Andy Smallman

Ah, the amazing soccer run came to an end tonight with the Tsunamis falling to the Cougars 1-0. They surrendered the goal late in the first half on a mad dash in the box after a corner kick, a goal made all the more maddening because the half ended seconds later. And then the Tsunamis had at least a half dozen solid opportunities for the equalizer in the second half and couldn’t find the back of the net. Hugs, laughter, and a few tears followed the final whistle, as did this photo of Celeste and her coaches. That’s Rob, the head coach who has been more than kind, on the left.

Dry your eyes, Celeste. The Tick may be returning to TV with new episodes. I know I said you couldn’t leave Seattle until you finish watching the original 9 episodes from 2001 with me. And, yes, I know how much you like it when I pause the show to point out the puns (Arthur: “Tick, that’s bigamy!” The Tick: “I know that’s big of you.”). But just think how much we’ll have to look forward to if it’s true and Amazon makes some new episodes.

Will Arthur return? Captain America? Batmanuel? I.P Daley?

I know you do, Celeste. I do, too.

Celeste’s soccer team is on some kind of roll and continued it today with a 1-0 win. This pushes them into the semi-finals, meaning their team is one of four remaining in the tournament. If you care to study the photo above, her team is the Tsumanis. The one game they’ve lost in the tournament is to the Cougars and it was decided by penalty kicks. They’ll be facing the Cougars again on Tuesday night with the winner slated to play in the finals next Saturday. Can they make up for that PK loss, a game in which they hit the goalpost in the first 5 minutes?

And let me just say we hit it off just fine. Later in the night she demonstrated extreme wisdom for one so young. She learned to just go unconscious, or fake unconsciousness, when I’m talking to her. It seems some other members of the family could take a cue from her!

Want to create your own manga image, one that looks like you? Here’s your chance.

Last night, after Celeste’s soccer game (her team won and has moved on to the next round of the city tournament), we drove her through Candy Cane Lane, a small neighborhood of houses near ours all decorated in holiday lights.

You might know that I collected hockey cards as a kid. As I got older, I started collecting the wrappers in which the cards came wrapped. In most cases, kids just chucked the wrapper to get the cards. But I thought they made for a pretty cool collectible. Although I don’t collect any more, occasionally I still check eBay to see if there is one I’ve never seen. Last week I found this one from 1957. The opening bid was $995. I passed.

Learn more.

As they say, the fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree. Check out this new blog from Ella. I’ve long said she has a good photographer eye. Now you can see for yourself!