aaron's blog

My Top Albums of 2011

2012-01-01T08:53:00.000-05:00

2011 was a revelatory year for me musically, thanks to turntable.fm. For those who don’t know, turntable.fm is a website at which people play music for each other in a chatroom. That quick and dirty description doesn’t capture the effect it’s had on me. In the five months since I first checked it out, I’ve been introduced to a wealth of great music that I never would have discovered, including several of this year’s favorites. In addition, I’ve enjoyed getting to know many of the people that comprise the community there.

Without further ado, here are my Top 25 Albums:

25. William Elliott Whitmore -- Field Songs
24. Tedeschi Trucks Band -- Revelator
23. Steve Earle -- I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive
22. The Jayhawks -- Mockingbird Time
21. Gillian Welch -- The Harrow and The Harvest

20. Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit -- Here We Rest
19. Iron and Wine -- Kiss Each Other Clean
18. Deer Tick -- Divine Providence
17. Old 97’s -- Grand Theatre, Vol. 2
16. The Mountain Goats -- All Eternals Deck

15. Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside -- Dirty Radio
14. Gary Clark Jr. -- The Bright Lights EP
13. Wye Oak -- Civilian
12. Low -- C’mon
11. Charles Bradley -- No Time for Dreaming

10. Middle Brother -- Middle Brother
9. Abigail Washburn -- City of Refuge
8. Ivan & Aloysha -- Fathers Be Kind EP
7. The Low Anthem -- Smart Flesh
6. Wilco -- The Whole Love

5. Dawes -- Nothing Is Wrong
4. Drive-By Truckers -- Go-Go Boots
3. Fleet Foxes -- Helplessness Blues
2. Frank Turner -- England Keep My Bones
1. The Decemberists -- The King Is Dead

To hear tracks from these albums, in addition to other tunes I’ve enjoyed in 2011, you can check out this Spotify playlist.

My Favorite Music of 2010

2010-12-30T17:02:00.000-05:00

My top 25 albums of 2010:

25. Romany Rye -- Highway 1. Looking Back Carefully. I probably shouldn't include this, as I haven't actually heard it in its entirety. Then again, if I were able to hear all of it, it probably would be much higher up in my list. Daytrotter has a 4-song set you can check out.

24. Laura Marling -- I Speak Because I Can. Young English folk singer with a gorgeous voice. Especially check out "Blackberry Stone."

23. Richard Thompson -- Dream Attic. On first listen I didn't think much of Thompson's latest offering, but that speaks more to his ability to create magnificent albums than any failing of this particular one. Here, Thompson releases a set of new songs recorded in concert, and while no one song stands out, it's nevertheless a strong set.

22. The Head and the Heart -- The Head and the Heart. There are several tunes that stay with you on this debut album, perhaps none more so than "Lost In My Mind."

21. The Sadies -- Darker Circles. I've yet to be disappointed by an album by The Sadies, and while this one isn't the equal of 2007's New Seasons, which was also produced by The Jayhawks' Gary Louris, there's plenty to enjoy. Like "Cut Corners."

20. Jónsi -- Go. Completely outside what i usually listen to -- it's way too happy, electronic, and even somewhat ethereal. Still, I really enjoy it. Here's "Go Do."

19. Broken Bells -- Broken Bells. I'm a sucker for James Mercer's voice, and Danger Mouse did a great job of constructing a sound showcasing it in a way that's distinct from Mercer's work fronting The Shins.

18. Freedy Johnston -- Rain on the City. Freedy Johnston had one semi-hit over a decade ago, "Bad Reputation." He never stopped making music, even though he hasn't entered the public consciousness in the intervening 16 years. And we're the richer for it, because he's come out with a great album well worth one's attention, especially if you appreciate the Marshall Crenshaws of the world.

17. The Acorn -- No Ghost. To me, The Acorn evokes The Talking Heads, even while forging its own identity. Have a listen to "Restoration."

16. Drive-By Truckers -- The Big To-Do. DBT came out with another solid album in 2010. The Big To-Do doesn't make me forget Southern Rock Opera, but it grows on me a little more every time I play it.

15. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club -- Beat the Devil’s Tattoo. I could play the title track every day for a year and not grow tired of it.

14. The Hold Steady -- Heaven is Wherever. Yes it's a good album and deserves to be on this list. No it doesn't deserve higher than this, and it doesn't compare with either Boys and Girls in America or Stay Positive.

13. Band of Horses -- Infinite Arms. BoH gets a little more poppy with this album, but once I adjusted my expectations away from another Cease to Begin, I found myself really getting into it. Here's "Laredo."

12. Black Prairie -- Feast of the Hunters' Moon. I confess that I learned about this band from a FaceBook ad, but I'm not sure why it came to that, given that three of their members are also with The Decemberists. All that Gothic/Gypsy/Bluegrass sound without Colin Meloy's voice in the lead. You can listen to some of it at their website.

11. The Gaslight Anthem -- American Slang. No surprise here, as The Gaslight Anthem produced another fine album. Sure there's plenty of Springsteen in their sound, but there's some Clash too.

10. Arcade Fire -- The Suburbs. Speaks for itself (and you already know about it anyhow).

9. Deer Tick -- The Black Dirt Sessions. Incredibly intense album. Wonderful.

8. The Mynabirds -- What We Lose in the Fire We Gain in the Flood. It's hard to pick one song to encapsulate this album's Dusty Springfield (and more) elements. Fortunately, there's a Daytrotter Session, so I don't have to.

7. John Jorgenson Quintet -- One Stolen Night. Gypsy jazz has made me happy from the first time I heard a Django Reinhardt song, and John Jorgenson is one of the premiere musicians keeping this style alive and well. Here's "Red on Red."

6. Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings -- I Learned the Hard Way. One of my favorite things about Jones's music is that even though I expect each album to sound just like the last one, and that expectation is realized, each album sounds completely fresh. Maybe it's because she's the only artist I'm listening to regularly (apologies to Fitz and the Tantrums) in the Motown genre. Regardless of why, the title track shines.

5. Futurebirds -- Hampton’s Lullaby. The languid opening track, "Johnny Utah," sets the tone for my favorite debut album of the year. The album evokes My Morning Jacket's early work, but the Futurebirds certainly have their own identity.

4. Josh Ritter -- So Runs The World Away. A good album filled with many thoughtful and engaging songs, SRTWA nevertheless lacks anything comparable to Ritter's best works. Still, it does contain my favorite video of the year (admittedly, I don't watch many of them), "The Curse."

3. Delta Spirit -- History From Below. I don't have a favorite song for this album -- I like it all, from the rocking "Bushwick Blues" to the mournful 8-minute closer "Ballad of Vitaly," and have found myself playing it frequently from the moment I got it.

2. The National -- High Violet. Of all the bands whose new albums I was most looking forward to in 2010, The National was the one that best delivered. Their previous album, Boxer, was their most successful album because, rather that differing much from its predecessors, it was a culmination of the band's sound. With High Violet, The National ventured beyond the comfort zone it had established, and succeeded wonderfully in doing so.

1. The Tallest Man on Earth -- The Wild Hunt/Sometimes The Blues Is Just A Passing Bird. One fantastic album and one fantastic EP, both by the same person in the same calendar year. I've yet to figure out how I can be so mesmerized by his voice and his lone guitar, to the point where I can listen to him for hours. But whatever the cause is, it made it easy to choose the top album(s) for 2010.

Ineligible but Worthy:

Mumford and Sons -- Sigh No More. I didn't discover this album until this year. Had it been released in 2010, it would have been in my Top 10.

Some other great songs (from albums that didn't crack my Top 25):

Ben Sollee and Daniel Moore Martin -- "Something, Somewhere, Sometime"
The Black Angels -- "Telephone"
The Corin Tucker Band -- "Doubt"
The Deep Dark Woods -- "Silver Ships of Andilar" (Townes Van Zandt Cover)
Dr. Dog -- "Nobody Knows Who You Are"
J Roddy Walston and the Business -- "Don't Break the Needle"
The Love Language -- "Heart to Tell"
Mimicking Birds -- "Burning Stars"
The New Pornographers -- "Crash Years"
Samantha Crain -- "Lions"
She & Him -- Pretty much any song from Volume Two. Individually they're gems, but collectively they make an album that's too twee for me to enjoy.
Ted Leo & The Pharmacists -- "Even Heroes Have to Die"

Hide-and-Seek with a 3-Year Old

2010-05-23T09:02:00.005-04:00

"I'm going to play hide-and-seek with the grown-ups. Try and find me."

Emelia runs upstairs, and closes her door. Kathy and I count from 10 backwards as she requests. The giggling commences as Kathy and I walk upstairs. We announce where we're looking as we walk the upstairs rooms.

"I'll look in the front room. No, she's not here."

"I'll look in our bedroom."

The giggling continues unabated.

"She's not in the bathroom."

"She's not in the linen closet."

"She's not in our bathroom."

"She's not in the washing machine."

"There's only one more place to look -- her bedroom."

We open to door to a giggling, quivering mass under a pink blanket on her bed.

"Is she under her bed? Nope."

"I bet she's in her dirty clothes pile -- nope."

"She must be in her dress-up bin. No, darn."

"Maybe she's in her diaper bin."

"That's too stinky -- if she's in there, I'm not looking."

Giggling, giggling.

"Is she in her bed?"

Kathy rips off the blanket. "Aha!"

Laughing, laughing.

"That was fun. Let's play again. I'll be easier to find next time."

And My Mind Begins to Grasp the Notion of Hell...

2010-01-25T19:28:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, Kathy, Emelia and I spent the day visiting with our friends Gary, Sharon, and their son Andrew. We spent the day in shifts, rotating which two adults would watch the kids. When we got there, we stayed for a little while, before Kathy and I slipped out for lunch. Upon our return, Kathy and Sharon went out for a movie, and when they got back, Gary and I walked over to my new favorite beer bar, ChurchKey.

There's something wonderful about having a great beer bar in town, particularly when it's only a couple of blocks for where a friend lives (no matter how much I'd enjoy it, that it's not a couple of blocks from my own house is probably a good thing).

It's not like I hadn't been there recently; in fact, it'd just been Tuesday night. And when I woke up the following morning, I had a terrible feeling -- I had undertipped "my" bartender, a guy who always looks out for me whenever he's working. So I walked in with an extra $10 bill to hand him in case he was behind the bar. He was, but he wouldn't accept the money, and swore that we were fine. No problem -- after another afternoon of stellar service, we just added the $10 to the tip on this bill.

Even having been there just five days earlier, there were two beers on draft and one on cask that I hadn't yet tried. And the AFC Championship game was on the TVs. And it wasn't crowded, which is usually the case when I go in the evening (at least the waits to get in on a Tuesday night seem to be a thing of the past). So we were able to get a seat right at the bar.

And because it wasn't busy, we were talking with the staff a little more than usual. We could hear the music that was being piped in, and as I do pretty much every time, I exclaimed at how similar the selections were to my own choices. Not just the likes of the Shins, My Morning Jacket, Belle & Sebastian or even the New Pornographers, but even less familiar stuff like the Jayhawks, Stephen Malkmus, and Band of Horses. So Gary asked the staff that was present if it was a station, and if so, which one. And suddenly, a scowl appeared, on all of their faces. Someone explained that it was the owner's iPod, and that it was the same thousand or so selections on shuffle all the time.

The rest of the evening, my mind stretched to fathom the idea of being subjected to that, where slowly my love for great tunes would turn inside-out, and I would come to loathe the very music I once loved.

My Top New Beers of 2009

2010-01-01T10:40:00.001-05:00

Spurred by Eric Gajdzis doing the same, here are my top beers of 2009 (I gave all of these a score of 4.1 or higher) --
1. Great Divide Espresso Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout (as delicious as regular Yeti is, this is even better)
2. Birrificio Italiano Tipopils (after hearing great things about it, this Pilsner actually met my expectations!)
3. Free State Owd Macs Imperial Stout (finally got to try it after many years of wondering if I would)
4. Les Vergers Lafrance Bouquet sur Glace (ok, it's an ice cider -- sue me)
5. Lagunitas A Little Sumpin’ Extra! Ale (Lagunitas makes a bunch of beers like this, but they keep showing that isn't a bad thing)
6. Laughing Dog The Dogfather Imperial Stout (I tried this and the Bourbon Barrel Aged version. I like this one quite a bit better)
7. Bockor Cuvee des Jacobins Rouge (this is a great Sour beer, and has been available on draft in DC for the past few months)
8. Amager Fru Frederiksen (RateBeer raters don't know what they're talking about -- the smaller beer to Hr. Frederiksen is the better one ;))
9. Peak Organic King Crimson (from Peak? damn that was unexpected!)
10. BFM Abbaye de Saint Bon-Chien Grand Cru 2008 (Trousseau Barrel) (BFM is hit and miss -- this is definitely another hit)
11. Otter Creek Imperial India Pale Ale (Otter Creek? What's going on here?!)
12. Mikkeller USAlive! (my highest rated Mikkeller, which is saying something)
13. Lost Abbey Veritas 004 (it may not be Isabelle Proximus, but it's still great)

My Albums of the Decade

2009-12-31T13:47:00.000-05:00

Compiling "Best of" lists is a fool's endeavor, yet I persist. Today I offer my favorite 40 albums of the Aughts (in alphabetical order). I bolded my favorite 10 of the bunch, but otherwise I don't see much point in trying to rank them -- suffice it to say that I hold these albums in very high regard. The rules I applied in making my selections -- no jazz, no live albums, no compilations, and no more than one album per artist.

Arctic Monkeys -- Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (2006)

The Avett Brothers -- Emotionalism (2007)

Belle & Sebastian -- The Life Pursuit (2006)

Blind Pilot -- 3 Rounds and a Sound (2008)

Bright Eyes -- Cassadaga (2007)

Calexico -- Carried To Dust (2008)

Neko Case -- Fox Confessor Brings The Flood (2006)

Clem Snide -- End of Love (2005)

Samantha Crain and the Midnight Shivers -- Songs In The Night (2009)

Death Cab for Cutie --Plans (2005)

The Decemberists -- Picaresque (2005)

Steve Earle -- Jerusalem (2002)

Kathleen Edwards -- Failer (2003)

Alejandro Escovedo -- A Man Under The Influence (2001)

Jay Farrar & Ben Gibbard -- One Fast Move or I'm Gone (2009)

The Flaming Lips -- Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots (2002)

Fountains of Wayne -- Welcome Interstate Managers (2003)

Sarah Harmer -- You Were Here (2000)

John Hiatt -- Crossing Muddy Waters (2000)

The Hold Steady -- Boys and Girls In America (2006)

Interpol -- Turn on the Bright Lights (2002)

The Jayhawks -- Rainy Day Music (2003)

Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings -- 100 Days, 100 Nights (2007)

Aimee Mann -- Bachelor No. 2 (2000)

Anaïs Mitchell -- Hymns for the Exiled (2004)

My Morning Jacket -- It Still Moves (2003)

The National -- Boxer (2007)

The New Pornographers -- Twin Cinema (2005)

Radiohead -- Hail To The Thief (2003)

The Sadies -- Favorite Colors (2004)

Richard Shindell -- Somewhere Near Patterson (2000)

The Shins --Chutes Too Narrow (2003)

Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros -- Streetcore (2003)

Sufjan Stevens -- Illinoise (2005)

Vampire Weekend -- Vampire Weekend (2008)

Varnaline -- Songs in a Northern Key (2001)

M. Ward -- Transfiguration of Vincent (2003)

The Weakerthans -- Reconstruction Site (2003)

Wilco -- Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002)

Yo La Tengo -- Summer Sun (2003)

The Agonizer

2009-11-03T19:14:00.000-05:00

I did it with a camera purchase, and now I'm making that seem like impulse by comparison. I'm talking about my thinking about whether to buy a new car given that our family is expanding.

