Marc Blackwell's Blog

www.ustream.com/theother99

Last night I got sucked into history.

Regardless of your views on the whole Occupy Wall Street ordeal, technology has made our world one crazy fast paced world.

Last night via Google+ I was directed to a Live Stream on livestream.com where NYPD were evacuating OWS Protestors from Zuccotti Park in NYC. Stream after stream started to pop up as police officers arrested peaceful protestors and started trashing tents, supplies, food and cleaning the park. One stream was coming from what was called "the Kitchen" in the middle of the park and as the protestors were chanting tear gas flied in and the stream went dead. Other streams started going down and people in the chat rooms wondered if the NYPD was interfering with the channels by firebombing (sending a lot of traffic to the sites). I believe people's batteries started to die, or they got arrested and the cops turned off their phones. It was crazy to watch and participate live via social networks, it was about 2:00 am California time but people were still going strong in NYC. Cops everywhere, protestors getting tired, real conversations being broadcasted live for the world to see. Thousands of people were jumping from livestream to livestream as #OWS was trending on Twitter. It was fascinating.

Marcus Yam for The New York Times

When I woke up this morning, I turned on the computer (luckily in the comfort of my warm home) and the streams were back up. People have not slept. This one "Occupier" has been streaming for almost 12 hours. People have brought him batteries to keep his 4g livestream going. Strangers have found him on the street to say thank you, and that they were watching his stream from home. His is a true citizen journalist! His stream has been on national and international news shows.

One attractive female who shared her twitter handle received over 2000 new followers in a matter of minutes. You can actually see her in the NY Times photo above! (bottom left)

One crazy side note, some people did not want to be filmed. I guess this particular guy's stream that I'm linking to has a phone with the words "LIVE STREAM" on the other side of his phone. He was verbally abused and physically abused in front of 10s of thousands of people. Just so you know, if you are in public, you can be filmed.

Now, police are keeping Zuccotti park empty as court rulings are being decided and marches are being planned.

This is America, this is the 21st century, this is crazy.

Robert Stolarik for The New York Times

This was taken before we went to Texas, but I'm just now getting around to posting it. And please, apologies for the crappy camera. My poor iPhone has been dropped, stuffed into pockets with keys, and sucked on by a 4 month old so the camera is not as crisp as it used to be. But you still get the picture. :)

We try to pick up the house every night, so in the mornings this is what it looks like.

Through out the day, Z gets her toys out ... and I move stuff around too.

More toys...

Even more toys!

Can you spot I?

So we either try to pick up before mom gets home after 5 or we let her see how much fun we've had (and convince her to help us clean up!)

Much love y'all!
-marc

Welcome to Movember! (Maybe a few days late...but hey, I have kids!) Before we get into the important details of Movember, let's discuss the non-important.

Is it NO SHAVE NOVEMBER? or Grow  Moustache November? Because ... I would rather just not shave. And I remember my brother, Blake Blackwell, not shaving last November. Y'all let me know which movement you think is more prominent.


Anyway, the important point of the month is to raise awareness for men's health. More specifically, men's prostate cancer. CHECK YOUR BALLS GENTLEMEN! Remember the old Tom Green special where he reminded us all to check for lumps? Still sticks with me. So if something as simple as not shaving can help 1 more young man to remember to be conscience about his health, well so be it!

You can check out my profile on MOVEMBER.COM here: http://mobro.co/marcblackwell

Here's to a cancer free world some day. Wouldn't that be awesome?!

Only November 3rd and lookin' good! (Spot the two munchkins in this one?)

Cheers!
-marc

Halloween was probably one of the craziest days I or my family has had in a while. Here's how it went down:

3:30am Texas Time (1:30 am Cali time) - Woke up in Azle, TX and packed rental car with suitcases, strollers, and babies.

4:45am - Dropped off Rental car, shuttled to Dallas Love Field to check in, make it through security, eat breakfast and board plane.

6:30 am - Take off from DLF. Short stop in New Mexico. Crazy flying with 2 babies! (they were good though)

9:40 am - Land at LAX. Get luggage, (2 suitcases, 2 carseats, 2 babies, two carry on bags) and board shuttle for our car.

