Close up of Max's drawing

There's a girl

There's a girl on my mind, who likes to text message.

I've never really text messeged before.

It takes me a long time.

I think she likes that.

Spring can really hang you up the most

Listen to this juicy version of "Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most" by Carmen Lundy.

Seattle at night • From the Space Needle

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Cherry Tomatoes

I took this pic at the Market this afternoon. I'm not sure why. It just seemed like this was the way the day was going. Tough day of street performing. This job keeps you humble. I don't know too many street performers with a big head. Guess I'll try and go out there and get-'em tomorrow.

I miss my boy

I took Buster to the airport this morning. He'll be spending his spring break in Cincinnati. I know he'll have a great time, but I still miss him.



I was able to walk him to his gate and see him off. I made him a brown bag lunch for him to eat on the plane, of course I wrote him a note on his napkin.

There's a girl

There's a girl on my mind, who like kisses on her neck.

And I'll be kissing her neck. . . among other parts of her body.

Life is good, amidst a sea of confusion.

But I'm not confused

I like kissing

among other things. . . .

Posters du Jour

Downtown Seattle

Max & Hope at School • A Great Day

I set my clock for 6:45AM. I was in the shower and on the road shortly after 7. A bit of of rush hour traffic, but not too bad. A beautiful drive across the mountains, snow capped with the smell of spring in the air.



I got to the kids school and was very excited to see them.



After checking in at the office I visited Hope's First Grade classroom with Mrs. Clasen. Hope was very happy to see me, she ran right over. I knelt down and she game me a big hug and kiss. It's been four months since I've seen the kids and this moment brought a tear to my eye.



In their classroom they had an incubator with some eggs that were in the process of hatching, so the kids were all busy making chick hats. After they finished with their hats it was time to do some work with counting and money. The kids broke off into groups of two and got these game boards out that had a spinner, money cards with pictures of coins on it and two boxes that said more or less. Each student picked a card and cointed the money, 12 cents on this card 25 cents on this one, they had to put them on the appropriate box that said more or less. Then they spinned the spinner that was either directed towards More or Less. Whoever won, got to keep those two cards and on and on. Nice game.



When this class ended the kids had a mini recess before music class. I stayed behind to talk to Hope's teacher. She filled me in on how Hope has been doing. Miss Clasen having come from a divorced family herself, knows first hand the challenges and dynamics that this unfortunate situation can create. It was good to talk to her and get a feel for what's going on in Hope's life, from an adult perspective who see's her almost every day. Moira won't say a word to me and continues to insist on all communication being filtered through her lawyer. Such a shame.



Shot this pic between two buildings outside of Hope's classroom. After running around on the playground with Hope and her friends playing freeze tag, we lined up to go into music class. Neat program, the kids all played and the song was recorded. Afterwards we listened to the tape and the kids evaluated what the did good and what could use some more work. Cool.



After music I went over to Mrs. Ristine's 3rd grade class to visit with Max. Like Hope, Max was very excited to see his dad. He gave me a big hug and a big kiss. He had a picture that he made and presented it to me. It was a drawing of us doing a magic show together. He was doing his card trick and I was doing the cups and balls. How sweet is that. It breaks my heart that Moira robs me of so much time with our children. But that's what she wants, and that's where we're at, and that's life. . . at least my life and the lives of Max, Hope & Liam.



I ate luch with Max played tag with him and his pals at recess and threw the football with him. After recess it was time to go on the field trip! The kids had watched their salmon eggs hatch and little fish grow. Now it was time to release them and let them start to get strong enough for their 500 mile journey to the ocean.



Here's Max and his buddies wainting in line to get a fish to release.











There were several activity areas that the kids rotated. At the first area we learned about the different habitats that the salmon encounter. We discussed what makes a healthy or unhealthy environment for the fish to live and how their habitat can help them hide from predators. Next the kids played a game where half the group were predators (Max wanted to be an eagle) and the other half were salmon. It was like flag football in two different areas. One with trees and one without. THis was to demonstrate how salmon in a healty habitat hide from predators.