We have a 2002 Honda Civic, and that purchase was the fallout of Kathy's post-9/11 freakout. She wanted to have a way out of the city if there was another attack, and I went along with it, even though I wasn't comforted by the possibility of being stuck in traffic with the rest of the city's residents that were trying to flee. Having no car at that time meant that it would have been a royal pain for us to do a lot of comparison shopping, so in November 2001 we went to the Honda dealer, liked the Civic, and bought it then and there.

And for 90% of the time, the Civic is all we need. It's got us covered for any around-town travel. For leaving town, however, it's rough, though with the loss of Junebug, it's at least feasible. Once #2 arrives, however, anything more than a weekend requires a bigger car.* As would camping, as we were packed to the gills with just the three of us. And the Civic isn't as comfortable as we'd like, though I think that has more to do with our aging than the car's aging. Kathy was on board with getting a new car, but the truth is, I'm the one behind this push, and she'd be ok with whatever I decide.

So I started looking in August -- I didn't see many station wagons, which would have been my first choice, and minivans get such lousy gas mileage that we didn't want one, which left us looking for the most part of SUVs. Not that SUVs get great mileage, but at least some of them are in the 20s, which is way more than what the minivans get. We started with the Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V, but didn't jump at them because the price wasn't good enough to justify stopping our search. I started considering the Ford Escape, even though its storage was a bit less than the Honda or Toyota, and it's a noisier car, because it's cheaper and I liked the idea of buying a vehicle that's union made in the U.S.A. The Subarus, Outback and Forrester, were interesting, but we don't need 4-Wheel Drive and didn't like the cost it added or the mileage it subtracted. Then we read about the upgrade to this year's Chevy Equinox, and would consider paying more up front to get the best mileage in the class, but it's a larger car in exterior size, even though its interior is comparable to the Escape rather than the Honda or Toyota.

Finally, a couple of weekends ago, someone mentioned the Volkswagen Sportwagen TDI, and I was back to looking at a stationwagon. It's a fair amount more expensive than the others we were looking at, but its mileage is so much better, as in ~34 MPG. I test drove one a couple of weekends ago, and enjoyed it. Kathy liked the idea of being in a car rather than an SUV. And if the dealership had had one that had the features we wanted, it's likely we would have bought one right then.

But they didn't. And it's not an easy car to find -- they come off the lot about as quickly as they arrive, and most dealerships have back orders. No price negotiation, and the ones showing up are generally fully decked out with features I don't need and certainly don't want to pay for. So the price differential is even more than I'd originally thought.

And so here I am, back to wondering if we can live with the Civic for a little while longer, all the while considering the possibilities. One possibility is that we could get a roof carrier, even if we're not sure we could lift it onto the top of our car. All I know is that I need to agonize about this decision for a while longer, because that's what I do.
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* -- I recognize that "require" is a relative term, but you try telling Kathy that she doesn't need to pack so much stuff, or that Nora doesn't require her own seat if she comes.

Two Videos of Emelia on Halloween

2009-11-01T09:46:00.002-05:00

Saturday morning, full of energy, and can't wait for her friends to arrive and go Trick-or-Treating.

And finally, it was time to get into costume. How exciting!

Song du Jour -- Diamonds and Rust

2009-10-31T07:15:00.002-04:00

For the past couple of months, I've been trying to post a "song du jour" on Facebook, and while I've tried to mix it up somewhat, looking at the totality of my selections makes it pretty obvious that my tastes have mellowed over the years. Once upon a time, I was into hard rock, and even metal. These days, I like a broad swath of music, but its center is in the alt-country/Americana range.

Back in my youth, one of my favorite bands was Judas Priest, and perhaps my favorite song of theirs was "Diamonds and Rust," a song that seemed to be just a bit deeper than the average metal tune:

It wasn't until years later that I learned that Priest wasn't the original performer of that tune -- they had merely cut out a verse or two and cranked up a folk tune by Joan Baez, about Bob Dylan:

And now, I love both versions, and I can't hear one without thinking about the other.

Damn -- has it already been a month?!

2009-10-15T19:43:00.000-04:00

Guess I need to post something, so here's a video of Emelia at her cousin Karolina's birthday celebration while we were up in Stowe.

A Man Walks Into A Brewpub

2009-09-20T21:35:00.003-04:00

So yesterday, Kathy, Emelia and I stopped in at a brewpub in upstate New York for lunch on our way back to DC from Vermont. We get there at noon, right as the place opens. The greeter is in fact the co-owner, and after he assures us that we haven't arrived too early to be seated, he asks if we know what was special about the day.

I immediately answer, "It's Talk Like a Pirate Day!"
"Uh, it is? Well, that's not what I was thinking."
"Oh right -- it's Rosh Hashanah."
"Is that so? Well, it's also the start of Oktoberfest in Munich!"
"It is?"
"It sure is, and we're about to tap our Alt in honor of Oktoberfest."

Even though we weren't on the same page as far what made Saturday special, I did try the beer they had made in honor of Oktoberfest, and thought it was pretty decent.

RIP Junebug

2009-09-08T20:01:00.006-04:00

Yesterday we had to put Junebug to sleep. It was something that we knew we would probably have to do before too long. She was 12 1/2, and in addition to being deaf, she had very arthritic back legs, to the point that she was having trouble standing, and climbing stairs. She had also started losing her house training. Still, the end was unexpected when it happened.*

I'm not going to remember Junebug as my favorite dog. She was a pain in the ass, plain and simple. We got her from the pound, where she had been staying with a foster parent, her second one. We were told she was house trained, and while that might have been true, the separation anxiety she felt when the foster parent left overwhelmed everything else. In addition to going to the bathroom, she destroyed carpet and anything else in her path. We tried keeping her in a crate during the day, but she was so freaked out that she broke out by overcoming the soldering, earning the nickname Houndini. And so the destruction continued. Kathy and I alternated as far as wanting to get rid of her, never both agreeing to it at the same time. Despite the burden she placed on us, we didn't feel comfortable with what it would mean to Junebug to leave her abandoned one more time.

We hired Bryce as our dog walker to help reduce the time Junebug was left humanless. And over time Junebug grew more comfortable with us. The messes happened less frequently, though we were reminded not to leave food or hardback books within her reach. And her reach was legendary -- anything on a kitchen counter was fair game, and she learned to open cupboards and drawers. Bryce wanted to install a camera just to see how she got to some of the things she did -- once at Bryce's, she got into bread that was two shelves above counter height. Houndini indeed.

One of the reasons we kept Junebug in those early days was because she had such a sweet disposition. Truly. And when she was young and mobile, it was a joy to see her when she was running, be it on the beach, in the snow, or in a field. It was there that one really saw her at her happiest. And we grew to love her in spite of the difficulties she presented, because after all, all she really wanted was a little bit of loving. And when you get down to it, that's not so unreasonable.

* - I don't want to dwell on the end, but for anyone who wants such details, here you go.

Aaron's Diet, Part 1*

2009-08-28T08:12:00.002-04:00

I hit the scale a little over a week before I went to Cooperstown and showed up 1.5 pounds above the weight I have long said I never wanted to exceed. I have several reasons for why I set that weight limit, but the basic reasons are tied to my health, most significantly that my bad back doesn't need to have additional strains placed on it by having to support a large gut on the opposite side.

Given that a beerfest weekend is completely antithethical to a diet, and to give me a target start date, I didn't start dieting until I got back from there. So essentially, my diet began on Monday August 3.

Goal: Lose 20 pounds from that peak, pre-Cooperstown weight, by the end of October. In truth I'm ok with being a couple of pounds more than that, but because I expect to put a couple of pounds on once I stop dieting, I've set my target accordingly.

My diet rules:

Severe curtailing of alcohol consumption. In the time I've been dieting, I've had one evening when I went drinking (4 beers), and a total of 1.5 beers otherwise. I've had no other alcohol.
Don't impose my diet on the people around me. Kathy wasn't happy about her weight at the start of her pregnancy, but that doesn't mean she should be losing any weight now. It's not up to Kathy to change the foods that she and Emelia want to eat, it's up to me. As such, I'm the one who needs to have willpower. Essentially then, on the food side of things, I'm eating what Kathy is eating, but I'm taking significantly smaller portions than I was previously, and I'm doing my best to limit snacks. What that means, for example, is that we've still ordered pizza, and all that's different is that I try to have fewer slices than I ordinarily would. Also, we went out for Mexican and although I had a full entree of fajitas, I successfully resisted eating any chips and salsa.
Accept that I'm going to be hungry. I've read about dozens of diets (without even looking for them) and in selling themselves, each tries to say it's easy. I don't know if they're correct, but my "eating less" diet isn't easy for me -- I'm hungry most of the time. To prevent eating every time I feel hungry, I remind myself of what I'm doing and why I'm doing it. Most of the time, that does the trick.
It's not cheating to have limited indulgences. This is a key to me. I don't think it's constructive for me to feel like I'm failing when I give in to the hunger, indulge a sweet tooth or actually consume a beer. The bottom line is that I'm taking in far fewer calories even if I have those "lapses," so I treat the occasional treat as part of the diet, not a break from it.
Exercise. I don't burn many calories going on the walk-jogs I've been doing roughly every other morning since the first Wednesday of the diet (currently about 1 3/4 miles jogging, and 1 mile total of warm-up/cool-down walking), but I am improving my conditioning, and of course that's something that's important for my general health. The key question is whether my back and other aches will interfere -- currently I feel much more sore on my jogs than I did at the start of my regimen. Jogging is hard on the joints and frame, but I don't need any special equipment or to go somewhere to jog -- I can just roll out of bed and go. Hopefully, I'll be able to keep it up.

Status: As of August 27, I've lost seven pounds, so I'm roughly one-third of the way to my goal. I have travel and other events that may make it difficult to keep going as well as I have so far, but I accept that I may have a rough week or two (see Rule #4).

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* - Disclaimer: I'm blogging about this primarily because it's a big thing in my life at present, but also to put pressure on myself to reach my goal by making it public. It is not to brag about my limited success, to suggest to others that they need to diet, or how anyone else should diet. Ok, maybe I'm bragging a little too, though I have no idea why I should be over seven frickin' pounds.

My Little Girl is Growing Up So Fast!

2009-08-23T20:48:00.000-04:00

We're down to the last four days of having a nanny for Emelia. She's shared Avery (Nana) with Jonah for over two years, but this spring we decided that Emelia was ready for something different. On Tuesday September 1, she starts in a Montessori program on the Hill.

Emelia has been excited about going to school for a few months already. In May she went to the school for a little while so the school could see how she responded, and she LOVED it. When it was time for her to leave she started crying because she was having such a good time. Ever since, she's been asking when she was going to go to school again.

For me, the hardest part of the change isn't that she's growing up. It's that we're saying goodbye to Jonah and Avery. Jonah's still around the corner from us, and we'll have many chances to get together. But Jonah has been a pseudo-sibling for Emelia (ironically, Avery says they're sometimes mistaken for twins when she takes them to the park), they get along so well, and it's clear that they're a positive influence on each other. They'll go from seeing each other three times a week for 9 hours at a stretch to a couple of hours every week or so. We told Elisabeth of our plans to switch to the Montessori program and thought she might want to do the same with Jonah, but she wanted to stay with Avery. And so the two kids will take different paths, and it's left me feeling wistful. I don't think Emelia realizes that starting school means no more Nana and Jonah.

As for Avery, we've been happy with her, and know that she's been a major part of Emelia's growth and development. When we told Avery of our decision, she agreed with our assessment that Emelia's ready for something new, and that the Montessori program will work well for her. Avery had thought that we didn't need her next Monday and had made plans to watch Emelia's "replacement" Jack (Jonah is switching to a Tuesday-Thursday schedule starting this week), but as soon as I said we still needed her for that day, and asked if she could watch Emelia and Jack together, she immediately said she'd tell Jack's parents that she'd start the next day, and beamed over the thought of having one last day alone with Emelia. Avery has offered her services if we need some assistance due to Kathy's pregnancy or because of the birth.

To accommodate the school's five-days-a-week schedule (8:30-3), Kathy is returning to work five days a week, five hours each day (she'll pick up and drop off Emelia), compared with her current schedule of working a full work day on Monday through Wednesday and being with Emelia on Thursday and Friday. We're not quite sure how it'll work -- Kathy's taken advantage of those days off to run errands or have repair people over. We'll also avail ourselves of the school's after care some days, given that Kathy's work will occasionally require her past 3pm.

Regardless how it goes, it's another chapter in the adventure known as parenthood.

Contraindications

2009-08-12T08:08:00.000-04:00

From the side of Kathy's pre-natal vitamins:

CONTRAINDICATIONS: This product is contraindicated in patients with a known hypersensitivity to any of the ingredients.

On the one hand, it states something so obvious that no thinking person needs to read it. On the other, some people who believe that the Democrats are proposing to implement death panels are or are going to be pregnant.

We're Putting the Band Back Together

2009-08-06T08:23:00.001-04:00

So stop me if you've heard this one before --

This extended family does volunteer work in a foreign country for a week, and spends a second week traveling around with the help of a local kid serving as translator. Nearly five years later, the local kid comes to America, and he's going to hang out with the family for a couple of weeks.

I'm not sure it'll become the latest reality show this Fall, but that's what's going on with us. Christmas time 2004, Kathy and I went with her parents, her sister and sister's then boyfriend, her sister's three kids, and her aunt to Costa Rica, where we volunteered on a coffee farm near Monte Verde for a week before traveling around the country. We met Wilfreddy during our stay at the coffee farm, where he and his family live. He then accompanied us for the second week, serving as translator and taking in some of his country with us.

Currently, Wilfreddy is taking an ESL program in Pennsylvania, and when that finishes up at the end of next week, he'll be heading to DC to stay with us. Also coming down will be everyone who took the trip with us except Kathy's sister and her sister's now-ex-boyfriend. The plan is for everyone to stay with us, something that should be both fun and challenging. The plan right now is to put Wilfreddy and Kathy's sister's kids upstairs in our loft, put the folks in our guest room, put the aunt in Emelia's room, and put Emelia on a blow-up mattress on the floor in our room (hopefully, Nora and Junebug don't become too territorial of our floor).

I'm not sure what the itinerary is -- there was talk earlier of a couple of overnight trips to nearby regions, but if those plans have evolved, I know nothing about them. I figure I'll see people when they're here and when I'm not working. My boss will be out of the country then, so I need to mind the shop -- it'll be difficult for me to take off during the visit. Regardless, I'm expecting that I'll get to do things with them, and that things will be a little crazy for duration. Fun too.

Photo of Wilfreddy and me right before we went ziplining, January 2005.

My Life With Beer Update

2009-08-03T20:17:00.000-04:00

I've slowed down. I'm only rating at a pace of about 500-600 beers each year, rather than the 1000 or so I used to rate (ok, so it's a relative thing). I'm drinking more for pleasure rather than rating, but I'm also drinking less overall. As I'm getting older I seem to have less endurance, not that I was a real heavyweight in the first place. Also, the acidity of the beers seems to hit me a fair amount, whereas until about a year ago, I never had heartburn from beer.

Circumstances are helping with my cutting back. The DC RateBeer crew is a little less organized than it was about a year ago, as a couple of key members have moved -- thus, there are fewer local tastings to attend. It probably also helps that Tom has moved a few blocks away, so we're not drinking together as much. Also, I missed my second RateBeer Summer Gathering in a row (this year was San Francisco), after attending the first six.

Still, it's hard to limit myself as much as perhaps I should, given my continuing love for beer. Indeed, this weekend Tom and I made our way up to Cooperstown, New York to indulge in Belgium Comes to Cooperstown, an annual beer festival organized by Ommegang Brewery and held on their premises (I also made it up there last year). We got there on Friday afternoon and camped there with many other beer devotees, including a large number of RateBeer members, several of whom I've known for years. The festival is Saturday afternoon, but really the best part of the weekend is the beer that other attendees bring to share when the festival isn't taking place -- people bring bottles, growlers, and kegs to share with their fellow beer lovers.

