tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123035Wed, 16 May 2012 15:42:04 +0000piratesPictureCancermovieseditorialCosplayTerrorismMuteMathCommercialPaintingsMovieeasterwarFree PassStoryCraigLeavesOne RingHalloweenAtlantaWachowskivideoZero PunctuationmustacheZombiesBogartToy StorysingingGiraffeThankfulGodChristmasWintercats2007CreationismFloridalightsdietyardworkALSopinionEvolutionChoirPunsSleepKindergartenamericamash-upstormyReviewMatthewWatership DownHarry PotterHothLantaThanksgivingWallpaperpubNurseLittle RockT-ShirtBostonRabbitsRonDJLiveJournalAWAHamletNashtroopscakelondonFox NewsIndiaupdateMelissaSchooltarantinoshareHPJimmy KimmelremotenickelbackparentingVT ShootingrepairsWall-eCleaningRingsChildrenfanskinTriviafameDragonConWalkStar WarsVerizondentistSarah SilvermanFYInumbersAARPCandyCarsHairsinfestAkihabaraAqua TeenadscomicShawnbunny"Great Idea"GamerSpeed RacerproductPhotoshopGamesTHE HOBBITangelFlamingoHalo 3PackhorseLJPurgein-lawscriticFundraiserSnakeGatlinburgNewslaptopDoctor WhoLittermaidadviceUGAlightningWPAeconomyCrispinLunchPixarMatt DamonAVATARHospitalSugar GliderJapanLyric Analysis BustAMove100EmoryDisneyEducationIraqJuJuBesCartoonPatriot ActstrikeNetflixgrindhousebush2011cryingFriendsmarriage8TracksPenny ArcadeRiseFoodinternetSuperheroSpringfootballProject FiverIron ManTripSongideaNa'viA cappellabirthdaybad luckRisingvacationMusicParnBeliefHOBBITfugitiveYouTubecommunicationArtLegoDisneyworldAccidentalsPetitionMatrixSnOMGTexasdreamsAOMEDrivingPumpkinshousemallRantrevolutionFallDeathdrillIce"My inner dialog, now in easy-to-read text form!"http://blog.kernsville.com/noreply@blogger.com (Chris)Blogger679125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123035.post-4985361978442897612Tue, 08 May 2012 14:08:00 +00002012-05-08T10:08:33.758-04:00dietCrispinSnakeskinI was a bit worried about our king snake, Crispin.  He had been refusing to eat for almost a month, and he's been sitting in his pipe and not coming out very much for three weeks.  Their metabolism slows in winter, but this is the first time he's gone so long in spring.  Most likely, he is about to shed his skin. (This is just a reference pic, NOT my actual snake.  Black Mambas aren't the best http://blog.kernsville.com/2012/05/shedding-its-skin.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Chris)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123035.post-9001795041822524953Sun, 29 Apr 2012 07:00:00 +00002012-04-29T03:00:04.875-04:00I know it's been said millions of different ways, and I'm not some sage or wise man. But sometimes things just CLICK and you gain a real understanding of what something means. What we do when we fail is what makes us who we are. The actions we take when life does NOT go our way is what defines us.  Failure makes us more determined. Rejection makes us try harder. Disappointment tells us what we http://blog.kernsville.com/2012/04/late-night-thoughts.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Chris)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123035.post-8298127344847225468Sun, 29 Apr 2012 06:42:00 +00002012-04-29T02:42:28.307-04:00We didn't mean to stay up so late tonight, but the battery went out on our desktop clock. I THOUGHT it felt a lot later than 10 PM, and sure enough, it was nearly midnight! Weird thing: Melissa has had this alarm clock for 23 years. She has changed the battery in it... TWICE. I took out the C-Size battery that finally gave up the ghost tonight, it has an EXPIRATION DATE of 2002... So it's been http://blog.kernsville.com/2012/04/accidental-insomnia.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Chris)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123035.post-7534959466679197101Wed, 18 Apr 2012 13:39:00 +00002012-04-18T09:40:12.741-04:00MelissamoviesBogartNetflixMelissa and I have to do some major renovation to our NetFlix queue.  We've run out of stuff that we actively wanted to see, and now it's just movies we forgot why we put in there. There's a load of classics that I put in there from the AFI Top 100 Movies list, some lesser-known movies with Lord of the Rings actors, The first season of Star Blazers, and assorted others that we can't even rememberhttp://blog.kernsville.com/2012/04/melissa-and-i-have-to-do-some-major.