Which LOST character are you?
Sawyer You are Sawyer You are a Jackass.
Take The Quiz Now!	Quizzes by myYearbook.com

This ought to be interesting...

2006-09-11T14:43:14.96875-07:00

So, it's been a good, oh, 4 months since this site has seen ANY activity. Oops. It will be interesting to see if anyone still subscribes to this poor excuse for a blog.

My wife and I left for 2 weeks in Italy in early May and you haven't heard from me since. I had grandiose visions of posts such as "Top 10 Coolest/Lamest things about Italy" and some live trip-blogging. After just a few hours in Vernazza, I decided I was having too much fun to waste time surfing the web while in Italy. And I haven't posted since.

There's another reason for the lack of posting; I've been too incompetent (and lazy) to figure out why I haven't even been able to log into my own blog site since July. You see, I re-imaged this machine, and in hoping to secure the server, I ran IIS Lockdown, which inadvertently ran URLScan, effectively blocking any scripting from running on my server. Oops. No wonder I couldn't do much of anything. I finally got around to a little investigation and everything is running fine now.

A lot of life change in the past few months - hope to blog a little more often in the near future with more details!

The Lost Experience

2006-05-04T12:04:16.75-07:00

I've found some interesting clues for the recently launched "Lost Experience" clue game from this post. I can't believe the effort (ABC?) has put into this whole thing. So far I've signed up for the newsletter at www.thehansofoundation.org, sent a message to Joop, and clicked a bunch of "hatch-like" bubbles to reveal a letter condemning Hanso research for its primate research on Zanzibar.

I also just noticed that Bad Twin, the script Sawyer was reading in last night's show, has actually been published and is for sale. The blurring of fiction and reality is quite interesting. Just goes to show that when there's money to be made (thanks the the large community following the show has developed) corporations will go to great lengths to rake in the profit.

[UPDATE:] I guess www.thedharmainitiative.org is a bogus fan site, making the clue site I linked to above useless. Apparently the only "official" lost experience site is www.thehansofoundation.org. Here's a much better clue site.

Cool 3D animation

2006-05-01T08:29:50.982125-07:00

YouTube's got a great 3D animation of a marble journeying through some classic Nintendo franchises. How many of these have you played?

There's something quite charming about 8-bit audio!

Vote early....and vote often

2006-04-25T11:19:10.64-07:00

Hasbro is coming out with a new Monopoly game, The Here & Now Edition. They are taking votes once a day to determine what order the 22 American cities that will be included will appear on the board. Being a Chicago resident, I will be voting early and often to make sure the Windy City is represented in the Boardwalk spot with Wrigley Field. C'mon, let's beat those New Yoaka's.