The Zimmermans

Easter photos

2009-04-12T22:59:00.004-05:00

Ethan is 5 years, 3 mo; Joshua is 2 years, 6 mo; Elijah is 8 mo.

Questions to ask your family members

2009-03-19T22:51:00.002-05:00

A few years ago, I interviewed my dad. I perused several books designed to elicit memories from older family members. I wrote down many of the questions and adapted some, and added some others specific to my family. It took several sessions to get through most of these questions with my dad. Some interviews were in person, others were over the phone. I recorded our conversations and transcribed them, which yielded a 24-page single-spaced autobiography. I hope these questions can be a useful start for interviewing your own family members.

About my mom and dad
My father’s occupation was…
He served his country in…
What I loved most about my father was…
My father was strict about…
My father loved to…
My mother’s occupation was…
What I loved most about my mother was…
My mother was strict about…
My mother loved to…

As a child
As a student, I…
My ambition was…
My neighborhood was special because…
I was taught to drive by…
My first car was…
The car that I dreamed of having was…
I worried most about…
My happiest memory was…
My favorite game was…
My favorite book was…
My favorite singer was…
My favorite radio broadcast was…
My best friend was…
My favorite subject in school was…
My pet…
My favorite food was…
In my spare time I…
I spent summers…
I once got into trouble for…
I got spending money by…
I spent my money on…
A postage stamp cost…
A movie cost…
A gallon of gas cost…

As a young adult
I started working at…
My responsibilities at work were…
What I remember most about that first job is…
What I didn’t like at that job was…
On weekends…
I first started dating…
My first love was…

Marriage
I met my significant other…
I liked him/her because…
He/She liked me because…
When we dated, we went to…
My parents thought he/she was…
Her/His parents thought I was…
I/he/she proposed by…
We were married at…
My best man/bridesmaid was…
What I remember most about our wedding day was…
After we were married, we traveled to…
During the first year of marriage, I loved…
During the first year of marriage, I struggled with…
Around the house, I liked to…
When we took trips, we liked to…
As a husband/wife, I tried to be…
My fondest memory of him/her is…
My favorite home-cooked meal was…

Children
When we were expecting our child, I felt…
What I remember most about the delivery was…
When he/she was born, I felt…
Becoming a mother/father changed my perspective about…
We chose the name _____ because…
Our child/children went to school at…
As a father/mother, I tried to…
I was strict about…
He/she was strict about…
I was very proud that…
I was worried about…

Holidays
We had a holiday tradition of…
The special foods we had for holidays were…
My favorite holiday memory with the family is…
For Thanksgiving, we usually…
My favorite Thanksgiving memory with the family is…
The special foods we had for Halloween were…
For Halloween, I remember that our child/children dressed as…

Travel
My first trip on a plane was to…
What I remember most about that trip is…
The foreign countries I have visited are…
The places I would still love to see are…
My favorite vacation spot in the world is…
I like it because…

Work
I began working at…
I began working there at the age of…
I began working there because…
What I enjoyed about working was…
What I didn’t enjoy about working was…
One of the biggest honors I had at work was…
I had the opportunity to move to [town] because…
I took the opportunity to move because…
What I missed most about our previous town was…
What I liked best about living in the new town was…
What I didn’t like about living in the new town was…
When I planned to retire, I thought I would settle down in…
I thought I would be busy with…
I actually retired at the age of…
When I retired, I found myself feeling…
I found myself doing…

Money
A financial risk that worked was…
One that failed was…
The best money deal I ever made was…
When it comes to borrowing, I believe…
When it comes to spending, I believe…
When it comes to saving, I believe…
My attitude about money in general is…

Thoughts on society
Since I was a child, they have invented…
When man landed on the moon, I was…
When President Kennedy was shot, I was…
A time saver my father never had was…
A man’s responsibilities are different today because…
A woman’s responsibilities are different today because…
Movies are different today because…
Opportunities are different today because…
Dating for young people is different today because…
I still like the old fashioned way of…
Life is different for youth today because…
I think the younger generation doesn’t appreciate…
I think the younger generation is wiser about…

More introspective
A philosophy I’ve always lived by is…
My religious beliefs are…
I used to feel very strongly about…
I’ve changed my mind and now I think…
Men I admire are…
Women I admire are…
People who influenced me the most are… because…
I was always proud of the time I…
I always regretted that I didn’t…
As a friend I try to…
If I had my life to live over, I would…
One of the best things about growing older is…
The most precious thing in the world to me is…
My hope for the future would be…
If I could tell my grandchildren one thing about me, I’d like it to be…
A simple statement that sums up my attitude about life is…
My deepest values are…

Today’s favorites

My favorite _______________ is...

hobby
exercise
book
TV program
song
movie
actor
actress
car
place to live
holiday
snack food
joke

A book I strongly recommend…
The magazine I read most frequently…
My favorite time of day is…
The car I drive now…
The best car I ever had…
The color I like to wear is…
My strangest possession is…
If my house was burning and I could rescue only three things…
My most spiritual moment…
My opinion about the right to have an abortion is…
My opinion about the right to own guns is…
My opinion about the welfare system is…
My opinion about the death penalty is…
My opinion about the rights and services for illegal immigrants is…
Politically, I am (liberal, moderate, conservative)
My mother often said…
My father often said…
A friend I miss the most…
My three best qualities are…
My three worst qualities are…
I am often complimented for…
I like to cook…
At my funeral, I want people to remember me as…
I was absolutely happy when…
My greatest fear is…
I am most comfortable…
My friends tend to be…
A type of person I do not get along with is…
My current philosophy is…
My biggest obstacle right now…
The most important thing in life is…
A piece of wisdom I would pass on to a child is…
A question I would like to be asked is…
My answer to this question would be…
I bought our first house…
My most frightening experience is…
The best public speaker is…
I was impressed by him/her because…
My opinion of Martin Luther King Jr. is…
I would still like to learn…
I would still like to… (do)…
When I first moved away from home…
The cause that has been important for me is…
To maintain a healthy marriage, a husband and wife should…
The changes I would like to see in my life in the next ten years are…
The changes I would like to see in the world in the next ten years are…

Joshua

2009-03-09T07:44:00.001-05:00

I LOVE this photo. I think it captures Joshua's personality, so sweet, and a little shy.