And despite the incredible amount of great beer flowing, I actually did a fairly good job of limiting the amount of beer I consumed. I got there tired due to too little sleep on Wednesday night, and rather than force myself to stay up late that first night, I went to bed after the shmancy beer dinner (that included plenty of beer). Saturday I held off drinking until about 10am, mostly stopped by about 8pm (which was when the real beer sharing got going), and turned in early again. Upon my return I joked with Kathy that I got more sleep camping at a loud beer festival than I would have in my own bed.

For the next month or so I'm going to try to cut back dramatically, and see if I can shed a couple of the pounds that have accumulated around my waist. I'm not about to stop altogether, and indeed am looking forward to the new brewpubs to hit when we go up to Vermont next month. All the same, a little moderation for a little while could make a little difference.

A Month of Reflection and Looking Ahead

2009-07-23T08:25:00.001-04:00

Earlier this month I celebrated my birthday, and it was wonderful. Emelia was wholly engaged in the celebration -- wanting to open the cards with me, singing me Happy Birthday, and looking forward to/enjoying the cake. Kathy made my favorite breakfast, huevos motuleños (fried eggs over tortilla, black beans and peas, covered with green salsa and goat cheese (Kathy uses feta)), and for dinner took me to one of my favorite restaurants (Nam Viet in Arlington). And my gift from Kathy and Emelia was a year's worth of massages, an extravagance that will probably do me a world of good but which I would never bestow upon myself. The day was completely low-key, and it was all I needed -- Kathy had trouble believing me when I said how much I enjoyed myself. The fact that several dozen people wished me happy birthday on facebook was surprisingly satisfying as well -- I like to think that it gave me a taste of what it might have been like to have had a birthday during the school year instead of the summer.

As the day of my birthday approached, I reflected on the fact that it had been a year since my mugging. Hard to believe that it's only been a year, as it seems much longer ago. It doesn't seem to affect me on a day-to-day basis (heck, days go by when I don't even think about it), though it's possible my troubles sleeping are influenced by that event. It's slipped in among my life events to become one of the multitude of things that have gone into defining who I am, never becoming a singular something that defines me.

Also this month I hit the halfway point for eligibility for full federal retirement. Amazingly enough, I can get full retirement in less than another 16 years. I'm not really one of those people who obsesses over my retirement eligibility, but I get a reminder of it every year in my statement of benefits, and as a numbers geek I'm more than capable of dividing by two. Before we had Emelia, I used to daydream about early retirement, and fully contemplated retiring no later than my first opportunity for that full pension, a worst-case scenario. Full retirement at the first opportunity, however, is less than one-third of my salary, and like everyone else's, my 401(k) took a big hit with the market crash. And now we have Emelia, and my eligibility for full retirement coincides with the time that Emelia would be about to start college -- I don't know that we'd be able to get Emelia all the way through college on a pensioners' income, though it'd be plenty easy to take that income and find a job I might like more. However I do it, I expect to work longer than I once contemplated, but I no longer mind it as much -- with the arrival of Emelia, my mindset has shifted from having to work to set me up for life, to having to work to provide for my family. I'd be lying if I said there isn't a bit of wistfulness, but it's a trade-off that I've made and would gladly make again.

And that statement provides the segue to something that's been on my mind every day of the month, and then some. Earlier this week we reached a big milestone, the end of the first trimester of Kathy's pregnancy. Yes, that's right -- something that took so much effort the first time happened without so much as a visit to the fertility clinic this time. Child #2, a.k.a., the Groundhog,* is due at the start of February. Kathy's been having a harder time this go around -- last time she was stressed by the absence of symptoms, worrying that was a bad thing; and this time she's complaining about those very symptoms. I guess there's no pleasing some people. We had wanted to keep the news completely quiet during the first trimester, but figured we had to tell my family during the week at the beach given Kathy's symptoms (and the inability to provide any other reason why she would reject all of Josh's delectable alcoholic offerings). So then in the name of equality, we had to tell Kathy's family. And although the story's been slowly leaking out, we've kept things mostly quiet, and I suspect that many of you are hearing about it for the first time. Now that we're making that news public, I can talk about it on the blog -- it's been tough to offer posts on the blog given that I couldn't discuss that particular elephant in the room of my mind (said elephant currently weighs less than an ounce), but I'm hoping to write more frequently again.

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* - Note that the use of the nickname The Groundhog is not meant to suggest that we would name a boy child Phil.

The Washington Post

2009-07-18T08:42:00.004-04:00

Once upon a time, the Washington Post was considered both liberal and one of the best newspapers in the business, particularly with respect to national politics. Back in the '80s and early '90s, before I even lived here, I subscribed to the Washington Post National Weekly Edition. At the time, I felt I learned a lot about what was going on in the world by reading such great columnists as the late Molly Ivins. When I moved here, I subscribed to the Post for a number of years, until I ultimately decided that I didn't read it enough to justify all the paper being produced. I continued to read sections of it online, particularly the soccer columns.

As many of you know, newspaper subscribership has plummeted, driving many newspapers out of business as they are unable to generate a profit. I can't say that I like the direction journalism has taken in the past decade or so, where stenography seems to be the focus rather than reporting. All the same, I don't think the demise of newspapers is a good thing, and have on occasion considered restarting my Post subscription in order to support the institution. Unless things change dramatically, however, I don't see ever going ahead with doing so. The reason is simple -- the Post is no longer a newspaper for which I have any respect.

For starters, the Post has decided that it wants to be nutty conservative (I guess so it can compete with the Washington Times), and has grabbed neocons aplenty to go with a stable of run-of-the-mill conservatives. Just to be clear, I was fine with George Will. And I could tolerate the off-the-wall ruminations of Charles Krauthammer, as one neoconservative at least allows you to keep tabs on their thinking. But to those the Post has added Bill Kristol and Michael Gerson, and Fred Hiatt has revealed himself as a full-fledged neoCon as well. There are others as well (here's a mostly complete rundown), and apparently that's insufficient, as they are complemented by frequent guest columns from additional "luminaries" of the conservative world (Sarah Palin of all people had a nonsensical appearance just this week).

The Post's recent decision to fire Dan Froomkin was also rather troubling, as he actually is a reporter in the traditional sense of the word. He was willing to challenge both the Bush and Obama administrations when their actions deviated from their words. Just as importantly, he challenged others in the media when they failed to do their jobs. I guess that made him unpopular with the Post's management, but he was very popular with its readers, for good reason.

The most recent brouhaha concerned the Post's pay-for-play scandal, whereby the Post's CEO and publisher, Katharine Weymouth sought to sell access to Obama administration officials and to her own reporters and editors. I think this one speaks for itself.

And in yesterday's paper, Gerson wrote a scathing article condemning Justice Ruth Ginsburg for favoring eugenics through abortion. The problem with his writing of such vitriol is that Justice Ginsburg said nothing of the sort. The man said in his column that the Ginsburg quote should not be taken out of context, all the while omitting the last three sentences from the quote, i.e., the ones that provided context. Here was the question Ginsburg was asked:

Are you talking about the distances women have to travel because in parts of the country, abortion is essentially unavailable, because there are so few doctors and clinics that do the procedure? And also, the lack of Medicaid abortions for poor women?

Here's what Gerson says her response was:

Yes, the ruling about that surprised me. [Harris v. McRae -- in 1980 the court upheld the Hyde Amendment, which forbids the use of Medicaid for abortions.] Frankly I had thought that at the time Roe was decided, there was concern about population growth and particularly growth in populations that we don't want to have too many of. So that Roe was going to be then set up for Medicaid funding for abortion.

Here's the actual response Justice Ginsburg gave in her answer:

Yes, the ruling about that surprised me. [Harris v. McRae — in 1980 the court upheld the Hyde Amendment, which forbids the use of Medicaid for abortions.] Frankly I had thought that at the time Roe was decided, there was concern about population growth and particularly growth in populations that we don’t want to have too many of. So that Roe was going to be then set up for Medicaid funding for abortion. Which some people felt would risk coercing women into having abortions when they didn’t really want them. But when the court decided McRae, the case came out the other way. And then I realized that my perception of it had been altogether wrong. (empahasis added)

That alone would be an enormous problem, compounded by the fact that he basically stole the misrepresentation from other conservative hacks (one, Jonah Goldberg, got his misrepresentations printed with the L.A. Times, while the other, Ben Domenech, is a well-known conservative blogger).

I actually wrote the ombudsman for the Post about the Gerson article, asking at what point the Post feels an obligation to, you know, fact check the material that appears on its editorial pages. The ombudsman politely and promptly responded, informed me that he handles the news pages, and indicated that my complaints are best delivered to Mr. Gerson (e-mail address provided). I suppose the response I got shouldn't surprise me, but it still disturbed me -- the Post allows columnists to publish their opinions without regard to the truth. I understand the opinion page should be held to a different standard than the news sections, but what the ombudsman's response tells me is that the only standard is what the author says it is. Perhaps that's the norm for the opinion pages these days, and the Post is just following along, but that doesn't make it right.

In sum, between the right-wing slant and the questionable practices, the Post has left me with no desire to offer it my financial support ever again.

Obama So Far

2009-07-12T16:31:00.000-04:00

I said a year ago that my support for Obama was tepid, and six months into his presidency, sadly I cannot say that I think better of the president than I did the candidate. In fact, I think far worse.

On the plus side, he's not Bush. He has stated that torture is not to be permitted going forward. His judicial nominees are presumably adequate -- Sotomayor for example seems like a competent judge who shouldn't tilt the court any further to the radicalism of Roberts/Scalia and the Federalists. In terms of Middle East policy, actually stating that Israelis should keep to their word and cease settlements is also a positive step, no matter how obvious or incremental it actually is. He promoted and signed the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, undoing a mischievous ruling by the Supreme Court that interpreted the Equal Pay Act in a way that essentially rendered it useless.

On the minus side, despite his campaign rhetoric to the contrary, he's actually working to expand executive authority -- his administration's pleadings in prisoner abuse cases and warrantless wiretap cases endorse Bush administration arguments and even somewhat expand upon them. I'm still having trouble grasping how anyone could support him on these matters after he argues that not only should his administration be able to hold suspected terrorists indefinitely, but that the government should be allowed to keep individuals it deems dangerous even if they have been acquitted. Further, his statement that he plans to close Guantanamo is being shown to be wholly symbolic given his interest in maintaining the ability to create a similar prison in Bagram and who knows where else. I'm almost as disturbed by the relative silence of Democrats in criticizing these positions as I am by the positions themselves.

He's also continued the Bush administration's policies for Wall Street, and doing nothing to make Wall Street accountable for the economic implosion and almost nothing to move forward reforms that might prevent similar implosions in the future.

Meanwhile, Obama's insistence on bipartisanship resulted in a mediocre and inadequate stimulus package, and still yielded only a handful of Republican votes. This mentality is also hurting the likelihood of meaningful health care reform, and jeopardizes efforts at significant climate change legislation. For better or worse, the Republicans have decided to act as the party of No, and unless they want to come to the table with a position that allows for bipartisanship (e.g., both sides possess a common goal but disagree on the means to an end), Obama and the Democrats are much better off doing the right thing. Doing less than that results in bad or failed policy for which Republicans can gleefully point to their votes against.

Obama may yet redeem himself and his presidency, but if the presidential vote were tomorrow, I would unquestionably vote for a third-party candidate.

Did I Mention It's Been Crazy?

2009-06-24T19:43:00.000-04:00

My first two posts after my hiatus were about travel. This isn't surprising, because there's been a lot going on with us. In fact, we're nearing the end of a crazy couple of months. But it's been good (mostly). Here's what I'm talking about:

April 8: Host a Seder for 9
April 8-10: Host my Aunt Faith and cousin Jeff for Passover
April 18-25: Trip to Hawaii with our friends Sharon and Gary
Weekend of May 2: Nothing scheduled, which was a good thing because all three of us were sick for 2-4 days.
May 5: Kathy's Birthday
May 7-9: Surprised Kathy by having her friend Jen down for her birthday, and they met up with two other friends who now live in the DC area.
May 10: Mother's Day
May 13-18: My folks visited
May 14-17: 10th Anniversary getaway to Rehoboth Beach
May 22-25: Camping with Tom and Anna
May 27-29: Hosted my college roommate Pete and his girlfriend Evette for a visit
May 29-31: By myself, went to NYC to visit Jeff and attend a RateBeer gathering.
June 5-14: Family vacation in Hilton Head with overnight stops in Raleigh with Chris and Margie.
Weekend of June 21: Mercifully, nothing. Well, except Chris and Margie staying with us while they were in town for a wedding.
June 26-28: Camping with local beer geeks. Same event as this, except it's smaller this year.
June 29-July 2: Hosting Kathy's friend Jen and her two kids, while they visit DC.
July 3: All day beer gathering of locals.
July 4 weekend: No plans yet, but just wait.
July 7: Somebody's birthday.

Maybe it'll settle down after that, but I'm not counting on it. We still have to decide whether to go camping at a festival outside of Richmond the weekend of July 11 -- we're leaning against it, but Tom and Anna are pushy. And there are always more activities that pop up on our calendar. At least, there always seem to be. I figure that's usually a good thing. Usually.

10 Years and Counting

2009-06-21T08:15:00.001-04:00

On May 16th, Kathy and I celebrated our 10th anniversary. My folks came up to take care of Emelia, so Kathy and I could take our first vacation sans child in the 2.5 years since she was born. In fact, it was Kathy's first night away from Emelia since she was born. Kathy was anxious enough about leaving Emelia that she insisted on going somewhere nearby, so we went to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, less than three hours from here. We had both been there briefly -- Kathy's uncle and aunt have a home there, and in December 1998 they hosted a small family engagement party for us. But I think we only stayed one evening, and I don't even remember seeing the ocean on that trip.

This time we stayed at a hotel one block from the ocean, and constantly walked down to the beach. It was too cold to swim (or even to stand in the surf for very long), but it was great to walk on the beach, especially Thursday afternoon and Friday morning, before the weekend visitors filled the place up. Among other activities, we saw our first movie together since Emelia was born, watching the new Star Trek, which we both enjoyed quite a bit. And three nights in a row of eating out alone at nice restaurants was a treasured experience. But whether it was these activities or others, the main thing we did was spend unhurried time in each other's company, something that doesn't happen much around a toddler, no matter how much we enjoy being with her (and believe me, we do).

While we were in Delaware, Emelia had a wonderful time back home. The folks kept us informed on how things were going, which helped keep Kathy relaxed and enjoying herself. We very much appreciated their coming up to take care of Emelia -- it was the best anniversary present we could ask for. That they enjoyed having that much time with Emelia (and vice-versa) makes it that much better.

In terms of what being married for ten years means to me, I think it's incredible that I could find someone who is so right for me. Incredible to think that 12 years ago I didn't even know this person whom I would marry, and grow to love more as each year passes. Incredible to think that if our love keeps growing as it has been, my love for Kathy will be so much greater in a decade than it is now. Simply put, my marriage to Kathy has been and continues to be incredible.

Hello Blogger My Old Friend...

2009-06-19T19:13:00.003-04:00

...I've come to write on you again.

So I'm back. I thought I had nothing left to say that couldn't be covered in the twitter-like status updates on facebook. And maybe that was the case. But I decided that I still need to say it here, where I can store my footprints rather than have them wash away with the ebb and flow of all the other things that facebook compiles. The reason is simple -- I'm 40, and my daughter is 2. By the time she's 22, and maybe starting to learn about who her father is, I'll be a different person, and she'll never have known the person I am now. And I want her to have various anecdotes of who she was as a little girl, given that we'll undoubtedly have forgotten most of them unless they're recorded somewhere.