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Chris)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123035.post-3696100817323017277Sun, 01 Apr 2012 22:39:00 +00002012-04-01T18:39:57.645-04:00bunnyParnPictureRabbitsArtPaintingsGiraffeDon't you just LOVE discovering new things you like? I was randomly making my way through some Hand-Made site like Etsy and I just saw something really unique and cute. Rabbits on Marshmallow Tree[6"x8] Acrylic on wood I couldn't help but click on it. This was so cute and simple, and Melissa would just LOVE it with these bunnies on it. The artist's name is Kristiana Parn, and I found the http://blog.kernsville.com/2012/04/new-artist-crush.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Chris)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123035.post-5917573142280621512Sun, 04 Mar 2012 06:35:00 +00002012-03-04T01:36:37.674-05:00Watership DownMelissaMatthewDeathALSMovieIt was Movie Night in the Kern/Petrey household, so Mel's parents brought home some frozen pizzas and we tries to pick out a good movie for Mel, Matthew and I to watch. We have hundreds of movies on Netflix to stream, hundreds on DVD, but very few in that magical middle section of the Venn Diagram of movies that all of us would like to watch. Then Matthew picked up "Watership Down" and my eyes http://blog.kernsville.com/2012/03/black-rabbit-of-death.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Chris)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123035.post-6649148450357254449Tue, 28 Feb 2012 18:10:00 +00002012-02-28T13:12:06.087-05:00MelissaMatthewSugar GliderLegoStar WarsMelissa had a pretty good day yesterday. I surprised her by arranging a visit from "Toothless" the Sugar Glider. Mel LOVES LOVES LOVES these guys, but we really can't have one. (Three cats, one Chihuahua and a snake in the house already, and the SG's are pretty demanding.) So my friend Claire brought over her friend and Toothless: Melissa might look apprehensive, but that's just her trying http://blog.kernsville.com/2012/02/sugar-glider-and-falcon.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Chris)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123035.post-2503787761380821145Fri, 24 Feb 2012 15:53:00 +00002012-02-24T10:53:40.676-05:00 While caring for Melissa and Matthew takes up a good deal of my time, I do get out of the house for Choir practice and to sing in the Sunday service at our church.  I challenged myself to write some short pieces of music to accompany the bible readings a few times a year. This was my second piece, which I wrote for last year's "Transfiguration Sunday" service. I really can't play the pianohttp://blog.kernsville.com/2012/02/three-dwellings-piece.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Chris)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123035.post-717485104612942053Fri, 30 Dec 2011 04:37:00 +00002011-12-29T23:37:01.821-05:00MelissaMatthew2011moviesGatlinburgChristmasHere's the tales of the Kerns' Adventures in December : Earlier in the month, Melissa wanted to go to Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge Tennessee. It was a couple of chintzy towns full of restaurants, hotels, go-kart tracks and T-Shirt shops along a single road in the middle of the Smoky Mountains, but it has a great charm to it when it's decked out for Christmas. Loads of lights along the strip, and somehttp://blog.kernsville.com/2011/12/christmas-with-kerns-2011.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Chris)0Lawrenceville, GA, USA33.9562149 -83.987962533.9035319 -84.0669265 34.0088979 -83.9089985tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123035.post-6702516484949216744Tue, 29 Nov 2011 18:09:00 +00002011-11-29T13:09:28.260-05:00Dinnertime conversation with my son, Matthew (9): M: I'm going to open a store in my room! C: Your room? That kind of limits your potential customers. M: YOU guys can buy stuff! Grommy and Granddaddy and you and Mommy. C: What kind of stuff are you selling? We already bought the Yankee Candles and ButterBraid Bread from your school fundraisers and Popcorn for your Cub Scouts. M: I'm selling my http://blog.kernsville.com/2011/11/matthews-great-idea-store.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Chris)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123035.post-3938588881170343567Sat, 05 Nov 2011 05:41:00 +00002011-11-05T01:42:33.598-04:00Hey folks! Melissa and I are back from our week's vacation. Well, we were back last Saturday, but it took us a week to get back on track here, with the jetlag and everything. Yes, you read that right, we actually took a plane. And with a wheelchair like Melissa has, that's a REAL HOOT, believe you me. I had to do a lot of homework to make sure we were able to keep this wheelchair on the http://blog.kernsville.com/2011/11/vacation-all-i-ever-wanted.