Roseli and Elijah

2009-03-07T18:23:00.000-06:00

Glamor Shots

2009-03-06T20:38:00.000-06:00

I took these pictures in the bathroom this evening. They remind me of Glamor Shots (Are they still around?)

On my mind

2009-01-21T00:32:00.003-06:00

I’m euphoric. I am so, so happy about Obama’s inauguration. To paraphrase a woman I heard on the radio, I am in love with that man. In love.

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the value of writing, of keeping a journal as a way to clarify thought and as a reflective practice. I am a little frustrated that there is not more opportunity to reflect through writing. Being a graduate student is busy enough, but having a family and the demands that come from being a husband, a father, and just managing our home and other temporal needs really places writing a bit lower on my list of priorities than when I was single. Of course, a good deal of what I wrote about when I was single was how I wanted a family!

I’ve also been thinking about how I manage my time specifically related to school work. I have this annoying practice of working based on how much time I have rather than how much work I have to do. For example, if I have five hours to write a paper, I’ll take five hours to write it. If I have one hour, I’ll get it done in one hour. I am trying to focus this semester on finishing things rather than doing things. I have a couple big papers due at the end of this semester that I would love to have done well before they are due, rather than minutes before they are due, as happened last semester. I find that in graduate school I probably learn more about how to manage time and how to work with others more than I learn about the content of what I am studying (process over content… fellow therapists will get that).

On the home front (what an odd phrase, rooted in the language of war!), Ethan is having his 5th birthday party on Saturday. Roseli’s throwing him a pirate party. We’ve (meaning mostly Roseli and Ethan) have been immersing ourselves in all things pirate for the past three weeks. I think this was inspired by my Halloween costume. I was a pirate at the suggestion of one of my classmates.

Gratitude Contextualized

2008-11-28T19:44:00.004-06:00

Yesterday after our Thanksgiving feast, I went with Ethan and Joshua as they rode their tricycles to the nearby school playground. Ethan usually likes to be the leader when riding his tricycle, so I was surprised that he paused to the edge of the sidewalk and let Joshua and I go ahead of him. Ethan asked, “Are you thankful that I let you go first?”

“Sure,” I said.

“Good, because on Thanksgiving, you’re supposed to be thankful when someone does something nice to you.”

Soon afterward, Ethan was riding up front again. I decided to overtake him, so I pushed Joshua on his tricycle with a little more vigor and we soon usurped Ethan's leader status. “Dad!” Ethan protested, predictably.

I turned my neck around to look at him and said, “Thanks!” We both laughed

Home Studio Family Pics

2008-09-30T00:21:00.000-05:00

First Studio Photo Shoot

2008-09-27T10:10:00.003-05:00

I got a studio flash setup and put up some butcher paper. Joshua was in a good mood this morning, so he became the subject for my first studio photo shoot. I've always been against "studio photography" because it seems that people appear so stiff and unnatural in many studio photos. But I'm kind of liking this. I can see now that I'd like to add some back lighting for a whiter background. More to come!

New Lens

2008-09-25T22:21:00.002-05:00

I received my new lens in the mail today. It's a Canon 55mm f/1.4 for portraits. I've been daydreaming of the pictures I'll take with this lens. I love the shallow depth of focus. This is Roseli, telling Ethan a story while brushing his teeth (see below). Isn't she beautiful?

Narrative Intelligence

2008-09-24T21:42:00.002-05:00

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about stories. Stories are powerful. Stories are memorable. They affect us emotionally, they maintain our interest, and they are passed from generation to generation. As someone who is passionate about recording and preserving our family history, I want to be better about telling stories.

Roseli is a wonderful storyteller. She’s truly gifted. She possesses what some have identified as narrative intelligence, meaning she thinks in story form. She loves movies, for example. Or she’ll often ask when I get off the phone, “What did she say?” Or, “Why were you saying….” I think it bugs her to hear only one side of the conversation, because it’s only half the story, so I sometimes use the speakerphone so that she won’t miss a thing.

Today, she heard Joshua whine, but she couldn’t see him. She asked me, “What’s going on?” I told her exactly what I witnessed, in detail. This feels unnatural for me, but I know that Roseli craves the detail. She said, “Wow, I’m really impressed. That was so detailed that I could visualize what you were saying.”

Ethan has clearly inherited Roseli’s story gene. Every time we brush his teeth, he says, “Count me a story about…” and he tells us who the main characters should be. Today, they were Sharkboy and Lavagirl. No story, no teeth brushing. He’s got us trained.

I do NOT possess narrative intelligence as Roseli does. I studied journalism as an undergraduate, and journalists are interested in getting the information accurate. At least, I was. But a catalog of events does not a good story make. It’s too messy. Even when the story is about something purportedly true, storytelling requires exaggeration, omission, and sometimes pure fabrication. And yet, a good story can be more valuable, more memorable, and yes, more truthful than the cold, hard facts.

Old is Beautiful

2008-09-23T00:52:00.002-05:00

Fall is here! I love the fall. It means that Halloween’s just around the corner.

As I was walking this morning, I noticed a leaf, lying on the ground, and I picked it up, struck by its ugliness. It was asymmetrical, generally rusty in color, but with some dark green and some other dark splotches. It had a little hole in it, and it was just a little dirty all over. But I wiped the dirt off and studied it more closely. Its lack of symmetry was normal for the type of tree it came from. Then I was amazed by the variety of colors in this one leaf. And I guess there's something charming even about the little hole in the middle. It shows that the leaf went through something in life - maybe what used to fill the hole was used to fill some little worm. People are much the same as this leaf.

