idiottech.com: because you're just an idiot

Happy New Year to all our friends and family. It was a long six months with lots of work, lots of travels and lots of surprises. As I will update the last six months of pictures this week, I figured that I would start with the most recent pictures from our holiday celebrations at Colleen's brother's home in the Newport News area. As always, Meredith (our sister-in-law) was an exemplary hostess as the Mullen/McLane collective found their groove with Wii and Xbox 360. It was also great to see our nieces who continue to add to the beauty and brains of the next generation as well as Colleen's parents... who discovered an addiction to the Nintendo Wii... and karaoke. Yes, we're as shocked as you are. Look for the some very interesting pictures, including a bunch of pictures from the 2009 Inauguration of the next U.S. President, Barack Obama (a true celebration for us).

Xmas 2008 Celebration

While I have several DVDs full of shots to process and put up here, I took some new shots of Liam yesterday and during the week. He still loves the camera... and yes, he's mastered the wink. We're doomed.

Liam Summer Adventure 2008 continues

Liam got to see a waterfall with our Cali check and destroyer of lawn shovels , reintroduced himself to our old buddy (and now University of Maryland grad student) Allen and went to a faire (his first of many amusement rides) along with a dip in Grandpa's kiddie pool. Enjoy the pictures.

Liam Summer Adventure continues

Man, have we been busy. That's my lame excuse for not updating the site. Sue me or donate to our Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation walk coffers to cure that daily issue that plagues us most. So we've done the easter bunny thing and gone to numerous parties... new picture are now available:

Easter | Lots of other stuff | Violin stuff

Since we got married, Colleen and I have wanted to buy a house for many reasons. Tax writeoffs, permanent address, Micheal's testosterone poisoned urge to fix stuff and get a cat. So we went around over the weekend and visited several cats. The outcome was that two kitty buddies were available and after seeing them not scratch Liam's eyeballs out like they were floaters in a fishtank, we decided to add them to our family. They arrived last night with their former Foster Mom who inspected the place and gave us a seal of approval (Cat tested, Mother Approved - no doubt). And in an ironic twist of fate, their names happen to be the stuff that we don't really eat around the house, somehow supplanting our sweet tooth craving and warm laps in two little bundles. Meet Candy (the female calico) and Fudge (the dark male).

Meet the Sweet Furballs

So I'm shocked that I haven't updated this more often. Liam, as always, has been a bundle of energy. We were in Boston for Santa's arrival, went to the DC Auto Show with Liam's partner in crime (Tabi), took care of Sam the dog and I went to Vegas to cover CES 2007. On second thought, I'll blame CES... the biggest show I've ever seen (and that's saying something). Thankfully, I got to meet Joan Jett who played a really killer set (I was shocked to hear songs that I didn't know she actually wrote... and loved it). Before that show, I met one of the people on my "people to meet" list, radio talkshow host and atheist advocate Penn Jillette. Next, I have to find a way to hang with author/philosopher Richard Dawkins. Anyways, enjoy the photos.

All Sorts of Liam Pics | Liam & Tabi Movie at DC Auto Show

Our new house is great but it lacks any DSL so I haven't updated. We were "borrowing" a WiFi connection but that recently became unable to borrow so no Internet access at home. Hopefully Verizon will show pity and allow us our DSL since a neighbor we may be forced to go with cable or something more expensive.

Anyways, Liam turned 3 and was loving life since we had a party on the day he turned, a party at home after that and a party with Grandpa (Grandpa's party, not Liam's) before both of those. The result? Liam got cake. Lots of cake.