10:15 am - Get our car, load the luggage and babies, drive down the congested 405 towards home.

10:45 am - Get In-and-Out, go home, unload car and put Z down for a nap.

11:30 am - NAP TIME!

1:30 pm - Wake up, feed babies, start getting ready for Halloween!

2:00 pm - Decide we are going to go to that Halloween party, so we find a babysitter. Start making costumes

3:00 pm - Get out of the house for some last minute costume shopping.

5:00 pm - Arrive at Z's little boyfriends house for some trick or treating. Still putting last minute touches on costumes for everyone. Eat pizza.

6:30 pm - Trick or treat! We were all exhausted, so we didn't make it too far...but we still did it!

7:00 pm - Take girls home, bathe them, attempt to put them to bed in the middle of a 2 year old major melt down.

7:20 pm - Pick up babysitters. Give them the run down.

7:45 pm - Arrive at "adult" Halloween party and make a drink.

8:45 pm - Finish drink. Decide we're too old for the party and head home!

9:30 pm - Pass out.

:)

What did you do for Halloween?

Cheers,
-marc

Being a stay at home dad comes with a lot of responsibility. One of the responsibilities you give up is being the main provider of income. That's hard for a lot of fathers, especially me.

Granted, I've never made a lot of money and have never been the soul provider for our family due to our situation but I know how tough it is. Being a freelancer means I have the opportunity to work whenever I want, or whenever work comes. Not every SAHD is the same way. Some really do have to put in 8 hours a day, at night, after mom comes home and the kids go to bed, just to make it.

Sometimes you have to stop worrying about work, and worry about dinner. Sometimes you have to embrace your role and clean the house. Sometimes you have to accept the fact that all those dad books you read, YOU are the mom, and your wife is the dad.. And it's tough! 

How do you do it? What is the trick? WHY are you blogging?

I have to remind myself that the original goal when Stacey went back to work a second time was to blog consistently in order to create enough material for a book. I feel I am in a unique position to be staying at home with my babes. Not that it's uncommon for fathers to be staying at home with their kids these days, but I have enough talent to write good, (*wink*) and take photos, I might as well use this experience to help others.

But blogging plaques me. It always has, and it always will. It plaques me like Facebook and Google + plaque me. I love it, and I hate it. I'm totally into it, and then I'm not.

Forgive me while I question my sanity for a second...

Why would I want to share with the world what's going on in my life? The whole world isn't watching.
Why do I want to be consistant and blog every day? There's no need! Blog as often or as little as you want, it's not your job.
Do I just blog to blog or is there real meaning behind it? This is almost a journal, one my children and I can look back on and reflect about the good times.
Can I be real? As real as I want to be.
Who's reading? Who cares?

I'm not going to get rid of the blog. I'm still going to post on Facebook, Twitter and Google+ for now. Each avenue is a different platform to express myself. As often as I want to move to the country, sell my phone and shoot with film and develop in a darkroom, I'm still plugged in. In today's world you should be. At least a little bit.

It always comes back to what my wife preaches on a daily basis ... balance. Just like everything I can not let social media consume my life. It is a part of it. It can ENHANCE my life, but it should not be my life.

That's all. :)

-marc

Love this picture, found it here.

What do you think of the Occupy Wall Street movement? I've been staying semi-close to the subject but I haven't burnt my BOA Debit Card just yet. After many videos, articles, and crazy conversations this infographic sums up what I think is going on.

Before I talk about it more, I'd like to hear your thoughts. Yes... You!

The comparison of the Occupy Wall Street movement and the Tea Party is very close. I think, and this is just an internet based assumption, that both sides are correct.

More questions; do you think OWS will solve/resolve anything? Do you think Obama has noticed/talked about/cares about OWS? When will the protests end?

Cheers!
-marc

p.s. I know this is a political subject, and my peeps in Missouri are going to have different thoughts than my peeps on the coasts. Let's keep it civil here people and have a healthy debate!

One of the many, many, MANY things I never thought of before I was a Stay At Home Dad (or Swag At Home Dad, as some like to call it) is/are Thank You cards.