There is beauty in our lack of perfection, in our flaws. I love the signs of having lived - of old age! Wrinkles! Gray hair! I will wear them with honor. Why should the changing leaves, or the twisted, knotted courses of an old tree trunk receive all the admiration? Are not the graying hair and the jutting veins of some aging person's leg just as beautiful? But if you find no physical beauty in aging, consider the experiences, the knowledge, and the wisdom of the aged. True, youth is beautiful, but aging has its own beauty as well.

Two!

2008-09-14T14:27:00.005-05:00

Joshua is two years old today.

As we were eating lunch, Roseli touched Joshua’s arms and proclaimed, “Two! Two arms!” Then his legs, “Two! Two legs!” Then his ears, “Two! Two ears!”

Ethan piped in and said, “Two! Two halves of the brain!”

Bittersweet

2008-09-11T01:34:00.005-05:00

Ethan started preschool today. I have mixed feelings about it. He enjoyed it, and he’ll have lots of new experiences there. The other major benefit is that it gives Roseli one less child to worry about for a few hours.

But I also feel somewhat guilty to have someone else take care of him, but I’m not sure why.

When I was in early elementary school, there was one mom who came in regularly to help. I think even then I thought that was neat, and I want to spend time at my children’s school. I asked the two preschool teachers if that would be okay, and they said it would. I came to pick him up early so that I could get to school on time, and they were making little creatures with clay, colored feathers, pipe cleaners, and beady eyes. I love that stuff, so it would be fun to play, too! Ethan is so sweet, and this is such a special time in his life that I want to savor it, if I can.

Ethan in front of his new preschool, Small Wonders.

When I got home, Joshua was sitting in a box, reading a book.

Open Eyes

2008-09-10T00:34:00.002-05:00

Lest you think Elijah sleeps all the time (he does), here's a rare moment that he's not only awake, but involuntarily contorting his face into something resembling a smile. The ephemeral made permanent through photography.

Our three sons...

2008-09-08T01:14:00.006-05:00

I just wanted to throw these photos up of Ethan, Joshua, and Elijah.

Ethan John Zimmerman, 4 years, 8 months; Ames, Iowa

Joshua Lawrence Zimmerman, 1 year, 11 months; Ames, Iowa

Elijah Clark Zimmerman, 15 days; Ames, Iowa

Elijah is 1 week old

2008-08-29T22:52:00.002-05:00

Elijah, doing what he does best. I find myself calling him Joshua on accident. I never called Joshua by his brother's name, Ethan. Joshua and Elijah sound so similar. Both are Biblical names, and each have three syllables, each have a fricative consonants in the middle, and each end in the sound "-ah." I have to really think before I say his name.

Elijah, Day 3

2008-08-25T21:05:00.003-05:00

The walls of Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines are covered with huge, gorgeous photographs of newborns who graced the hospital's nursery. I was inspired and took this photo today. I need to look into getting an external flash!

Elijah Clark Zimmerman

2008-08-22T16:20:00.003-05:00

Elijah Clark Zimmerman was born today (August 22, 2008) at 9:39 a.m. in Des Moines, Iowa.
Weight: 8 lbs. 10 oz.
Length: 21.5 in.

These photos were taken about 4 hours after he was born. Roseli's doing great!

Roseli's Stories

2008-08-16T03:11:00.004-05:00

Ethan Plays Politics (4:24)

Paradox (1:59)

Grapes of Wrath (2:03)

Star Spangled Banner (3:43)

How Are Babies Made? (8:39)

Joshua's Adventures (3:23)

Joshua and Ethan with dad

2008-03-23T01:06:00.001-05:00

Joshua's 1st Birthday

2008-01-20T14:24:00.000-06:00

Click To Play

Gail

2007-11-30T16:33:00.000-06:00

A tribute to my mom, Gail Zimmerman.

Alphabetical foods

2007-11-13T16:12:00.000-06:00

Ethan is in a letter of the week group, and this past week was F, so we had "frango frita" which was breaded, fried chicken fingers (I gorged myself) and fettuccine alfredo with chicken. This week is the letter G, so we'll have to make gimelli pasta with gouda cheese and garbanzo beans, with ginger snaps for dessert.

Half An Hour to Eat

2007-10-19T00:03:00.000-05:00

Click To PlayEthan's never been a big eater. A nutritionist we talked to suggested we use a timer and give him a time limit to eat so he wouldn't dawdle. So far it's working!

The Circle of Security Project

2007-10-12T23:54:00.000-05:00

I created a video for part of a class presentation. Most of my students give powerpoints. I thought, "Why not spend about 50 times more time and create a video?" But I've learned some things along the way. This is my first video in Quicktime, and I love the quality. I also used some internet videos and weaved them into my video for the first time. You can watch it and other videos here.

Joshua's first steps

2007-10-07T23:27:00.000-05:00

Click To Play

Joshua Zimmerman, 1 year old

2007-10-07T22:19:00.001-05:00

Too Lovely

2007-07-20T15:45:00.000-05:00

I lay Ethan on the carpet, lay on top of him, and say "I hold you, hug you, love you, kiss you." He grunts under my weight and complains, "You're too lovely, Papai."

Ethan and Joshua in Auburn, WA

2007-07-02T01:19:00.001-05:00

Easter

2007-04-15T06:35:00.000-05:00

Click To Play

Music by Edvard Greig, Morning Mood from Peer Gynt Suite, and Antonin Dvorak, Humoresque No. 7 for piano in G flat major.