Of course, who I am as a blogger is not an accurate portrait of who I am -- it's what I choose/bother to share, and who I hold myself out to be in the public environment of this blog. Still, that'll have to do -- I have no desire to share everything.

And you the reader in the present are welcome to come along for the ride. It's a given that I'm writing for you too, not just future Emelia. Otherwise I could just keep a journal.
--
Now that that's out of the way, let's cover Hilton Head, where we spent the second week in June with my family for our annual vacation. Unlike last year, we drove down -- our direct flights being canceled last year, thereby requiring a connection, probably had something to do with it. Both coming and going, we stayed in Raleigh with our friends Margie and Chris, hitting a bit of the beer scene down there and seeing their new house (they closed on it the Friday we were in Hilton Head, meaning that we stayed in different places coming and going). They'll be up here this weekend for a wedding, and we're camping with them next weekend, meaning we'll be seeing them all four weekends in June. Seeing Margie, a college friend, was as close as I came to attending my 20th college reunion, as Hilton Head started the same weekend that was held.

Down in Hilton Head, the house we stayed at was amazing, as the family selection seems to be each year. We let others fight over the bedrooms with the ocean view, and grabbed the darkest room we could find in hope of sleeping in. It didn't work, as I think I was out of bed by 6:30 every morning except one.

The beach was lovely and the weather was pretty cooperative (mostly sunny, and only over 90 a couple of days). We had a good time for the first part of the week, and the absence of "Explosion Wednesday" that has been present in past years was a definite improvement. Still, by the end there was some strain, which probably started in earnest on Thursday with Dad's fixation on consuming the leftovers. If we had thought to turn his mention of them into a drinking game, maybe things would have stayed a little mellower, but I only just thought of it while typing this out. And besides, being plastered by 10am is not conducive to keeping up with children, of which six were present.

The newest child to enter the family's fold is three-month old Emily, daughter to my sister Shari. We met Emily on this trip, and she's a real cutie (and sweetie). Emelia loves babies, and she had been looking forward to meeting "Baby Emily" for months. The reality mostly seemed to meet her expectations. Throughout the week, Dad regularly interchanged the names of Emelia and Emily. I can't really blame him -- when we picked Emelia's name, we were concerned with picking a name that wasn't too close to others in the family, but Shari had her heart set on the name Emily for a long time, and stuck with it when the time came. As long as she keeps Emily west of the Rockies for the most part, I figure the country's big enough for both Emelia and Emily.

Emelia had a great time with her cousins -- she gets along with all of them (they all get along with each other), and at the end of the week, she was so sad that she had to say goodbye to everyone. Probably Emelia's favorite activity for the week was going in the pool, especially jumping in from the side and having one of us catch her. Her excitement at doing that resulted in her jumping a few times before the adult was ready for her, eventually resulting in stern lectures and time out of the pool because she forgot to ask if the adult was ready. Her next favorite activity was putting on various articles of her cousins' clothing -- she already has a shoe fetish that exceeds her mother's.*

Foodwise, easily the highlight of the week was the Dallas contingent's night in the kitchen. Kim started us off with afternoon queso that was delicious. For the actual meal, Josh led off with crabcakes that were fantastic. Next up was a tasty salad course that Josh and Hunter prepared that included a goat cheese medallion covered in crushed pecans. As for the main course, most people were served 3-inch thick steaks that received universal acclaim, while Hunter, Kathy and I went with 10-ounce tuna steaks that were some of the best I've ever had. After taking a bit of time to digest, Kim brought out poundcake topped with creamcheese frosting and fresh fruit -- fairly simple but so good. In case you're wondering what we did for our night of cooking, we volunteered to make dinner the night we arrived (4pm check-in), so we kept it simple with ground turkey tacos. Our meal was well received (as were all the other meals the various family members prepared, lasagna by Dad/Mom/Shari and BBQ chicken by Rebecca & John), but it certainly belonged in AA compared to Josh, Hunter, and Kim's major league offering.

So we survived another year, even thrived at times, and Josh and Kim get to pick next year's place. That they haven't already is something of a miracle considering how much Mom was looking at places for them to select. Collectively, our family is crazy enough to think that the destination should be all set up a full year in advance. Last night, Josh and Kim threw up their hands by sending around a list of six possible houses in four different locations, and seeking feedback. Our response is simple -- all the houses look lovely, and we'll be happy with whatever you choose. They're not getting out of their responsibility that easily!
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* - At least it exceeds it now that Kathy's somewhat reformed.

Parenting 101

2009-02-03T20:38:00.002-05:00

No, I'm not teaching it, I'm taking it. I have the prerequisite of a kid, and the course is taught daily.

In last night's class, we had an overtired two-year old being silly and manic while we were trying to have her eat at the table with us. At one point Emelia put her feet up against the table and pulled the tablecloth over her legs. It wasn't that big of a deal, but Kathy asked her to put her feet and the tablecloth down. She refused, and I told her that if she didn't do what her mother had asked her to do, she would be removed from the table and put in the chair in the corner. Emelia then put her feet and the tablecloth down, and for the rest of dinner pretty much left both alone.

A few minutes later, while Kathy and I were talking, Emelia took her cup and poured the contents (water, fortunately) onto the table. Kathy was very angry and said so, and told Emelia to go into the other room while Kathy and I finished dinner. Emelia burst out crying, and Kathy literally walked her into the other room because Emelia wouldn't go there on her own. After a minute or so in the living room by herself, she stopped crying, and a minute after that, we had finished eating, and Kathy told her she could come back to the dining room.

Kathy picked her up, and I asked her if she understood why she had been sent into the other room. She responded, "Because I was crying." I told her that wasn't why, and explained why we were unhappy with what she had done. Apparently, it still didn't stick, because as Kathy was putting her to bed, Emelia restated her misconception that she was punished for crying.

When Kathy came back downstairs, she asked me if we were being too demanding. I thought about it for a minute, and answered that Emelia knew that what she was did was not ok, so from that perspective there was no problem. Where I thought we might be being too demanding was in that we are asking her discern the degree of unacceptable behavior. In other words, she knows that some behavior isn't ok, but it's minor enough that we don't necessarily enforce it. Then there's other behavior that she's told is unacceptable, for which she's been asked to stop doing, and she's told that there will be consequences if she does not (e.g., the feet and the tablecloth). But there aren't many actions that generate an immediate response with no warning, such as when she poured the water.

So at the end of all that, I said, "No, we're not being too demanding, and yes, we're being too demanding."

Seems like "kids try to push their boundaries" is applicable here (covered in the third chapter of the course book). Kathy's response was so traumatic to Emelia that apparently Emelia forgot exactly what triggered it (nice that such a small punishment can be so effective -- I'm enjoying that while it lasts). Hopefully though, enough stuck either from the incident or our later explanations that she won't pour water on the table again. And so she'll begin to learn that doing things she knows she shouldn't can have consequences she doesn't like, so that maybe she won't do them. I figure that the key words from in this paragraph are "hopefully" and "begin."

I wonder what sort of grade I'm going to get in this class (even though the final is a LONG way off).

A Very Long Post About Short Nights and Accompanying Days of the Holiday

2008-12-28T09:49:00.000-05:00

On Night 1, Tuesday, December 23, I get back from picking up the rental car at around 6:45. Emelia is taking a late nap, and given how long the night would be, we let her sleep while we light the Chanukah candles and pack the car. She wakes up as we're finishing the packing, and we bring her down to open the rest of her major Chanukah presents so we don't have to take them up to Connecticut. After eating a quick dinner, we're able to get on the road by 8:15, already past when Emelia normally goes to sleep. Only an hour in, we stop for caffeine, figuring that most of it should have left our systems by the time we'd want to go to sleep upon arrival. While I'm inside the Rest Area, Kathy explains to the still-awake Emelia that Mommy and Daddy would need to stay awake, but that she should go to sleep. The incredibly empathetic child of ours is determined to bear the burden with us, and refuses to go to sleep despite our encouragement. In fact, whenever we push her to sleep, she pushes back, and in so doing stays up many hours past when she ever stays up. Finally, at 1am, she drifts to sleep, giving her about an hour before we stop at my in-laws house in Connecticut. She wakes up at that point, as we bring all the luggage in and get situated in the room we're staying in. The trundle bed designated for her is high enough off the ground that we don't want to risk her falling onto the tile floor, as she still sleeps with a bumper in her own bed. So at around 3am, I climb into the trundle, and Emelia sleeps in the queen bed with Kathy.

Day 1 begins at 7:15 when I awake to the light outside. I try to get the dogs out of the room quietly, but the room is cramped for three people and two dogs, and it's hard for me to get out of the room without waking Emelia. So soon everyone is up, and the day gets going. Emelia is able to take a three hour nap during the day, but that's not uncommon for her, and she still could have used many hours more. I sneak in about a 45 minute nap myself. Kathy's sister Suz gets home from work around 5:30, and she comes bearing a growler of IPA from the best brewery in the state. I thank her, and those of us who enjoy such beverages quickly consume the contents of the growler in their entirety.

Night 2 commences when we're able to get Emelia to bed around 8pm, as the excitement of Christmas Eve and all the presents in plain view has hit her. The small Chanukah present she opens does nothing to diminish her desire to open the multitude of presents sitting under the tree. The trundle has been moved out of the room, and Emelia sleeps on a single mattress that rests on the floor. Kathy heads to bed around 9, and I follow suit about an hour later.

At 5:15, Day 2, a.k.a., Christmas, begins when Emelia wakes up and won't go back to sleep, so the lot of us exit the room and have a leisurely morning. We tell Emelia she must wait for her Aunt Suzie to get up before we open the presents, and she's pretty good about that. All the same, when the presents are finally opened, I consider the change in Emelia's demeanor. At her birthday less than two months earlier, she had taken delight with each present, not entirely sure about the whole concept. But with the experiences of that event and the opening of Chanukah presents, she has moved into full-fledged present mode, where she wants more more more. Given that many presents remain, however, awaiting the return of Emelia's cousins from Christmas at their father's, Emelia's present thirst remains unslaked.

In the afternoon, we take a short walk with the dogs, all of us glad to stretch our legs, both for the simple sake of exercise, and to address the gluttony that accompanies the holidays at my in-laws, the result of Mom's delight in holiday mail-order foods, both main courses and desserts. Mom always makes full breakfasts, and although lunches are somewhat tamer, dessert follows it and most dinners. After we get back from the walk, we have a little down time before we head out the door for what is becoming our tradition of sushi for Christmas dinner. We had done Chinese for several years, in honor of my Jewish roots, but given that we all enjoy sushi much more, the tradition has changed. We are not alone, because although we had lit the candles for Chanukah before we left, people at another large table at the restaurant bring a menorah and do the prayers there.

Night 3 starts upon our return from dinner. Emelia goes to sleep as soon as we get back, but still it's after 8pm. Again Kathy goes to sleep before I do, but neither of us are ready for the 3am wake-up cries of Emelia after she fell out of bed. Kathy is the one who responds, but nothing she does is able to get Emelia to go back to sleep. I finally suggest bringing Emelia into our bed, and she settles right in after that, getting back to sleep around 4.

Day 3 starts around 7, when Emelia and I get up, along with the dogs, and leave Kathy to grab more shuteye. Kathy comes upstairs around 9. The day is uneventful but relaxing, as generally all the days have been.

Night 4 begins shortly after dinner. Emelia stays up for a little bit, but is rubbing her eyes and so to bed she goes. Kathy quickly follows suit, but I stay up for a while. When I finally decide to go to sleep, I have it in mind to sleep in my nephew's room with the dogs (he and his sisters don't return from their father's until Sunday night), hopefully letting everyone get a decent night of sleep. I come into the room to turn off the light Kathy left on for me, and when she stirs, I tell her my plan. Despite being fairly quiet, Emelia wakes up during my maneuver, and starts calling "Daddy." This was a new experience for me, as she generally wants Kathy when she's upset. The result is that I can't get out of the room without Emelia going into loud cries of "Daddy." I finally end up putting her into our bed and stay there with her, hoping to have her fall asleep so I can go back upstairs. No such luck, as every time I move she looks over to make sure I'm still there. The dogs by this point have come downstairs and I've put them into the room. Emelia starts positioning herself laterally, taking up more of the bed than can permit three of us to sleep together. I sneak off to the bathroom, and still she calls out for me, so I return and climb into her bed. I try to sleep, and according to Kathy I sleep for a bit (my snores gave me away), but it's not a restful sleep, and I resolve to go back upstairs to try to sleep, a sentiment Kathy encourages so she can sleep. Damned if Emelia doesn't start crying out after me again, and it's worse than fingernails on a chalkboard to have her cries tearing at me as I exit without answering them. Kathy comforts her successfully at last, and after a while of lying in my nephew's bed, I do in fact get all the way to sleep by 1am.

Day 4 begins around 6:15, and after lying in bed for a few minutes, realizing I won't fall back asleep, I hear Emelia downstairs. So I go down there, and relieve Kathy so she can go back to sleep. Kathy grabs another hour or so, and after breakfast, Emelia decides she neither wants to stay in her pajamas or get dressed. Thus, she spends half an hour giggling wildly while running around in nothing but her diaper. After we all finally get dressed, we hit the post office to send a misdirected Christmas present to Texas. Another day, another nap for me, and I actually clear an hour this time. Emelia tops that by a goodly amount, nearing four hours.

Night 5 begins optimistically, as Emelia goes to bed before 8, Kathy follows at 9, and I'm in bed by 10. All is well until Kathy has to go to the bathroom at 4:30, which wakes up Emelia. To stop the crying, Kathy brings her into bed with us, but she's really not interested in going back to sleep. However, she is enjoying kicking my stomach. Around 5:30, Kathy takes Emelia from the room, muttering something about us leaving Wednesday instead of Saturday, and I'm able to fall back asleep. Said sleep is ended shortly before 7, when Junebug decides that she needs my attention.

And here we are in Day 5. Kathy has rescinded her Wednesday departure statement, and Emelia is a whirling dervish of activity. I have no idea what the night will bring, but I expect the feeling of dread to start overwhelming me about the time we light the candles for the last night of Chanukah.

Break-In #2

2008-12-21T06:18:00.001-05:00

I live on Capitol Hill. It's a decent area, and incredibly convenient. But it's also in the heart of a city, and it's close to some poorer and more dangerous areas. As such, it's very common for property crime to spill over into my neighborhood. Friday night, for the second time, our car was broken into. The first time was already a couple of years ago. I don't know whether we had left the car unlocked by mistake or the thieves* were good at picking the lock, but the window wasn't bashed in, which is common in our neighborhood. The thieves acted quickly -- they grabbed the couple of dollars worth of change that was in the car, didn't immediately see anything of value, then split. In their haste, they left a cheap pocket knife. The knife offered a fairly even exchange for the change, though we probably never would have traded if given a choice.

This time, again no windows were broken, but the thieves were much more methodical. They opened up the glove compartment, pulled stuff out of the car side pockets, moved stuff around, and even opened up Emelia's portable changing pad, which we had left in the car. After all that, we could only determine one thing missing -- a cassette adapter that lets you play things like mp3 players through your car's tape deck (if you've never seen one of those, this is one such device). That's it. There was also plenty of stuff that's of value to us, that evidently offered nothing to the thieves. Things such as the changing pad, a baby-carrying backpack, Emelia's car seat, and the nice umbrella stroller and umbrella in the trunk. They also left old tapes and a nice tire gauge that were in the glove compartment, and other miscellany. Even some loose change (total value of less than a dollar) was left behind. It took about five minutes to put the car back together, but it was much cleaner as a result -- all the junk was conveniently lumped together for easy disposal.

