Monday, July 12, 2010

School is about to rev up again...

Somehow, Summer has flown by. I'd guess; this is simply a part of me getting older and the family getting busier. The kiddo and his neighborhood friends are all commisserating about the too quickly fleeting Summer break.

However, I'm looking forward to school starting back up. The neighborhood is quieter, and the family comes closer together again. The earlier dark hours are very condusive to family reading or art or science time, and the nonstop Holidays give good cause for feasts and family outings. Our Summer has been filled with learning experiences, but the Fall/Winter/Spring months bring about Seasonal delights that lend themselves to long-sleeved, button-down shirts, soggy journeys, and journals. ...and likely, more blogging.

For the past few days, I've been reviewing Cole's school supplies and doing inventories in my head. Some of his texts and supplies have sparked my interest already - The Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia Of World History, the chemistry set (sweet!), setting up our art journals (Cathy Johnson has some great examples). The feeling in the house really does change when it's time to buckle down. We all get into it.

We've been a bit MIA of late...takes a lot of time and effort to launch an insurance agency, but we've done it. Thompson Insurance Agency is up and running. We serve KS and MO residents in personal and commercial insurance. If your agent isn't a friend or family member, check us out. We represent excellent carriers and products, and our office provides excellent customer service.

Otherwise, I'm still doing a little tutoring and copy-writing. Doug is working like crazy. We're hopeful; we'll be able to take a family trip in the Fall. Since most of our time since January has been in getting this family business off of the ground, we didn't take a ton of time off or go on our usual trip down to the Lake this Summer. All of us could use some time away from here...out hiking around somewhere beautiful.

Here are just a few pix from the Fourth of July. We had a GREAT time in our neighborhood. We could see the City's display at William Jewell, perfectly...turned out to be quite a surreal experience in a downpour. It was a great display! Cole and his bud blew up plenty of stuff during the day, and after the rain stopped at 2am, the neighbors were back at it....turns out so was Cole at his sleepover. Tenacious celebrators!

Knowing Summer is quickly winding down, we're kicking off our weekend this evening with hamburgers on the grill.

Hope you enjoy your weekend!!































Cleveland comic-book legend Harvey Pekar dead at age 70

Published: Monday, July 12, 2010, 11:05 AM Updated: Monday, July 12, 2010, 1:19 PM
By Joanna Connors
Posted on Cleveland.com

CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio -- Harvey Pekar's life was not an open book. It was an open comic book.

Pekar chronicled his life and times in the acclaimed autobiographical comic-book series, "American Splendor," portraying himself as a rumpled, depressed, obsessive-compulsive "flunky file clerk" engaged in a constant battle with loneliness and anxiety.

Pekar, 70, was found dead shortly before 1 a.m. today by his wife, Joyce Brabner, in their Cleveland Heights home, said Powell Caesar, spokesman for Cuyahoga County Coroner Frank Miller. An autopsy will be conducted to determine the cause of death. Pekar and his wife, Joyce Brabner, wrote "Our Cancer Year," a book-length comic, after Pekar was diagnosed with lymphatic cancer in 1990 and underwent a grueling treatment.

"American Splendor" carried the subtitle, "From Off the Streets of Cleveland," and just like Superman, the other comic book hero born in Cleveland, Pekar wore something of a disguise. He never stepped into a phone booth to change, but underneath his persona of aggravated, disaffected file clerk, he was an erudite book and jazz critic, and a writer of short stories that many observers compared to Chekhov, despite their comic-book form.

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