The Internet lost its shit last night when the TV movie SharkNado aired on SyFy channel. I didn’t watch it. I didn’t know about it. And I’m not sure how others even knew there was a SyFy channel.
The gist:
When a freak hurricane swamps Los Angeles, thousands of sharks terrorize the waterlogged populace. And when the high-speed winds form tornadoes in the desert, nature’s deadliest killer rules water, land, and air.
To celebrate, I bring you today’s (T)GIF, courtesy of Gifulmination.
Friday
It was movie night for the twins and I as my wife worked. I tend to get caught up in my kids’ passions (see Jax watching the first 20 minutes of Scream), so I rented Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl on iTunes as Gray is obsessed with all that is pirate right now. I started the film as I prepped dinner, since it’s a long one. Gray was so awestruck by the experience he forgot to eat. So I fed him dinosaur chicken nuggets as he mumbled “Jack Sparrow” every two minutes.
Then he slipped on his Jake and the Neverland Pirates headband and shirt and danced around the house with his sword.
This might have been a bad idea. The little swashbuckler kept begging Ellie or me to battle him. And he worked us both.
First it was me.
Then Ellie got it. He’s a very polite pirate. I guess there’s a new code.
Saturday
Last minute prep for Chicago trip. The twins and I spent the day trying not to wake my wife up. She had to work again. My parents are watching the kids for a couple of nights during our trip. As is a friend, and then my mother-in-law. After I left them at my parents (Gray asked me to leave before I was ready; talk about eager) I hit the to-do list. I’m typing this part of the post at 11:21 p.m. Saturday night. I have to wake up in just over six hours as we leave in the morning. But the Angels rallied for four runs in the bottom of the ninth against those BASTARD Red Sox, so now I’m stuck watching this.
By the way, if our plane’s tail rips off at any point during flight or landing, I will not be Tweeting updates. But I’ll probably poo my pants.
JOSH HAMILTON!!! HOLY CRAP!!! WALK-OFF HOME RUN!!!!!!!
Please, all Angel fans. SEND HIM SOME CHEW (my most recent post at Bugs & Cranks)!
Sunday
Every GOSH DAMN time I think about Chicago, Frank Sinatra jumps into my head.
Ccchhhh Chicago, Chicago, that toddling town…
It’s scheduled to thunder-storm our entire trip. We have tickets to Tuesday’s Angel game at Wrigley Field. In 2006 we went to Boston and bought tickets to watch the Halos take on the Red Sox at Fenway. It poured and the game was cancelled. So I’m a little nervous of another rain out.
Our flight was uneventful, which is always a good thing. We took the train from the airport to downtown and caught a bus to our hotel. The young woman with the face tattoo that fell from her crutches and screamed expletives at her boyfriend in the train station gave us that gritty Chicago experience we yearned for.
The hotel is not as advertised on the Internet. It looks like it’s stuck in 1978. The lobby is painted white with crystal dishes displayed at the check-in desk. Red velvet covers the rest of the lobby. Our floor is decorated with old chandeliers. Gaudy is the best way to describe it.
The bastards charge $15 for 24 hours of wifi so I’m posting from my iPhone.
After much needed showers we jumped on the train to the North Side to meet up with SJ from my Strat-O-Matic league. He recommended this delightful little joint Pizzeria Aroma. My wife and I split a fantastic pasta filled with chorizo, chicken and green onions and a pizza called the Coronary (all meat).
We decided to grab some drinks at a neighborhood bar near his apartment. After a short train ride and a long walk past a cemetery brightened by fireflies (those really exist, I was in awe of their beauty) we arrived at Toon’s. Dad, they had Lil Sumpin by Laguanitas on tap!
Loaded with an incredible buzz and a belly full of laughs we grabbed a taxi back to the hotel and we walked up the street to get some frozen yogurt. On the way back to the hotel I handed off our to-go box filled with pizza and a slice if garlic bread to a homeless man looking for some help. He was hesitant at first, since it wasn’t cash, but eventually took it. My taste buds wept but my arteries cheered the loss of my midnight snack.
It’s 9:47 a.m. local time as my thumbs peck away on my phone. Our hotel room is dark and cold as we haven’t figured out the thermostat. My wife is asleep. Hopefully we will find some good brunch and then we are scheduled for an early afternoon architectural boat tour along the river.
I peaked outside and the streets are wet. The over/under for showers for me today is three.
Since Hotel Sax doesn’t want to act like it’s 2013 and offer free wifi (or remove their awful crystal collection) there won’t be any more posts until I return home.
If you want to follow our adventures in the meantime you can friend me on Facebook (Seth Tearz) and on Instagram (sethtearz).
Keep an eye out Friday for a post with details for the 2013 CHOC Walk and team Iron Jax registration details.
Time for us to hit that toddling town.
