Another WED. Storytime at Sound Grounds cafe comes to a happy close. This is the first Storytime gig we ever set up so we are very close to the folks who come every week.

It's very rare in my life to have a job I'm looking forward to.
I'm so happy about this one i literally sing.
I have a lot of paternal skills, instincts and motivation so i need this as much as they do.
I can never help but think..."Y'know who would LOVE this?" MY KIDS!

I try not to get any faces in the photos out of respect for the parents. I was never worried about that with my kids because i watched like a hawk and I'm very fierce. Today Harper's Mom Amanda Flower's took the photos. All the parents seemed to have the same attitude as I have.

Look at the intense look on this woman's face. !

Olive and i talk about individual kids and parents lives and progress all week. We miss the ones who have out grown us and we delight when they come back for a visit as bigger kids.I see lots of one year olds that we may get to spend years investing in. I hear that a lot of the regulars talk about us all week too.

One of our favorites books is read by Olive with me outside. It's simple but a big hit. We save that one for when it gets too much like the Muppet theater. If we need everyone's attention we gotta think outside the box.
"Can you do it?"!

My biggest fan loves the T rex i made him. Go get em dude! Thanks for showing up little man, I hear we will be seeing you tomorrow at the Thursday Storytime at Cafe Au Play on SE Division.

The first year I hosted Open Mic I quickly collected about 50 memories of adults having first stage fright experiences. With this job I'm collecting memories of kids learning that balloons pop and freaking out. Just like with Open mic they soon get over the fear threshold and have fun like we do.

Another threshold i get to witness is Dads dropping guard and doing the "I'm a little tea cup" routine for the Daughters. GOOD ONE DAD!

wake up tunes

i love this song and game.

I did this for fun.

pulled wings..life isn't all balloon gigs, real clowns have real nightmares

I rolled up to a light. A boy and man were at the corner.
The boy and I had smiles of mutual admiration for each other.
The man said to the kid "look at this asshole".
The poor kid's smile vanished because he didn't want to disappoint his guardian.
My smile disappeared too. I wasn't doing anything wrong.
I guess all the man needed to be happy was to make us as sad as he is.
The primitive action the man took looked very familiar.
I think I just met my ex wife's perfect soul-mate!
She left me after 10 years and then decided she hated me after I emerged better than ever.
I tried to warn my GF and the kids not to be too laugh-y when they got dropped off.
Mom was getting meaner and meaner no matter what we did. She clearly had a problem with our existence period.
She selfishly scarred all of us by keeping the kids from me for almost two years now. She has already done more damage to them then anything she trumped up that I would do.
They love their Dad so this must be just crazy making for them. They know there is nothing wrong with me.They know my house is very calm, quiet and loving and Mom's place is like the deck of a crazy fishing trawler with bickering seagulls everywhere.I'm so worried about my babies.
I get up at 7 or so everyday because of 12 years baby raising.
Now instead of spending that time doing all that stuff I'm highly trained to do, I'm stuck in a chair... with an invisible thumb of despair holding me down... helpless until it's almost time to paint a smile on.
Then i go hang out with people who look just like my own kids.
I never had a problem before or since and I always payed my bills. I never been arrested and i never had to take the kids to the hospital. I have lived in the same place 3 years and had a bank account for 6. There is no body count behind Dingo only a loving comunity...so why can I have zero contact with my kids? How is that ok with everyone?
I know..everybody has problems..like Louis CK say's a 40 YO male is last in line for sympathy.
Funny that I wouldn't be able to handle this without Olive Rootbeer but my happiness with Olive Rootbeer is what pushed the lady off the deep end in the first place.
Irony is so ironic.

i posted this on my facebook page yesterday...

77 people liked it and about 20 comments OMG that is a lot of support!

What an honor! My favorite singer is wearing a shirt with my face on it!

I never would have thought in my wildest dreams that my favorite singer (sorry Dio) would be wearing a shirt that had my lovley mug on it...and in Jamaica!!! Also a Russian band playing Feliz Navidad was a very charming.
Andrie is my fave singer because his dialect has more cool sounds in it than I'm used to. I like all the Moscow sound. Roman, the tuba player? I'm so fond of that gent I would have his babies.
Alma is NOT a pain in the ass...she is the sweetest slave driver ever.mwah!!!

Random pics that i like a lot.

monday monday monday

Warning: If you see us ride by and you yell "Hey I'm a fan of you guys!", the chances of us picking you up and keeping you for ourselves is extremely high...even higher if for some reason you are also rocking a roll of toilet paper.