Z had a big ole birthday bash, with a boat load of presents! All those peeps get ... a thank you card! Now, we're doing it special this year ... cuz that's how we roll and it's no small task. I won't reveal our secret, only those who were so so generous enough to get Z a gift will be getting this special thank you cards. I may have already said too much ... Stacey might kill me for posting the picture I did above.

If I don't blog anymore, you all know why. Stacey got mad that I revealed the Thank You cards to the world before we actually sent them out! But this is secret enough ... isn't it? ;)

Cheers! And thank you, in advance, to everyone. Not only for your kind generous gifts, but your loving caring time giving souls.

-marc

My two best friends, Michael and Lucas and I decided to go surfing. We piled into Luc's van and headed down to a public beach. When we arrived we made our way through the crowds and plopped down in the sand for a second. I transformed my old Dell laptop into a yellow surf board and off we went.

The water was crowded. It almost felt like we were in some kind of wave pool. Crowded or not however, I got up on my board for the first time! I road a wave all the way back to the beach and completly understood the physics of surfing. They say getting up on the board is the hardest part, but I had that down. And "steering" (or whatever it's called) with your feet was a breeze! Excitedly, I paddled back, fought for a spot, and prepared for the next wave. On the next one, I took a U-Turn and found that I could ride the wave backwards! It was exhilarating, but just too crowded. Too many people, it was like a line of surfers all fighting for the same waves ... which just doesn't work.

I ask Lucas and Michael if they wanted to go to a bigger, more private beach where the waves were bigger and better. They agreed and we popped back in the van and sped off. I pulled out Luc's 12 string acoustic and entertained our guests who somehow ended up in the van.

For whatever reason we parked a far way from the surf, but ran none-the-less to ride some waves before it was too dark. As we arrived music started playing from a DJ, the sun was slowly setting and it was the perfect setting to surf. There weren't very many people, the waves were big (but not too big) and NO one was surfing! Only problem was my dang laptop wouldn't transform back into a surfboard! But I didn't bring my swim shorts anyway, who knew why I took 'em off between beaches, so I ran back to the van w/ Luc Dawg and found my shirts. Lucas was missing something that was required to surf so we wasted more time looking for that. But no matter, we gathered up everything we needed and rushed back to the beach and Michael.

He was there anxiously waiting for us (like always) and magically my yellow board was there. The sunset was beautiful with hues of orange and red and blue hitting the clouds. "Let's go!" Michael yelled. "Hold on!" I said, "I need to take a picture and send it to Stacey". I pulled out my old iPhone 3G and snapped a few pics of my yellow board and the colorful sky. Then, I stood up, board under arm and started running towards the ocean. In that moment I heard...

"Dadda..."

"Dadda!"

"DADDAAA!!!!"

It was time to wake up and go get Zoe out of her crib.

Cheers,
-marc

What do you think about this? Some of my friends didn't even know it was going on. Which I understand, I don't think many mainstream news organizations have the balls to report it like Lawrence O'donnel did.

It brings tears to my eyes that there is nothing . . . NOTHING one can do about this. Sure, I'll blog about it, I'll IM my friends and say "hey, did you know this injustice was going on?", even politicians can't do anything about it.

Sometimes I think our world has gone so far backward it's impossible to turn it back again. Or was it ever "right"?

What would John Lennon think of this?

Peaceful protestors on the streets of America being beaten for holding a video camera, being pepper sprayed because they have an opinion, and being arrested for expressing their views! This is crazy people!

There was an Occupy LA protest the other day at Crescent Heights and Santa Monica Blvd, for the same reasons the protests were happening in NY - I thought about going. I thought about bringing the girls and showing them how many people can come together for one goal. But then I thought - what if I get randomly arrested? What if something happens to me or my girls? Sad ... but true! I'm silenced by fear. Which, I hate to admit, but fear for the sake of my children's safety is a fear I'll commit to.

Sad, sad times in America. What to do but keep your head up, keep doing the right thing, and teach our future how to be better.

Cheers,

-marc

Whew! I was worried about what I was going to blog today. It's already 4pm and I haven't a blogged a word! I know you all are getting ansey, looking at your clock or your RSS feed wondering where I am.

"What is he doing? It's not like he has a business to run or kids to take care of..." 