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Chris)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123035.post-262145149421093391Thu, 13 Oct 2011 21:04:00 +00002011-10-14T10:38:51.746-04:00 Trying to keep my composure, but I am wanting to tear the Post Office a few new orifices today. Last week, a friend Priority Mailed a piece of equipment back to me. It never arrived. There wasn't tracking or insurance on it. But I know it was an honest mistake, and I forgive him. I found my peace with it, because so many good things have happened for Mel this year, and we have received http://blog.kernsville.com/2011/10/us-pissed-office.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Chris)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123035.post-2347737937472315938Mon, 26 Sep 2011 18:24:00 +00002011-09-26T14:24:59.498-04:00MelissaBeliefALSGodI'm not sure who it was who said "How am I supposed to know what I think until I write it?" but it really holds true.Sunday morning, despite a weekend of bad sleep, I woke up and went to Church with Matthew. (I'm in the choir, but I only attend every other week, alternating with her parents in order to leave someone home to take care of Melissa.) One of the men I know there was getting coffee http://blog.kernsville.com/2011/09/off-top-of-my-head.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Chris)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123035.post-8763816208973956366Fri, 19 Aug 2011 14:41:00 +00002011-08-19T10:41:11.005-04:00videoPackhorseDragonConAfter the good response to my Dragon*Con Tips set last year, I thought I'd make an attempt at making some of it into a short PSA for DConTV. Since I don't have Flash animation skills myself, I put the word out to some friends. Much to my surprise, J Griffin, a former co-worker of mine from UGA who used to animate spots for Cartoon Network, answered the call. I thought a simple text-with-photoshttp://blog.kernsville.com/2011/08/dragoncon-tips-2011.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Chris)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123035.post-2867455988872414302Thu, 11 Aug 2011 00:14:00 +00002011-08-10T17:24:56.244-04:00opinionparentingChildrenA few weeks ago, some good friends of mine posted a link to a CNN editorial about parents' inability to control children in public places ("Permissive parents: Curb your brats"). While everybody agrees with the need for discipline, I have to take exception to many of the author's points. If you're the kind of parent who allows your 5-year-old to run rampant in public places like restaurants, http://blog.kernsville.com/2011/08/arranged-marriage.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Chris)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123035.post-2235016729585838772Mon, 18 Jul 2011 03:26:00 +00002011-07-17T23:26:28.899-04:00moviesHarry PotterHPNow that Deathly Hallows: Part 2 is finally out in theaters, I can finally come clean about something that has been going on for years: I deliberately stopped reading "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" halfway through because I thought the ending of this series would be more EPIC in the Theatrical Release. Since then, I have painstakingly avoided HP Discussion groups, ran the other way whenhttp://blog.kernsville.com/2011/07/harry-potter-deathly-hallows-spoilers.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Chris)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123035.post-5047079797629875830Mon, 11 Jul 2011 05:14:00 +00002011-07-11T01:14:48.693-04:00CancerZombiesMatthewGamesHairMatthew (Out of nowhere): Dad, is Cancer what makes people's hair fall out? Me: It's the cancer TREATMENT that does that. Doctors use small doses of Radiation to kill the cancer cells, and losing your hair is one of the side effects. Matthew: (Pause) can cancer sometimes be good? Me: Nnnnnno. Cancer is not good, it can make you very sick and even kill you. Matthew: But what if... do people get http://blog.kernsville.com/2011/07/dinner-conversation-with-matthew-age-9.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Chris)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123035.post-6258546652939921675Thu, 02 Jun 2011 12:41:00 +00002011-06-02T08:41:02.433-04:00CrispinfugitiveSnake Listen up, ladies and gentlemen. Our fugitive has been on the run for 30 hours . Average slithering speed over carpet and stairs barring injuries is 2 miles an hour. But he is likely too large to squeeze under weatherstripped doors and windows, he is likely still in the house somewhere.  