Yesterday, the First Lady made her first media appearance in 26 days. I feel like I’m watching a real life remake of the movie Dave which has been slightly altered. That’s my favorite Kevin Kline movie and got me tracking the career of Frank Langella. Other than the First Lady making an appearance, I was amused at how VP Pence followed President Trump’s lead with the water bottle.
Even though the first summit hasn’t happened yet, and who knows if it will, President Donald Trump and has floated the idea of a playing golf with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un at his Florida resort if they end up getting along. I believe Kim Jong Un’s father has claimed to shoot five aces in his very first round of golf.
Kindergarten graduations are stupid, but it’s not like I’m going to pull my son of his. He had a fantastic kindergarten teacher and I know he’s going to miss her. He had a bit of a crush on her at the first of the year and was shy to speak. There were a total of three kindergarten classes and he was the very last student out of all three to walk in, I hope that’s not going to happen when he graduates in 2030.
I feel like he’s practicing for some sort of presidential pose here. The kid behind his left sure doesn’t look happy to be leaving kindergarten.
The ceremony started with the Pledge of Allegiance to the U.S. and Texas flag. President Trump would have been proud, not one student protested.
I’ll spare you any more pictures, but whenever the kid is on stage, he never smiles or looks for his parents in the stands, he also stands at attention the whole time. He might have a military career ahead of him.
I messed up trimming my beard and decided to shave it off, it’s been a while since I haven’t had hair on my face. In speaking with a lot of bearded men, we grow beards as a means to hide a double chin. I expect the beard to be back in a few weeks.
I’m guessing Buckingham Palace has a musty smell to it.
Random prediction – A version of the USB outlet will take the place of the standard household plug and will be adopted worldwide, different outlet adaptors won’t be needed when you travel.
I’ve thought this for a while, but I don’t think championship sports teams, professional or college, should visit the White House. I want the president to do something else with his or her time. In case you are wondering who were the first champions to visit the White House, this old ESPN article breaks it down:
The tradition of sports teams visiting the White House dates to at least Aug. 30, 1865, when President Andrew Johnson welcomed the Brooklyn Atlantics and Washington Nationals amateur baseball clubs. Ulysses S. Grant played host to the first professional baseball team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings, in 1869.
John F. Kennedy was the first president to welcome the NBA champions, when the Boston Celtics visited in January 1963, and the Indiana University men’s basketball team is believed to be the first NCAA champion to visit the White House when it was hosted by Gerald Ford in April 1976.
The first Super Bowl champion to visit was the Pittsburgh Steelers, who joined the World Series-winning Pittsburgh Pirates in a dual ceremony with Jimmy Carter in February 1980. It was Ronald Reagan, however, who made the practice of honoring championship teams at the White House a regular occurrence.
Philadelphia Eagle Chris Long makes a solid point – @JOEL9ONE – Fox News used the faith of Christian men dishonestly to push an agenda. That wasn’t an “error,” but intentional and strategic. They’ve deleted the segment + apologized on twitter, but many viewers don’t have twitter. An on air apology to all Christians would be the classy move.
Not that I keep up with fashion, but when I heard Kate Spade died, I confused her with Tory Burch, who I think is a very beautiful 51-year-old. Offhand, I can’t name any other famous Torys.
Bill Gates is gifting a book to every U.S. college graduate
It’s called Factfulness, by the late global-health expert and noted sword swallower Hans Rosling, and it is packed with advice about how to see the world clearly. Although I think everyone should read it, it has especially useful insights for anyone who’s making the leap out of college and into the next phase of life.
So I am giving Factfulness to everyone who’s getting a degree from a U.S. college or university this spring. If you’re being awarded an associate’s, bachelor’s, or post-graduate degree, download your free copy of the book below. (Unfortunately, because of international publishing rights, it is available only to graduates from U.S. schools.)
My Aunt Bonnie revealed to me she and her husband are now Quakers, as they are members of a Quaker church. The only Quaker I can name, of all people, is Richard Nixon.