Read

2007-04-14T03:03:00.000-05:00

Click To Play

Music: "Pirates" by Angie Foster

Solids

2007-04-01T00:56:00.000-05:00

Joshua had his first cereal today, mixed with breast milk. He's 6 1/2 months old.

Joshua, 6 months

2007-03-23T11:52:00.000-05:00

He's sitting up by himself.

Chocolate Party

2007-03-20T12:35:00.000-05:00

Click To Play

What do you do at a chocolate party? Find out!

Three

2007-01-28T19:02:00.000-06:00

Click To Play

Music: Knuddelmaus, by Ulrich Schnauss

Ira Glass

2007-01-26T10:20:00.000-06:00

Ira Glass and Kevin Zimmerman

Doug Fabrizio of KUER's Radio West talks to Ira Glass, host of This American Life. Ira is in Park City promoting the television version of his show on Showtime. Director Chris Wilcha and Director of Photography Adam Beckman join the conversation about transforming the popular radio program to good television. Recorded Wednesday, January 24, 2006 in Park City, UT. Click on part 1, 2, or 3 to watch.

Part 1, (16:06): Click To Play

Part 2, (19:15): Click To Play

Part 3, (16:55) Click To Play

Michelle

2007-01-04T09:47:00.000-06:00

Some beautiful images from Michelle Price. See more of her here.

Red

2006-12-21T00:15:00.000-06:00

A little fun family photography, inspired by our good artist friend Michelle Price, who has an ebay store, and who sent us a similar looking image of Richard Simmons on a ceramic tile. Other Michelle links contain her MySpace page and a vlogsite.

Prelude to Christmas

2006-12-17T04:23:00.000-06:00

Click To Play

Christmas magic, featuring my snowflakes, and music by the Utah Valley Handbell Choir.

The Zimmermans, October 2005

2006-12-06T22:08:00.000-06:00

Click To Play

In October, 2005, I borrowed a video camera from the university library. This is what I recorded.

Got out the vote

2006-11-08T23:40:00.000-06:00

Click To Play

Part II of Kevin's letter for Michelle. The video of Bush that I refer to is here.

Get out the vote

2006-11-06T23:57:00.000-06:00

Click To Play

Kevin's video letter to Michelle, with plans to get out the vote. Plus, dancing for God.

Joshua's Fashion Show (Show de Moda do Joshua)

2006-11-04T19:52:00.000-06:00

Click To Play

Roseli's sister Neide knitted and sent Joshua several outfits.

Michelle Mix

2006-11-02T23:26:00.000-06:00

Click To Play

Tucson artist Michelle Price discussing a house, fire, weeds, and water.

Seen to unseen

2006-10-30T21:02:00.000-06:00

Click To Play

The process of going through Ethan's outgrown clothes, starting from the middle of the process (seen) to the end (unseen). Music by me.

Street Signs

2006-10-27T03:21:00.000-05:00

Click To Play

Word Fun

2006-10-24T01:49:00.000-05:00

Click To Play

Today a girl in class used the word "prejudism." Our son, Ethan, had his own unique word for the corn maze we went to. Plus, "Sniglets."

Roseli's Hair (Cabelo da Roseli)

2006-10-23T03:59:00.000-05:00

Click To Play

Roseli, imitating an old shampoo commercial from Brazil.

Potty Training

2006-10-22T17:14:00.000-05:00

Click To Play

A history of diapers and potty training

Video

2006-10-17T02:19:00.000-05:00

Click to play

Slightly boring, but it has its moments. Getting paid, pumpkin dinner, and the name of God.

Sunday afternoon

2006-10-15T19:40:00.000-05:00

Click to Play

Ethan, being very, very cute.

New pictures of Ethan

2006-10-14T01:30:00.000-05:00

Click on any photo to enlarge.

Pedastool

2006-10-11T13:10:00.000-05:00

In class today, a girl mentioned being put on a “pedastool.” Brilliant, I thought! In fact, Google has 18,900 hits for pedastool. I think it means “foot poop.”

Ethan being very, very cute

2006-10-08T00:57:00.001-05:00

Click image to play video

Joshua, 8 days old

2006-09-23T01:39:00.000-05:00

Click to enlarge

Whippin

2006-09-22T14:46:00.000-05:00

Do yerself a favor and listen to this audio file, then listen to this remix. It's a mix created by a 25-year old who resides in both Reykjavik and in Amsterdam. He mixed it using Cubase.

Ze Frank encouraged his viewers to make remixes of the original file. Other remixes were apparently done with various software programs, including GarageBand. If only I had more time to play with this stuff. I love it.

Joshua

2006-09-20T01:57:00.000-05:00

Joshua Lawrence Zimmerman was born 09/14/06, weighing 8.0 lbs (3.6 kilos) and measuring 19.5 inches (49.5 cm). Roseli had a fast and relatively easy delivery, compared with delivering Ethan. Ethan’s excited to have his baby home. Meanwhile, we are still settling in to our new place and I’ve started school again. At least I don’t have to work this semester. I have 101 sales, so I won’t have to work until next summer.

I found a wonderful video today called “Music For One Apartment and Six Drummers.” I love when the woman holds out the hand mixer like it’s some sort of gun or power tool.

Roseli's birthday and a hundred sales

2006-08-26T20:26:00.000-05:00

I was in Chicago, selling, when I saw this box of chocolates on a lady’s table. Frango means “chicken” in Portuguese. It was Roseli’s birthday, so I bought the box of chocolates for her.

I broke a hundred sales today. I got three sales, the first one being my hundredth. That means I’ll be able not to work until next summer if I want to, but I probably will just for experience in the field of marriage and family therapy.

Ieva's Polka, by Loitima

2006-08-19T06:41:00.000-05:00

Ah, the beautiful things of this world that one is exposed to while listening to public radio! Watch these couple videos set to trans Finish folk music. I like the music in this first video better, but the second video is more fun to watch.

