Eleven

...months, that is. Today our little toddler is 11 months old. This calls for some video!



In related developments, Lance is also (finally) getting more teeth in. Three more, in fact - all on top. It's his two front teeth and one right next to the right front tooth. He's been dealing with the teething pain very admirably - not too much crying or crankiness, although there is a fair amount of drooling going on. 'Tis to be expected... We figured he would have a whole mouthful of teeth by now, seen as how he had his first ones coming in when he was only six months old. Well, they come in when they're ready, no sooner. Now he can start eating a much larger variety of foods, since his chewing capacity will be increased mightily!

If he's already walking this well at 11 months, I wonder what he'll be doing by the time he is a year old next month? He's growing up so fast!

GJS

I think you'll like this

New video, folks. The kid can get up on the furniture on his own.



GJS

We've got a walker

No, not the contraption that little kids use to scoot around in before they can walk on their own (though we actually do have one of those as well). I mean on his own! Lance decided he wanted to show off with Grandma and Grandpa visiting and take his first step with them here in Taiwan! He's since taken a lot more. Here's a few of them, caught on tape:



Each day he's getting more and more stable as he walks and he even does it without seeming to think too hard about it now. It's quite impressive to see how fast these young tikes catch on to things.

GJS

John's movie

Back in September I posted a "Lance movie" made from photos of him set to music.  Now it's John's turn!



You may notice in this video a few photos that seem to be a part of a larger mosaic of photos of John.  Here is the full photo mosaic:

There are over 1000 photos here!

I'd recommend you download the photo mosaic and view it as large as you can on your screen to get the full effect.  Pretty cool!  I made both of these things using Picasa photo editing software, free at http://picasa.google.com/.

Enjoy!

GJS

Two Hundred Thirty-five

That's how much money you owe me, U.S. dollars (or Euros - you pick) - I accept cash, check, or credit card.

Bwahahaaa!  Not really.  It's how many years old the United States Marine Corps is today!  This calls for a motivational photo:

What you lookin' at?

And I've even got a video that goes along with this, exhibiting Lance's progress towards crawling (we still think he may just skip crawling and go straight to walking - he's pulling himself up now and continues to dislike spending much time on his tummy):



乾杯！

GJS

New Lance video

Baby talk:



GJS

Lots more Lance

OK, all the stuff I had hoped to post for you a few days ago when Lance was one month old is now up at Flickr.  Today he's a month and 3 days, so I'm not too far off!

Here's the link to the set called "Lance."  I cannot guarantee that all the pics and video of him are in this set, but it's a start, and you can branch out from there.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gjsamps/sets/72157623559413763/

Feel like you are missing out on seeing John?  Then take a look at this video of him having a lot of fun last week at the beach near my school with his Aunt Kristine and cousin Nicholas.



GJS

Riding the tram at Narita

Here's my first attempt at using YouTube to post a video here at Garblog. If it works, expect to see more in the future!

This is a short video taken just after we arrived at Narita Airport not far from Tokyo.

GJS

Small photo upload

Hello again.  Just wanted to let you know a small photo upload is now taking place – only about 60 pics this time, so it shouldn’t take long.  I just want to “clear the books” before leaving on the trip, and you are the benefactor!  All are pics / video from around Kaohsiung.  And one video is the one you have all been waiting for – me doing laundry!  In fact, I only took that particular video to test out the new “GorillaPod” camera tripod I got for Christmas (which, by the way, is a great gift!  Thanks Beth! Uh, I mean Santa Claus!).

 

Pics will be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gjsamps/

 

Enjoy!

 

GJS

Second time's a charm

Ready for New Year's near Taipei 101! (look familiar?)

Hello all...was able to complete the photo upload today. Still not quite sure why it stalled out yesterday, but no matter. The result is that now there are nearly 2000 (!) visual media items for you to enjoy at my Flikr page.

Some may wonder why I post so many photos, why not sort and sift a bit more? I have a couple answers to this: 1. I believe in the "people's war" theory of photos - that is, win through overwhelming numbers (I should hope you will be able to find something you like amidst the many, many options!); and (b) well, simply because I can. Digital photography enables me, as well as the the limitless upload capacity (when the "pipes" are working as they should be, anyhow) afforded to my by my Flikr account (not free, but not terrible expensive either).

Enjoy!

GJS

Houston, we have a problem

Be on the lookout for the notorious "George Washington" Bandit!

I think I may have overwhelmed Flikr with my attempted upload today. Perhaps the daily upload capacity per person tops out around 2 GB, for that's about all I was able to force through the "pipes" thus far, despite repeated attempts to get the rest to go. Perhaps I will try again later tonight or tomorrow. At any rate, about 350 new items were uploaded, including all the video (these comprise the most voluminous portion of the media). Like I said, I will try to get the other 600 or so photos up later. Hope this tides you over!

GJS

It's Time

"Flikr Ops" are about to commence. I am not done with my papers and such (mentioned last time) but it's time for a break. Plus, I don't want these photos to not be uploaded by the time we head out on our semester break, because quite frankly I hope to take at least another thousand or so pictures on the trip!

These pictures encompass the whole of December 2009, which includes some stuff from my school, Christmas, New Year's, Patrick and Maxine's visit, and so forth. Uploading will commence shortly, and I expect it will take no less than an hour (maybe longer) to complete.

