tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33785086Sun, 20 Apr 2008 04:12:58 +0000http://www.joelriggs.com/blog/Joel RiggsBlogger74125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33785086.post-8929163683957181626Sun, 20 Apr 2008 04:05:00 +00002008-04-19T21:12:58.841-07:00kidsAikido of Marinaikido43 days until moving day. I had a long meeting over dinner last night with Jeff, Michael, and David about handing over all my kids classes at the dojo. They wanted to know what I have found works and what does not work in running the classes. We also went through the list of students and I shared what I see each of them working on or needing. At any point in any class, each individual studenthttp://www.joelriggs.com/blog/2008/04/on-kids-aikido-classes.htmlJoel Riggstag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33785086.post-2820772764904435857Sat, 19 Apr 2008 06:17:00 +00002008-04-18T23:35:45.648-07:0044 days until moving day. The fact that we are moving gets more real each day. Yesterday we bought a 15-place Ford van. Today I used that van to bring home about 35 boxes from deep storage at the dojo. (Thanks to all who helped me bring them down from the mezzanine storage.) I have been holding onto photos from my great grandfather Archie Whiting, as well as books and papers from my http://www.joelriggs.com/blog/2008/04/boxes-and-more-boxes.htmlJoel Riggstag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33785086.post-322150196242055412Fri, 18 Apr 2008 19:31:00 +00002008-04-18T12:36:48.227-07:00Yesterday Maria, Rocket and I went to Oakland to purchase an enormous Ford van, the largest they made in 1997. $4500, with 200K miles. It has been well maintained by the three previous owners, and the latest--formerly a truck driver for WalMart--seemed almost obsessive about the van. She had taken good care of it, done lots of maintenance and upgrades, and seemed credible. We will have it http://www.joelriggs.com/blog/2008/04/adventure-commences.htmlJoel Riggstag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33785086.post-7809339775685586067Sat, 12 Apr 2008 06:15:00 +00002008-04-11T23:20:53.433-07:00Rocket SweetaikidoThis evening I got ready to drive down to San Francisco train aikido and see a couple of black belt tests. I had to stop by the dojo in Fairfax first, though, to pick up my hakama and belt. Just as I was about to leave the house, Rocket was whimpering in the bed; he should have been asleep already. I picked him up to shush him and to help him drift to sleep, but he grew more and more upset andhttp://www.joelriggs.com/blog/2008/04/life-of-dad.htmlJoel Riggstag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33785086.post-1083495034676869725Thu, 03 Apr 2008 06:42:00 +00002008-04-02T23:48:46.999-07:00Money DiaryThis morning I quit my job. Long story short, I was working in a small company (15 employees) that did not fit my style or personality. I did not feel like I was being productive at all, and in order to continue working there, I would have had to start lying about how committed I was to their mission and vision. I did not burn any bridges, but it felt great to walk out that door. My wonderfulhttp://www.joelriggs.com/blog/2008/04/i-quit-my-job-today.htmlJoel Riggstag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33785086.post-8789082671542917762Thu, 13 Mar 2008 23:16:00 +00002008-03-13T16:18:11.516-07:00http://www.joelriggs.com/blog/2008/03/dont-leave-your-children-here.htmlJoel Riggstag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33785086.post-155040294322746228Sun, 24 Feb 2008 04:51:00 +00002008-02-23T21:03:34.707-08:00Apparently, it is sometimes difficult for native French speakers to distinguish in English between the past participle and the present participle. Such an incorrect usage can be very entertaining! For example, when we posted an ad two years ago on Craigslist for a housemate, a woman named Nathalie answered: "Hi, I am from Paris and I am interesting in the bedroom..." She got the room!http://www.joelriggs.com/blog/2008/02/why-you-want-french-housemate.htmlJoel Riggstag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33785086.post-9113930275246333848Sat, 16 Feb 2008 