Adventures of Mr. Chris

Well gentle readers, we’ve finally made it to the end of my Cleveland adventures. This is the final chance to squeeze all the marrow out of life’s receding memories and attempt to hold onto another year’s worth of memories to keep me going. With that in mind, I want to end on an optimistic yet slightly forlorn note about friends and strangers. While this might seem like an odd way to end a travel log, I think in many ways it captures the feeling I had as I left Cleveland, and in that sense is a more accurate reflection of my time spent there as I was departing.

As you might have guessed from the post, this last entry is indeed about a young lady I had the pleasure to meet while in Cleveland. For the sake of virtual modesty and to add a bit of intrigue, I’ll simply refer to her as “the girl,” and let those in the know smile to themselves. Our encounter was one of those twilight moments when you’re not sure if you are awake or dreaming, but rather than ruin the moment by trying to decide, you instead just enjoy it. Read More

Like all good adventure blogs, this one has to have some suspense to keep you on your toes. Well, fear not dear readers, that’s precisely what we have in this next story about the mysterious parked car. Where to begin. Let me see, it was a dark and stormy night. Ok, not really. Well, it was dark and snowy (sorta), so that’s at least half true.

The story began one evening when a few of us were hanging out in the front room of my friends house. At some point, no one really knows when, we noticed a strange car parked across the street from their house. It was sitting there with its parking lights on and nothing else. And it was sitting there for a long time, not just the usual waiting for someone to come out time, but like stalking you long time. Read More

Like all good adventure stories, somewhere or else mom makes an appearance. Well, not always, but she should, right. Well, this is another one of those “man this will make a great post” but now I’ve forgotten it moments. Also, as I approach the end of this adventure journal, I find the stories also fading from my memory, leaving more vague impressions than clear pictures. But I do remember this conversation happened while sitting on a couch, and involved one husband and his kid asking mom for some extra time to do something silly (I forget what now), and “mama” assenting–I seem to remember it being somewhat begrudgingly, but that may just be my poor memory. Either way, the outcome was two excited boys and dad leading the charge with a cry of “Praise Mama”! Read More

So this is one of those posts where you wrote down a brilliant idea in the moment with absolutely no context or notes and then went back a month later and had no idea why you wrote it. Well, that’s not entirely true. The title was something my friends’ son Will said upon a full day of awesomeness, I just don’t remember what sparked the actual comment from him anymore.

It may have had something to do with extra time on the DS, or playing with snowballs and a big snow fort in the backyard, or could have involved suction-cup bow and arrows or air hockey or slumber parties or…honestly I don’t remember, but I can assure you it was awesome! Read More

In the continuing saga of my winter break travel adventures in Cleveland it was inevitable that I would go back to the beginning, so to speak, and that beginning starts with a story about the Great Lakes Science Center. The Center was hosting a pre-New Years Eve party for youngsters, and so I went with my friends and their son to check out the festivities. For anyone that has not been to the Science Center before, it’s basically a huge complex dedicated to all things science, with a heavy emphasis on space flight thanks to the influence of NASA in the Cleveland area.

The Center was setup with numerous kids’ activity stations around the many floors, with activities ranging from playing with industrial white plastic stuff that looks like snow to watching snowmen and fruitcakes exploded by the power of liquid nitrogen. There was also a short “Big Science” show in between activities, which was one of my personal highlights, if for no other reason than I love watching live science shows with a room full of kids. I think it somehow transports me back into my camp counselor days teaching kids about science in a hands-on and engaging way. While I took way too many photos while at the Center, here’s a few highlights of some of the fun from that Big Science show. Read More

While I was adventuring in the midwest, I did manage to squeeze a bit of operatic culture into my trip. Well, I’m not sure if a night at the movies really counts as “operatic culture,” but really, who’s counting? For those of you who haven’t already seen the new Les Misérables movie, don’t worry, I’m not going to be giving and spoilers. If you’re not familiar at all with the original Victor Hugo novel, you can learn more here.

Now I’m not a theatre geek like my friends were in high school, and I’ve never been much of a fan of opera, but I do love the French Revolution and partisan politics, so surely that must count for something. But in all honesty, it was a fairly well done production of the original story. The major highlights for me were more to do with the production and direction, and less to do with the stars themselves, who were fine but left much to be desired for a true opera fan–which luckily didn’t phase me much–with the exception of the innkeeper and his wife . Read More

As my adventures continued in the suburbs of Cleveland, I had some extra time to spend with my friends furry companion Shadow (pictured here). Let’s see, how to best describe this rambunctious canine? Lots of teeth and claws and barking–I think that about sums it up.

But in fairness, he is a puppy still, and I’m sure being a puppy cooped up in the suburbs is hard enough as it is. Then add three cats, a kid and the wintertime, and it’s enough to drive any species crazy. But once you peel back the snippy dog veneer he’s quite a lover, and also doubles as a rather warm tummy cushion to boot. Read More

So while enjoying my holiday respite in Cleveland I spent a fair bit of time watching other people’s TV watching habits. During one of those days, my Cleveland suburban friends’ son was watching cartoons, and by chance an episode of the Nickelodeon show Yo Gabba Gabba was playing. By some act of cosmic Doctor Who intervention, given how many possible episodes or segments of episodes that could have aired, the clip that happened to be playing was when one of the female characters named Toodee (who coincidentally is a blue cat-dragon–how awesome is that?!) gets sick and a doctor comes to visit. And like all good kids shows, this inevitable leads to a song and dance routine featuring a special visit by Anthony Bourdain as “Doctor Tony.”  Read More

Thus begins the chronicle of my monumental journey throughout the midwest over this recent winter/holiday break. To begin our journey, let me tell you about a far off place called the Dragon Realms, where sky pirates and dragons duel. Within this realm there is a place known as Skylands, home to the Skylanders, creatures who wield the powers of Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Magic, Tech, Life, and even the Undead. In their off time, they double as plastic kids toys and video-game merchandise.

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“Itadakimasu”

welcome to our feast

give thanks, take thanks, we are one

creamy cosmic tang

I’m not sure how this all started, if there even is a beginning. There’s something about food, things from the earth and the sea and the air, that have a primordial element to them when mixed with fire. Or at least I tend to think so. The five fundamentals of the cosmos mixed together in perfect balance–or at least that’s the idea. Sure, you burn things now and then, but such is life. Anyway, there is an interesting story here, believe it or not, that’s I’m going to share, in the hopes that it makes someone else chuckle besides me.

The Backstory

I’ve recently found myself doing some culinary experiments with various takoyaki recipes in my kitchen, and in the process have had quite an adventure. It all began early this week when I decided to break out my takoyaki maker from the kitchen closet and put it in action. The experiment went ok, but the batter I made didn’t really turn out how I had wanted. It was too doughy and dense, and without enough fluff. So it was back to trial and error kitchen research round 2. Read More