(This is a story by my son Ethan, who is 8 years old.)

Chapter 1
Once upon a time there was a boy who loved to swing.

One day he swung so high that he slipped of and flew though the air! Then a peregrine falcon stuck him down flying the fastest he could! He fell and fell until he fell into a lake! The lake lead to a river. A current swept him into the river. The river carried him from the lake to a swing. He swung on the swing and jumped off! But just as he jumped off he realized that he was just at his house! (He had gone around the Earth in one hour!)

Now he was flapping his arms but that just made him faster because his name is Fly, he is four (But very good at swinging.),and he is one pound! Now because he hadn’t got hit he was up in space orbiting the Earth! His Mom was geting worried now. Just as he thought he was going to get dehydrated halley’s comet blasted him back to Earth! (He was saved!) He landed on his swing and it broke. Yahow he yelled! Because ofcorse he didn’t like swinging anymore.

Chapter 2
Fly’s parents got divorced because Fly broke the swing that his worked hard for. His Mom stayed but his Dad didn’t. Fly’s new Dad had very long arms so he needed to get to work on a weird bike because it was to much work in a car. His new Dad didn’t like to get to work on a bike because he got to tired. So they decided to make a car that he could drive to work but it cost 987′000′000 dolars! But he still bought it anyway! And that’s when they became poor! But he got more money because he got in the guienss book of world records!

Chapter 3
Fly’s parents had a baby girl that was not ordinary. It was born with teeth, hair and size two feet. Soon in three months the baby had lost a tooth, had long hair and was walking! When it was in preschool she knew what ninetyeight x sevendysix equals! (It equals 7,448.)So she had to skip a grade but she was still to smart so she needed to skip another grade. But she was still too smart so she needed to skip another grade! And another and another and another and another and another and another and another and another and another and another until it was time to go to College! But she was still to smart so she had to go to universery and that’s just right for her even though people laugh at her for being so small

THE END

- by Ethan Koetsier

From Roz Savage, who rowed across the Atlantic ocean and is now attempting the Pacific:

I believe that if you don’t keep pushing the boundaries, keep expanding your comfort zone, your comfort zone actually gets smaller and smaller, until you’re shrink-wrapped in such a tiny comfort zone that you can’t move, you can’t achieve anything, you can’t grow. And so I keep pushing, keep developing, keep evolving. I keep showing what an ordinary person can do when they put their hearts and minds and souls into it.

The kids all got their medals today from the Fraser Valley Regional Library summer reading club challenge.

Aidan, when he came home with his, said now he’s got his first medal “so he can feel like a winner.”

Tags: family, fun, reading, medal, kids, john koetsier

Ethan’s instructions:

1. Blow both balloons up first (to stretch the balloons)
2. Let the air out of both
3. Blow up the balloon that’s supposed to be bigger (on the outside)
4. While holding the outside balloon put the other balloon inside it
5. Blow up the inside balloon
6. Blow up the outside balloon just a bit more
7. Tie them both

Picture:

Some books that I’ve just finished up:

• Witnesses of War, by Nicholas StarGardt
  About children’s lives under the Nazis before, during, and slightly after WWII. Appalling, moving, engrossing.

• In Search of Stones, by M. Scott Peck
  Peck’s tale of a trip he and his wife took to the UK in search of dolmen and menhirs … which he intertwines with frank discussion of himself, his life, what he’s learned, and his mistakes. One important thing to remember from this book: the concept of “overdetermination,” the idea that most things have more than one cause … they are “overdetermined.” We like to have one cause, and one effect, but that’s simplistic.

• Ashes of Glory, by Ernest B Furgurson
  The story of Richmond, Virginia, the “other capital” of the US … at least during the civil war. A little tedious and narrowly-focused, but interesting. Most memorable anecdote: Abraham Lincoln comes to Richmond shortly after the city is taken. Black men and women surround him. One aged black man doffs his cap and offers a short bow. Lincoln doffs his cap and bows in return. That must have been a big deal to those just-recently-slaves. Wonderful!

• A Perfect Hell, by John Nadler
  The story of the Canadian-American commando unit “First Special Service Force,” composed somewhat of misfits, which fought like heroes and died by the hundreds in multiple campaigns throughout WWII. All that you need to know about them to know something of them is that the Germans called them “Schwartzer Teurel,” or Black Devils.

I’m trying to formulate my personal rules for success … the principles that I think will make me “successful” given what I know of my personality (strengths and weaknesses).

They’re a work in progress, obviously. And each is a guideline, not a law of the Medes and Persians.

In no particular order:

1. Don’t eat after 8 PM
2. Do daily devotions at 10 PM
3. Get up no later than 7 AM
4. Plan what I need to do
5. Do what I planned to do
6. Exceed expectations that are important to me
7. Leave everyone feeling better than when we met
8. Get serious exercise at least 2x/week
9. Have a family fun night every Friday night
10. Take each child for a “date” once a month
11. Put in 1 hour of study/work every weeknight
12. Drive like a Christian
13. Pause before reacting in anger

More to come …

Wow. You really can outsource just about everything these days …

The picketers marching in a circle in front of a downtown Washington office building chanting about low wages do not seem fully focused on their message.

Many have arrived with large suitcases or bags holding their belongings, which they keep in sight. Several are smoking cigarettes. One works a crossword puzzle. Another bangs a tambourine, while several drum on large white buckets. Some of the men walking the line call out to passing women, “Hey, baby.” A few picketers gyrate and dance while chanting: “What do we want? Fair wages. When do we want them? Now.”

Although their placards identify the picketers as being with the Mid-Atlantic Regional Council of Carpenters, they are not union members.