Our House (before and after paint too) | Liam Turns 3 -- At School | More Birthday and Other Shots | Liam Turns 3 Home Party

Over the weekend, I flew up to see my niece Maggie as she and her parents dealt with a kidney operation to help clear up some latent issues that were unfriendly to the little scarlet coiffed goddess of tea parties. On Friday, the operation proved to be a success and they managed her pain well. As you can imagine, she has had some bouts of pain associated with going the bathroom and was happy to show me that she had peed purple (green potty, red pee) -- her favorite color. While her tears could make any parent cry, the crying times were getting shorter and she would almost immediately return to herself quickly thereafter. She is one tough cookie in a little pale body and was happy to enjoy tea parties with me and her parents. Maggie is due home on Monday (today) so my fingers are cross for a quick and speedy recovery and a well-deserved sleep for her groggy parents. Thanks to dad for breakfast (x2), restocking the fridge, some RedBull and a lift to the blue line.

On my third official Father's Day weekend, I finally took this great gift certificate that Colleen got me and headed 1,200-2,100 feet into the sky on a bright yellow biplane with only the safety of two straps, a parachute and a Alaskian-born barnstormer making sure I didn't stall the plane. In short, even a roller coaster freak like me found that the fury of G-forces are completely different in a biplane. The pilot performed a few loops (upside down) and a few rolls with spin (if you're curious). I have a video of the whole event but it is trapped on a VHS tape that I have to convert. Of course, this is additional proof that I have the coolest wife ever and that I just can't top her gift giving abilities.

Apart from that we headed to David O'Neil's (a familial friend of the McLane's) townhouse for a dinner of ribs and salmon that made me just happy to have tastebuds. David cooked some amazing chocolate souffles for dessert. Seriously, I haven't eaten such a great assortment of food in a while. David's also a Star Trek: Deep Space Nine junkie who reviles Voyager (good boy) and Stargate SG-1 addict. I have a feeling that I may become David's new best (or worst) friend. At the close of the evening, he played a few songs on his piano and Liam had his first chance to play. He did well and I have a movie of Liam and David playing that's pretty funny.

On father's day, we headed off to Colleen's parents' home for a party thrown by her dad. Most of his staff was there and while I expected the party to be filled with near-retirement folk, we were pleasantly suprised to find the party packed with new parents and parents to kids who were Liam's age along with several interesing characters (beside Colleen's parents). It was a good time and we have to advocate that Colleen's dad have a few more parties so we might see some of the families again. After everyone left, Liam was focused on getting into the pool that his grandpa had on the lawn.

Also in this batch of pictures, you'll find Liam's school pictures. Enjoy.

father's day shots and more. | Liam Plays Piano With David

My dad sent some boxes of toys to Liam and I figured that I would take some video of him opening the box. As you'll see, Liam can't hide his suprise.

the movie

Liam likes the easter bunny. He's soft to touch and while he's become the iconoclastic neo-representitive replacement for that "Easter guy," I'm officially renaming the holiday "Bunny Day." When was the last time you bought a chocolate Jesus, right?

Bunny Pics

We were up in Boston for a few days to attend my friend and former neighbor Leigh's wedding to her now happy hubby Erik as they shared nuptuals to start a new beginning as Mr. & Mrs. Tremblay. While I still won't go into churches, I was told by the officiants that did attend (my mom, my sister and wife) that it was a good time. I can vouch for the good times at the reception as I got to dance with several older women who were definately graciously kind in their assessment of my feeble dance skills. I actually think Erik's 80+ year old grandmother was actually doing kicks up over her waist at one point minutes before she took a dive into the dancefloor. She said, "why not?"

The very next day, the Mullen family found reason to gather to celebrate Great Grandma/Grandma's 77th year on the planet. All the family was there to celebrate and even a few folks from my mom's side of the family showed up to play. Liam found new love for his 2nd cousin Ava (my cousin Mandy's first born), ferrets and my Uncle Bobby's Kubota tractor.

My dad also got to show Liam what he does for a living and showed Liam how to operate heavy machinery that scared him at first but after the first spin, he was loving life. Now all tractors seem to have become "Pop pop's tractors." We also had a chance to catch up with my best man's family to enjoy some food, good times, four hyperactive kids (including my intellectual advisee/godchild Rosie) and my old pal Millie. Liam loved the girls but took some serious pokes from their brother Max, who has a smile to die for and a sneaky attitude that might just poke you when you're not looking.

