I don’t know about you, but I have always been fascinated by the inner workings of mechanical watches. They are a marvel. Any intricate mechanical devices intrigue me.
Continue reading “Watchmaking”Watchmaking
Author: CaptainJaq
I am a father as well as a world traveling, dog loving, scuba diving, book collecting, writer - currently residing somewhere in Eastern Europe. His words have been spoken by Capt. Jean-Luc Picard and Robin Hood, been read by David Copperfield, and criticized by his 7th grade English teacher. He'd like to thank the members of the Academy, although he doesn't know why. In his spare time, he's a university professor and a kick-ass uncle.
And so it ends – England 2022 #6
Day 7 – June 30
Thursday was the last day we had anything planned or pre-booked. Today’s adventures were a boat ride to explore the “Jurassic Coast” and then meeting up with Rasa’s colleague Dai and his wife. The boat was leaving from Poole, a little bit further along the coast than Bournemouth (where we had been a few days earlier and where we would be meeting up with Dai) and since it had a precise departure time, so did we.
The World of Peppa Pig – England 2022 #5
Day 6 – June 29
Honestly, today was the day around which this entire trip had been planned. Today was the day we were going to Paultons Park, home of Peppa Pig World. I’m not sure where we first heard about it, but once we did know it existed, Monki was determined to get us there. The park was about 20 minutes from where we’re staying and I was determined to get there early, like when the park opened, not having faith that it wouldn’t be crowded like Legoland was.
Something Fishy – England 2022 #4
Day 5 – June 28
Tuesday, after Legoland, was supposed to be a rest day. In our planning, we knew we’d have been going strong for several days, sleeping in four different places in 5 nights, and so we figured that we’d take it easy before heading off to Peppa Pig world on Wednesday.
Except…
Legoland – England 2022 #3
Day 4 – June 27
Monday morning came and Amy had to go to work. Luckily, we were up early enough to say good-bye and thank her and Clive once again for their generosity. We also had to say goodbye to the cats.
Questions about History and Culture – England 2022 #2
Day 2 – June 25
Waking up in Nottingham, we had to figure out our plans. Before we had parted the night before, I had declined John’s offer of attending a birthday party for the child of a friend of his so we were definitely Oxford bound, it was just a matter of how and when to best get there. We would spend the next few days staying with my old friend Amy and her husband Clive. I met Amy somewhere around 28-30 years ago when we both worked for the Groundlings in LA. I was a booth jockey and she was a stage manager. Since then, we’d kept in touch over social media, even managing to see each other once or twice since she’d moved to the UK. Now, she had graciously offered us all a piece of futon covered flooring in her craft room and we gladly took her up on the offer.
And so it begins – England 2022 #1
Prologue
Back in February or March, Rasa was informed of a conference in her field coming up in Manchester, England at the end of June. We talked it over and decided it would be a good idea to go. It would be her first in-person conference as a PhD student (due to the pandemic) and was scheduled to include a number of big names in her field as participants, including her unofficial supervisor (whom she would be able to meet in person for the first time).
Daddy’s Day 2022
Here in Lithuania, Father’s Day is always on the first Sunday of June, which means it could be anywhere from the 1st-7th. Children’s Day, however, is always on June 1, so there is a chance, although it didn’t happen this year, that they will fall on the same day. But this year, on May 31, Monki was very excited for Children’s Day because, as she rightfully points out she is “a children” and so expects presents and wonderful things on this day.
Comic Con Baltics 2022
My time working on Comic-Con Baltics 2022 started with working on Comic-Con Baltics 2020, when I interviewed RJ Mitte to announce his attendance. Of course, then COVID hit and everything was postponed.
Then postponed again. And again.
Continue reading “Comic Con Baltics 2022”Art of Encanto
The Disney film Encanto is pretty big in our house and, for some reason, Chronicle Books has decided to release the big art book, The Art of Encanto for free online. So I thought I’d share it.
2021 wrap up
Seriously? It’s the end of 2021 already? How did that happen? I mean it’s been a helluva year for sure. We’ve seen friends and relatives die, related to COVID and not. We’ve seen new governments take control and, in some cases, make things better and in some cases make things much, much worse (and while I’d like to say this is an objective statement, I, better than anyone else since I repeat it several times every semester, know there is no such thing as objective.)
Continue reading “2021 wrap up”How was the Storyworth project for you?
This is my last entry in this year-long Storyworth project. It’s number 52 and even though I could write more, I think 52 entries is a good number. I wrote my first one back on December 22, 2020 and now it’s December 29, 2021 and since I was late a few times, this seems like a great place to finish up. Continue reading “How was the Storyworth project for you?”
Do you have a favorite poem? What is it?
I’m having a hard time starting my answer to this one. Yes, there are a couple of obvious responses, which I’ll get to in a minute, but part of my issue is do I include song lyrics or not? I mean, sure, they qualify as poems, but do I count them amongst my favorites? Do they hold up when you remove them from their accompanying music (no semantic arguments about songs like “Tom’s Diner” because the music is inherent in the presentation)? Continue reading “Do you have a favorite poem? What is it? “
What are some of your family traditions?
When I started thinking about this topic, I was having a hard time coming up with a tradition that felt like a tradition. I was focused more on the idea of holidays or things like that, things you do as a family. Except, having been around a while, the idea of “family” has been in flux for a good portion of my life. I left my folks’ house (after a few false starts) for Los Angeles when I was 20 and didn’t return to the same city as them for another 16 years. In between, I had a live-in girlfriend and a wife, and I don’t really remember many traditions there. Continue reading “What are some of your family traditions?”
Did you have any serious accidents as a child?
Did I have any serious accidents as a child? Oh boy, did I!
Let’s see…it all started on a Thursday (was it a Thursday? I don’t know. I think it was and since Thursdays are a thing with me, I’ll hold to that truth) when I was 9 years old. We were living on Monticello, having moved back to Vegas for the second and final time. This is before we bought the house on Fenway, much nearer to Diskin Elementary, my school. Continue reading “Did you have any serious accidents as a child? “
Getting the Hang of Thursdays 