Caber Toss, Stone Put, and Sheaf Toss...

Had a great weekend around here.  Saturday was the Highland Games.  I had originally planned to send Dave with Nico to listen to Scottish music and watch the caber toss while I did some stuff at home.  But my presence was requested, so I went.  Dave and I have decided on a modified classical physical education for Nico.  So in addition to teaching him to shoot and ride horses, I think he will need to learn the caber toss (where the athlete attempts to throw a giant pole end over end), the stone put (like the shot put) and the sheaf toss (like tossing a bundle of hay over a bar).  For more, click HERE.  We also got to hear some Scottish Rock music as well as bagpipes.  Dave had haggis (obviously) while I had some authentic highland chocolate and peanut butter cookies (think smaller, less fluffy pancakes).  It was pretty fun.

Dave's parents are coming up this week to help with Nico while I am in Dallas for PAA.  So we're working on cleaning.  We also decided that we are going to move into the house that we looked at last week (in Indian Head).  Yes, we will be moving about a quarter of a mile away. So we're starting to go through stuff, decide what needs to be moved, and what needs to be sold at the yard sale at Optimist park next week. 

We finished off yesterday afternoon with Dave playing coed.  I had originally planned to take Nico for a walk at Lake Ella and get some groceries.  But then Nico fell asleep in the car and I wanted him to keep napping (because he hadn't gotten a good afternoon nap).  So I drove to the Starbucks on the North Side... and figured I would swing by the Meadows.  He played well and Nico had a blast just hanging out trying to eat grass and leaves.  A pretty good weekend. 

And now:  A confession.
I love old pictures.  While I absolutely love digital pictures- the fact that they can be sent around the world in an instant... cropped and edited and manipulated... I realize that the connection and interest in digital photos is different than for the paper copies.  We dont print pictures anymore.  It is now possible to have a picture taken, saved, cropped and uploaded without ever printing it out.  So we typically dont have albums of photos anymore. Also, our collections of pictures tend to resemble our preferences for pictures.  Where as, 20, 30, 40 years ago, you took a picture not knowing if it would turn out well or not... consequently, many people ended up with badly posed pictures that could have stood to be zoomed in a little more or cropped.  And you didnt throw those pictures away because they were expensive- film was expensive to buy and shoot, and expensive to develop.  The days of having albums full of yellowed photos that capture the era and history are essentially over, giving way to a system where the photos never age.  The only clues as to the time and era of a picture are what the people in the picture are wearing, the clothes they are driving, what they are doing. 

So Heather Armstrong (aka Dooce), posted about this new iphone app called Hipstamtic. Basically it modifies photos you take to make them look like they are older...  And I am obsessed.   

I know that technically, this is cheating.  That by virtue of the fact that I came of age during the age of advanced technology I therefore lose the right to have cool aged photos (because its not fair that a generation would get to have the awe inspiring digital photos AND aged photos).  I also suspect that years from now, there will be a new off shoot of anthropology called "digital anthropology" that won't exactly know how to deal with this image (the clues to the age of the image being mixed up). But I don't care.  I love playing with this app. 

This app has several different lenses, film and flashes to chose from.  They allow you to customaize "the look" of different kinds of photos.  I think they also help frame the picture in interesting ways. 

In any case, Nico's second tooth has come in.  I found this out the hard way when he bit me while nursing on Sunday morning.  Yeah.  I guess it was my fault, I dont think he was really interested in continuing to nurse, but I was still really sleepy, hoping that he would go back to sleep and let me get a few more minutes of shut-eye.  So he fixed my wagon.  Drew blood. 

He is really starting to get mobile.  He is figuring out how to cruise around the crib.  Doesnt seem to be really intersted in learning to crawl.  I will be really surprised if he weren't walking before a year old.  He's amazing... sometimes he gets this look on his face like he wants to talk.  This morning, he had just woken up and was hanging out with Dave.  I came into the bedroom and the look on his face was wonderful.  It said, "Ohai, Mama!  I was wondering where you were.  Did you have a good shower?  Have you eaten breakfast yet?  I slept well last night.  I think I am going to have a good day today."