09:16:00 +00002008-02-22T13:20:36.512-08:00Suddenly I am fascinated with all things Legos. And the fact that there are many people making apparently a very good living off of Lego art (see www.brickartist.com), and education via Lego projects re physics (see www.play-well.org).http://www.joelriggs.com/blog/2008/02/legos.htmlJoel Riggstag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33785086.post-9172237162207505912Sat, 16 Feb 2008 08:43:00 +00002008-02-16T00:45:56.612-08:00My cousin Joanna wrote me a story about my grandparents I had never heard before: My favorite Myrtle-ism was when Frellsen said "We buy Fords. We always buy Fords." After a significant pause Myrtle replied to us who were listening, "We're in several deep, deep ruts."http://www.joelriggs.com/blog/2008/02/my-grandparents-married-long-time.htmlJoel Riggstag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33785086.post-6065703859665706627Mon, 28 Jan 2008 02:42:00 +00002008-02-02T23:57:11.856-08:00Today would have been my grandfather's 100th birthday. Below are a few memories of him. Please add your own memories or corrections in the comments. Frellsen Fletcher Smith was born January 27, 1908 in Beech Creek, Louisiana, and died July 25, 1992 in Ruston, LA, where he lived most of his life and where he raised his family. He is buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Ruston.He married Myrtle http://www.joelriggs.com/blog/2008/01/12708.htmlJoel Riggstag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33785086.post-418447829068001843Fri, 30 Nov 2007 23:40:00 +00002007-12-21T07:37:02.923-08:00http://www.joelriggs.com/blog/2007/11/happy-at-home.htmlJoel Riggstag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33785086.post-7125842855181272000Thu, 29 Nov 2007 06:35:00 +00002007-11-28T22:36:41.026-08:00Rocket Nov 4, at 7 weeks... http://www.joelriggs.com/blog/2007/11/hi-world.htmlJoel Riggstag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33785086.post-6859812846960265668Sun, 25 Nov 2007 06:14:00 +00002007-11-24T22:24:06.509-08:00My mom is one of five children, and between them, from 1971 to 1983 these five had four spouses and ten grandchildren. My nuclear family of four lived in the same town as my grandparents, but the other four families (15 people total) lived spread across the country. Every Christmas the extended family would descend on my home town of Ruston, LA, for a week of festivities, and all the travelers http://www.joelriggs.com/blog/2007/11/glad-to-see-them.htmlJoel Riggstag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33785086.post-2848939124755235171Tue, 20 Nov 2007 05:51:00 +00002007-11-19T22:05:30.509-08:00Rocket turns two months old today, and this evening for the first time his eyes tracked over to the television as we were watching Seinfeld. Uh oh! He is no longer oblivious to what we are watching. Time for us to shut off the tube. Maria says that watching the flickering screen harms the brain development of small children. (She then also said it harms the brain development of sedentary http://www.joelriggs.com/blog/2007/11/no-longer-oblivious.htmlJoel Riggstag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33785086.post-8520992222045619336Thu, 15 Nov 2007 18:00:00 +00002007-11-29T12:36:20.373-08:00In my new job I am using a Microsoft Windows PC for the first time to any significant degree. While searching for a file in "My Documents" (the "Finder" in Mac-speak), as the computer scans its filenames for the string I entered, a small animation of a dog leafing through the pages of a book appears. After it did not finding anything during 35 minutes (!!!??) of scanning my drive--but it was http://www.joelriggs.com/blog/2007/11/microsoft-tells-truth-with-worlds-most.htmlJoel Riggstag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33785086.post-5436389078097066680Wed, 14 Nov 2007 08:03:00 +00002007-11-14T00:04:33.113-08:00http://www.joelriggs.com/blog/2007/11/untitled.htmlJoel Riggstag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33785086.post-7724354529811379224Mon, 12 Nov 2007 06:51:00 +00002007-11-11T23:13:44.454-08:00This evening I drove to Frank Pryor's studio in San Francisco for a soirée celebrating