More Sales, Please

2006-08-13T23:01:00.001-05:00

It’s crunch time with work. I’ve sold 89 accounts, and if I sell 100 accounts before I go home, I’ll make a lot more money. The difference between 99 accounts and 100 accounts on the pay scale is $14,000, so I’d better do it. I had 5 sales two weeks ago, 4 sales last week, so realistically, it will take me three weeks to reach 100 accounts. Best case scenario, I’ll sell 8 this week and 8 next week, and I’ll be well over 100, and I can go home in time to move well before school starts.

Today, Ethan asked me to take the side off of his crib, so I did. He took a nap without the side on this afternoon.

Dirty Grape

2006-08-03T16:36:00.000-05:00

Roseli and I are eating lunch today. Ethan is sitting in the living room, and Roseli asks Ethan from the table, “Ethan, do you want a grape?”

“Yeah,” Ethan replies.

Roseli takes a grape and throws it toward Ethan. The wet grape rolls along the carpet, and Ethan grabs it and puts it in his mouth.

“What did you do with my wife?” I ask Roseli. This couldn’t have been the same woman who fed Ethan only organic food, who was addicted to Purell. This couldn't have been the same woman and who always cut grapes, carrots, hot dogs, anything round, into quarters before feeding it to her son.

“She’s still asleep,” came her reply.

Crib Climbing

2006-07-30T21:36:00.000-05:00

Ethan has learned to get out of the crib by himself. More accurately, Jacob Simper taught Ethan how to get out of the crib by himself last night, and this morning, Ethan came out of his room by himself. I’m hoping he won’t be waking up in the night often and coming to us by himself. This is Ethan's reenactment after he was dressed to go to church.

Meijer

2006-07-20T22:47:00.000-05:00

When we first got to Schaumburg and needed to buy groceries, we were directed to Meijer. Meijer looks and feels like a Super Wal-Mart, but Meijer was actually the first to combine grocery and department store items in one store. It’s such an impressive, large store that I was surprised I hadn’t heard of it before.

African Butt Dance

2006-07-19T12:15:00.000-05:00

Traditionally a ritualistic mating dance from the Congo, this move is sure to clear the dance floor as others observe in awe. Requires flexibility in the hips and good balance.

Watch the video

Museum of Science and Industry

2006-07-19T11:09:00.000-05:00

Roseli and Ethan went to the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry yesterday. My dad went there when he was a teenager, as well. It’s probably pretty different now. Unfortunately, I was working, but didn’t sell anything.

This blog now has videos!

2006-07-16T17:14:00.000-05:00

I'm experimenting with video blogging, or vlogging, now that we have a webcam. I'm still trying to figure things out. So here are my first videos. Thanks to the creators of the freevlog tutorial. They're great! Here's Ethan Zimmerman, 2 years and 5 months, singing the Spiderman theme song, and injuring his dad.

Watch the video

And here is Roseli painting a rainbow fish, with our son Ethan.

Watch the video

Shedd Aquarium

2006-07-15T22:54:00.000-05:00

Roseli and Ethan went to Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium, the largest aquarium in the world. I didn’t go because I worked, but I didn’t end up getting any sales.

Sensitivity

2006-07-13T00:11:00.000-05:00

Ethan’s been healthy and happy, except he gets all emotional over books and movies. He cried when Goldilocks ate all of Baby Bear’s porridge, and today he cried and cried when Nemo played dead in the fish tank. He’s a sensitive little guy, which is good. We don’t have a TV, so he should be an outlier on the statistic that the average child witnesses 8,000 murders by age 8.

Craftiness

2006-07-10T22:14:00.000-05:00

Roseli’s been exceptionally crafty lately. It all started with story time, which she leads at the International Village every Wednesday. Yesterday she painted wooden toys, then we made rainbow fish, and today she worked on toilet paper roll superheroes. These pictures are only a small sample of recent work.

Floating Stone Bridge, Made by Monkeys

2006-07-09T23:04:00.000-05:00

I asked an Indian man that I met about why Indian women wear the dot on their forehead. He said that he didn’t know how it started, but that it is a tradition that is millions of years old. “Millions of years” seems a bit of an overstatement. He explained that he could justify saying “millions of years” because NASA has scientific proof that Lord Ram was on the earth 1.7 million years ago. You see, Lord Ram had a wife, and they lived in India. Evil King Ravana lived in Sri Lanka, which was only called Lanka then, and it was a land of pure gold. King Ravana stole Lord Ram’s wife and took her to Lanka. Lord Ram wanted to get his wife back, so he announced that whoever would help him build a bridge (not a boat) to Lanka would go up to heaven with him. Who knows how King Ravana got Ram’s wife to Lanka in the first place. So all the monkeys helped Lord Ram build a bridge of floating rocks all the way to Lanka, a bridge which is still there. The sea levels have since risen since that time, of course, but NASA has found the floating rock bridge just as it was built, and they’ve dated it. How old is it? Exactly! 1.7 million years! So there you have it, scientific proof that Lord Ram was on the earth 1.7 million years ago, and why the India man could make claims about Indian culture being “millions of years” old.

I checked Google Earth, and in fact there is a line of shallow ocean floor between India and Sri Lanka. It’s a logical flaw, however, to claim that the NASA photos “conclusively prove” that Lord Ram and his monkeys built a land bridge, as some Hindus apparently claim. Naturally, the story is man’s attempt to make meaning out of the existence of the sandbank chain.

