crank mail

Posted on by ryan

I think you’ve officially arrived when you begin receiving “crank mail” (i.e., incomprehensible ramblings from crazy people). Well, I just received my first piece of crank mail today.

And, of course, for it to be authentic, it has to be paper mail and include something in addition to the letter (no idea what it is; looks like a voodoo doll or a burnt piece of wire):

The letter was kindly forwarded by Tom Flynn and the good people at Free Inquiry. Please enjoy my first piece of crank mail – I know I did.

cheetah party

Posted on by ryan

Debi just asked Toren what he wants to do for his birthday party.  His response, “I want a cheetah party.”

Then Debi asked what you do at a cheetah party.

Toren explained, “You just run, and you eat, and you play, ’cause cheetahs like to do that.”

Busch Gardens creatures

Posted on by ryan

I mostly film Toren when we visit Busch Gardens, but I ended up filming a couple of other creatures while we were there one day.  Here’s an ant eater giving it’s baby a ride on its back:

Toren insisted I film the mother giving the baby a ride.

Toren found this snail crawling across a sidewalk and I wanted to see if my new phone camera could capture it, so I shot a couple of short clips:

Perhaps not the most exciting videos, but I was impressed with the quality of the videos on my phone.

first cancelled class… in 5 years

Posted on by ryan

I will have taught at the University of Tampa for five years at the end of this semester.  During that time I’ve cancelled classes for conferences, which I usually know about well in advance.  I also cancelled classes once when my brother Mark died.  But I’ve never cancelled a class because I was sick or had some other minor issue.  Well, it finally happened.  On my way in to teach one morning I hit something in the road and it literally blew out my tire:

There were two smaller gashes in the tire as well.

Even with a blown tire I thought I’d have enough time to get to class.  But, alas, my spare tire was flat, which I found out after I put it on.  I ended up cancelling two classes that morning while I went to the auto shop to get my tire replaced.  Ugh!