For what it's worth, the cassette adapter was old and doesn't work very well anymore -- we had been meaning to replace it in the car for some time. Now we'll remember to take the new one we had gotten a while ago on our trip to Connecticut next week. So between the sort-of cleaning, and the disposal of the adapter so we'd bring the new one, again it seems like we ended up with a reasonable exchange.

Weird. Fortunate.

--
* - I don't know how many of them participated in either break-in, but in both instances I picture there being two of them.

The Modern World

2008-12-18T06:52:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I was IM'ing via Gmail with a friend who was riding a bus that provided WiFi. I noticed another friend of mine (and his) was logged in at the time from his volunteer post in Central America, and I suggested the two of them chat. Not because I thought they had anything significant to say to each other, but because the whole concept was remarkable. Just 10 years ago, the user at either end of the conversation couldn't have participated, and now, it required no special effort to have two people chat when one was on the East Coast heading north on a bus speeding 75mph, and the other was at his computer in rural Nicaragua.

Now all I need is for Emelia to be a little older, so I can start telling her, "When I was a kid...."

What's the Deal with Dallas?

2008-12-16T19:42:00.002-05:00

I'm trying to find a rental car for when we visit my brother and his family in January. Check out the screwy rates that I'm finding (click on the image to enlarge):

With these rates, I can see why everything's bigger in Texas.

Quote of the Day

2008-12-12T21:30:00.000-05:00

"If we don't do this, we will be known as the party of Herbert Hoover forever."-- Dick Cheney, as part of his failed effort to convince Senate Republicans to vote for the bailout package for the auto industry.

At Least Someone Thinks I'm Funny

2008-12-01T19:47:00.001-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, firedoglake had a contest to come up with an appropriate title for George Bush's autobiography. I tossed out several suggestions (comments # 89, 244, & 269), and got a good laugh at many of the other entries.

This evening I was going through my Google Reader backlog from the holidays, and came across the announcement of winners -- I was surprised and delighted to see that I won. I guess anything's possible, but I'm betting that W won't be using the winning entry, "You Can Fool Enough of the People Some of the Time."

How Not to Advance One's Career

2008-11-20T21:02:00.000-05:00

Sitting at my desk at the end of the day, I get a phone call from someone I used to work with, a semi-friend, who's now in a different department at my agency. A former boss of ours has an extra ticket to Saturday's FSU-Maryland football game -- the semi-friend knows I went to FSU law, and asks on the ex-boss' behalf if I'm interested. I immediately answer no, not because I wouldn't want to go, but because I leave town that morning for Thanksgiving in Florida with my family. Ah well, that's how it goes sometimes.

Half an hour later, I reflect on the conversation, and start laughing, realizing only then that I turned down a chance to sit for more than three hours, one-on-one, with one of the people whose name is being bandied about to head my agency.

Facebook is Evil

2008-11-19T18:28:00.001-05:00

But I bet you already knew that.

In the Presence of Genius

2008-11-12T19:57:00.000-05:00

It's not every day that one finds one's self in the presence of genius, but I was on Friday, at my daughter's birthday celebration (I find it hard to call it a party when the attendees are five adults and two children, including the honoree). You see, when our friend Anna was served her cupcake, she ripped off the bottom half of the cupcake and put it on top of the frosting, in essence creating a frosting sandwich. She said the idea just came to her right then. To be witness to that spark of genius was an experience that only slightly surpassed the bliss of eating a cupcake in that fashion. Indeed, I plan never to eat a cupcake any other way ever again.

And how did I repay her brilliance? By having this exchange with her on Monday morning while I was walking the dogs and she was starting her walk to work, when she was only half awake.

"I realize that I should have carved my Halloween pumpkin into an ox."
"Why, is it something to do with a beer?"
"No, it's because that way my gourd can be an ox."

I fear that genius will never set foot in my house again.

Mugging Belated Update

2008-11-11T16:32:00.000-05:00

My last post on the mugging was a couple of months ago, and I apologize for not keeping folks up to date on that front. The trial was scheduled for Thursday, October 2, and in the days leading up to it, I was very stressed. I worried that I would somehow screw up my testimony in a way that would let the actual assailants go free. On the Tuesday before the trial was to begin, I got a message informing me that the defendants pled guilty, meaning that there would be no trial. I was a bit surprised, but that surprise quickly turned to relief that I wouldn't have to testify. My anxiety level subsided immediately, and I've been a much more relaxed individual ever since.

In talking to the U.S. Attorney the following day, I learned that the church that was catty-corner from where the attack took place had a surveillance camera. It panned the area, so that it showed the initial bicycle incident, me talking with the attackers, and me getting up from the attack. So while it didn't have the actual attack, it served to help identify my attackers. So my concern over being unable to identify my attackers with sufficient certainty was for nothing.

Sentencing is scheduled for November 24, and the U.S. Attorney indicated that she expects sentences of roughly 2 years, where the maximum sentence is 3 years. The two defendants are 19, and have no adult criminal records.

As far as the aftermath, my health is pretty good, but not perfect. The feeling has not wholly returned in my teeth, and consequently, I expect I'll have a permanent loss of feeling in the three fron teeth on the upper left side (I put it at roughly 30% loss). While I'd have been happier with a complete recovery, all things considered, I really don't have any complaints. As I've posted before, it could have been much worse.

This was the year I left Blue Cross for a High Deductible Plan, so in that sense my timing couldn't have been worse, as all the medical bills are going to a high deductible. That being said, I'm eligible for a victims' restitution fund, so once the bills are all squared away (that's something still going on), I will be filing with the fund, and hopefully will be compensated for most if not all of my out-of-pocket expenses.

Another Year Has Flashed By

2008-11-09T16:24:00.001-05:00

Yep, Emelia is two. So without further ado, here are some recent photos of her.

Wow!

2008-11-05T00:26:00.001-05:00

Just, wow. I'm a white male, and this isn't supposed to be my victory. I'm a liberal, and despite the McCain campaign's attempt to label Obama as a socialist, he's a centrist, not a progressive. But somehow his election mattered to me anyhow.

With Bush so unpopular and the economy so bad, given Obama's once-in-a-generation oratorical skill, and the most organized campaign I've ever witnessed, it should have been a walkover. But despite such advantages, and while the outcome seemed inevitable as poll after poll put Obama squarely ahead of McCain, it still was remarkably close. The anxiety over the possibility of a stolen election has faded to dust, and I am so amazingly relieved. And I find myself so incredibly moved by this outcome.

We will soon have a sane president again, after eight years of insanity.

What a Great Comeback! x2

2008-10-17T18:39:00.001-04:00

They were in a must-win game last night -- lose and they'd be eliminated from the playoffs. They were banged up, with key players unavailable or trying to play through injuries. They fell behind, and stayed that way until late in the game. But then, to the delight of the home crowd, a late rally that resulted in an improbable victory left them to live another day. I was delighted, even though I recognized that the team still needed to win its next game as well, just to stay alive!

And I was at the game, in the third row, a live spectator to a wonderful win.

Wait, you thought I was talking about the Red Sox win? Well, except for that last sentence, I might as well have been. Yes, in addition to the Sox win that no doubt anyone who cares about sports already knows about, D.C. United played last night -- with two games left in the season, they were one of six teams fighting for the last three playoff spots, and of those six teams, we were on the bottom of the heap. So while a tie technically wouldn't eliminate us, it essentially would have done so.

United has had a disastrous end to the season, having not won a regular season game in nearly two months. And it's been a very long season. In addition to now having played 28 of the 30 games in the regular season, it's had four games in the CONCACAF Champions Cup, three games in the SuperLiga, four games in the U.S. Open Cup, and four games (with two more to be played) in the CONCACAF Champions League -- in other words, it's had more than another half a season of games to play in between its league matches. And the MLS roster rules and salary cap affords very little depth to teams. So fatigue would be enough of a problem even if injuries hadn't hit them, leaving them without some of their key players when they were most needed.

Last night, we had a lineup that included two guys who were playing in the third division two months ago (in baseball terms, think AA), and a forward who was waived at the start of the season by another club and who hadn't scored in the regular season. Three of our five first-choice offensive players (not counting one who has missed all but 15 minutes of the season) started on the bench (or weren't even available), and a fourth was returning from injury to play his first game in a few weeks.

Our opponent ironically was New England, a team that had sown up a playoff spot already but who was looking for home field advantage in its first round game. New England had the run of play early, but soon United had turned it around, and began creating numerous chances. However, United wasn't able to get the goal it sorely needed, its best chance of the first half bouncing off the crossbar, and the half ended in a scoreless tie. In the second half, United again controlled the pace of the game, but a disastrous turnover led to an easy goal by New England in the 58th minute, and suddenly we were half an hour from the virtual end to our season.

However, a couple of minutes later, with nothing to lose, the team pulled a defender and brought in Jaime Moreno, the League's all-time leading scorer, whose injured knee had kept him out of the starting line-up. The decision to bring in Moreno paid almost immediate dividends, as he soon assisted on a goal by Francis Doe, that waived forward who hadn't scored all year. Doe scored after a pretty cut back helped him elude his defender and get a good shot. After that goal, Fred, who was thought lost for the season due to a hamstring injury, entered the game as United's last allowed substitute, and United's offense was roaring.

Amazingly enough, the go-ahead goal came again at the foot of Doe, and was scored in impressive fashion. The ball was flicked to him by Tino Quaranta, and Doe was able to out-muscle and out-quick last year's Defender of the Year to square up for a shot that he got over the goalie (you can view this goal and the rest of the match highlights here).

United was able to ride out the last part of the match to finish with a win in its last home match of the season. Its next challenge is to finish the season on the road against the best team in the league, the Columbus Crew. A win may be difficult, but at least there's still something for the team to play for.
--
Post Script: Starting at halftime, and throughout the second half, I was tracking the Red Sox-Rays game, seeing the deficit grow from 2-0 to 4-0 to 5-0, just glad that at least United had pulled off a win. I got home when it was still 5-0 to find a message from Dad, who is now a Rays fan, having lived in the Tampa area since before the team came into existence. I called him back, and explained where I had been. He wanted my support for the Rays, asking, couldn't I cheer for the underdog? I firmly responded by saying that I root for my team, no matter who they're playing. All the same, I congratulated him for his team, and shortly after I hung up, the deficit had grown to 7-0. I needed to go to bed -- I was exhausted, so after winding down a little more from the United match, turned in, even though I had seen that the Sox had cut the deficit to 7-4. It was only this morning that I learned that the Sox had scored four more runs in the last two innings to pull off the biggest comeback in post-season baseball in nearly 80 years.

Neology

2008-09-27T08:19:00.001-04:00

I forwarded this nonsensical response by Governor Palin earlier this week.

Note that she gave awful responses to other questions posed by Couric, but while those answers generally demonstrated facile understanding of various issues (indeed, apparently Henry Kissinger is beyond naive on how to engage Iran), the clip I've provided is truly babble, a cacophony of spoon-fed Republican domestic talking points all thrown together in a mishmash.

Later, it dawned on me that her response made about as much sense as it would have if she had given it completely backwards. And it was then that I realized that we needed a new word for such a presentation -- Palindrone.

I'm a Constitution Voter

2008-09-17T19:39:00.000-04:00

So many political things I could say (and so many posts I've started to write but never finished, let alone posted), but here I just want to say that I've signed up on the ACLU's "I'm a Constitution Voter" page (and added a link on my sidebar). It isn't directly election-related, but I think it's important to help send a message to whoever is elected in November that many people find the Bush administration's disregard for the constitution, as well as Congress' unwillingness to confront the administration on this matter, unacceptable.

Swing

2008-09-10T08:12:00.002-04:00

A swing in the country looks so inviting. The entire scene could be from a postcard -- the swing is just a chain that hangs from a tree, with a board at the bottom of the loop held in place by two holes. It's a warm sunny day, no wind, one of those beautiful days that seem to appear right after a big storm, and the stream that runs underneath looks so tranquil.

"Emelia should get on it."

"She can't hold on by herself."

"I'll go on with her."

"No, I'll do it."

I sit down and put Emelia on my left hip, keeping my left arm on her. I hold the right side of the chain, Emelia takes the left and holds me with her right hand. I gently push off the ground and swing out over the stream. Back and forth and in circles we swing, never very far or fast, just for the sake of motion. The camera is out trying to capture both of us, but Emelia is frequently looking in the wrong direction. She's enjoying herself, looking back at the tree, the bank of the stream, Kathy smiling at her. An occasional hand comes out and pushes us, but it's never a hard push.

In an instant the board flips to vertical, and down we go into the stream. There's no time to react, it's all instinct keeping the grip with my left hand on Emelia. She never touches the ground, just remains aloft while my other three limbs are in the mud. Emelia starts to cry, but she's physically fine -- she has a couple of red marks from where I hold her tight, but they're gone by the next morning. She's scared, but she gets over it before too long. Soon enough, she's more worried about Daddy, and that he's ok. I reassure her that I'm fine despite my muddy legs. I get a few abrasions and my pinkie's a bit banged up, but she doesn't notice those (and I'm certainly not going to point them out).

We head back, ready to enjoy the rest of the day engaged in safer activities.

I Don't Believe in God

2008-09-01T22:12:00.004-04:00

...but if I did, I'd have to feel comforted by the fact that after fundamentalist Christians had prayed for "rain of biblical proportions" to spoil Barack Obama's acceptance speech at the DNC, Hurricane Gustav has wreaked havoc on the RNC.*

* - By no means do I wish to suggest that I'm happy about Hurricane Gustav or the damage it's caused, but that doesn't mean I don't appreciate irony.

The Luckiest Guy Who's Ever Been Mugged

2008-08-23T07:16:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I gave grand jury testimony against the suspects charged with mugging me. I had never been involved with a grand jury until yesterday, and it was a fairly painless process. A grand jury determines whether there is probably cause to indict the defendants, and thereby bring the case to trial. Neither the defendants nor their attorneys are present, which means that I didn't have to face cross examination.

I was there all day, and hung out with the two men who stopped and called 911 for me. I also got to take them out to lunch -- it was the least I could do. In talking to them, I learned that I had an incomplete version of what happened that night. Apparently, when they showed up, they saw my assailants kicking and punching me, repeatedly. One said he initially assumed that he was witnessing a drug deal gone bad, the other thought it looked like they were pounding on a bicycle. I asked the witnesses if they thought my assailants were stopping, or if the assailants only stopped because the witnesses pulled over. Both of them were pretty sure it was the latter, and that the beating would have continued otherwise. One thing I had known but I don't think I've blogged about it -- it turns out that one of the suspects was already awaiting trial for attempted homicide, which involved the use of a gun.

Already I felt pretty relieved that nothing worse happened to me, but now I'm rather astounded at my "good fortune." Reviewing all my lucky breaks:

1. The two witnesses came by when they did to stop the attack. If they had shown up a minute or two earlier, they might only have seen me talking with my assailants. Had they come by a couple of minutes later, I might have been more seriously injured, &/or the assailants would have been long gone.

2. The only thing stolen was my wallet. True, I don't like being out the cash that was in my wallet, and it's a pain to cancel my credit cards and get a new driver's license, but they could have actually used the credit cards, and they could have stolen my car.

3. Despite being beaten, I had no additional broken bones or bruises -- my injuries were consistent enough with being punched out and landing on my left side to support the assumptions I had made about only being punched once and then falling to the ground (though the amount of abrasions on my left side did seem to be a little more than I would have expected).

4. I have no memory of the beating. I don't know whether it's because I blocked it out, or that I was rendered unconscious with the first punch, but whichever it is, I don't think there's any benefit to have that trauma be part of my memory (other than a generalized desire to have my memories intact).

5. The police were out in massive force that night, enabling a fast response to the 911 call, and the arrest of the two suspects.