What I want out of each and every one of you is a hard-target search of every obscured corner, couch, http://blog.kernsville.com/2011/06/have-you-ssssssseeen-me.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Chris)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123035.post-6742367832565108928Thu, 12 May 2011 15:24:00 +00002011-05-13T16:44:47.164-04:00A few years back, I had this brief obsession with Anagrams. I found a few that were truly incredible. Sometimes, they would reveal some secret insight into the subject. For Microsoft: A semi-true assessment of me: Other Notables that I found: "We hold these truths to be self-evident" ==> Withheld to feeblest enthused voters. "The Monica Lewinsky Scandal" ==> Wild con man cheats sneakily *http://blog.kernsville.com/2011/05/truth-in-anagrams.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Chris)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123035.post-2595560579345507905Mon, 18 Apr 2011 23:36:00 +00002011-04-18T16:00:00.491-04:00A cappellasingingUGAAccidentalsAs a birthday gift, former A Cappella compatriots Craig, Justin and I set out to Athens, GA to see UGAPALOOZA, the annual spring A Cappella invitational concert put on by the UGA Accidentals (My old college group). I haven't been back to these since 2007 so it's been a while. Our tickets were incredibly FRONT ROW CENTER. I could not have asked for better, and I happened to bring my new Digital http://blog.kernsville.com/2011/04/of-cappella-and-disturbing-math.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Chris)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123035.post-6733997251378851439Wed, 13 Apr 2011 12:41:00 +00002011-04-13T08:41:45.977-04:00PunsAs a format, the well-designed pun is made by careful planning, sometimes for long periods of time. Melissa named our cats "Oscar" and "Mayer" as a set-up for the pet Weiner dog she wanted. Whereas I still want to own a donkey one day, just so I can tell people it's name is "Ho-Tay." http://blog.kernsville.com/2011/04/on-puns-and-planning.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Chris)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123035.post-9091730628703767473Sun, 20 Mar 2011 20:42:00 +00002011-03-20T16:42:14.614-04:00MelissaHOBBITProject FiverProduction of The Hobbit is finally set to begin today after months of delays. The two films are expected to pump around $1.5 billion into the New Zealand economy. Friction between director Sir Peter Jackson and the New Zealand actors' union over pay and conditions delayed production last year, and Jackson's hospitalisation earlier this year pushed filming back again. Jackson's assistant Matt http://blog.kernsville.com/2011/03/filming-starts-on-hobbit-finally.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Chris)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123035.post-4109782825984583384Sat, 29 Jan 2011 03:15:00 +00002011-01-28T14:17:04.109-05:00IndiamoviesRantMatrixWachowskiSpeed RacerDear Wachowski Brothers, You created one of the best sci-fi action movies in THE MATRIX back in 1999, pioneering whole new areas of visual effects and branding "Bullet-Time" cameras. It was truly an accomplishment in cinema, not only entertaining, but visually awe-inspiring and driven by a tight script with an engaging story. "The Lobby Scene" set the bar for years to come, and continues to see http://blog.kernsville.com/2011/01/f-you-wachowski-brothers.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Chris)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123035.post-339603245862010066Wed, 12 Jan 2011 14:38:00 +00002011-01-12T09:38:40.662-05:00HothLantaIceSnOMGDrivingWinter ...A sudden climate shift in the south has shut down the city, making us ripe for invasion by imperial troops. The rebels defending the city's power generator are being routed by AT-AT walkers... Yeah. 6 inches of snow in a city with probably THREE salt/plow trucks total. Temps continue to stay below freezing and streets are just sheets of ice. I have a doctor's appointment to get to this http://blog.kernsville.com/2011/01/running-on-ice-atlanta-highway-edition.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Chris)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123035.post-8072936508493793829Tue, 28 Dec 2010 03:45:00 +00002010-12-27T22:45:32.165-05:00Muscle MagsOriginally uploaded by Bill The PonyFound on my Drugstore magazine rack.I have a feeling one of these guys is dosinghttp://blog.kernsville.com/2010/12/muscle-mags.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Chris)0