I really need to lock down (T)GIF as my own brand. Well, it starts today. It’s not a zany restaurant or Thank God It’s Friday. It’s an animated GIF day! And we kick it off with the twins.
Last night we watched the Angels beat the Cardinals in an awesome game. Josh Hamilton cranked a two-run homer in the ninth to tie it and Erick Aybar slapped his third hit of the game to left field for the walk-off win. Angel Stadium was electric. A few minutes later we watched an awesome fireworks shows.
These gifs are all from last night. I captured Ellie and her awful white person hand dancing. And her arm pit obsession.
Click photo to view animated gif.
These are after the game. My wife tried to snap some photos of them as we waited for the stadium to empty out. Goof ball alert.
Click photo to view animated gif.
Click photo to view animated gif.
Friday/Saturday
Despite the breakup letter I wrote to the Angels at Bugs & Cranks last week, the Angels dominated our television Friday and Saturday. Sure, they swept the lowly Houston Astros over the weekend, but remember that those Astros won six of nine against the Angels, including a four-game sweep in their last series. So for the Halos to wake up and win games they’re supposed to is a big thing. Since I wrote that letter, the Angels are 6-0. I’m not sayin’, I’m just sayin’.
I really have no idea what I did the rest of the weekend. That’s not a good thing. Frickin’ aspartame. I didn’t know increased gray chest hair was also a side effect of too much Diet Coke.
Sunday
Five months after Jax’s second birthday I took a day off and, along with my wife, took him to see his first movie in a theater. He obsessed about everything Toy Story, so we took him to see Toy Story 3. His blue eyes blew up like hot air balloons when he entered that huge, dark space. He sat on my lap when the movie started, his face concentrated and serious and he didn’t budge once for the entire movie.
The twins, now a month younger than Jax was, witnessed movie magic for their first time with Monsters University on Sunday. They have seen enough commercials to know about the Monsters, Inc. franchise, however they haven’t seen the movie.
Ellie & Gray outside the movie theater.
Ellie, the more cautious of the two, hesitantly walked in to the theater with her brother and my wife as I grabbed some nachos to snack on and a Diet Coke big enough to bathe in. When I arrived she was sitting on her mom’s lap and Gray proudly sat perked up in his own seat. He was loud, excited and ready for the experience.
The previews were too long for a children’s movie, but I at least came away with this ingenious nugget.
I wasn’t a Lego kid, but holy crap that looks great. Gray had moved to my lap by this time, so I whispered that we needed to see that. He agreed.
By the way, we learned with Jax, who had very sensitive hearing, to bring hooded sweatshirts to the movies since the volume is generally loud enough to melt ear drums. So while it was 97 degrees outside, Gray and Ellie bundled up to soften the noise.
I was two minutes away from jumping into that fountain.
They did great. Ellie sat on my wife’s lap the entire time and only grew restless in the last ten minutes. Gray’s tush must’ve gotten sore so he stood for a bit while munching on Teddy Grahams. They stayed quiet, they were engaged and it seems they’re ready for more movies. It helps that Monsters University was cute, well-paced and had some laugh-out-loud moments.
My parents watched the twins over night so my wife and I went on a hot date. To Ruby’s. And that’s it. I kind of felt like the 80-year-old couple in the booth behind us. Including the gray chest hair.
Ruby’s chocolate banana shake. It o-w-n-s.
We did talk about our upcoming Chicago trip, though. If anyone has any recommendations, please let us know!
While I was off of work for eight months I caught up on a lot of television. Specifically, I watched the entire The Wire series and Dexter, since my dad would ask me at least once every other week during a season if I had Showtime and if I saw the last episode. AND HE DOESN’T EVEN DRINK DIET SOFT DRINKS.
My wife thinks I’m nuts.
“How can you watch that?” she asked me last night as she played on the iPad while we sat in bed and I watched the first episode of Dexter’s last season. The Miami Metro Police Department had just come across a dead body with the victim’s skull split in half and a chunk of brain removed.
It’s a fair question, since the thought of death is forever changed for us now. The show is so over the top that it’s just a way for me to escape life for an hour. Plus, have you SEEN Dexter’s nanny?
Several people have asked me for a link to the video we showed at the remembrance on Monday, so I uploaded it. It also gives those that could not attend a chance to watch it.
As I mentioned before, my wife’s brother created the video, so all credit goes to him. Here you go. For those of you reading from your email subscription, you’ll need to click on the link to the site to view it.
Last week my dad text me a photo he found of me while scouring his garage. It was Christmas, likely around 1983, and I wore The Lone Ranger outfit over my pajamas. This is so Jax, I thought.
Seth Tearz at about 6 years old.
The big cheeks. The blond hair. The wiry frame and the slightly open mouth with the serious face. And, of course, the costume.