They’re hired feet, or, as the union calls them, temporary workers, paid $8 an hour to picket. Many were recruited from homeless shelters or transitional houses. Several have recently been released from prison. Others are between jobs.

“It’s about the cash,” said Tina Shaw, 44, who lives in a House of Ruth women’s shelter and has walked the line at various sites. “We’re against low wages, but I’m here for the cash.”

This is not a little bit fishy … the people supposedly not making enough money are obviously making enough money to pay people who are making even less money to protest for them about not making enough money.

. . .
. . .

Saw it here first

Tags: outsource, protesting, silly, wages, john koetsier

We’re currently on BC’s Sunshine Coast taking a week’s holiday. A couple of days ago we took a two-hour hike to Skookumchuck Narrows, which is where the tidal flow into a huge basin is constricted through a narrow passage and can exceed 30 km/hr.

Really cool rapids and standing waves … which the kayakers enjoy:

Tags: john koetsier, skookumchuck rapids, narrows, ocean, tide, waves, kayaking

Whoa. I wonder what this would do to government corruption around the world:

The former head of China’s State Food and Drug Administration, Zheng Xiaoyu, has been executed for corruption, the state-run Xinhua news agency reports.

He was convicted of taking 6.5m yuan ($850,000; £425,400) in bribes and of dereliction of duty at a trial in May.

The bribes were linked to sub-standard medicines, blamed for several deaths.

I’m not condoning it or advocating for it in any way, but on a purely amoral the-ends-justify-the-means level, I bet it would get very good results.

Tags: government, corruption, china, execution, food, drug, safety, john koetsier

It’s really good to see that the American media knows what’s important: 3-foot subs that aren’t.

It’s not like there’s anything more important to talk about right now.

Tags: news, america, msm, john koetsier

I’ve had some really good books out from the library … been on a bit of a history kick lately …

Here’s a selection:

Shadow Divers, by Robert Kurson
Excellent book - wonderful story of 2 amateur deep-sea divers who through sheer persistence and amazing energy and effort wrote a new chapter in WWII history.

Walking Up and Down in the World, by Smoke Blanchard
Extremely interesting life story of a hiker, moutain climber, trucker, guide, naturalist, photographer, author, and much, much more. (See this post of mine on a different blog for an interesting quote from the book.)

Jerusalem in the Twentieth Century by Martin Gilbert
Jerusalem, city of peace, has always been a bloody city. This is a good but very narrowly focused history of Jerusalem’s last 100 years. Note: published in ‘96 so a bit out of date.

Me Against My Brother by Scott Peterson
Seriously disturbing, but still something you can’t put down. Journalist Scott Peterson writes of something like 20 years in Africa, particularly during the Somalia crisis of Black Hawk Down fame, the ever-lasting civil war in the Sudan, and the genocide in Rwanda (of Hotel Rwanda fame). Required reading if you want to understand something about African wars and their insidious connections to African aid.

Agincourt by Juliet Barker
A detailed history of one of the most famous victories England has ever won. Fascinating, especially for it’s portrayal of the famous and remarkable King Henry V.

Tags: reading, books, john koetsier

Ethan and Aidan were playing around with Photobooth, Apple’s fun picture-taking software that accompanies the newer iMacs and MacBooks with built-in cameras.

A couple of the results:

And one that they liked better:

The painting you see in the back? It’s Jeroen Vermeulen’s … their uncle (and my brother-in-law).

Tags: ethan, aidan, john koetsier, family, pix, photo

(a poem by Gabrielle Koetsier, age 10)

Children sitting, solemn, silent.
Bell rings! Screaming, yelling, violent!
Running, rushing, up the stairs.
“Children, wait!” nobody cares.
School’s out! It’s summer! Time to play!
No more teachers! Run away!
We are going to the pool.
Perfect way to keep us cool.
Let’s go buy some lemonade!
We will drink it in the shade.
Our skin is brown, our feet are bare.
And we are free without a care.
Playing, laughing, summer days,
We’re on summer holidays!

(I typed it all out by myself too!)

This past Easter we, naturally, had an easter egg hunt. Each of the kids had a chance to hide the eggs and let the others find them.

And Gabrielle, being the creative girl she is, had to make it more interesting … with clues. Here they are …

Hrm …. in the library?

Outside?!?

This doesn’t sound too good for chocolate ….

OK, this one’s easy:

But I’m not sure I want to eat this egg:

Tags: easter, eggs, hunt, fun, kids, pictures, john koetsier, gabrielle

Chris Forde, a documentary filmmaker, is doing a movie on Paddle to the Amazon … the longest canoe journey ever.

I’m interested in this because I read and reviewed the book Paddle to the Amazon, which is the amazing story of Don Starkell and his son Dana, who paddled from their home in Winnipeg, Manitoba, to Belém, Brazil … all in an open-top canoe, and Chris commented on that post.

Looking forward to seeing it!

Tags: paddle to the amazon, canoe, chris forde, don starkell, john koetsier, documentary, film, movie

Books that I’ve recently finished …

My Dying Breath, by Ben Reed
Highly recommended fictional retrospective of combat in Vietnam by a veteran.

Spin, by Robert Charles Wilson
Excellent hard sci-fi with real characters.

Heavy Weather, by Bruce Sterling
Also very good … kinda cyber-punk meets survivalist in a dystopic breaking-down world.

Tags: books, john koetsier, ben reed, robert charles wilson, bruce sterling

I love well-constructed and vivid language. Here’s a snippet I ran across today that inspired some memories:

A few years back, I was struggling to liberate a new Barbie doll from the almost invincible packaging that imprisoned her …

(Seen in an email newsletter from Character Counts … written by Michael Josephson.)

Tags: language, john koetsier, character counts, michael josephson