The Nightmare of “Glee”

Little Ava graduates from pre-school. Click photo for video.

On the road to Chelan.

Arrival! (That's not a beer in Gia's hand, it's a Perrier)

AVA GRADUATES: Ava graduated from pre-school and has started kindergarten. Congrats Ava!

THE POWELL FAMILY HEADS TO CHELAN: This September the Powell family took a week vacation at Wapato point in Chelan. Aunt Tracy, Elliot, and San-J joined us for part, and then my parents. We had the jet ski competition, the trip to the water park, and my parents even went out on the lake in a rowboat.

Are these girls doomed to be educated by "Glee"?

GLEE IS SOOOOO CORNY! My wife is addicted to watching Glee. This, unfortunately, means I am watching it. In the middle of the night when my wife can’t sleep she turns on Glee. At times I think I am having a nightmare, that I live in a world of drippy and dorky conversation peppered with 80’s cover songs. Then I realize it’s a corny-beyond-belief TV dope opera…and here’s where the sexist polemicist comes out in me, talk about goofy gender characters, we got a football coach that resembles a Bulgarian female weightlifter, high school jocks that would rather sing than play football, sensitive male teachers and tough-ass female educators, and teenage girls (played by 30-year-old actresses) cat-fighting while spewing out sophisticated lines contrived by some 40-year-old screenwriter who probably doesn’t have children…lines such as, “At least I don’t dress like I’m trying to please a Japanese businessman.” And thus, oft I interject, “Honey, I love you, but that is sooooo cornGlee.”

At the water park.

BASKETBALL STORY: Before kids I used to play ball regularly at Green Lake, and have gone against or with Nate Robinson, Brandon Roy, Will Conroy and Jamal Crawford (Somehow I don’t think any of these guys are blogging about the day when they played ball with Caleb Powell).The former three when they were at the UW, pre-NBA. It’s just pickup basketball, and I’m way below the ability of these guys. Anyway, as I’m playing out of my league often my foe would ignore me, or, every now and then, I would be teamed up against “the girl”. The girl in question, Marvena, however, would shut me down, whereas a six foot six ex-college jock would underestimate me and I’d get a few rebounds, looseballs, and baskets. But I had a tougher time against Marvena. She blocked out, was always between me and the basket, and hassled me 24/7. It always seemed like I got less rebounds and points when this “girl” covered me. After playing there a while I got to know her, she’s even met Ava. Turns out Marvena is Marvena Kemp, wife of ex-Sonic Sean.

爷爷与奶奶在沪上! My wife and parents on Lake Chelan. (Click to enlarge)

SEATTLE STORM CHAMPS!!! Congrats to the Seattle Storm, once again showing that, in Seattle, the women wear the jock straps. (See Hell’s Baseball Team)

I hit 38 mph...

...San-J hit 40 mph.

MY WIFE HAS BECOME AN EBAY ADDICT: My wife discovered Ebay recently and now she’s buying bugigangas right and left, she’s saving lots of money! She just loves it, and when she gets the highest bid she jumps with “glee” and says, “Caleb! I won!” (Won = purchased) She bought a half-dozen crocs for Kaya for $6 including shipping, she put three bids out for a pair of sandals for me, and “won” two of them. Now, if there is an expert shopper, it is my wife. She works in advertising, not on the creative side, but the sales and marketing side, and knows every one of the so-called tricks of the trade. And yet, for some reason, she loves “spending money to save money.” Go figure, I’m just a dumb guy, but I’d wear clothes until death (death of clothes, not death of Caleb). My griping aside, though, she does find bargains and gems of necessity that we would buy otherwise.

PHOTO of the MONTH: Yosu, South Korea