Okay, first thing to go up on the new host.

I’ll see about getting all the old posts back on here tomorrow. That Tomorrow being after I’ve gotten some sleep.

Let me run down for you a “schedule,” if you will, of my typical Monday night.

I generally get home between 5:30 and 6 and get started on dinner. After everyone’s eaten, me and the wife spend 45 minutes or so playing with the daughter before it’s time for her bath/getting ready for bed/reading a book to her/her going to sleep. After that (now around 8:30) I spend 30 minutes or so with the wife talking (because we really don’t see each other much) before turning my attention to homework for 3 or 4 hours before I pass out from exhaustion.

That doesn’t leave a whole lot of time for television viewing.

Thankfully, I’ve got one of those nifty DVR’s (I love you Time Warner!) for all my television recording needs. Monday is an especially important night because I’m a big supporter of all things Heroes (the wife really likes Journeyman, which is pretty solid and it’s set in my adopted hometown of San Francisco, so I’m compelled to watch) .

Last night, I was supposed to be writing a paper. Forces conspired to make this impossible. Forces, in this case, referring to my wife being forced to work late for some “budget related” reasons that necessitated in me picking up the daughter from day care (day care, mind you, in Lake Forest, and I work in Hemet…). But that, as you might guess (or, might not, whatever) meant that the wife and I had to switch cars, since her car has the kid’s car seat in it. Well, in all the hustle and/or assorted bustle of juggling the kid and whatnot, I forgot my books and laptop in my car. After getting some dinner with the kid, she fell asleep on the ride home, and once we were home she was just coherent enough to let me changer her diaper, put on her pajamas, and drink a bottle while half asleep on the couch before completely passing out.

What does any of this have to do with Heroes, right? Well, I now had one fully asleep 15 month-old, no accessible school material, no wife at home, and a few hours to kill. So, lucky for me, I was able to get caught up with my favorite group of broadcast, live-action, comic booky characters.

Spoiler Alert!

I have to say that Kensai turning out to be Adam Munroe, in hindsight, was pretty obvious. And I did catch on before it was revealed at the end of Monday’s episode. But nevertheless, it’s a plot twist I really like.

As an aside, I wonder if David Anders is always going to play a villain? I mean, yeah, he’s good at it, but can’t someone give the guy something else to do?

Anyway, this season is, I think, just as solid as what I saw from last year (which, admittedly, I had class on Monday last year, and no DVR, so I only saw about half of it) and at least this “chapter” will be resolved before they run out of scripts.

I’ve been…quiet…of late in regards to the ongoing football season. After a brilliant start, my beloved Reds have faltered a bit. They are still unbeaten in the Premier League, and their away form has been excellent. But they’ve only claimed one victory in 5 matches at home (which is something out of bizarro world, honestly). Even worse has been their form in the Champions League. I expected them to get at least 4 victories (and two draws) out of the six group stage matches, but after losses to both Marseille and Besiktas (seriously, Besiktas, I’m not even making that shit up) Liverpool was looking like they might have an early exit out of a competition that they’ve played in the final of 2 of the last 3 years.

And then came Tuesday’s match, at Anfield…

That, friends, is a new Champion’s League record for goal difference in a single game. Now I didn’t see the whole game, it being on at 11:45 AM in California (I do have a job, after all). But from all the highlights I’ve seen, I’d say that is probably one of the best total team performances I’ve ever seen. The Besiktas defenders looked absolutely lost, and there always seemed to be at least two Reds open at any given moment. Not too mention that Liverpool’s passing was, across the board, cleaner than at any other time this season, and you can see why the game ended the way it did. It’s also interesting that so many of those goals came off rebounds. The keeper did a good job on stopping a lot of first shots, but they were so well placed that he couldn’t catch the ball or deflect it enough for a clearance and there was, invariably, an unmarked Red set to pounce on the rebound.Hopefully the lads can parlay this victory into a good run of form in the league and climb back up that table…

Is it just me, or does it seems like there is a new lead paint related recall about every third day. Having a toddler, toddling around, really puts things like lead paint in perspective. And by that I mean, I pay attention to things like lead paint recalls now. I once lived in an apartment that had asbestos in the ceiling. Upon moving in I was told that, as long as I didn’t try to actually dig into the ceiling, I’d be fine. And you know what? It didn’t phase me in the slightest. I doubt that would be my reaction today. More likely, I’d make call into a HAZMAT team…

So, after the first batch of recalls the wife and I dug through all of our daughter’s toys and were relieved to find that we owned none of the offending implements of childhood pleasure.

Not too long after that, though, we saw a report on the news regarding some plastic bibs. It wasn’t an actual recall. A consumer advocacy group had run some tests on a series of bibs and found they had very high levels (versus the standard set by the federal government) of lead. And wouldn’t you know it, we had one of those bibs. In fact, we put it on our daughter every night for dinner.

It certainly would have been poetic, or ironic depending on your point of view, if she had been wearing the bib as we watched the news report. That didn’t happen. But when I one day include that little slice of our family life in a book, that’s how it will play out.

Of course, it won’t be elevated lead levels that’s the problem with the bib…it’ll be something like the bibs are all possessed by some nefarious spirits from the dark nether regions.

MUTABILITY

by

Percy Bysshe Shelley

I

The flower that smiles to-day

To-morrow dies;

All that we wish to stay

Tempts and then flies.

What is this world’s delight?

Lightning that mocks the night,

Brief even as bright.

II

Virtue, how frail it is!

Friendship how rare!

Love, how it sells poor bliss

For proud despair!

But we, though soon they fall,

Survive their joy, and all

Which ours we call.

III

Whilst skies are blue and bright,

Whilst flowers are gay,

Whilst eyes that change ere night

Make glad the day;

Whilst yet the calm hours creep,

Dream thou–and from thy sleep

Then wake to weep.

1821 (1824)