The Support

A poem.

God provides the foundation

On which our home is built

A solid base that anchors it

To soft soil or shifting sand

Your strength is the structure

That keeps this delicate form

From blowing, washing away

When the wind and rain come

Your dedication is the frame

That holds up this fragile life

As it reaches toward heaven

Buttressing its soaring wings

And though we need the Lord

Who shelters and protects us

Our home would lie in ruins

If not held together by you

support

For my wife.

M.G. Edwards

July 2012

The Adventures of Fishman (with Photos)

In keeping with the superhero theme kicked off by my interview with super author Kevin Rau, I’m updating a post I published in January 2005 called The Adventures of Fishman — this time with photos. May it inspire anyone with young children to turn their toys into characters of a story that will help parents have fun too.

Whenever I play with my son, I try to have fun. We play well together; in fact, my wife tells me that he has a great time whenever he plays with dad. Sometimes my mind gets carried away, and I make up epic stories with whatever toys are available at the time.

The other night I happened to stick a toy fish on the head of my son’s Mr. Perfect doll, and presto! the superhero “Fishman” was born. Thus began The Adventures of Fishman, a crazy aquatic superhero. Eat your heart out, The Incredibles!

By day, “Fishman” is Mr. Joe Perfect, a mild-mannered consultant for Discovery Consulting. He’s Mr. Everyman, the kind of guy you can bring home to meet the parents. He’s courteous and thoughtful, everything anyone could ever want in a man. He says sweet things when you press his stomach such as, “The ballgame doesn’t really matter. As long as I’m with you, I don’t care what we watch.” Or “Here, let me make dinner tonight,” or “Let me stop and ask directions.” He wears beige khakis and a snazzy blue dress shirt, the wrinkle-free kind with the indestructible buttons. He sports a short, preppy haircut. He’s masculine but not macho. He’s single but a great catch.

By night, Joe is “Fishman,” a mighty superhero. Endowed with a ruby red iron Fishhead to mask his identity, he carries a candy trident that he uses to fight crime in Discovery Village. After eating a bad filet of soul one night at a local restaurant, Joe found himself suddenly endowed with the superhuman sense of knowing when something fishy is happening. Determined to use his power for good, he uses this ability to sniff out all things rotten and fight evil for the good of mankind and fishdom; well, at least Discovery Village.

Fishman’s greatest nemesis is the One-Eyed Monster (OEM), a villain who escaped from the sinister labs of Monsters, Inc. and terrorizes the good citizens of Discovery Village. Our superhero’s mission is to stop OEM from carrying out his sinister plans to wreak havoc on the village.

Here are some action shots of Fishman thwarting OEM’s plans to derail a commuter train. Fishman pins down OEM and saves the train before it falls off the edge of Discovery Garage.

Fishman saves the day again! Three cheers for Fishman!

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Checking in Again

Dear Reader, I was away in July for awhile.  My family and I traveled to Rio de Janeiro and Manaus (in the Amazon Basin), Brazil for a little over a week.  Work has also been ridiculously busy.  I’ve been working something like 70 hours per week now.  I made a conscious effort to slow down this weekend and breathe a little bit.  One of my goals was to go through all the photos I took on our Brazil trip and post some here for your to view, but I didn’t have time (as usual).  I thought I would write a bit tonight and get to work tomorrow or as soon as possible.  More to come…