6. It appears that I'll have no permanent injuries, and if I do, they will be comparatively minor. All that's lingering (beyond another month or so for the two broken bones to completely finish healing) is some numbness in three teeth due to the damaged nerve. All the feeling in the other numbed teeth has returned. One of the three feels 90% of the way back, and the other two are well over 50% of the way back. There's a very good chance that all feeling will return.

At the moment, the trial is scheduled for the start of October, which seems pretty quick to me, being only three months after the attack. I'm a little nervous about having to testify, but regardless, I'm happy that it'll be so soon.

Sisyphus was an Environmentalist

2008-08-22T06:49:00.003-04:00

I came out of L'Enfant Plaza under the overpass, and as I approached the street I saw three plastic bags, the smiley face with "Have a Nice Day" on it. Unused, just lying there, probably from a roll of them. I started to go past them, but I couldn't, so I doubled back and picked them up. Got to the street and as soon as I took a left, I saw two more bags, so I bent over and picked them up as well. Walked a little further and saw about two dozen of them against a construction fence, just cursed and walked by.

At day's end, I did pick up another bag that was still lying there, but most of the others were out of reach, on the other side of that construction fence.

Maine Vignette No. 4

2008-08-09T22:29:00.000-04:00

A Milestone Reached

Brief naps after the wedding on Friday provide insufficient rest after Thursday night's drama, so we head to bed fairly early, especially knowing we want to hit the road early the next morning. Unfortunately, around 11pm, Emelia is back up complaining of a tummy ache, crying out "Poopy!" just as she did the night before. Her cries don't reach the level that they did the previous night, but all the same, it takes over two hours for her to start feeling better. A little after 1am, she asks for some milk, so I get up to prepare some for her. As the milk is warming, she gets up out of the bed where she's been lying next to Kathy, and starts playing in the kitchen. When the milk is ready, she drinks it all up, and seems quite content.

Then I tell her it's time for bed, and she starts screaming. She continues to cry when I put her back in her crib, and she even screams. As tired as I feel, I figure I might be able to sleep through the noise. She cries out, "Mommy!" several times, and gets no response. Then she cries out "Up Please!" but no one gets her. Then she cries, "Poopy!" several times, and Kathy gets up.

"Put her down!" I hiss. "Don't you see what she's doing?"

There's a pause, and Kathy puts her back down. Kathy wants to comfort her baby, and she can't be sure that she isn't genuinely hurt. I'm figuring it's manipulation pure and simple, but even if it isn't -- we can't stop the hurt, but sleep can. The screams return, but within 20 minutes she's sound asleep, and shortly after that we are too.

I am not a Vegetarian

2008-08-08T19:13:00.001-04:00

Almost three months ago, Kathy and I decided to try becoming vegetarians, primarily for the reason that it's better for the environment. In the time since then, we haven't bought any meat for home consumption. We've still eaten some meat at home -- we weren't going to throw out the meat in the freezer or pantry, but the supply there is dwindling (and it's not like there was that much to begin with). We're learning as we go -- we've found a veggie burger that we both like, Kathy is experimenting with all sort of new grains (quinoa being the one she's used the most, but tonight she offered up a stew with amaranth, "forbidden rice," millet, and wheat berries in addition to corn, white rice, and quinoa), and we're both cooking some with tofu (Kathy more than me) .

Also generally speaking, we haven't ordered meat when eating out. Some of our favorite cuisines -- Thai, Pakistani/Indian, Vietnamese, and of course pizza -- provide ample vegetarian alternatives, so we've had no trouble on that end. We've had Turkish/Lebanese a couple of times, and found lots of vegetarian mezza. About the only time we've been eating meat other than finishing up our supply at home is when we've been traveling. Our trips to Hilton Head and Maine included meat consumption, as did our stints in Connecticut. In the case of the former, it would have been difficult to do so when we were in a house full of meat eaters and we were eating communally (similar when we were with Connecticut). In the case of Maine, there weren't many options available to us, particularly given that our kitchen was essentially unusable. Plus, when they're offering up Maine lobster at the wedding, it would have been hard to say no.

At this point, our approach is that we're not hard-core vegetarians, and we don't want to inconvenience others, and, to a lesser extent, ourselves. So although we don't consider ourselves vegetarians, we're eating a tiny fraction of the meat we used to.

Little steps.

Maine Vignette No. 3

2008-08-05T20:56:00.007-04:00

Kilts on Parade

Tom ordered a kilt to wear for his wedding. When it arrived a couple of weeks before we drove to Maine, he and Anna dropped by with him wearing it, and Kathy thought I'd look good in one. So she immediately ordered one for me. Anna and Tom were being married by a Cecil, a friend of theirs, so they ordered him one. And Tom's best friend Troy had to get one.

When we got up there, Gene saw Troy wearing his when we went out on Sunday night and thought he should get one. Then he promptly forgot about it. Until Tuesday night. Wednesday he ordered a kilt, and they were able to overnight it from Seattle to the little coastal town in Maine where we were.

So the five of us wore kilts for the wedding.

Cecil, Troy, Tom, Gene, and Me

Maine Vignette No. 2

2008-07-30T20:01:00.002-04:00

The Sound and the Sulfury

Two picturesque cottages, very small, each with a bedroom/living room and a small kitchen, and that's about it. Across the street from the only sand beach in the area, beautiful view. Available for the week of the wedding, so we get them, taking one of the cottages for ourselves and leaving the other one for another couple up for the wedding. The fact that dogs are allowed lets us bring Nora and Junebug with us, something they would certainly enjoy.

The night before we head north, I work out the details of our arrival with the owner's son, at which point he informs me that the well water isn't drinkable, and that as a courtesy he's sticking a couple of gallons of bottled water in each refrigerator. It doesn't fully sink in what that means until we arrive. The word of the week is Spartan, as in, we have Spartan accommodations. The water reeks of sulfur, and the iron in it causes it to be brown sometimes. Kathy reluctantly showers in it, and despises that we have to wash Emelia's bottles in it. We don't cook with it, partly due to health fears, but equally because the tiny kitchen isn't meant for cooking. It allows for little more than heating frozen pizzas. Among other defects, the sink is very shallow, and leaks around its edges. The cottages are in a beautiful location, to be sure, and hanging out on the deck or by the fire pit is quite lovely. All the same, the interior makes for a trying week.

Word to the wise -- never rent a place that doesn't show its interior among the photos. And a request for anyone who rents out a house -- you really should disclose in your ad if your accommodations don't provide drinkable water.

Maine Vignette No. 1

2008-07-29T00:10:00.002-04:00

A Long Night

Tom and Anna's wedding is Friday morning at 10:30am, and Anna has asked Kathy to come over around 9. Emelia woke up crying Thursday evening at 11pm, saying "Poopy" over and over again. Her stomach hurts, and there's nothing we can do for her except comfort her. Kathy does this for a few hours, but as time passes the intensity of Emelia's cries increases, to the point that as the waves of pain hit her, she's screaming "Poopy Poopy Poopy!" and writhing on the bed next to Kathy, grabbing her crotch in extreme distress. We have no medication for stomach aches, no house phone, no signal for our cell phones, and no hospital or emergency clinic within 30 minutes of us. At 2am, Kathy says we have to do something, so we get dressed and go out to the car, in the wind and moderately fierce rain, and drive several minutes until we get a cell signal. I pull over and call my father, the retired pediatrician, seeking his advice. He says to go to the emergency room, because if she's constipated, they'll be able to help. We drive into the nearest real town, searching for a hospital, not at all sure where one might be located. We go past the pharmacy and grocery store, where we hoped to find some sort of medication to provide relief, but they're both closed. Meanwhile, Emelia seems to be doing ok, her cries have evaporated and we consider simply driving back. Dad calls and says that if she's constipated, the problem will return unless we get it removed. So we follow the blue signs with the "H" until, on the far side of town, we find a hospital.

I'm struck by the contrast of my trip to the emergency room, not even four weeks earlier -- the emptiness of the facility, and the immediate response to our arrival. An intake receptionist gets our insurance info. As soon as she's done that, a nurse gets Emelia's vital signs and asks for a description. She then escorts us to a room, and five minutes later, a doctor arrives and examines Emelia. He feels her stomach and declares that Emelia has a lot of gas, and orders X-rays to confirm his diagnosis. Within minutes we head to radiology, which shortly thereafter confirms the doctor's diagnosis that Emelia has a lot of gas. The doctor sends us home with suppositories. Emelia falls asleep on the drive back, and she doesn't awake when we get back to our cottage -- thus, she doesn't even get her medicine. It's 5am, and we climb back in bed, determined to get a couple of hours of sleep before the day begins.

In the Wake of the FISA Rollover

2008-07-16T20:38:00.002-04:00

Is it really any wonder that Congress is polling at its lowest levels ever, with Democrats rating it lower than Republicans despite both the House and Senate being in the control of the Democrats?

A Long Overdue Experience

2008-07-13T20:07:00.000-04:00

Kathy and I have been together for over ten years (married over nine), and never in that time had we gone camping together. About six years ago we even bought a tent, having the best of intentions. About three years ago, we made tentative plans to go camping with friends, but it didn't happen. Tom and Anna have asked us a few times to join them, and we never had. Finally this past weekend, we went camping with a group of beer-loving folk in the general area.

Initially we had planned to bring the dogs with us, but given all that we'd be bringing, we decided there really wasn't space for them in the car, so we reluctantly decided to leave them home (the fact that we're bringing them on a one-week vacation starting this upcoming weekend made it an easier decision to make).

We shared a site with our friends Margie and Chris, two veteran campers who drove up from around Raleigh to hang with us for the weekend. They tended to the fire, but otherwise I think we carried our weight at the site. We didn't need them to help set up our tent or anything, and in fact we pretty much took care of our stuff just fine. We didn't do anything too adventurous with the food, but hey -- it was our first time. At least we got a better sense of what would work and what wouldn't.

Emelia had a good time even though she was the only kid there. She enjoyed a nature show on owls (when the ranger asked what she was holding, before the ranger called on one of the kids with their hands up, Emelia called out, "Owl"), and we had to caution her not to go up to the multitude of deer at the campground. Many of the adults we were with were happy to engage Emelia in conversation, and she was delighted with all the attention. Our one hike with her was when we were leaving today -- we learned about a 1.6-mile hike that would take us to a great mountain view. Good thing we sought a short hike, because Emelia wasn't interested in walking any. Kathy carried Emelia on her back for about 2/3 of the way, and I carried her all but about 50 feet of the rest of the way. Getting Emelia to walk even that far was a rather arduous process, largely because she was overtired.

For the weekend, she slept way less than she normally does, and we spent too much time trying to get her to sleep. She finally went down around 11pm on Friday night, compared with her roughly 7:15 bedtime at home (tonight she was asleep before 7 given how tired she is). Between all the stimulation, the altogether new environment, and being asked to sleep in a tent for the first time, I suppose it's no surprise she had trouble. Saturday she fell asleep for her nap while being carried on Kathy's back, but even then it was only for about an hour (compared with 2+ at home). That night she got to sleep at around 9pm, after screaming herself beyond exhaustion. The people across from us (not in our group) said we reminded them of themselves twenty years earlier when their kids would do the same thing. They learned to let the kids stay up while camping, that they'd eventually exhaust themselves and in the meantime, the adults shouldn't ruin their time worrying about the kids getting enough sleep. I think it's advice we might follow next time.

And yes, I said next time -- both Kathy and I enjoyed ourselves enough that we'd like to go camping again, even regularly. I'm not sure we'll reach "regularly," but I feel confident that the next time will be sooner than ten years from now.

* * * * *

Before I end this post, I just wanted to comment on the obvious, that the birth of Emelia has made travel quite a bit more complicated. There are so many things that go into planning and prepping a trip with a small child that aren't an issue when the travelers are self-sufficient adults. Despite this change, my trip planning essentially hasn't changed a bit -- I take care of myself, and leave Kathy with having to take care of Emelia as well as herself. Part of this is due to the fact that Kathy is home with Emelia on Thursday and Friday, when most trip prep happens, but it's also because I'm lazy about this aspect of parenting. Kathy occasionally grumbles about this (justifiably), but generally does it graciously, and always does it splendidly. So I wanted to take this corner of this blogpost to publicly acknowledge all she does to make travel great. The fact that she's mostly a homebody who'd just as soon hang out at home for leisure, while I'm the one who would travel more if time and money allowed it, makes what she does all the more wonderful. This is just one more reason why I consider myself a very lucky man. Thank you Kathy.

Confronting Fear

2008-07-10T20:51:00.001-04:00

Gonna stand my ground, won't be turned around
and I'll keep this world from draggin' me down
gonna stand my ground and I won't back down
-- Tom Petty, "I Won't Back Down"

I get knocked down
But I get up again
You're never going to keep me down
-- Chumbawamba, "Tub Thumping"

I went out to a beer tasting last night, back in Takoma Park. I didn't drive, because I haven't gotten my replacement license yet since the last one was stolen. So I took the Metro, which meant I walked home alone across Capitol Hill at 11:30 at night. It was a walk I'd taken many times before, but it has at least a small element of risk, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't anxious covering that ground at night for the first time post-mugging. Even as I set out at the start of the evening, I kept thinking about the late-night walk that would be there for me at the end. I felt that the walk was necessary, to put myself back into what I consider a normal part of life -- life's too short to live in fear.

Two songs kept running through my head as I took the 20-minute walk, along with memories of my pounding heart in that pitch dark garden in Prague.

Just a Number

2008-07-07T12:14:00.001-04:00

Today Emelia turned 20 months, while I hit a milestone 24 times that. It's funny to think of it in those terms, that I'm exactly 24 times older than my daughter, so that if I have lived the equivalent of a day in some epochal scale, she's been here for only an hour of it.

Our nanny is taking the week off, and today I have the joy of being the one to stay home with Emelia. I think it's the first time I've done so since I was on paternity leave, in what seems like a lifetime ago. Right now she's upstairs supposed to be taking a nap. She's certainly tired enough, but stubbornness seems to be prevailing.

It's been over a week since the attack. I'm off the pain meds and antibiotics. Feeling has started to return in the area of my mouth that was numb, and I can eat most things at this point, so long as I do the bulk of the chewing on the right side of my mouth. My elbow turned out to have a foreign body in it. When I accidentally banged it yet again on Wednesday evening, the scab came off and whatever was in there (gravel?) came out as well -- only a small scab is there now, and there's no swelling or pain. My face still has some black and purple around the eye, but there too the swelling is gone. The bad guys are still being held, and I have learned that at the time of my attack, one of them had been awaiting a trial for a shooting. It makes me glad that I went down with only one hit.

Tuesday Update

2008-07-01T19:24:00.000-04:00

First off, I want to say thanks to everyone who's offered their support while this has been going on. It means a lot to me that so many people have commented or written to me. Other than that:

The swelling has gone down in my face, which means that I look somewhat better than I did in this photo, taken yesterday evening.

I went to the oral surgeon yesterday. He examined me, and said that my face should heal ok without any surgery. I asked him about the fact that I can't feel the upper left quadrant of my teeth, and was told that it could take up to three months before feeling is fully restored, but that it's very likely that it will in fact come back. Beyond that he recommended soft food for the next couple of weeks (given how much chewing hurts right now, I was able to figure that one out on my own).

I had a nasty scrape on my left elbow that the ER doctors didn't even give a second glance. Now it's swollen, red, very tender, and warm, so I made an appointment for tomorrow to see an orthopedic surgeon.

Yesterday the suspects made their initial appearance in court. The U.S. Attorney's Office was going to ask that bail be denied, but I have yet to hear what happened.

I went into work today, and though I got a bit tired at times, I made it though the whole day, and didn't feel strained in doing so.

