Everything being equal, I’d rather see my kids read printed books and play board or cards games over electronic, but I can’t deny that we live in the 21st Century and just as I find gadgets and gizmos compelling — and never have my smartphone too far from me — so do my children also enjoy their devices and access to technology. Even — sigh — the little one. At ten she’s already lobbying aggressively…Read More
Disclaimer: I am a member of the Collective Bias Social Fabric Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for Collective Bias and its advertiser. #collectivebias My favorite sport is soccer, specifically either British Premier League or World Cup soccer, as anyone who follows me has long since learned. My son is a much more of a basketball fan, alas, whether it’s watching college or NBA games on TV, playing…Read More
This afternoon has been a bonus one for kids coming over to visit, especially when considering that it’s a school night. A-, my 17yo, had a pal over for most of the afternoon — they hid up in her room and likely talked about boys and kept up to date on gossip — while my son G- went over to his friend’s place immediately after school and then around 4.30pm they both came over here…Read More
Tip: I am a member of the Collective Bias Social Fabric Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias and its client. ‘Twas the night before Christmas, And all through the house, Not a creature was stirring, Except our hyper kitten Kiwi, alas. Actually, it wasn’t the night before Christmas but rather a few days before the madness of Black Friday when I popped into the…Read More
Verizon’s sponsoring a “Play Like a Girl” competition, promoting its FIOS Internet package, and invited me to participate. So I am. This is a sponsored post and the main theme is supposed to be about how girls are just as competitive and play just as aggressively as boys do when it comes to sports. You know, so “play like a girl” is a compliment. 🙂 Except while I think the FIOS package – TV, Internet and phone…Read More
I get so many packages and boxes that I think UPS is going to just make my house a special stop for all its trucks. I mean, odds are they’ll have something for us loaded, so why bother worrying about optimizing the delivery routes? Just stop every time instead. 🙂 Lots of what I get is pretty cool, including all the review and eval units that vendors and manufacturers send for AskDaveTaylor, but after you’ve…Read More
My 13yo son G- is a big fan of lacrosse. In fact, he’s been playing on a local league for three years and is very close to deciding that it’s the only sport he wants to play, which is quite a surprise given his devotion to basketball for as many years as I can remember. This has caused me to learn all about lacrosse, which has been fun. It’s not my prime choice for sports,…Read More
Ever since I’ve started to slim up, I’ve been finding that I enjoy wearing “sports” t-shirts more. There are a remarkable number of different performance fabrics available too, from big brands like Under Armour and Nike to small custom design houses. I started with one or two of these tops and now have about a dozen of them. Because they’re more expensive than regular t-shirts, performance athletic shirts have a ton of options for customization. In…Read More
Rumors to the contrary 🙂 I’m not a violent person. Given the choice, I’d rather watch waves on a beach than mixed martial arts combat, rather see couples practice their public displays of affection than overhear a couple yelling at each other through an open window. I’m not afraid of conflict when it finds me, but I certainly don’t seek it out. Part of that is related to some bullying incidents earlier in my life,…Read More
I’m not a huge sports fan outside of British Premiere League soccer (anyone who follows me on social media knows that I’m an enthusiastic Tottenham Hotspur supporter) but enjoy attending sporting events in person when I can. Even baseball, which has a habit of being boring at long stretches. What I’ve never had much interest in is curling. And cricket. And, oh yeah, hockey. I mean, my son G- plays lacrosse so I’ve learned to…Read More
My teen daughter and I had been planning a Superbowl party together for weeks. She was going to invite some of her friends, I would invite some of mine, and we’d have a fun time watching the game / the ads and sharing a lot of snacks. Yet yesterday, when the game rolled around, she stayed with her Mom. Problem was, I forgot to take momentum into account. Before I explain what I mean by…Read More
When a great opportunity falls in my lap, I’m not one to say no, so when we were asked if we’d like to give the new video game Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two a whirl, my kids and I remembered how we’d spent many hours exploring the dark Disneyland doppleganger Wasteland in the first Epic Mickey adventure and said “you bet!” The game — for the Xbox 360 — arrived a few days…Read More
Got this fascinating story via email and it checks out, as far as I can tell. Very cool and ingenious! Starting in 1941, an increasing number of British Airmen found themselves as the involuntary guests of the Third Reich, and the Crown was casting about for ways and means to facilitate their escape… Now obviously, one of the most helpful aids to that end is a useful and accurate map, one showing not only where…Read More
We were playing a family favorite, Pirates of the Caribbean Life, the other evening, and I noticed an interesting phenomenon that’s so common I usually don’t even notice it: my kids modify game rules to make games more friendly and cooperative. In Pirates of the Caribbean Life, there’s a “RAID” square you can land on, which then lets you attack another player and, if the spins are in your favor, steal their ship or otherwise…Read More
I should probably admit up front that I’m a complete board game fanatic. In fact, board games, card games, anything that involves sitting at a table and playing a game with friends is going to score very well on my personal charts. As a kid, my pals and I would spend countless hours playing games like Monopoly, Stock Market and we just about wore out the tiles in our Rummykub game. Heck, I’ve played Mah…Read More