tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51230352009-06-11T12:35:31.264-04:00"My inner dialog, now in easy-to-read text form!"Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03598797736705003424noreply@blogger.comBlogger638125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123035.post-72463172426591884002009-03-13T19:16:00.001-04:002009-03-13T19:18:17.331-04:00

We had a little excursion to DisneyWorld a few weeks back and it was a really different experience. We thought it would be a nice, slow-paced, quiet couple-centric trip without Matthew there, but we were wrong. Because our trip ended up centered instead on a little flamingo called Terrence. I named him after Terrence Stamp, thinking of his costumes for "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert". and

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09724459621367821143noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123035.post-37469008327469973922009-02-13T14:14:00.001-05:002009-02-13T14:14:57.100-05:00

I like movies about the undead. But call me a Zombie Snob (snOmbie?), but I think the latest trend of inserting Zombies or vampires into every corner of film culture is diluting something great into a yawn-inducing me-too shoveling festival. For every "Shaun of the Dead" there's a "Lost Boys 2 : The Tribe"Latest infraction : Film studios are chomping a the bit to publish "Pride and Prejudice

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03598797736705003424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123035.post-8953472697844080272009-02-03T11:48:00.000-05:002009-02-03T11:49:08.754-05:00

Monday morning I found out that my company was going with the "In Crowd" of companies and laying off lots of people. How did the companies end up doing this on the same day? Facebook perhaps? Home Depot is going to have to cut about 7000 employees. Even shut down the Expo locations. *OUCH* - Caterpillar : Dude, *20,000* total now. Got nothin on me. It hurts but so do my sales. - Pfizer : About

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09724459621367821143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123035.post-4744770250030866562009-01-29T11:19:00.002-05:002009-01-29T11:34:21.443-05:00

A Friend linked me in to this article on what we have to do to save the economy. It's an incredible essay. Snippets here, but do yourself a favor and read the whole article if you have five minutes. ...Along about the time that Roosevelt was about to lose his temper over [the failure of the Public Works Administration], the First Lady talked him into talking to a very successful social worker

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09724459621367821143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123035.post-78975356799763485692009-01-22T09:42:00.001-05:002009-01-22T09:43:15.666-05:00

Most of you don't know, but Melissa had to have her wedding rings cut off. An unfortunate side effect of her ALS is that once the muscles in her fingers atrophied, there was some swelling and we couldn't remove the rings. It was sad to see them cut off, sitting twisted and open in a plastic bag in her drawer. THIS SHALL NOT STAND. So for Christmas, I had a jeweler make the rings whole again...

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03598797736705003424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123035.post-71369678146406920912008-12-12T11:27:00.001-05:002008-12-12T11:32:33.820-05:00

I've talked to a lot of people in the past month about Melissa's disease, and about my role as a caregiver for her. Yes, it is grueling at times, she does require assistance at night frequently, and it takes a lot out of you. But if someone were to ask what the most difficult part of taking care of Melissa is, I could sum it up in one word: LUNCH. Allow me to provide some background. ALS can do

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03598797736705003424noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123035.post-23796879985414475662008-10-10T13:25:00.004-04:002008-10-10T13:32:07.829-04:00

Courtesy of "Sinfest":

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03598797736705003424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123035.post-41255674877016890712008-08-14T17:19:00.001-04:002008-08-14T17:20:48.737-04:00

Verizon Wireless Surprises Customer - Watch more free videos

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03598797736705003424noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123035.post-9913108814316534952008-08-12T11:40:00.002-04:002008-08-12T11:44:52.436-04:00

Found this on StumbleUpon. View Full to read

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03598797736705003424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123035.post-10355936441075522742008-07-28T14:23:00.002-04:002008-07-28T14:28:19.487-04:00

"I've got an idea for a new invention!" said the short gentleman. He had the pale skin of someone who didn't leave the house much. And not for something even marginally cool as addiction to PlayStation. "Everyone hates cleaning the litter box," the man said, not waiting for the sarcastic response I had just thought of. As a service, I try to think up new ones for each customer. Personal touch and

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03598797736705003424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123035.post-37252657907760380862008-07-07T11:27:00.002-04:002008-07-07T11:33:44.105-04:00

Wall-e 5 Word Review: Oh Hell Yeah It Rocks. Slighty Longer Review: Never before has so much social commentary been put so DIGESTIBLY into a film, and most of that message is never spoken with dialogue. PIXAR has shined their "2-layer film" Formula (The kids get it on one level, the adults get the deeper message) to a mirror finish on this one. Not just an immensely enjoyable film, but a

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03598797736705003424noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123035.post-10761774369967832452008-07-01T13:23:00.000-04:002008-07-01T13:24:30.955-04:00

We're back from a brief hiatus! And we've been scheming in our absence to get people involved with ALS Advocacy in our own particular... Um..."Idiom, sir?"Yes, Idiom! Thank you. So here is the deal:Fiver and I have started a team for the annual Walk to Defeat ALS, sponsored by the ALS Association of Georgia. This is the big fundraiser for ALS, since we don't have a telethon, and Mel wants to put

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03598797736705003424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123035.post-43546627175786722652008-06-26T00:48:00.002-04:002008-06-26T00:51:51.399-04:00

Melissa and I are back from Japan. Here's a taste of the Trip Report (forthcoming):

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03598797736705003424noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123035.post-15687889238533755102008-06-25T08:09:00.000-04:002008-06-25T08:10:40.104-04:00

This shirt has renewed my faith in T-shirts in general. I must have this. And I think Wade should love it as well.