Several people have asked about my mental state after this. One person assumed that I was terrified in the wake of what happened, but I'm not. I'm not sure why I haven't gotten freaked out by this, maybe it's because I hardly experienced the event. One painful hit, and I was out. All I've been left with is the aftermath, which is at times painful and always a PITA, but not really frightening. Mostly, my emotional state has been that of relief -- relief that witnesses passed by at the right time and called 911, relief that my injuries aren't life threatening and don't appear to be permanent or even particularly serious, and relief that they only got my wallet when my car and various other possessions were ready for the taking. All the same, it's been less than 72 hours since I was attacked, so it's possible my take on what happened will change. As of now, however, the only thing that makes me a little frightened is the fact that the suspects have my name and address.

Monday Morning Update

2008-06-30T08:41:00.001-04:00

Yesterday morning I slept for a couple of hours, then was up for the remainder of the day. Over the course of the afternoon and evening, I spoke to a lot of people, reassuring them that I was doing ok. I also hung oustide with Tom and Anna. In truth, I felt ok. There were lots of aches and soreness, but thanks to the pain meds, no genuine pain. Over the course of the day, the left side of my face swelled up considerably, my left eye turned black (above broken bone #1), and the left side of my face turned red (location of broken bone #2). My jaws hurt a fair amount, and my bite didn't seem aligned (it still doesn't -- I'm hopeful that when the swelling subsides it'll be ok, but I don't know). It also hurt quite a bit to chew (even eating a Klondike Bar hurt), so I ate mostly liquids (Kathy made a several soups and bought a lot of yogurt). I gave some consideration about going into work today, but figured it'd probably be a bad idea.

This morning when I awoke I had no doubt about going into work. The pain medication had worn off during the night, and I was in a lot of pain. It usually takes me about 36-48 hours for an injury to reach its peak discomfort, and I seem to be moving along those lines. At the ER, I didn't get any ibuprofen until six hours after getting mugged, and while I was sore, it felt pretty tame to how I felt this morning. Fortunately, now that I've taken my pill and it's had a chance to take effect, I'm back to "moderate discomfort."

So today I'll take it easy for the most part, set up a couple of doctors' appointments, look into a new driver's license, etc. I'm somewhat restricted in what I can do in that I need my new bank card and credit card to arrive (somehow I remembered the phone number of my bank while I was waiting around in the ER, so I canceled them then).

I'm looking forward to 48 hours from now, when I should have already started feeling better.

A Very Rough Night

2008-06-29T08:37:00.002-04:00

I left the beer tasting around 12:30, having stopped drinking over 90 minutes earlier. I headed home, and had made it most of the 20-minute drive, when I got to a stop sign and saw two kids (late teens?) on bicycles pop out, one right in front of me. As for the other, I heard a bump toward the back of the car, and down he went. The guy in front tried to open my door to get me to come out for his friend, but I stopped him, then foolishly parked my car and got out to assess damage. The guy in front talked with me some and then the other one came over and accused me of hitting him. I said I didn't, and asked him how I could have done so with anything other than the front of the car. He asked if I was calling him a liar, and I said no, I was asking how it could be, that's all. Suddenly he punched me hard in the face, and I must have passed out briefly, because I don't remember them taking my wallet. A car pulled up and checked on me, and called 911. The cops showed up right away, several cars worth, and they pursued the bicyclists. They nabbed a couple of suspects, and I was able to identify one, but I wasn't as sure on the other, the one who actually decked me. Other than my wallet, nothing appeared missing.

An ambulance offered to take me to the hospital, and I took a little while to decide, before concluding that my jaw hurt too much to just go home. So after a three hour wait I finally got to see a doctor, and another couple of hours later they did a CAT Scan on me. They discovered two broken bones on my face, one on the side of the face and the other the lower part of the eye socket. Pain meds, antibiotics, opthamologist, oral surgeon, and not blowing my nose for six weeks await me. Again, all told it could have been worse (more damage to me, more stuff stolen), and I'm not nearly as depressed about it as perhaps I should be. Then again, I had several hours to get used to the whole thing -- when I told Kathy about it this morning, she was completely stressed, worried, freaked, and apologetic. It's not easy to feel helpless on behalf of someone you love. Right now she's at the pharmacist getting my meds, and once she gets back and I take some, I'm finally going to sleep. Sadly, no DC United game for me today.

Depending on how coherent this sounds when I wake up I may revise this, but I figured I'd get the news out for those who want to know.

From the League of You Can't Make This Stuff Up

2008-06-27T19:16:00.004-04:00

Apologies for another political post so soon after the last one, but after that downer, I needed a laugh:

Just this week, a group of Republican senators re-introduced the Federal Marriage Amendment to the Constitution, which, as we know, would ban gay marriage.

And once again, the language is pretty straightforward:

Section 1. This article may be cited as the `Marriage Protection Amendment’.

Section 2. Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Neither this Constitution, nor the constitution of any State, shall be construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon any union other than the union of a man and a woman.’.

This isn’t especially surprising. Republicans are looking at the political landscape, and they’re feeling awfully discouraged. The polls look bad, the base looks depressed, and fundraising looks iffy. Rallying the far-right troops with an anti-gay amendment to the Constitution — even though it has no chance at even getting so much as a hearing — might be helpful to the conservative movement.

But the funny part is looking over the list of the 10 original sponsors. Most of the names are predictable — Brownback and Inhofe, for example — but there are two others whose names stand out: Sens. David Vitter (R-La.) and Larry Craig (R-Idaho).

Yes, two of the principal sponsors of a constitutional amendment to “protect” marriage include one far-right Republican who hired prostitutes and another far-right Republican who was arrested for soliciting gay sex an airport men’s room.

As my friend Kyle put it, these two are “not exactly the poster boys of the family values crowd or particularly upstanding examples of the supposed sanctity of the ‘union of a man and a woman.”‘

Source.

Why, Obama? It Matters!

2008-06-25T07:14:00.002-04:00

Upon returning home on Sunday, I discovered that not only had the wretched FISA bill passed the House, but that Obama has come out in support of it.* I came up with four possible reasons why Obama might have done this:
1. With the nomination secured, he figures that he has to "move to the center."
2. He felt the bill's passage is inevitable, and decided that it would look bad to support a loser.
3. His earlier rhetoric wasn't genuine, but merely a way to win support.
4. He expects to be president, so isn't concerned about abuse of executive power.

Needless to say, I find none of these reasons, alone or in combination, a sufficient basis for his change of heart. I'm not going to name all the things wrong with the bill (it goes far beyond the telecom immunity feature); rather, I encourage people to read Senator Feingold's summary analysis of the bill's shortcomings, as well as Glenn Greenwald's excellent series of posts on the subject. Suffice it to say that overnight my support of Obama went from solid to tepid, and that any earlier interest in contributing to his campaign has evaporated. I know that no politician is perfect, and also that Obama is not and never has been a progressive, no matter the efforts underway to label him as ultra liberal, so maybe I shouldn't be so disappointed. All the same, one of the principal reasons I favored Obama over Clinton was a belief that he "gets" the importance of civil liberties, to me one of the most important issues there is, and the protection of which should, and occasionally does, cross political lines. Now I find that he doesn't get it, and doesn't see that this is one of the principles and positions over which one should not cave.

Given that I live in DC, it's easy to vote my conscience in the general election, because no matter what I do, the Democrat will garner over 80% of the vote -- I need not fear that my vote will enable "the greater of two evils" to claim the White House. Given that I have that luxury, I need to re-examine whether I want to vote for him, because his position here suggests that he isn't the candidate I thought he was.

[Update]Unlike Obama, Senator Dodd "gets it."
--
* - I consider his statement that he will try to get telecom immunity taken from the bill to be worthless -- he has stated that he supports the bill (and presumably will vote for it), not that he won't support it unless telecom immunity is removed.

The Weekend in Five

2008-06-23T19:31:00.001-04:00

1. We went to Minnesota this past weekend to attend Kathy's 15th college reunion. Kathy went to Carleton, a small liberal arts college roughly 40 minutes from Minneapolis, which Kathy's Mom also attended. We had a great time -- I'd met a decent number of her classmates over the years, and enjoyed hanging out with both them and the ones I met this weekend. We got into Minneapolis in the late afternoon (note to self -- when flying with Emelia, it's worth booking the direct flight over the connecting one, even if it costs a little extra or we have to schlep to Dulles), which gave us enough time to check into the hotel we'd reserved right by the airport and grab a bite before it was time for Emelia to go to sleep. I have to say that most of the time, Hotwire is the best option for reserving hotels. We ended up in a lovely suite that included a better-than-average complementary breakfast for less than $60 including taxes.

2. After Emelia went to sleep Thursday evening, my friend Dan picked me up and we hit a couple of beer bars -- the selections were a bit disappointing, as not much new was available. During the evening, Dan apologized for forgetting a can of Surly Bitter Brewer that he'd intended to bring, and encouraged me to hit a beer store on my way out of town to grab some of my own (Surly is only a couple of years old, but arguably is the best brewery in town. It also provided a great private tour as part of last year's RateBeer Summer Gathering). I told him that we'd be heading out early in the morning, long before the beer stores would be open. I was, after all, in town to attend Kathy's reunion, and the fact that I was even able to get with Dan was a bit of a bonus. Apparently, having such a healthy attitude was something that the Beer Gods smiled upon, for that afternoon, when we were hanging out with Kathy's classmates and the alcohol began flowing, someone walked by with a mixed case of Surly products, including Bitter Brewer. I asked him what the deal was, and learned that one of Kathy's classmates is married to the founder of Surly, and that she was providing a few cases for the event. The fact that I since discovered that I had already rated it doesn't bother me in the least, as I enjoyed it there, along with the other three Surly beers that were in the cooler.

3. Out of a recognition of the noise that would be created by partying alumni, the rooms for the alums with children were on the top floor of the dorm we stayed in, the fourth floor. I know they meant well, but the fourth floor was a bit of a haul to bring all of Emelia's accouterments (including the portable crib), seeing as how there were no elevators. Plus it was a bit of a haul if you wanted to hang with folks while a child napped, but still wanted to check on her on occasion. And it was warm -- being part of a relatively junior class, we weren't in a dorm with A/C, and the sun beat down upon the very windowed rooms all day long (and heat rises). It cooled down at night, but it was tough for Emelia to fall asleep for her nap, and even harder to do so in the evening while the room at its peak temperature. Friday night, Emelia wouldn't go to sleep, and Kathy finally brought her downstairs around 9pm. After a little time in the relative cool, we went back upstairs to try to get her to sleep. Our efforts before 10pm came to naught, as it was then that the fireworks began, seemingly right next to the building. Emelia wasn't too scared (I calmed her down pretty easily when she started to stress), but she certainly wasn't going to sleep right then. Finally at around 10:30, only ~4 hours later than usual, Emelia fell asleep for the night (she usually goes to sleep just after 7:30, but Minneapolis is one hour behind DC).

4. On Saturday, one of the activities was a porch party at the house of a couple from her class that own a house just two of blocks from campus. They have kids, and there were plenty of toys to keep Emelia occupied. She was mostly exploring the toys by herself, and while many kept her interest during the time we were there, Emelia eventually settled on a few dolls with a stroller. As is her wont with dolls, she was transfixed, particularly with an anatomically correct boy doll. At one point I explained to her that these were dolls to play with while she was there and that she'd have leave them, but I didn't have much hope that she fully understood what I was saying. And indeed, when it was time to go, she let loose the loudest series of shrieks I'd ever heard pass her lips. Ah well, these things happen I suppose, but Kathy felt pretty embarrassed (I mostly tried to suppress my laughter).

Emelia was fully over it by the time we were about a block from dinner. From that distance we saw Shizuka and Kazumi -- Emelia shouted, "Kaz," and Kaz shouted, "Melia!" Well, Kaz did that at first, but pretty quickly she noticed that we were walking with Greg (classmate to Shizuka and Kathy), and she started shouting, "Greg!" After the mothers put their daughters down, what ensued was the classic movie scene parody, with the two of them running toward each other, followed by Kaz running right past Emelia to greet Greg.

5. Carleton doesn't just recycle, it composts. At meals, pretty much everything except the metallic butter wrappers went into the compost bin, including, when we ate outside, the "plastic" (corn or potato) utensils and cups. Kathy and I thought it was fantastic, and when I got back home, I discovered that Carleton has a host of significant green initiatives. I know colleges and universities are usually at the forefront of such efforts, but it makes us wonder how soon such efforts will become mainstream.

Things That Got Me Thinking in the Last 24 Hours

2008-06-18T20:01:00.001-04:00

Bye Bye to Bananas?
The Crappy "Leadership" of the Democrats in Congress
Really REALLY Bad Sportsmanship
War Crimes of the Bush Administration
Another Way to Look at How Things are Going in Iraq
And oh yeah -- the Celtics won!!!!!

In other news, on Sunday I started with a stomach bug, and for the next 60 hours I hardly ate (I'm still eating much less than I was pre-bug, and am only just now starting to add dairy back to my diet (beer yet to be reintroduced)). On Monday evening the cold Kathy and Emelia were suffering started hitting me. Yesterday I felt miserable but went into work largely for an important meeting with an outside group (said meeting lasted all of 15 minutes and didn't cover anything new). As of today, Kathy and Emelia seem to be recovered, and while I'm feeling mostly better, I lost my voice this afternoon. We head to Minnesota tomorrow to attend Kathy's college reunion, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it'll be smooth sailing healthwise by then.

Trip Photos

2008-06-16T20:21:00.015-04:00

Enough chit chat -- here are some photos of Emelia from our week at the beach.

Emelia and the Heron

Emelia with her cousins Lauren and Leynie

Emelia feeding her younger (by three months) cousin Luke

Emelia engaged in her favorite activity (playing with water)

The little nudist

Emelia swimming with Kathy and me

Flying

2008-06-15T16:04:00.001-04:00

For the week vacation in Hilton Head with the family, we were going to take a direct flight from National to Savannah, and drive the ~1 hour from there. Six weeks before our flight, US Airways notified us that they were stopping their morning direct flights, and so we decided it would be better to switch to a flight into Hilton Head -- if we needed to take a connection, why keep the drive as well?

The last couple of times we've flown, we've gotten Emelia her own seat, even though she's eligible to be a lap baby until she turns two. She doesn't sit still, and it's gotten too difficult to keep her on a lap the whole way. On the flight from Charlotte to Hilton Head, they weren't able to seat the three of us near each other (only 2 passengers per side anyhow), so Kathy and Emelia sat in the back row, with Emelia alternating between Kathy's lap and the seat. It was 95 degrees outside, the air conditioning in the plane hardly worked, and the plane wasn't a jet -- it was a prop plane, a Dash 8, something that only added to Kathy's queasiness.

On the way back, we also were on a Dash 8 into Charlotte, but at least it was a newer (and more comfortable) plane, the A/C worked, and we were able to sit across from each other. Also, no one was in the seat next to me, so we passed Emelia back and forth throughout the flight to keep her fairly content, though she was unable to settle down enough to sleep despite the flight being during her nap time. Our flight to DCA was in a small jet, again 2 passengers per side, and again the seat next to me was unoccupied. Emelia's fussiness increased as her exhaustion did, but did ok all things considered -- naturally, she only fell asleep while we were landing on the second flight, and woke up soon thereafter with all the motion that followed upon landing.

Unfortunately, our luggage didn't accompany us on our flight home, as none of our three bags were on the conveyor belt when we got to baggage claim. Rather than wait for the next flight, to see if the bags made it, we went home and waited. And waited. And waited. I called and was told our bags would make it to us between 8:30 and 11:30. We never received a phone call telling us that they wouldn't be delivered, and Kathy stayed up later than the supposed window waiting for the bags that never came. I called in the morning, and they stated that the bags would show up some time after eight. When they showed up, I looked for my toiletry case so I could take a shower. It wasn't in either of the bags (bag #3 was Emelia's car seat), and when I asked Kathy, she remembered that she had put it in the carry-on suitcase that we hadn't bothered to unpack yet. In other words, we unintentionally defied TSA regulations that prohibit carrying on containers larger than 3 ounces, carrying toiletries when they aren't in a one-quart clear plastic bag, and not separating them out for inspection when we went through security. And despite this, we got through security wholly unimpeded.

