The 43

Being a nostalgic, I am a huge "Schoolhouse Rock" fan. When the animated shorts started showing up on video, first in the early '90s and years after they were off the air, Lori and I bought the collection and let the memories overwhelm us. Eventually, a more complete compilation was released, and finally, it came to DVD -- one of the first DVDs I owned. As the videos were released, a few that weren't popular for whatever reason (e.g., copyright infringement, the fear of comparing the government to a circus, the new ones created in the '90s) came into our consciousness, including perhaps the most bizarre Schoolhouse Rock video ever made: "Little Twelve Toes." I had no memory of "Little Twelve Toes" growing up, and I wonder if it's because ABC stopped airing it because it's a bit too abstract. The premise: If humans had six digits on each hand or foot, our base counting system would be 12 instead of 10. The video even introduces new s...

Right place, right time. I'm sure every person wonders how their lives would have been different if some opportunity didn't present itself at exactly the most opportune time. When I applied to work at The Salt Lake Tribune in 2000, I originally didn't get the job. I was commanding more money than other candidates and wasn't local -- essentially, I was more expensive to hire. I went about applying for other jobs, almost got an interview in Tucson, got calls from Las Vegas and California. Before I could act on anything, I got a call back from The Tribune. There was another opening, and they needed me in a hurry. So if that second copy editor hadn't left, I likely wouldn't be a Utahn. We might be a Nevadans or  Californians or Wisconsinites. I might still be in newspapers. We wouldn't own the dog and cat we currently do. We just got lucky that things turned out like they did, exactly as they are now. Right place, right time. Even our perceptions are shape...

A fourteener is a mountain at least 14,000 feet in elevation. It's above the timber line and has only 60 percent of the oxygen as if you were at sea level. Hiking fourteeners is a popular challenge in Colorado, which has 53 mountains of such height. Utah has no mountains over 13,528 feet, and most of the mountains on the Wasatch Front don't go much higher than 11,000 feet. ******* Last summer for Father's Day, we hiked to Jack's Mountain Mailboxes in the foothills near our house. It's elevation is 6,475, and the 1,200-foot climb from the trailhead was challenging enough. At the top, I snapped this selfie of the boys and I. Michael is 11 in this picture, and is now a 12-year-old sixth-grader. He looks like a 12-year-old, maybe even older some days. He's 5-foot-7, has braces, and bears not too much resemblance to the third-grader he was just three years ago. Somewhere at the end of that school year, he ceased to look like a little kid anymore. And not at 1...

Michael's birthday was a few weeks ago, but December had been so busy that we weren't able to throw any sort of party for him and his friends until today. With a sleepover not an option with Lori's parents staying with us through the winter, we pondered either bowling or swimming. Over the weekend, we settled on bowling, sent last-minute invitations, and hoped that it wasn't too short notice. It wasn't, because we ended up with 13 kids bowling (counting Michael and Ben). Everyone had fun, though it became a little chaotic as the kids got a little more wired near the end. Unlike a swim party, in which the kids would have spread out across the pool, everyone was in a concentrated spot (three lanes) and were able to socialize and laugh a lot. I don't know if anyone broke 100, but nobody cared -- they weren't there to win or lose (although Ben got annoyed when he threw gutter balls).

Michael played in a basketball tournament with his club team the past few days. Tonight was the championship game in his bracket, and his team lost a nail-biter, 37-34. His team had a chance to maybe win the game but just couldn't quite get the winning basket. Michael played perhaps the toughest game I've ever seen him play -- he scored only four points but pulled down a lot of rebounds and played good defense against a good, physical team. This is how much I know that Michael is passionate about basketball: After the tough loss, he sulked. Not pouted, not whined, but sulked just enough because he was upset about the close game. Lori and I telling him how proud we were of him and how we love watching him play didn't help. His coach and other parents telling him what a great game he played didn't help. Opening a box of Candy Cane Joe-Joe cookies didn't help. He'll recover by morning. I don't want him to dwell on losses, but he's allowed to be bummed o...

Every December, I enjoy driving with the family around Salt Lake City, looking at Christmas lights, listening to holiday music. The only challenge -- getting a free night in which everybody is free and has the energy for an hour or two in the car. Maybe I just enjoy the adventure more than everyone else, but each year, I try. Last Wednesday, Michael wanted to stay home and Lori was tired, but I recruited Ben to look at the lights. Our first destination was a house up in the Avenues that is ridiculously lit up every year. We spent about 15 minutes just gawking, then went to Barnes and Noble for hot chocolate. We drove up onto the benches, stopped and gazed and the lights of the valley, heard three different versions of "Baby It's Cold Outside" and finished our night cruising through the country club neighborhood (not as impressive as you would think). It wasn't much, just me and my 9-year-old, but it was an experience I hope never to forget. Remembering these mom...

This is my 95th blog post of 2015. Let me rephrase that -- it's my 95th blog post on The 43. I've written 292 posts for work clients. That's part of the challenge I've grappled with for a few years now -- I put so much writing energy toward professional content that I don't often have energy to write for me. Finding the time and wherewithal for both (a balance, to be cliche) is a goal for 2016, because I don't want to be south of the the 100 mark (or even the 200 mark) again. That said, I'm trying to make to 100 for 2015, and I need to write a lot in the next few days to get there. This has been a nice holiday weekend -- relaxing, full of board games, cold walks with the dog, a basketball game, fantasy football, and, thankfully, no work. I cleared my head to think about 2016, accepting the fact the last year went way too fast. Only these last four days remain, four days to write five posts to put me at 100. Let 2015 conclude with a bang!