We learned the difference between horns and antlers. Horns are permanent and anlters fall off and grow back each year. To this day though, I have never seen the elusive horned salmon. I know I'm horny.



We planted some trees along the stream bank.



. . . and back to school.



I had been leaving messages and emails for a week with Moira and her lawyer about possibly having the kids after school and taking them out for some fun and then dinner. Since they didn't respond to even one of my requests, I knew that wasn't going to happen, but I was still hopeful. Moira was going to pick Max up at school and while he was hugging me asked if he could stay with me. She was standing several feet from me but wouldn't make eye contact or say a word to me. Max asked again, she looked at him and said, "That's not a choice".

I'm glad I got to see the kids on my terms. I'm also grateful to have had the opportunity to talk with the kid's teachers and get a better idea of how they're doing. Their doing fine, and I'm happy.

I really would have liked to see Liam even for a few minutes when she picked up Max. But I knew she wouldn't. I drove two hours back over the mountains, enjoyed the ride and slid back in town barely beating rush hour. Wonderful day!

My new found popularity

Great end to a great day. . . start of a great night.

Buster wanted to take a walk to enjoy the sunset. I love it when it's his idea, makes me feel like I'm not just dragging him out there for some exercise. I took this pic of the Space Needle across the street from the house. This is my view to the East. I think that's a bit of Mt. Baker behind the Needle. . . cool huh?



Pacific Northwest Crunchy Beach art with drift wood



Buster gets bigger and weirder every day. . . nice yam-aka, freak boy.



These next two pics we were experimenting using a cheap pair of sun glasses as a light filter. I think we got an interesting effect out of them.



The old man. What a great day.

Welcome Moira, her friends, family and lawyer!

I'd like to take this opportunity to publicly welcome my ex-wife Moira who has finally discovered my blog! Welcome dear and thanks for sharing the url with your friends and family. I miss you all. Thanks to Net Stats I can track who reads the blog, where they are and what pages they look at. It rocks! I never imagined you cared enough about me to be doing as much reading as you all are.

The number of hits over the last few days from Ellensburg, Cincinnati & Milwaukee has really been impressive. I told someone about this interesting turn of events and they asked me if I was worried. Fuck no. I haven't written a word here that I'm ashamed of, and frankly I'd have thought you would have stumbled on this journal a long time ago. It's not exactly hard to find.

I encourage you to comment freely (as I do) and give the rest of the world an even more colorful soap opera to stay wrapped up in.

Thanks for your readership and your frindship from when you still liked me.

I wish you all well.

email to Max & Hope's teachers

Stacie & Stephanie,

I am looking forward to seeing my children and visiting with both of your classes! I do have one concern (hopefully unwarranted, but none the less a concern). If for some reason the Max and Hope are not at school in the morning, I hope you would call me on my cell and save me the rest of the drive. I will be leaving Seattle shortly after 7AM. It takes a couple of hours to get there from here and I've built in a bit of lee way for rush hour traffic. As I said this probably won't be an issue, but if it is, please call me on my cell phone. If I don't answer for some reason, please leave me a message.

Thanks for your time and understanding.


Sincerely,


Tom Frank

Happy Birthday To You!!

For the last three years Buster and I have celebrated his Birthday at the Metropolitan Grill. We did the same this year and had a great time again! Good food, good atmosphere. . . GREAT company. I love my boy. Great kid working hard to make me proud of him. . . which I am.



Appetizers consisted of Calamari and Shrimp Cocktrails.



Buster's mustache is growing in.



Little surf and turf with Filet Mignon and Lobster



The boy likes his steaks the way I do. . . RARE



He finished up with some New York Style Cheesecake. This is all that was left, the candle and some garnish. After the main course, I couldn't eat another bite. A good time was had by all. A special Thank You goes to Julie Wilson at the met who made this awesome dinner possible. Hope to dance with you at the Owl this week!

Buster turns 16 years old today!!!!!

Email to the girls

Moira or Celeste,

What's the story with Wednesday? Am I going to be able to spend time with the kids after school? I hope so.