July 4th

2006-07-06T08:43:00.000-05:00

We’ve been in the Chicago area since the beginning of May, but July 4th was the first opportunity we’ve had to do any sightseeing, since we didn’t work. We went downtown with Rich and Sam and we went up the Sears Tower. Then we went to Taste of Chicago (Richard M. Daley, Mayor. Chicago must have the largest percentage of residents who know their mayor’s name, because “Richard M. Daley, Mayor” is proclaimed everywhere. I first heard it listening to “This American Life,” which broadcasts out of Chicago. Signs at Taste of Chicago also had the words.) I intended on getting a famed Chicago dog, but was distracted by other food that looked better to me.

Ze Frank explained American culture, saying that “In the evening, Americans come together in throngs to form symbolic hot dogs that roast underneath firework coals in the sky.” Yet, we went home before the fireworks started. I was suffering pain from an ear infection, and slept nary a wink that evening from the pain. The pain medication he gave me made me nauseous, and I could avoid throwing up only when I was laying down. I’m trying to go without the pain medication today so that I might be able to work this afternoon. We’ll see.

Heroism at Command

2006-06-07T09:21:00.000-05:00

I found this quote from Albert Einstein about war today: "He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would fully suffice. This disgrace to civilization should be done away with at once. Heroism at command, senseless brutality, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism, how violently I hate all this, how despicable and ignoble war is; I would rather be torn to shreds than be part of so base an action! It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder."

An elderly Polish man told me yesterday that the only American War that was ever worth fighting was the War of Independence. All the rest have only led to pointless deaths and broken families. Another man, a Greek man, told me that any war requires three stages: planning, funding, and executing. Therefore only the super rich can wage war.

Rabbi Trading Cards

2006-06-05T12:49:00.000-05:00

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Here in Chicago, you can find Rabbi trading cards. Orthodox Jewish kids actually trade them like baseball cards. See them here. More info about the cards can be found here

4th Anniversary

2006-06-01T09:40:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was our 4th anniversary. We broke our tradition of eating out for Asian food and went to a place called Uno Chicago Grill.

New scripture song (D&C 59:12) here:

I don't want to die!

2006-05-19T23:34:00.000-05:00

Samuel, our manager and Threat to Drivers Everywhere, was pulled over tonight. He was speeding, weaving in and out of traffic, driving without a license and with no license plates, (only expired temporary license plates), and probably endangering the lives of others. The cop didn’t even give him a ticket. His excuse? “My superiors are here and I don’t want to keep them waiting, plus, it’s the end of my shift, but stop driving like an idiot!”

Border Reinforcement

2006-05-16T00:36:00.000-05:00

Given that the US started the War in Iraq, I thought the Department of Defense should be called the Department of Offense. Now, with Bush ordering 6,000 members of the National Guard to the Mexican border and proposals to build a fence there, my friend Dan suggested the Department of a Fence.

Mother's Day, 2006

2006-05-14T23:22:00.000-05:00

Happy Mother's Day, Rosine.

The Rack of My Salvation

2006-05-13T00:08:00.000-05:00

I learned in church that Jesus, you know, the San of Gad, is the rack of my salvation. And here all this time I thought it was rock, but rack makes so much more sense! After all, you can hang stuff on a rack, like your sins, or your faith, for example. But rock, well all that comes to mind is “dumb as a rock.”

Ethan now has a potty seat and Roseli is trying to encourage him to go potty in the toilet. Today, he sat naked for a while on the toilet, saying “Mommy, I’m going potty!” which really meant, “I’m sitting on my potty seat.” He got bored and got off the toilet to play, when he peed on the bathroom floor. Roseli said he froze, not knowing what to do, then he said, “Mommy, I shee-shee!” (which is Portuguese for pee.)

Wake Up Wail

2006-05-09T23:10:00.000-05:00

Ethan woke up early this morning in a rage – he needed Mommy in the rocking chair, not in bed, and not Papai in the rocking chair. Mommy would have nothing to do with it at 6 a.m., so I went to hold Ethan for a while. He finally figured that Mommy in bed was better than no Mommy at all, so I’ve been booted out. We think he might have an earache, but it’s hard to tell. I didn’t sleep long enough, but at least I was able to finish watching the sales DVDs that I should have watched before I even came out here.

Death Threat

2006-05-07T21:45:00.000-05:00

I got a call this morning from a Mr. James Isaac, threatening to put a f-ing bullet between my eyes. I had sold a security system to him on Cinco de Mayo, and on Seis de Mayo, the tech, Robert, went to install the system. Due to a small paperwork error on my part and Mr. Isaac’s unwillingness to provide a second emergency contact telephone number, the system could not be installed. Later on last night, Mr. Isaac’s home was apparently robbed. I don’t have any details about what was stolen, but he thinks Robert or me is responsible. I, in turn, contacted the police to let them know he was threatening my life. An officer came over while we were having a barbeque outside and wrote some scanty, cramped, messing notes in his little notepad and said he would write a report. The officer had absolutely no personality, was totally unfriendly and overly paranoid. In my perfect world, he would contact the Rockford police, where Mr. Isaac lives, who would convince him I had nothing to do with the robbery, and Mr. Isaac would call me to apologize. Of course, that will never happen. Maybe in the afterlife when all truth will be known. It’s a weird situation, and Roseli of course is worried. I’ll be working in a different area, just in case. Otherwise, I’ve been getting sales, and selling door-to-door is not the worst job I’ve ever had. That honor goes to writing grammar tests, which I did last summer.

Sickness

2006-05-05T23:30:00.000-05:00

Ethan's still sick, maybe with phnemonia -- whatever it is, it's definitely in his lungs.

I made three sales today, the most in the office. I'm hopeful I'll continue to sell as well as I have been.

Story Time

2006-05-03T23:11:00.000-05:00

First Day

2006-05-03T00:41:00.000-05:00

I’m selling again, which is something I thought I’d never do. I told myself that money could not be the primary motivation for my work. The difference between this job and past sales jobs is that I have talked to enough guys who have sold security over the summer to know that the money is legit. I have no delusions that knocking door to door will be easy, but I know it’s only for the summer. I made my first sale today, my first day out, which is probably a little better than most new reps. (For a hilarious first day story, go to www.npr.org and search for "First Day." Scroll the Real Player audio button to to 19:50, and listen to the story about a policeman's first day, involving a beautiful woman, a squirrel, and fire.)