And we got a chance to pal around with my sister and her family including my niece Maggie (cute, cute) and my nephew John Bradley who is still working on his lacrosse skills and made me feel "wicked old." On our last day, we walked around Boston, went to The Black Rose (my favorite Irish pub in Boston)where Liam made some new friends and I got to experience what the final Big Dig looks like. Thanks to everyone who made the time to come see us and we can't wait for our next trip back to Boston.

the boston trip (63 pictures!)

With all the pictures piling up on my desktop, I figured that it was way beyond time to add more pictures. The pictures below cover Liam's first real play in the snow, our friend Anthony's visit, a St. Patrick's Day parade that we dragged Anthony to (he found the stepdancers the only redeeming attribute of the day) and a visit from the elusive Uncle Brian for some basketball game.

catchup | chilly liam

Liam and his parents would like to say, "Beannachtai na Feile Padraig." That's happy St. Patrick's Day to all you Irish for the day types. If you're curious about how to say it, here's a pronounciation key: "bann/ockt/tee nih fail/eh pawd/rig". I still have loads of pictures that I'm not even going to attempt to promise those on the site right away since I'd be called a liar. But here's a picture I took of my little Irishman this morning.

So Colleen reminded me yesterday that I haven't updated in a while and I still have stacks of photos to put up. Sadly, the office is right next door to Liam's room and if he hears the keyboard, he wakes up. That's my excuse and I'll stick to it. Catching up on our journey from 2005, Liam now loves day care and his cousins Darcy and Bridget who live near Newport News, Virginia (for the geographically retarded, 3 hours south from where we live.) While there, we checked out a few kid-friendly museums and watched as Liam loved having two buddies to pal around with. Poor Liam is going to be really disappointed when he discovers that the two lovely little girls are in fact family members.

Also, I'm probably going to do my yearly site cleanup by moving all of our 2005 shots to an archive page. With that, I may redesign the page entirely just because I get bored easily. If you have any suggests (colors, sizes and the like) please email or call me since I want to make sure you come back often. I know that people who don't have newer computers can't view the videos and I'm trying to figure out how to make quick movies for all you pre-Windows XP people.

2006 shots

While the family is freezing to death, Liam still has that little smile that just warms you up. Yes, I have oodles of other pics to post but you'll have to wait.

chilly shots

Liam loves to trick or treat and this year he scared our new 'hood by donning the black and heading to the streets as a scary skeleton (daddy hates cutesy costumes because cutesy costumes are for girls). While he still hasn't mastered the art of saying "trick or treat" yet, he became accustomed to holding out his pumpkin pail for some sugary filling and checking out what he got. After a lolipop and a candy bar, the little skeleton hit the hay.

boo haaa haa haa

Yes, that bundle of screaming joy arrived in Virginia and has found his voice. On Saturday Liam met some new friends, his family, and a pile of toys that could knocked him back to San Francisco. While there were lots of unwrapped gifts that were immediately followed by the verbal directive known as "Open," Liam seems to be most fond of his Train Table and his first bike. There are a bunch of shots in here from when we were staying in the corporate suite, visiting my Dad's old Navy ship in DC, playing with Carla and Alejandra, and Liam's party. Hope you enjoy.

gimme pictures

In case you didn't make it to the party in Silver Spring, Maryland on Saturday, you probably haven't heard that we're leaving California and relocating to Virginia. In short, this is so we will be able to buy our first house and closer to the friends and family that we've missed over the years. As you can imagine, there were lots of shocked faces when we invited everyone to Liam's 2nd birthday party and then said that they should be able to come this year since we'll be on the east coast. I'm working on more details, video, and pictures that I'll post in the next few days.