Well, I am saving my post about bad words for a day other than the day after the epic birthday blog so today's post will hafta be just a little bit nerdy and techy. I was strolling through Google + trying to gather some inspiration when I saw Blogger Buzz's Blog had announced new layouts for Blogger!  Now remember, I've been using this blogging system for years (more than 5!) and this change is super exciting. I think it's a slow way to merge into Google+!

There are 7 new ways YOU can view my blog. Some are more confusing that others, some you wont see as many photos at first, but they can all be customized by you, the reader! Super sweet! I'll keep it like this, but let me know what you think. Which view do you like best? Or do you like it the old traditional way? Personally I like Mosiac. Magazine is cool too and so is Flip Card but Mosiac is just niiiiiice.

Either way, hope you're having a great week and an awesome day!

Talk soon,
-marc

 One of the many reasons I love my beautiful wife is how she loves our baby girls. She is the best mom I know. One of the many ways she showers her mini-me's with unconditional love is to put a lot of time and effort into their birthday parties. Not only did Stacey (and myself) want to throw an awesome party for Z herself, but we wanted to celebrate our friends, her friends, and our little village that has helped raise her.

 The party was as much for our friends as it was for Z! And boy did she have a good time! Almost all her friends came, which could've been overwhelming, but she handled it like a champ. She owned her party, as they say! This party was almost as large, if not larger, than our wedding!

 The idea for the party was a disco dance theme. Z loves to dance, so why not dance with everyone she loves? Everyone was encouraged to dress up and get ready to dance the afternoon away with some classic disco music! (There was a little Britney Spears thrown in there too, cuz Z loves some Britney)

 We had an arts and crafts table for everyone to paint their own frames with glitter paint, feathers and other medallions. Stace rocked this part of the party, thinking out every last detail. People seemed to enjoy painting their own frames!

 And what will go in there? A photo from the photo booth of course! (You can see our family's photo below, and maybe everyone elses' if you're lucky)

 Stacey, "Sasha" and myself helped create the magical ball of goodness you see below. Instead of a traditional cake, cuz you know we aint traditional, we made Cake Pops! (right ladies? that's what it was called?) It's basically cake, rolled up into balls, dipped in frosting and splattered with edible glitter paint! Mmmmmm buddy were they good.


 It was really great to see how many people came out to show love for Z. She is so blessed by all of her very gracious and giving friends. Not only do they provide spoil her w/ material possessions, they love, Love, LOVE her! Our friends have come through time and time again to babysit, help us w/ car issues, listen to our concerns, and call in favors of other friends. We appreciate every single one of you villagers.

Photo by Uncle Brent!

 I had a blast at her sisters party too. You could just see her thinking "mom...I better get as good of party if not better next June!" ;)

Photo by Jennifer B!

Love y'all (at least those of you I know) Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for being a part of our lives, and most importantly, our girls' lives. :)

Cheers!
-marc

Last night was the last game of the kickball seasons. Some friends of mine asked me to join their team this season and we … well, we weren't very good. But we had a lot of team spirit, and always had fun at every game so that's all that matters - right? (Right Brett?) Heck, I don't even know our team's name!

 The sky was insane last night too, which is always fun when you're playing in the big open park.

Tonight is the last night the little Z is one! Crazy, huh? It's hard to believe but tomorrow we'll be throwing one heck of a disco dance party. Watch out for a blog of epic proportions from her party.

 I just edited one of these photos (only a simple crop) via an online program call Picnic! That's pretty dang neat. I've seen that program around but never used it. Very cool. How do you all like the albums on blogger now? Don't know what I'm talking about? Click on one of the pictures above and you get a cool Google+ styled album viewer. Pretty sweet!

Alright, time to get ready for the party!

Cheers,
-marc

Our beautiful model

Never safe from the camera, not even during lunch time!

When we go on shoots, my beautiful ladies serve as the best standins. :)

Toooooo cute

They totally love each other, even though I doesn't know what's going on sometimes...

Our other 3 children

The girls love it when momma reads to them

Hiking. Note to self, WEAR the girls, don't try to push 'em in the stroller

Chillin' at the park while mom shoots!

Flyin' high!

Perfection

"Phone? Dada phone?!"

Strollin' in style.

Much love!
-marc