Sincerely,


Tom

Cups and Balls

Letter to my mom

Dear Mom,

Things just aren't the same since you left us. I inquired about a refund on the new heart as the guarantee implied you would have an extra 10 or 15 years of use with it. No such luck. I guess you get what you pay for. I knew a retread was a bad idea when it comes to body organs.

Anyway, I guess things are about as good as can be expected. I know I miss you an awful lot and wish I could hear the sound of your voice. As for your face and smile, I see it in my minds eye every day and night. That was pretty funny the way you croaked without a will. It has proven to be an interesting challenge to deal with your piles of crap post you. Ha ha ha, I knew you'd get the last laugh.

Wanna hear something funny? I have been discovering that I am not as funny as I thought. I think I will partially blame you for this unfortunate turn of events. You see, you laughed at everything that I ever said or did. It gave me the feeling that I was funny. Now that my best audience and biggest fan isn't around, the painful truth is becoming evident.

I remember how the other kids were always jealous of my ability to make you laugh when you were yelling at us or trying to discipline us.

You always let me off easy trying desperately to hide your smile and leaving the room so that you could go laugh.

God I miss you. I knew this day would come, and I mentally prepared myself for it for years. . . but alas. . . nothing prepared me for the reality of losing my best friend.

I miss you mom, we'll talk later -

Missing my mom

I don't come from a normal family, but who does? Below is a picture of my brother Mike. He visited my mom in the hospital immediately following her heart transplant. The doctor who performed the transplant reported that my brother asked him a question that no one else had ever asked, "Can I have her old heart?". Strangely enough he beat me to the punch, I thought it would be a nifty item in a jar of formaldehyde on the mantle. Mike had very different plans.



He had a trip to Israel planned and thought it would be a good idea to bury her heart on the Mountain of Olives in Jerusalem. I asked him later what would make someone want to do something like that. His explanation was complex but heartfelt. I'll try and give you the summery of his explanation.



He explained that each of us were made in G-d's image. And that every bit of our being was a part of G-d. Mike told me that in Israel after a bus bomb or some such atrocity it is not uncommon for all tissue/organs/body matter to be collected and given a proper burial. Evidently in Jewish laws, there are specific rules that help one in their transition to the promised land.

As bizarre is this all seems, I am trying not to trivialize what my brother wanted for my mother's heart.



The doctor gave Mike the heart, which was vacuum packed in formaldehyde. Mike packed the heart which showed us so much love over the years in his suitcase and off he went.

I asked him why it was in so many pieces, he told me that they had to test it after the transplant. . . whatever.



I asked him why he chose that spot to bury her heart. He said that it was one of the holiest spots on earth and that he had buried some of my grandfather's ashes there as well at the foot of the grave of a friend of Mike's.



The Mount of Olives (also Mount Olivet, Hebrew: Har HaZeitim, sometimes Jebel et-Tur, "Mount of the Summit," or Jebel ez-Zeitun, "Mount of Olives") is a mountain ridge to the east of Jerusalem. It is named from the olive trees with which its sides are clothed. At the foot of the mountain is the Gardens of Gethsemane where Jesus stayed in Jerusalem. The Mount of Olives is the site of many important Biblical events.

In the Book of Zechariah the Mount of Olives is identified as the place from which God will begin to redeem the dead at the end of days. For this reason, Jews have always sought to be buried on the mountain, and from Biblical times to the present day the mountain has been used as a cemetery for the Jews of Jerusalem. There are an estimated 150,000 graves on the Mount, including those of many famous figures. Just a few of these include the tomb of Zechariah (who prophesied there), Yad Avshalom, and a host of great rabbis from the 15th to the 20th centuries including Abraham Isaac Kook, the first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel.

Major damage was suffered when the Mount was occupied by Jordan during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, with Jordanians using the gravestones from the cemetery for construction of roads and toilets, including gravestones from millennia-old graves. When Israel took back the area, the Israelis painstakingly repatriated as many of the surviving gravestones as possible.



So, there you have it. . . . a story you don't hear every day.