In Rosie’s world, she’s signed up to lead story time at the clubhouse of our apartment complex tomorrow, so she worked all day on preparing for that.

Ethan’s news is that he ate a ton yesterday, including a bunch of grapes, and today he has a rash. He wanted me to be sure I told you that.

The Tarp

2006-05-01T23:03:00.000-05:00

Have you ever heard someone say, “If I had my life to live all over again, I wouldn’t do anything differently?” I can’t relate. For instance, I would have would have joined the boy scouts, or I would have at least learned to tie a good knot.

Here’s the story: We decided to tie Ethan’s crib and mattress to the top of our car and take them with us to Chicago. Little did I think that hurricane-force highway winds and rain would be a problem, which is probably why Mr. Bush didn’t ask me to head FEMA. Halfway though our more than one thousand-mile trip, the plastic that the mattress was wrapped in was beginning to get shredded in the front, maybe from bugs or debris being pelted into it, and it looked like we needed to buy a tarp. Fortunately, the truck stop where we had stopped to have dinner had a tarp, but after about an hour driving, it was tattered and leaking like a sieve. So we bought another, heavy-duty tarp. Apparently, I didn’t get my dad’s knot-tying genes, so by the time we made it to our new apartment, the ties had come undone and the tarp was hanging on the side of our van, slapping the window and puzzling Ethan, who stared at it in frightful awe. Well, it turned out that the crib and mattress did get a little wet, but only a little – Ethan’s asleep on them right now. Nevertheless, I hereby follow Michael Brown’s lead and officially resign, as the tarpist that is, at least until I learn to tie a decent knot. On our drive through mile after mile of cow country, Roseli concluded that utter (or udder) boredom must be the cause of mad-cow disease. If all you did was eat grass, she would go mad, too.

Turning now to news with Ethan, he pooed in Iowa, which was cause for great rejoicing for Roseli, who in Ethan’s first year was obsessed with the idea that Ethan was constantly constipated. He’s been a great traveler, and uncommonly happy, singing and talking most of the time. Even after two days of traveling in the car, he was ready to get back in the car for another ride when we left to buy groceries.

Chicago, Here We Come!

2006-04-27T15:38:00.000-05:00

Actually, it’s a suburb of Chicago, called Schaumburg, which is fun to say. Try it – “Schaumburg.” We’ll leave tomorrow morning, and take our computer with, so we’ll post in a couple days. Until then, get acquainted with… “Schaumburg” here.

Finals

2006-04-26T20:29:00.000-05:00

I had already been finished with school mentally for about a week, but I still had finals to take today. Hard to do with the beautiful spring weather outside. I didn’t study much for them until yesterday and today. I took my two finals (97% and 88%) and now I finally feel like I can focus on packing. We’re going to try to leave for Chicago on Friday morning. The picture below is of the BYU Testing Center, the epicenter of student anxiety. It’s a funny place – you can eat, but you can’t leave to go to the bathroom. Once last semester, I had finished my test, but I had to poo so bad that I didn’t have time to check my answers. I still did okay, but you have to be careful what you eat and drink before you go in there.

Good Luck Tie

2006-04-26T00:18:00.000-05:00

My neighbor Alec gave me this tie. It happened like this:

Me: I like your tie

Alec: Why’s that?

Me: Because it’s yellow. I’ve been looking for a yellow tie. I even went to the thrift store yesterday and didn’t find one.

Alec: Well, I’ll give you mine.

So he did. Then he said, “If you make less than the median salary in your sales job, you have to give it back to me. But if you make more, you can keep it.”

Alec is good at motivation like that. Before I left for my PhD program in linguistics (which I withdrew from a year later), and I was wavering about whether it was the right decision or not, Alec told me, “You’ve gotta go! If you don’t, you’ll always wonder, ‘What if?’”

I would have gone without Alec’s encouragement, but he made me feel better about my decision.

Gearing Up

2006-04-25T00:53:00.000-05:00

To look around our apartment, you wouldn’t think we were really moving to Chicago this week. Nothing’s packed. The only effort anyone has made towards moving is that Roseli has created three piles of books and toys that she wants to take with us. Today, she finally talked to the manager of the Chicago office to ask him questions about the nearest library, grocery store, thrift store, hospital, and about ten other questions. I worked on getting phone and Internet service set up in our new apartment before we move, which, by the way, was a total pain.

I called AT&T to set up basic phone service, and the CSR tells me that she could put in the order for me, but it will cost $40, but if I put in the order online, it’s free. Great, I thought, so I go online to set up service. There are about 20 different pages that I have to navigate through, but that isn’t the problem. The problem is that when I click on the “next” button, it doesn’t take me to the next page, but it takes me to the first page that I had already filled out at varying points along the process. So I, being ever persistent, keep trying, and each time I start the process over, I make it a little farther in the process. Finally, I make it to the second to last page. I click “next,” full of hope that I am almost done, and I see the message, “This page cannot be displayed.” So I call AT&T again to see if they have record of my request for service. They don’t. This time, the lady tells me that they are aware that their website has some bugs, and she advises me to start from the beginning! Two and a half hours after I started, I finally make it through all the pages, after seeing most of them about five times, and my new phone service is scheduled for installation on Friday.

Besides physical preparation for a summer of door-to-door selling, I’m trying to prepare mentally prepare. The first couple days will be rough, I know. I’ve learned in the past that I don’t like sales, but for some reason, I’m looking forward to this summer. What will make me successful more than anything else is confidence. Confidence is not something I naturally exude. I’m more the passive, agreeable type, but I think I’ve discovered a more confidant side to myself as I’ve taught over the past two semesters. And for me, the key to being confident is knowledge, knowledge about the subject in teaching, and about the product in sales.

