general
Chess Club Week 2
We had our second meeting of chess club this afternoon. It was scheduled to go from 3:30 to 4:30, but at 4:50, I finally had to tell two sweet but slightly nerdy girls (after all, we’re talking about chess club here) that they’d have to photograph their game and finish it next week.
The position is not terribly hopeful for black, but she does have a passed pawn. However, it’s only on the second rank, so it’s not passed all that much. White has a two-pawn advantage but might have a bit of difficulty getting the G and H pawns rolling before the black king can get over to help move that passed pawn along.
Little Girls
who no longer are.
Reading
Book Fair
The Boy wanted to go to the bookfair. For someone who doesn’t like reading, or at least claims he doesn’t like reading, he certainly does get excited about getting new books.
The trick, as with every reader, is to find books he likes — and in his case, that means books that make him laugh. The Dog Man series is a favorite, so he bought the newest installment, Grime and Punishment. Yes, it is making the allusion you’re thinking. Other books in the series include:
- Mothering Heights
- Fetch-22
- Lord of the Fleas
- A Tale of Two Kitties
- For Whom the Ball Rolls
- Brawl of the Wild
I don’t know how many other kids know the allusions, but I explained them all to the Boy. I couldn’t talk intelligently about two of the books, though: For Whom the Bell Tolls (which I’ve never even attempted to read) and Catch-22 (which I tried to read in high school but just never got into).
Afterward, a bit of guitar practice. D, my best friend since forever (as my kids would say), is coming to town next weekend for a Genesis concert in Charlotte: it will be a boys’ night out, just the three of us. The Boy’s first concert. He’s preparing a little concert for D with a few little surprises sure to make him smile.
As for the girls this evening? They’re at L’s third and final club tryout. She’s been offered positions in the top teams of the other two clubs she tried out for this weekend, and I expect the same from this club. It is, after all, Excell, for whom she’s played for two years now, playing sand, grass, and indoor with them. I have a feeling, though, that she’s not going to go with them this year.
November Ride
Final Game
All Saints’ Day Reimagined
A few pictures from twenty years ago, re-edited.
Chess Club
We had our first meeting of chess club at school today. I didn’t have a chance to get it going during the first quarter because of — well, truth be told, a good bit of it was laziness. But I was overwhelmed with all the responsibilities of teaching a class I hadn’t taught in a few years, so I put it off. I already regret it a little: I had about 12 kids show up for the first meeting today, and three of them were girls. I can’t express how thrilled I was that three girls were interested in chess, something always seen as a nerdy boys’ game.
Family Game