My niece Maggie (my sister's daughter) was recently in a parade to show off her baby doll's stroller. While Maggie's stroller didn't win, her picture was listed in the local papers as she was pretty damn cute . I have some pictures of my other nieces (Darcy and Bridget) that I need to post to show you how their beautiful little faces are going to cause their daddy a great deal of woe in the near future. Enjoy.

lookie

June really felt like 2 short weeks since we were heavily booked with oodles of activities, lots of things to see, and a little guy in tow who is always searching for new experiences in which he can dismantle and destroy. In this month's slideshow, you can check out the recent helicopter show that we went to. Liam loved the noise. And on father's day, we went to San Francisco to see Colleen's favorite band, Hootie and the Blowfish. We even got photographs with lead singer Darius Rucker and bassist Mark Ryan. While at the event, Liam learned to use a straw to suck down some iced concoction that the FREE SAMPLE booth for Starbucks was giving out. Liam also did a bit of dancing. I have video but I'm still too lazy to put it up. Hopefully I'll do that soon.

In July, Colleen's parents are coming to California to take care of Liam during his school's summer holiday. Then in August, the Mullen Trio is going on tour to sunny Maryland to enjoy some crabcakes and Dunkin Donuts with family and friends. If you haven't gotten the invite to the family BBQ, let me know. Once we get back to California, I expect to post several art projects or suggestions for our "Lamest Ploy to Get Mullens to Move Back East" Contest so start constructing your best ideas now.

lookie

Yes, we're still alive. Every year, May is a time of absolute crazy happenings as the gaming industry goes to Los Angeles to show off their newest games to make the competition jealous, see old friends in new roles, and of course, make new connections. I'll post some shots from E3 soon but figured that you were more interested in our little bundle of "I think I'm really at least 2 years old", Liam.

In the shots you can see that Liam went to his first parade, got his first hug from a girl (and an older girl at that), and getting taller every day. This weekend, we all came down with nasty colds so we're all walking around with fishless fishbowls for heads. Or as Liam says, "Fishes, fishes."

first set | second set

April has been a fun month. To start it off, I sent an April's Fools letter to my family and friends that detailed our reasons for expatriating to New Zealand. While it's true that my friends do have a company that does have an office in New Zealand, my lovely wife has told me repeatedly that if I want to move to New Zealand, I'm happy to do so alone. Sadly, our friends Jay and Sapna along with their lovely daughter Ria will be moving back to Bangalore, India at the end of the week. In retrospect, I really did wish that we got to hang out with them more because they're amazingly interesting and they laugh at some of my lame jokes (a pre-requisite for any friendship). I wish them a safe journey back to their home country where their families are undoubtably happy for their return. (yes, this is where I attempt to discourage our families from using the aforementioned example as a reason to move back east)

The weather here in California has started to warm up (which means above 55 degrees) so we took Liam to Happy Hollow, a toddler specific zoo. Liam seemed to like the little girls more than the animals though and just last weekend, Maureen arrived in the bay area to meet up with the west coast McLane coven to head to the recently updated San Francisco Zoo and drink some vino up in Napa valley.

view the shots

As you might have guessed, Liam's personality and eventual breakdowns as we move ever closer to his terrible twos are getting more frequent as he learns that he can't have everything. Apart from that, he had a great Easter holiday as his grandparents gave him new stuffed animals to love. He's fond of hugging stuffed animals, riding in his wagon (thanks Nana Chris), and has recently learned to give kisses.

march shots

Work and all related stuff has been pretty hectic and this site needs some love, eh? Well, I've got a bunch of goodies for everyone with a bunch of new pictures from the past month. You'll notice first that Liam is learning how to mop the kitchen floor with mommy (finally, he's doing his chores). You'll also notice Liam with a wooden dowel-like thing in his hand with aunt Maura in tow. Actually, Maura was recording a meditation CD at our place and the dowel is used to make a pretty peaceful sounding boing noise that Liam really loved. After stiking the bowl several times, Liam decided to try and eat the dowel.