Jax, like a lot of 4-year-olds, I’m sure, loved to dress up. He’d change into his Mr. Fantastic costume (Fantastic Four) at least four times a day. Before he hit his superheroes stage, he dawned Buzz Lightyear and Woody outfits constantly.
Jax as Woody.
The more I look at photos of me as a kid the more I see Jax. My wife agrees. He would’ve loved Disney’s The Lone Ranger. And I’m completely confident he’d throw on a black mask with a white cowboy hat and make Gray play his Tonto.
I remember the drive home when the blind hope
Turned to crying and screaming, “Why?”
Flowers pile up in the worst way
No one knows what to say about a beautiful boy who died– By Taylor Swift and Maya Thompson
Courtesy of Crossroad Photography, Heather Kusunoki.
Around October of last year, as we approached Halloween, a very difficult time for me as it was right there with Christmas as Jax’s favorite time of year, my mom emailed my wife and I a link to a song Taylor Swift performed about a boy with cancer. Swift wrote the song “Ronan” based on a blog Maya Thompson, the mother of Ronan, created when her 3-year-old son was diagnosed with neuroblastoma in August of 2010. Ronan died in May of 2011 three days before his fourth birthday.
My wife’s brother created a beautiful tribute video that we showed last night at Jax’s Remembrance. I’m guestimating about 100 people came to Mountain Gate Park in Corona to be together as a community to share stories, hug, laugh and cry.
Projected on to a make-shift movie screen (as you can see in the background of the photo above), the video wrapped up with “Ronan” playing as we watched videos of Jax performing for the infant twins and photos as we all last remember seeing him. The song crushes me every time I hear it. I managed to mostly avoid tears throughout the night until that song played. Even though I watched the video earlier in the day and wept alongside my wife, I still lost it at the park, standing in the background and swigging Macallan scotch from a flask while I wiped away tears. (thank you my very kind friend for sharing).
Courtesy of Crossroad Photography, Heather Kusunoki
The best way to describe last night was beautiful. We gathered beyond the outfield fence since the Corona American Little League all-stars practiced on the large field. Blankets and camping chairs filled the grass area and children played wiffle ball as we listened to some good music and mingled with each other. The way the sun’s glow shined upon us as it set in the crystal blue sky filled me with warmth and peace.
My wife made some keepsakes for people to leave with. Maria, a mother of one of Jax’s t-ball teammates, created this beautiful graphic shortly after the event, displaying and engraved washer and a jack, our symbol for Jax.
Courtesy of Maria McRoberts.
Several courageous people stood in front of us all and spoke of fond memories, how Jax’s life and death has affected them and the love they have for our family.
Following the multimedia presentation we lit the night up by candle light. Following a moment of remembrance we released balloons. We invited people to write messages on some of the balloons while others came installed with a LED light and glowed red (Jax’s favorite color) deep into the dark sky.
Courtesy of Crossroad Photography, Heather Kusunoki.
The day wasn’t without any hiccups and stresses, but the evening came off as well as my wife and I could have hoped. Thank you so much to everyone that attended. We hoped this night would be for you as much as it was for us. We all continue to grieve in our own ways and doing it all together, I think, made it less awful.
Several of you asked about the “Ronan” song, so I’ll end with the lyrics and a link. While it’s written for Ronan, maybe you’ll think of Jax every time you hear it.
Jax – you were my best four years.
I remember your barefeet down the hallway
I remember your little laugh
Race cars on the kitchen floor
Plastic dinosaurs, I love you to the moon and backI remember your blue eyes looking into mine like we had our own secret club
I remember you dancing before bedtime then jumping on me waking me up
I can still feel you hold my hand
Little man, and even the moment I knew
You fought it hard like an army guy
Remember I leaned in and whispered to youCome on baby with me
We’re gonna fly away from here
You were my best four yearsI remember the drive home when the blind hope
Turned to crying and screaming, “Why?”
Flowers pile up in the worst way
No one knows what to say about a beautiful boy who diedAnd it’s about to be Halloween
You could be anything you wanted if you were still here
I remember the last day when I kissed your face
And whispered in your earCome on baby with me
We’re gonna fly away from here
Out of this curtained room and this hospital gray
We’ll just disappear
Come on baby with me
We’re gonna fly away from here
You were my best four yearsWhat if I’m standing in your closet trying to talk to you?
And what if I kept the hand-me-downs you won’t grow into?
And what if I really thought some miracle would see us through?
But what if the miracle was even getting one moment with youCome on baby with me
We’re gonna fly away from here
Come on baby with me
We’re gonna fly away from here
You were my best four yearsI remember your barefeet down the hallway
I love you to the moon and backSongwriter(s):Taylor Swift, Maya Maria Thompson
Copyright:Taylor Swift Music, Sony/ATV Tree Publishing
Thank you Heather Kusunoki for the beautiful photos. You can find her work at Crossroad Photography.