Scripture Songs

2006-04-23T20:23:00.004-05:00

When I was in Russia as a missionary, there would be times when people would ask me a question, and I knew that I could answer their question with a scripture. The problem was that I often did not remember exactly where the scripture was located.

Later, when I taught Russian at the Missionary Training Center, I would put Russian phrases that the missionaries needed to learn to a song, and the music would help them memorize the phrases, plus it made learning more fun. Meanwhile, I was trying to memorize scriptures when I was working at the MTC, but within a week or so, I would forget any scripture that I had learned. I eventually realized that I could put scriptures to music. Doing so has made memorizing the scriptures easier, more fun, and most importantly, permanent. I now have dozens of scriptures memorized, word perfect, because I put them to song. You can find my “scripture songs,” as I call them, here. I will be continually updating the collection as I learn new scriptures.

My hope is that these songs will help my children be more effective missionaries if they decide to serve missions, and that my wife and I will also be able to teach better from the scriptures as senior missionaries.

Sleepy Boy

2006-04-21T19:13:00.000-05:00

Mo

2006-04-20T00:32:00.000-05:00

This is Mo. Mo’s one of the funniest people I know. He is one of the planets that obits around Michelle, along with Robert and me. The last time I saw Mo was five years ago when I had just gotten back from my LDS mission to Moscow, Russia, and I had come home to find that he the others in the Michelle galaxy had become “ex-Mormons.” Now, he lives in Phoenix, Michelle and Robert live in Tucson, and I’m in Provo, but we’re all still friends. I think we would all vouch for psychology’s claim that the attachments that you form in your youth remain among the strongest throughout life.

English Bloopers

2006-04-19T16:48:00.000-05:00

It's the end of the semester. It's time to review the funniest sentences written by my students this semester!

******************************************

If you can make the good system, we can cope well with a problem.

So, you’ll make a beautiful and eternal love with new man.

first stretchy before to begin, after that 5 min. warm up, then 20 min. exercise, after 5 min. cool down, and the last thing stretchy after the exercise- 3 or 4 days a week and bam, it’s a health

It is no easy answer to question..

I had heard stories that the costumes are the best publicity that the impresarios could have, and it is free.

(In response to the question, “What is the purpose of your essay?”): tO CALL ATTENTION OF EVERY BODY TO SEE EVERYTHING WE CAN DO TO HELP THOSE PEOPLE ON THIS WORLD AND GIVE THEM ALL INFORMATION ABOUT THAT.

Few people require the virtues of humility and service.

(Concluding sentence to an essay): Music is life, music is loud.

In conclusion, almost all the people are a footstep, because they are different and have different abilities that need to explode.

The Mayas believed the world is divided in three parts: the land, the heaven, and hall.

That’s why racism causes cream.

An increase of tourism has many benefits and endangered species.

Testosterone produces the testicles.

Of course there is risk being stolen, but anyway all of us could be stolen one day.

The funds were smooth and white.

But I really like Provo’s banana. It is very palatable.

(Title): Eating the Hard Drive

Especially, victim goes through the bed dream without recognized content, avoid persons and place.

If you enjoyed these, some other fantastic English bloopers are found at engrish.com

Baby Zimmerman is... a boy!

2006-04-18T14:10:00.000-05:00

Not knowing if our little one had indoor or outdoor plumbing, we had been calling it “Baby Zimmerman.” We went to the hospital for an ultrasound, and so far everything looks normal. We’re just grateful we don’t have to buy pink stuff. We decided to call him Joshua Laurenci Zimmerman. I know it’s terribly long, but Roseli and I both like Joshua, partly because of a song I made up,

and partly because one of Ethan’s favorite songs is “Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho” that's in a book of Jesus Songs that we have that plays music. And Laurenci is an alteration of two names. The first is Lawrence, my dad’s name, and the second is the last name of a French artist named Marie Laurencin. I saw her name in The Art Book and liked it. I have some French blood in me, and Roseli is part Italian (hence the –ci ending).

It took a while for Roseli to have the ultrasound done, so it was difficult to keep Ethan entertained. He wanted to “Go see the fish” in the aquarium in the waiting room, which we did four times.

The end is near!

2006-04-17T21:18:00.000-05:00

I have two more days with my two writing classes! – This morning, the bell had rung, and only 4 of my 15 students in my 8:15 class were on time.

Here’s the roll for my 8:15 class. You can see that most of the students are late more often than not.

George is a coworker of mine at school. He and I tried out a new chocolate bar today. George and I threw a chocolate party about a month ago at his apartment.

Lesson learned: check the weather forecast! Especially when you ride a bike. It’s mid-April, the trees in Provo have already blossomed in brilliant purple and white, yesterday was Easter, then today, snow!

Ready to ride my bike to class, in the snow, and without my coat! (The end of winter is near, as well!)

We're required to "publish" two of the students' essays. I don't have two essays for every student, but I put up what I had. Click to see my 8:15 class and my 9:30 class.

The Sandbox

2006-04-16T23:08:00.000-05:00

Before I was married, my wife bought sand. That’s right. She bought sand. It’s special sand, magical, some think. It is dust free and causes no allergies. And miraculously, it smells really good, but perfume is not added. I’m not kidding. Every time we’ve moved, we’ve needed to take that cursed box of sand with us, and it is HEAVY. Yesterday, my wife wanted to buy a container for the sand. So we bought a plastic storage container -- a sandbox.

This afternoon, our son Ethan went over to a neighbor’s house. This neighbor, Wesley, has a kiddie swimming pool filled with real sand, and water, and shovels and pails. Need I say he had fun?