So I have some treats for you too. I have two dance videos that are a bit better than the last ones as they're taken during the day as Liam listens to the radio. He really does love to dance and has a pretty musical soul. As you'll note from the pictures, he's got quite a few dance moves and seems base them on what he's hearing. I'm still trying to figure out my new copy of Premiere Pro so I could only encode these in WMV format (which means that people not using OS X or Windows XP will not be able to view). For the rest of you, enjoy.

Video 1 | Video 2 | End of February Shots

In case you haven't heard, we were attacked by an especially evil version of the flu. Liam got it first and while it only affected him for a few hours, it turned Colleen and I into fountains of sick. Apart from losing a few pounds I didn't need (yay), I'm still on the mend as Colleen seems to have bounced back a little better than me.

In the past month, Liam's been a busy guy. He's faster than ever and more curious than he should be. Open doors, anything on the floor, speeding cars, he's interested in it all. To get him some new experiences, Colleen's connection to the local mother's club got us in for a night of baby gymnastics. With padded floors everywhere, Liam learned to run even faster and zoomed though a pillowy obstacle course.

The other pictures are of Liam at his daycare buddy Eithan's first birthday. Christian and Lizzy, the remaining daycare buddies, were also there as the only little ones and they had quite a few admirers. Finally, there's a short video that I grabbed from my digicam that I added to the site so you can see Liam in action. The video is in AVI format so most Windows people should be able to view it.

The latest pictures | The Movie

As you can probably imagine, Colleen and I are amazingly busy as Liam is fully mobile and working on his short-legged sprinting ability. Mobility, while fun and interesting, comes with a sad cost though as Liam has experienced some pretty hard falls due to his experimentation with his uprighted self. He's getting better every day though and while he has some cranky "I want that so don't take it away from me moments", he still seems happier than other kids that we've observed -- good for us.

A lot has happened since the last update. Colleen finally quit her job at The Lesley Foundation to pursue a better paying and better benefits with the county doing similar things that are pretty familiar to her since she did them at her last job. But she won't be trapped doing the same thing for 3-4 years with no pay raises or benefits. While the new job presents new challenges, Colleen seems to thrive in the face of challenges so I pity the fool who tries to hold her back. Congratulations Colleen.

On to the reason why you're really here... in case you've actually read the above statements... the pictures. In the latest slideshow, you'll see Liam on New Year's Eve over a co-workers friend's party that featured lots of fondue and a great new friend for Liam. Also included is our latest trip to visit the Bah family (Muctar, Hediatu, and Isatu) to catch up on old times, met up with our friends Hope and Tanuj as they celebrated the impending arrival of their daughter (and future Liam buddy), and Liam's first trip to the Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose. In short, Liam loved the museum and you'll find that he loved the Waterways Exhibit more than anything... thankfully that was our last exhibit of the day.

The latest pictures

Check out 2002-2004 updates on the ARCHIVE PAGE >>

/ Liam @ 1 Month
/ Liam w/Grandma shots
/ Liam's 3 weeks old shots
/ Liam's 2 weeks old shots
/ More Shots
/ Halloween Shots
/ Liam's Close-ups
/ Liam's First Pictures
/ NEW!!! Liam's Close-ups
/ Maggie Pictures
/ NEW VIDEO (thanks Steve!!!)

/ Liam Coos (Windows XP) video
/ Liam Coos (for everyone else)
/ Cassie Wright Cookie Video
/ Darcy McLane Highlights
All Movies Use:

/ Gamer Dilemma: Move to Mac?
/ Gimme Some of that Shooter Lovin'
/ Rise of Legends: Turn-based Crossover Drug
/ Hate to Love Relationship with Nintendo GameCube
/.. ALL THE GAMEWONK

::: Made with CoffeeCup : Web Design Software & Website Hosting :::