Nick Scoggin on his way out of town. He is off to Los Angeles to throw himself into the mix of Hollywood, hoping to grow his career in television and film. Nick has been my sensei in aikido at City Aikido since September 1993. The first night I met Nick sensei, I walked into the dojo in the big ballroom on http://www.joelriggs.com/blog/2007/11/sensei-nick.htmlJoel Riggstag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33785086.post-8278441239948383611Mon, 12 Nov 2007 06:48:00 +00002007-11-11T23:09:24.746-08:00Yesterday, Maria gave a client a massage here at the home for the first time since she quit at 7-1/2 months pregnant. So I took Rocket over to the video store to rent the series finale of The Sopranos. (Rocket loved it.) As we got out of the car, i imagined that he had a quizzical look on his face, and I had to explain to him, "This is rain. It is wet and it falls from the sky every once in ahttp://www.joelriggs.com/blog/2007/11/this-is-rain.htmlJoel Riggstag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33785086.post-6695081606086692344Mon, 12 Nov 2007 06:39:00 +00002007-11-11T22:41:51.903-08:00When I was a kid of about 10, I rode with my dad on the interstate one day. I saw a car with their door not quite closed, and I wanted dad to pull up beside them so I could roll down my window and yell at them to shut their door. But he refused. "Don't worry about other people's doors," he said. "When you see someone else's door is open, just check your own door. That's all you need to worryhttp://www.joelriggs.com/blog/2007/11/check-your-doors.htmlJoel Riggstag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33785086.post-6758371491985130714Sun, 04 Nov 2007 05:16:00 +00002007-11-03T22:31:19.876-07:00For his first Halloween, Rocket went as a carrot, courtesy of Maria's creation of a beautiful costume. We strolled through Peri Park in Fairfax (CA), THE see-and-be-seen spot that night. In 2002, Maria and I met the night I went to see my housemate Wendy Fitz play music with Steve Wolf and Otis Scarecroe. Wendy Fitz and Steve Wolf, May 24, 2002, Café Amsterdam Otis Scarecroe, May 24, http://www.joelriggs.com/blog/2007/11/halloween-2007-in-fairfax.htmlJoel Riggstag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33785086.post-4887820860841769948Sun, 04 Nov 2007 04:43:00 +00002007-11-03T22:28:01.919-07:00 Maria and Rocket with Maria's dinner. Joel lives as the nouveau pauvre/nouveau père: note the Two-Buck Chuck and the diaper as napkin.http://www.joelriggs.com/blog/2007/11/sushi-for-birthday.htmlJoel Riggstag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33785086.post-6673824302196740904Sun, 04 Nov 2007 02:09:00 +00002007-11-03T19:12:37.791-07:00On Thursday, Rocket was 6 weeks and 1 day. On Friday, I finished 43 years. Maria captured the moment beautifully: http://www.joelriggs.com/blog/2007/11/43-days-43-years.htmlJoel Riggstag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33785086.post-4734361570690056961Fri, 02 Nov 2007 03:45:00 +00002007-11-01T20:56:55.071-07:00Yesterday, Rocket finished his first six weeks. He has grown from 7 lbs. 10 oz. to 12 lbs. 5 oz., and he looks substantially plumper and longer. The tiny little guy we brought home from the hospital is no more. A week ago, he started making deep, steady eye contact. A couple days later, he progressed to smiling, although not quite yet on cue. Maria and I still look at each other in amazementhttp://www.joelriggs.com/blog/2007/11/on-having-big-little-guy.htmlJoel Riggstag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33785086.post-947513917549811614Tue, 02 Oct 2007 04:47:00 +00002007-10-01T21:52:37.128-07:00Believe it or not, many have been asking for another Rocket movie. He is growing day by day, and here is the new video. Enjoy.http://www.joelriggs.com/blog/2007/10/rocket-in-motion-part-2.htmlJoel Riggstag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33785086.post-2008694123320103487Tue, 25 Sep 2007 17:20:00 +00002007-09-25T15:17:10.741-07:00For those who just can not get enough Rocket (hi, mom!), check out a first Flash movie of the little guy on the brand new RocketRiggs.com.http://www.joelriggs.com/blog/2007/09/rocket-in-motion.htmlJoel Riggs