The National Sleep Foundation recommends having a bedroom temperature of 65 degrees. There’s no way I could afford that in the Texas summer.
I was surprised to learn 62 of the 97 passengers and crew survived the Hindenburg disaster.
I haven’t taken the time to verify this, but someone recently told me elevators will ding a single high tone note when it is going up, and two dings with a high and then lower tone note when it is going down.
DogGeedingII will scratch on the back door when he wants back inside from using the bathroom. He did so the other day, but when I tried to let him in, he kept running to the middle of the yard and back. He did this like four or five times. He also was giving me this look like I should really check something out. Finally, I stepped outside to see what he was leading me two and it was a small dead baby bunny, smaller than the palm of my hand.
Do any of you have a microwave/convection oven combo? I’m fascinated by them but I don’t think WifeGeeding likes them. I think it’s nice having a smaller second oven and have the ability to microwave in one unit. We have a convection oven now, but the cooling fan, the one which runs when the oven is turned off to keep the circuitry cool, can be a little loud.
It was a good but exhausting last three days thanks to a great visit from a family member, my Aunt Bonnie, who is really my cousin but that’s a story in itself, which doesn’t have anything to do with inbreeding, thank God. Actually, things started off really crappy but it didn’t have anything to do with Aunt Bonnie.
The school year isn’t over for our kids yet, Thursday is their last day.
In news that would only interest people who work in my industry, it sounds like GitHub will be purchased by Microsoft. I think that would be a huge win for Microsoft, but a lot of people think Microsoft eventually screws up products they purchase.
Until the First Lady makes a public appearance without any type of head covering, I’m just going to assume she had a Britney Spears moment and shaved her head. She hasn’t been seen in public for 24 days. The current administration is unconventional, so it’s not like this is super surprising. However, she’s supposed to attend an event tonight but it’s closed to the press.
Last month, Patterson was the president of the seminary and when these allegations surface, he then was reassigned to an to an emeritus role and still allowed to live on campus on May 23. That’s not the type of leadership the SBC promoted when I was a part of it, the accountability is laughable as the timing of their actions. It was hard for me to step away, it molded and shaped me during my formative and young adult years, and I felt like I was abandoning family. My life is better as a recovering Baptist.
The following is straight from the statement the seminary released, on Friday evening, when most folks aren’t paying attention. I can’t help but be reminded of Baylor releasing statements on Friday evening and on Thanksgiving break.
“But in connection with that allegation of rape, Dr. Patterson sent an email (the contents of which were shared with the Board on May 22) to the Chief of Campus Security in which Dr. Patterson discussed meeting with the student alone so that he could “break her down” and that he preferred no officials be present.”
The U.S. is trying to find a discreet way to pay for Kim Jong Un’s hotel during the summit – North Korea is cash poor and can’t afford to stay at their preferred hotel which would cost $6,000 a night for a presidential suite. If the U.S. pays for it, they would feel insulted, so it sounds like the U.S. is trying to get Singapore to pick up the tab. I’m still surprised they didn’t take up Trump’s offer of meeting at the DMZ, which I thought was a genius move.
You know my love for presidential history, so I found this article about an upcoming book on the office of Vice-President interesting, though I don’t think it’s a book I’d want to read. The book is titled First in Line: Presidents, Vice Presidents and the Pursuit of Power, and it provides some interesting insight on how current VP Mike Pense will rely on counsel from former VPs, especially Biden. The article is as much about Biden, who’s eyeing a presidential run, than anything.
Vice President Pence has sought counsel from Dan Quayle, Dick Cheney, Joe Biden and Walter Mondale, all of whom I interviewed. When I asked one of them what advice he gave Pence, he said: “If I tell you and it’s written then I’d drastically undercut him,” sliding his hand across his neck. “He’d get his head chopped off.”
Noticeably absent from that list is Al Gore.
But Biden and Pence talk at least once a month, which stands in stark contrast to Trump and his predecessor, Obama, who have not spoken since the inauguration, nor have their wives, Melania Trump and Michelle Obama.