"Teaser" photo included above. More to come!

GJS

Holiday Video 2009

Happy Holidays to everyone!

GJS

The [Triumphant?] Return

Aloha,

It's been over a year since I've posted here...my apologies on that. I feel compelled to correct myself and use this forum as a means to get some information out to folks without having to write 20 separate messages, most of them covering much the same material. I know that some people out there still check on Garblog from time to time, so here is a little something for the faithful!

First, Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! We sure wish we could be back in Nebraska or in Iowa for the festivities. They are always a good time up there at the Kollasch farm (look here for some pictures of the last time I was able to attend that annual event in 2004)! We hope everyone is able to get a good helping of tasty turkey and some 'taters, maybe some gravy and stuffing to go with it, and, oh yeah - how 'bout that family bonding? Never better than when done over the sights of a shotgun looking downrange at a few disheveled old computer monitors! :-) (Look at the photos, you'll see what I am talking about!)

For those on our distribution list for photos, you know that John has grown into a big boy in the year since I last wrote / posted any photos here. There are two recent photos of John below for everyone who hasn't seen these pictures yet. He is 18 months old now, hard to believe (it has gone so fast!), and he has a bunch of words he can say. Here are some of them:

-Up
-Helicopter (he says "HUCK-uh"), Car, Bus

-Bumbo (this is a foam rubber "chair" that he sits in)

-Happy

-Blue

-Two

-Hi, Bye bye

-Poop, Pee

We have been trying to keep track of what he says; this is just a sample. There are close to 50 distinct words in all, and a lot that we can't quite make out yet (a lot of babbling and baby-talking).

Also of note on the family and holiday theme, we will be coming back to Nebraska for Christmas this year! Luckily, I will not be deployed (first time in the nearly 3 years I have been back in this line of work) and my boss said I am cleared to take the time I want. Our travel plans will have us back in Nebraska on the morning of 24 Dec and we will have to head back here on 3 Jan. We are really looking forward to seeing all our family and friends while we are back!

Let's talk about my work for a moment: as some of you know, I was selected to be a general's aide-de-camp in July and assumed those duties effective 3 Aug. This position is in effect for a period of one year. I am a little over 3 months in the job now and let me tell you, it is a very interesting job! And there is quite a lot of travel involved. Generals are busy folks! I have been to Korea (my first time ever visiting Korea, in fact), Japan, Thailand, and the Philippines in the past 3 months. Upcoming trips will take me back to Japan, to India (haven't been there before), back to Thailand, and back to Korea. This is not counting any "pop-ups" that are currently not planned for, nor does it count any potential trips the general might make back to the Mainland. Being a general's aide is certainly not a job that I envisioned having when I came back into the service, but really, I can't think of a job that I could have right now, at this stage in my career, that could be more interesting, relevant, and helpful for the future than this is. Really. Things happen for a reason - I am convinced this job fits in that scheme.

More on work, but not what I am doing now - what I hope to do in the future: I have applied for the Olmsted Scholar Program. Here is the program in a nutshell: if selected, you attend foreign language training for a period of 6 - 12 months (dependent on which language you select / are designated), then you ship out overseas for a 2 year period, during which time you attend graduate school full-time at a foreign university, preferably taking classes delivered in the foreign language you were trained in at the beginning. You can see all the details on the program here at the Olmsted Foundation website. The intent of the program is to give the different military services people (in this case, officers) who are knowledgeable about foreign cultures and people to help the US government and the US military do its job better in the international arena. I am all about being a part of this; I applied to study the Japanese language and be sent to Japan for graduate school, hopefully pursuing a course of study in international relations, history, or political science.

The nomination / selection process is somewhat long - I had to send in my application package to Headquarters, Marine Corps (commonly abbreviated as HQMC) last month, after which they extended the deadline for applications until the middle of this month (rumored to be due to lack of volume of applications, which, if true, should mean a greater chance of being selected!). The HQMC selection board went last week, according to information I have, but results have not been distributed yet. So right now I am waiting to see what comes of this. There *SHOULD* be an administrative message (called a MARADMIN; see where they are posted here) disseminated within the next few weeks alerting the selectees that they were chosen by the service to be screened and interviewed by the Olmsted Foundation board. With any luck at all, I will be one of the ones picked for this. If so, starting after the first of the year, the Olmsted Foundation will conduct interviews, etc. to pick who they think should be a part of the outstanding educational opportunity, with the FINAL notification coming on that ~April 2008.

So, if I am selected for the Olmsted Scholar Program, we will be leaving Hawaii sometime next year, probably heading to California (I would imagine) for language training for up to a year, then off to Japan for 2 years. But even if I am not picked for the program, I am still up for orders next year, so we will be moving one way or the other. If I move based off of receiving orders the regular way (because my 3 years on station will be up in about a year from now), then I am hoping to move out East, to the Washington, D.C. area. Hello, Patrick and Maxine!

Here is a photo of Barb and I at the U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Pacific, 2007 Marine Corps Birthday Ball held a couple of weeks ago. Isn't she....smashing? And look at all that "bling" on me! It comes with the job...

And, as a new experiment, there is some video of John below. This is the first time I've attempted to post video, so I hope it works! Please take a look.

Enjoy! Drop us a line at gardahsam@yahoo.com.

Best regards from Hawaii,

Gary, Barb, and John