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03598797736705003424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123035.post-9244464083721328352008-05-19T13:38:00.006-04:002008-05-21T17:46:31.118-04:00

I'm sure most of you are familiar with PROJECT FIVER, a petition I created to get Melissa cast as an extra in THE HOBBIT. Well, Melissa and I have been going back and forth on how to break the news, but we're just going to cut to the chase. A Production Liaison has contacted us, and they want to make Project Fiver happen in the next year or so.To quote someone famous: "There is no emoticon for

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03598797736705003424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123035.post-26603050551393570192008-05-13T11:27:00.002-04:002008-05-13T15:46:05.683-04:00

Pretty awesome stuff. And the soundtrack rocks. (Nine Inch Nails from the '300' soundtrack)Watch More How to and DIY videos

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03598797736705003424noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123035.post-14232174246214741332008-05-07T11:59:00.003-04:002008-05-07T12:04:36.312-04:00

After the ceiling fan in Matthew's room decided it REALLY wanted to know what gravity was and took a swan dive, we replaced all the fans in the upper rooms. Ron-In-Law chose these ones with a remote control to change the fan speed, turn on & off the lights, and dim them. Pretty cool feature: (1) Mel can change the lighting and fan in her room without asking for help, (2) the old fight about who

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03598797736705003424noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123035.post-8678984302528725562008-05-02T00:40:00.005-04:002008-05-02T00:55:34.355-04:00

Dear Sweet Holy Ghost of Stan Lee. IRON MAN has just unseated SPIDER-MAN as my favorite comic book movie. And I didn't think that could be done. While Spider Man is a milestone of Superhero movies done right, IRON MAN overtakes it in the end. And while the CG is schweeEEEEEEEET, what really makes this film is Robert Downey Jr. I knew he was just the right pick for Tony Stark. Because Tony Stark

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03598797736705003424noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123035.post-23214417700855322812008-05-01T13:58:00.001-04:002008-05-01T14:47:45.607-04:00

I have to give credit where it is due for a moment here. Melissa can no longer walk without someone helping her. Either I have to "drive" her by her shoulders, or she can use the roller-walker with someone behind her. This has severely limited her mobility, and she spends part of the day in our room reading stories and watching movies on the computer. We were just about to cancel our NetFlix

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03598797736705003424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123035.post-9872983159286157062008-04-29T11:24:00.002-04:002008-04-29T11:27:04.370-04:00

Okay, who's the smartass who signed me up for an AARP card? I just got a membership card in the mail Saturday. I'm only 34 for pete's sake!I'm tempted to keep the card though, and try to see if anyone would question it. "One Senior Citizen Ticket to IRON MAN. Yes, I have an AARP Card. Yes, I'm Chris Kern, here's a photo ID..."

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03598797736705003424noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123035.post-86288348618054692842008-04-18T16:31:00.001-04:002008-04-18T16:41:12.621-04:00

Yesterday, my Mom-In-Law just delivered a trio of easter candy that she forgot to give me. A box of Dots, Good & Plenty and JuJuBes. Dots were fine, G&P are always good, but I had to throw away the JuJuBes after one handful. These are just as awful as I remember. If I had to explain JuJuBes to a foreigner, this would be it: "Imagine a sweet, colorful gummy candy that looks like a

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03598797736705003424noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123035.post-12991834613003585712008-04-17T00:12:00.001-04:002008-04-17T00:13:39.989-04:00

A little late, but some SMALL things have kept me from doing my usual editing projects in the evenings. can't imagine what!So here it is. My first choral arrangement, and my first music arrangement since about 1996, and that was a failed attempt at "Buddy Holly" by Weezer for my UGA A Cappella group The Accidentals. I wanted to make a song with a real message for Christmas in Atlanta. So here is

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03598797736705003424noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123035.post-58538057465794183882008-04-07T09:27:00.001-04:002008-04-07T09:28:41.803-04:00

Thanks everyone, for the great birthday wishes. I had a very busy day, it happens. Getting Melissa and Matthew ready for church on Sundays is busy in itself. We arrived late for the pre-show choir practice and they told me I had a solo in a song we've done before, so I thought I was set. Only they didn't give me the solo in the same spot as last time. Heh. So I ended up leaving an empty space in

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03598797736705003424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123035.post-65642823098869398232008-03-11T15:40:00.004-04:002008-03-11T15:50:37.395-04:00

Many of you may know my wife, Melissa Kern. She has helped out with the Tolkien and Young Adult Literature tracks at DragonCon. She even appeared in a well-known DragonCon TV commercial. Mel has been a fan of J.R.R. Tolkien since she read The Hobbit as a child, and has always loved books. Her heart leaped when she saw the preview for Peter Jackson’s film adaptations of Lord of the Rings, and

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03598797736705003424noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123035.post-68677609471934079702008-02-25T08:54:00.004-05:002008-02-25T08:59:23.084-05:00

I've always been kinda lukewarm to Sarah Silverman and Jimmy Kimmel (Who are a couple, I now find out). I just never found them all that great. Well thanks to a friend of Melissa's and YouTube, I they each have gone up a peg in my book. This is what Sarah did during the Writer's Strike: And THIS is how Jimmy Kimmel responded on the Oscars Post-Show last night: I'll give you three guesses as to

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03598797736705003424noreply@blogger.com1