Journal

Daphne at the Pumpkin Festival, originally uploaded by eagerlittlemind.

Daddy/daughter trip to the Life is Good Pumpkin Festival (which explains the lack of hair bow holding back her bangs).

This morning the Denbow family broke it down in an impromptu blues jam session. Per family Saturday tradition, the music was cranked up and provided thanks to Sirius Blues. Little DVD was banging out the tunes on her little xylophone keyboard and I was rocking her tambourine. Wonderwife came in a little bit later with some sweet dance moves. It all reminded me of Dr. Funke’s 100% Natural Good Time Family Band Solution…to the blues.

When Daphne was a tiny baby and couldn’t go to sleep as fast as we thought she should, I’d turn up some blues music to help relax her. Sometimes I threw in a little jazz. She loved it! Our hope is she will be musically inclined. Who knows, maybe she’ll play as well as her mom.

Looks like the music worked again…it’s Daphne’s nap time.

It is Friday! Time to get up and dance for joy. No economic worries, no political discussions, no job woes, just enjoy this uplifting, fun video. I can see myself totally doing this!

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

Daphne Pumpkin Patch, originally uploaded by Photo Mojo.

Loved this photo session with little DVD and Wonderwife. However, Daphne decided she was more interested in the young man pulling a wagon full of pumpkins and other distractions.

This weekend, we are attending the Life is Good Pumpkin Festival in Katy. See you there?

A few months ago it was decided to move from Birmingham into Houston, Texas. How does one adjust afterwards from a Southern city in the mountains to the nation’s 4th largest metropolis? Web applications, of course! Here is a list for you to guide you into your new city or maybe even help you become a tourist in your own town.

Flickr– The photo sharing site has been a tremendous assistant by observing locales as others see them. Added bonuses: maps with geotags and Flickr groups. As soon as we arrived, there was a flickr meetup at the Museum of Natural Science after hours. That was a blast and I got to meet fellow photogs too.

Yelp– Yelp is an easy way to find, review and talk about what’s great (and not so great) in your new home. What are the best restaurants, dentists, hairstylists? Yelp runs on personal recommendations.

GPS- After the family got settled, it was time to go explore. Well, you don’t just explore an area the size of Houston w/o a guide, it just isn’t done. Our guide has been the Garmin Nuvi 360. Much more convenient and used than the $35 wire-bound mass of a map book that was purchased and is collecting dust!

Tilt- My mobile handset from AT &T has crucial communication features including 3G data, GPS, wifi, photos, video and more. Information in my hands. Fast. Oh, and download the Fring application for IM communication away from your computer.

Twitter– A communication tool that simply asks: “What are you doing?” While still living in Alabama, I befriended mucho Twitterers here in Houston and added to the local conversations remotely. After arriving…instant friends. Brilliant!

Upcoming-All right, now that you have arrived, what is there to do in this town? Anything exciting coming up? Glad you asked and here is your reference tool. Upcoming is a community for discovering and sharing events. It can help you find stuff to do, discover what your friends are doing, or let you keep private events online for your own reference. Bonus: you can add your photos of the event to Flickr and vice versa. Neat!

Your Local Newspaper- Yes, you can use their website, sure. The Houston Chronicle is utilizing new media tools and socializing apps almost better than anyone out there. Still, get the tree-killing kind. Why? There is something to be said for print. Besides, you even get ads you can ignore or use (coupons too)

There are many variations of these tools out there but I have submitted them for you based on my user experience and benefit. I haven’t yet mentioned the local library systems, traffic management tools, radio stations, etc but they are essential as well.

What tools have you used to either discover your new city or explore your hometown? What have I missed? Lay it on us and enjoy the experience!

Pumpkin Girl , originally uploaded by Photo Mojo.

Daphne’s fall fashion photo shoot in the backyard was fun. Tomorrow, we’ll go to a local pumpkin patch and get some more. Doesn’t she look like she belongs in a kid’s clothing catalog?

Give me a "D", originally uploaded by eagerlittlemind.

One of the last things I want for my daughter is to become a cheerleader. Why? Because I used to play football as a linebacker. I know the chemistry between the two.

Having said this, I think Daphne has cuteness coming out of her ears here!

She’ll help us cheer for the #1 OU Sooners versus #5 Texas during the Red River Rivalry this weekend.

Go team!

I’m going. Will I see you there? http://houstonsketchy.wordpress.com/

I missed the VP debates last Thursday between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin but decided to watch it on Hulu.com to play catch-up. Yes, I watched the SNL skit as well!

I then took the transcript and loaded it into Wordle which created tag clouds that highlight what was mentioned the most. If you can look past the obvious repeats such as names and titles, you can view what was discussed. I’ll leave the judgment and voting decisions up to you.

Ivan Denbow, originally uploaded by Photo Mojo.

Zanesville, Ohio February 2, 1927 – Tulsa, Oklahoma September 28, 2008

My father called this afternoon to tell me that my grandfather passed away a few days ago and was discovered in his home alone. We’ll be driving up to Tulsa on Thursday morning for a weekend memorial service.

Ivan L. Denbow was born in Ohio in 1923 and died at the age of 85. He and his 9 siblings were orphaned at a young age and lived at a working orphanage in Zanesville, Ohio. After serving in World War II he met and married Betty, who died right before my father’s 4th birthday. Ivan married shortly afterwards to Corneila for 50 years until she passed away in February 2007.

I haven’t had a moment really to reflect other than realizing how alive we are and how much we should appreciate this.

Life is beautiful.

Goodbye, grandpa. We love and miss you.

Wonderwife, DVD and I visited the Children’s Museum today and enjoyed it. It was fun to watch Daphne explore, play and socialize with other kids. She just could not believe all of the toys and space in which to play!

In other news, my father is recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery on Friday and is supposedly doing quite well.

and now Daphne…