Anja would like to warn everyone on the danger of bulls.

BULLS

Bulls can hurt you very bad. They can even kill you.

Way back before the Internet was what it is now, back when only the most smartest and high technicalest people were the ones who got a picture on the internet (and then it was a 256-color GIF) and when all of the online communities were completely neon-green text based, I was introduced to one such community while sitting, bleary-eyed, in my college dorm’s computer lab.

I was instantly addicted.  It was the complete opposite of my life at the time - I found a place where people talked freely to me and even, gasp, thought I was funny.  We’d chat until the wee hours of the morning, and I came to know a group of people that would occasionally get together in real life, to close that awkward gap of knowing someone without ever having met them.

This community was very large but at the same time relatively small - it seemed like everyone knew everyone else.  These parties led to close real-life friendships, and even sparked a few romances of people who eventually married and had kids together.

I still visit the community occasionally.  It died down a little bit at a time when the internet started expanding and evolving.  It’s now relatively quiet and the same group of people always seem to be there.  There are 2 or 3 people that I’ve always talked to every time I’ve been online, we always seem to be on at the same time.

I logged in today for the first time in several weeks and was surprised to see that I had 6 messages - and found out that the 1 person I’ve always kept in touch with the most died unexpectedly last week.  She was in her early 30s, a beautiful, smart, and caring woman.  She was the first person to push me toward photography; I had shared some of my pictures of Iceland with her when I first got to borrow a film SLR.  She kept pushing me and pushing me to submit them to a stock photography agency, and I never really felt like I could do it, but just knowing that she thought so much of them was so flattering.

It’s such a strange feeling to lose someone you know like that - someone I’ve only met a handful of times but have talked to countless hours online.  Someone I always looked forward to talking to when I logged in and hoped to get to meet again face-to-face soon.  And now that meeting will never happen.

Weather

I like snow. I like anything.

Everything is so fun.

I like rain. I like anything with heart.

Nothing will be not cold because I like anything.

To fully appreciate the song, though, you really should see it in her own writing.

One of the questions today in Anja’s homework was about opposites. The first time she answered, she wrote “up” for both answers. I had her read the question again after telling her she did it incorrectly. She erased up for both and wrote big for both.

I was getting a little frustrated because this is Typical Anja - just writing down whatever without thinking about what she’s doing. So I told her to read it again. She said, “Ohhhhh! I get it! Okay, now I’ll do it right!” I was very happy that she finally took the time to read the whole question and THEN answer it instead of just writing down whatever came into her head first.

So after careful thought, she erased her answers and re-wrote them with her new answer and triumphantly handed her assignment back to me to review. I looked at it, baffled, and then I started laughing so hard I cried. Click here to see Anja’s very carefully thought out answers.

I’m thinking I’ll have to send the paper back to class as it is with a note so her teacher can get a chuckle out of it, too.

Tonight while Isak was in his piano lesson, Anja was out charming all the middleschoolers with her bug-hunting skills. When we came out, she had her newest find in her hand…meet Smiley, the preying mantis:

And a few more since the camera was already out…

Dad, I think you’re going to have to give up the idea of the nice and tidy short haircut…Isak keeps getting asked by all the older girls if he’s going to grow out his hair again.

Anja…

And…can you believe this…..

I enjoy thunderstorms now as an adult - as a kid, I remember cowering in my bed and just wanting it to stop, but now I think they’re so cool.

After a long, hot, very dry summer where the lawn would shrivel up and dry in hours without the sprinklers, the rainy season has begun - in spectacular form, complete with hailstorms, downpours, lightning shows, and deep, booming thunder.

But I got a surprise tonight, just after putting the kids to bed - once the cable came back after a brief-ish outage, a scrolling notice came across the bottom of my screen - there is a tornado watch. Here. In Rota.

I haven’t seen a tornado watch in 10 years, since I moved away from the midwest - and of course it would happen tonight, the first night B is gone. I’m guessing this is from the sucking force of the beers being downed in Munich tonight.