Given how much inconvenience these rules create (and it's only getting worse with airlines deciding to charge for even the first checked bag), I'd at least appreciate it if TSA enforces these supposedly necessary rules. The fact that they aren't, or are doing so haphazardly, pisses me off even more than the rules being there in the first place, seeing as how we're left with inconvenience without enhanced security.

Our next flights are coming up this weekend, for Kathy's college reunion out in Minneapolis. Unfortunately, these aren't direct flights either. As for Hilton Head, the folks decided they liked it so much that they booked a house down there for next year's family vacation as well. As of now, we plan on driving the 10 hours.

Thoughts on Watching a Sunrise at the Beach

2008-06-14T06:33:00.003-04:00

Some moments are meant to be savored for themselves and not put on film, for the act of photographing hinders one's ability to experience, to "live," the moment. In other words, rather than fully engaging one's self in the moment, the photographer is diverting his or her attention to the act to capturing the moment. Given that the purpose of taking a photograph is to share a moment with others, including not just the subject of the photo, friends, family, and relative strangers, but also one's future self, there is something sadly ironic about the very act of sharing that moment preventing the photographer from ever actually living in that moment.

Today marks the end of a week at the beach with my parents, my siblings, and their families. I did not take a single picture of a sunrise during our stay.

Maybe You're Wondering

2008-04-25T00:43:00.002-04:00

This girl of ours, about two weeks shy of turning 18 months old, continues to amaze us. We estimate her vocabulary at well over 200 words, and she's starting to use possessive, i.e., "Mommy's keys," "Daddy's socks," and yes, even "Melia's shoes." We figure sentences aren't too far off, but it's not like we have experience with such things.

Last week she pointed out the moon before it was dark out, which i thought was pretty cool given that all her picture books would have shown the moon at night. Her favorite word at the moment is "again" -- yes, she's started the long stage of wanting to have things repeated. Mostly it's reading a book to her several times in a row, which, given how many times we've read all her books already and how short many of her books are, can be pretty tedious. Speaking of reading, she constantly wants to be read to, handing us books aplenty whenever we're inside. Not that she always sits through the reading of them. She walks and runs and, well, never seems to stop for as long as she's awake. Typical I suppose, but for a first-time parent, so exciting to experience with her. She tends to run off in the direction opposite of where we want her to go. Fortunately, she's not yet that fast.

As for manners, she's getting good about saying please ("peas"), and when she forgets, she follows our prompting pretty well. It seems that she understands the word to mean "I want X," which at one level sounds about right for a toddler, but in another way I guess that really is how it's used. "Thank you" ("dan-q") is a little more erratic right now, but she does use it, particularly when prompted. She also has started saying "Bless you" when someone sneezes, something she obviously learned from her Nanny. Kathy sneezes a bunch, and years ago I started saying "Gesundheit," "Labriot," and "Salute" in addition to "Bless you," and Emelia shows no inclination to adding those other sneeze responses.

Last weekend we bought her a doll at a neighborhood yardsale-- she's been grabbing other children's dolls at the park (and being unwilling to give them back), so we figured we should. Despite the stereotype of a girl having a doll, we didn't push this in the slightest. We got it because it was obvious that Emelia wanted one. Emelia named her doll Ogga -- Kathy and I disagree on how it should be spelled, but since I'm the one with the blog, I'm putting it in writing first. ;) Ogga has some purple marker on the side of her face (though after Kathy's ministrations, it's not as severe as when we bought it), but as one might expect, this isn't a problem to Emelia -- she absolutely adores Ogga.

Emelia is fascinated with water, and constantly asks us for some just so she can play with it. We have a metal sugar bowl with two handles that she asks us to put water in -- sometimes she drinks during the course of playing with it, and sometimes it ends in a mess. But even then, it's only water. She also really enjoys drawing, whether on her magnetic board or with markers on a white board at her little table.

Of course, despite our best efforts, she's not always fun. She often will cry as soon as she doesn't get her way. The crying has an instantaneous "off" switch too, so that she'll stop all at once if something else gets her attention (or if we're foolish enough to give into a demand/request that we had already said no to). In fact, she's much more likely to cry over not getting her way than she is when she falls -- she's a tough little cookie. She continues to test us, intentionally or otherwise -- she's been taking off her clothes, and her diaper, when she's in her crib. She hasn't done it in about a week, so we hope she's past this stage (we haven't entirely relied on her to be done with it-- Kathy bought onesies that we put Emelia in when she goes to bed, and so far she's hasn't taken one of those off (but we're sure that's only temporary)). Still, on the balance there are a lot more laughs and smiles than there are groans and instances of "Here, you take her!"

She certainly has enriched our lives.

Another Depressing Facet of the Iraq War

2008-04-20T14:31:00.000-04:00

I don't watch TV much these days, but I wouldn't be surprised if the big story in today's New York Times doesn't generate much attention in any of the television news programs. I didn't see any mention of it on CNN.com's front page (but there is of a car used in the latest James Bond movie plunging into a lake), or cbsnews.com's (though a bully apparently tried to poison a student with peanuts), or abcnews.com (an Indiana woman turned 115), or foxnews.com (same bullying piece as CBS). Only msnbc.com's site acknowledges it. Given that the article can be read as completely undermining the various networks' (and many other news source's) coverage of the Iraq War, I suppose it's no surprise. At the same time, it's appalling that they fail to acknowledge the report, or what it means.

Thus, in case you missed it, this article reports on the fact that the "military experts," those retired officers who have been providing the bulk of the analysis of the Iraq War, from the lead up to present day, were routinely briefed and prepped by the Pentagon in order to get out the message that the Pentagon wanted to express. Moreover, most of them work for defense contractors and thus have an interest in currying favor from the Pentagon. The article provides numerous examples where an officer believed the Pentagon's position didn't hold up, but where he nevertheless elected not to reveal his doubts or concerns when given a public opportunity to do so. I could quote the article extensively, but I recommend that you read the whole damning thing, even though it's rather long.

I wish I could say that I was surprised to learn this, but really I wasn't. It greatly saddens me that the invasion and subsequent disaster in Iraq could have been avoided if these officers had spoken up when they had concerns, that they had no qualms about allowing themselves to serve the Pentagon rather than the American public, and that the news media that plays a role in forming public opinion failed to address the conflicts of interest before giving these retired officers a platform to shape public opinion. What could sadden me even more is if the networks' failure to acknowledge what has happened, or their role in it, leads to future such happenings. For this reason, I encourage everyone to get the word out to those who get their news from the very cause of the problem.

It Could Be Worse

2008-03-24T20:11:00.001-04:00

Yesterday Emelia got sick -- runny nose, watery eyes, and very fussy. She went to sleep around 6pm, and other than a brief time up around 1am, slept until about 6:30 this morning. There's no fever, and she was able to be with the nanny for the day (our approach with the other family is that unless they're really sick, no problem). Truth is, we're starting to think that it's strictly allergies. So it could be worse.

Like with Nora, who started having diarrhea on Saturday night and really hasn't stopped since -- very messy (and stinky), lots of cleaning up, and a sad little dog. We started her on a rice and turkey diet last night, and there was no mess when I got home tonight. So it could be worse.

Like with Junebug. We came home from being at the playground with Emelia yesterday to find that the dogs had gotten into Kathy's purse and opened up a plastic container of raisins – about one cup was consumed. My sister having sent us one of those "Warning" e-mails on this very subject last week, we called the vet, who said to bring them both in immediately. They had their stomachs emptied, and it turned out that Junebug had eaten them all. Because of their toxicity, however, even the limited time they were being digested in her stomach could be fatal, so she's staying at the vet hospital for observation, tests, and IV fluids for 48 hours. She gave us quite a scare, but she'll probably be ok (so far the tests have been fine). And it's certainly better that Nora didn't eat any, and so doesn't have to stay for observation as well (for Nora as well as our bank account). So it could be worse.

Besides, this is a great excuse to offer up appropriate musical accompaniment (and a belated wish of a Happy Easter to those out there who observed it):

Noted Without Comment

2008-03-19T20:01:00.001-04:00

Battery Recharge

2008-03-18T18:53:00.000-04:00

We, along with our friends Tom and Anna, went to the Outer Banks last week, and while no, the water wasn't warm enough to go swimming (not that we expected it to be), we greatly enjoyed the pleasant weather and peace. Our house was on the ocean, was dog friendly, and had a hot tub. Emelia had a great time, enjoying filling her bucket with sand and collecting shells, as well as bike rides and a whole lot of running around.

This is the first of three weeks we'll be spending at the Atlantic Ocean this year -- my family's vacation is in Hilton Head in June, and then we return to Maine for Tom and Anna's wedding in July.

So she's shoveling sand with the sifter -- she's only 16 months old, what do you want?!

Sunrise (View from the Deck)

Parenthood

The VA-NC Border
The beaches have a fence between them, presumably because the Virginia side is a state park. Still getting used to the camera, and I overexposed this one. All the same, I like the effect.

Running Crazy

Currituck Lighthouse

Feeding Frenzies & Fast Footsteps

2008-03-05T00:14:00.006-05:00

I think these two photos, taken about a week apart, speak for themselves.

In other Emelia news, this past weekend the weather was great and she walked with us to the nearest park/playground, ~2.5 blocks away -- we carried her when we crossed the streets, but otherwise she did all the walking herself. At one point she lost focus (something shiny on the ground perhaps), and I was ahead of her, gesturing and calling to her to come on, facing her and walking backwards as I did it. Damned if she didn't turn around and start walking backwards herself without so much as stumbling. This kid has fun (and hanging out with her, so do we)!

Last Night's Dream

2008-02-23T20:56:00.002-05:00

For some reason I have to take the LSATs again. I'm about an hour late getting to sign in, but when I get there, they hand me my 19-year-old original test, and I can use my answers from then if I want to. I go sit down to take the test, but somehow the test is transformed into a beer blind tasting, complete with palate cleansing snacks (mostly vegetables with a Ranch dressing dip). Although having the answers makes me feel like I should have no trouble acing the test, the fact that I started late makes it challenging to get through all the "questions" in time, particularly since I feel quite full. At some point I get up and take a break by going swimming in the pool that's right there. I go back to finish the test, but I have no recollection of whether I'm able to finish in time.

Greetings from Warfordswhere?

2008-02-19T06:45:00.001-05:00

A couple of years ago, when I googled for rental places in the region that allow pets, I came across the place that we stayed this past weekend. The cabins were unavailable when we've previously tried to visit, so this was our first trip up there, there being just outside Warfordsburg, which is the first exit in Pennsylvania on I-70. Yep, smack dab in the middle of nowhere, where we were able to hike, hot tub, and generally hang out. Other than a trip to a far away brewpub for lunch on Saturday, we stayed on the property the whole time.

1. The property evidently had been in the same family for years, and it was only in the last dozen or so years that they decided to rent out cabins there. The cabin we stayed in is called Sophronia, and there were a couple of other references on the property to Sophie. The first night in the cabin, I discovered a pamphlet/short story called "Sophie's Story." I skimmed it to learn that Sophie was a girl who lived in the valley about 100 years ago, and who, when she was eight, burned to death when the wind caused her to catch aflame from a controlled brush fire. The end of the pamphlet provided directions to Sophie's grave in case you wanted to put flowers there. We thought the fascination was a bit weird, though it seemed more than that when we found the needlepoint couplet on the wall in the bedroom that read, "This valley is my home, From it I never will roam. -- Sophie 1908."

2. Upon arrival, we discovered that Sophronia had no bathtub. By Sunday Emelia definitely needed a bath, so we improvised:

3. On our Sunday morning hike, we went up a small hill, not knowing where the path would lead. When I say hike, I mean that I carry the camera and Kathy carries Emelia. It may not seem chivalrous, but Kathy says she hardly feels the weight, while I have a bad back. The trail wasn't particularly steep -- it just went uphill for an extended time. Eventually the trail took us to a different trail, part of which we'd done Saturday morning. We ended up on a wholly different segment, however, that seemed tame at first, but then offered a brief sharply downhill section followed by a stretch that was against the mountain. This stretch was narrow, had poor footing (loose leaves covered by a little bit of snow), and was roughly 40 degrees (i.e., your left foot was supporting all your weight while your right foot was uphill). I had enough trouble navigating it without a child on my back, but Kathy had it much worse, particularly given that she wasn't wearing shoes with treads. By this time we didn't see that we could go back the way we came, so we pressed onward, only to discover that the trail abruptly ended with an arrow that pointed downward to the bottom of the hill. We tried to ease our way down, but ultimately Kathy sat down involuntarily, braced herself, then went on a lovely sled ride, hold the sled, with Emelia on her back laughing and loving it. A run in the washer and dryer later, Kathy's pants were as good as new. As for her willingness to hike again, I admit that I pushed her to take another one in the afternoon. Fortunately, it was much milder (though not easy by any means).

(I was above them for the climactic slide down the hill, and Kathy refused to go back up so I could get a good picture of it).

4. A couple of times last week, when I was counting with Emelia, I threw in the "ah ah ah!" of Sesame Street's The Count. Emelia doesn't watch TV, so she's never seen The Count, but the day before we left, and ever since then, she's been saying "ah ah ah!" all the time (not that she's actually counting). In her honor:

A Going Blind Tasting

2008-02-14T19:11:00.002-05:00

This past Saturday a group of local RateBeerians assembled at my house for a blind tasting of 25 imperial stouts. For those unfamiliar with the Imperial Stout style, it's a BIG beer, typically at least 8% ABV, with lots of malts and a fair amount of hops. Flavors that may be imparted include roastiness, coffee and chocolate, though they certainly don't stop there. And so we attempted to determine nuance among 25 different takes of this style, roughly two ounces at a time. Surprisingly, after trying so many beers over the years, I had yet to participate in a blind tasting. If you're curious how it went, I wrote an article about it over at RateBeer.

College Football Recruiting

2008-02-08T01:20:00.000-05:00

[Updated below] Have you heard about the recruiting hoax that some kid (Kevin Hart) made up because he so wanted to be a college football player? Really quite sad, and I think that Hart's story serves as an interesting contrast to Pat Forde's column earlier this week about kids not following through on their verbal commitments to colleges.

The columnist writing about Hart, Gene Wojciechowski, is actually quite sympathetic to Hart for making up his lie. He recognizes that having to face up to the humiliation caused by the truth coming out is quite a punishment for Hart to face. It sounds that he won't be prosecuted for filing a false police report either. Wojciechowski points to the failure by the adults in Hart's life to realize that Hart's story didn't add up, and indirectly suggests that the hype surrounding college recruiting, including that from his employer ESPN, contributed to Hart doing what he did:

Hart apparently was overwhelmed by his fixation on playing big-time football, on being wanted, on the need to replicate what he had seen done by actual blue-chip players on National Signing Day: the semi-insanity of high school seniors announcing their college decisions on local and even national television outlets, including ESPNU.

Then there's Forde's column, which concludes by placing blame wholly on the high school seniors:

But college football players need to reacquaint themselves with the meaning of the word commitment. It doesn't mean you're going steady until something hotter comes along.

These kids may reasonably have a change of heart over one of the most important decisions of their young lives, but it's more than that. Forde somehow disregards that the recruiting hype and media attention (in large part created by his employer) puts ridiculous scrutiny over their decisions. Worst of all, he wholly ignores the coaching carousel (he only mentions coaches getting fired), and the fact that some of the backing out he decries happens because the adults, i.e., the coaches that recruited them, don't keep their written commitments. Implicit in his omission is a suggestion that somehow it's worse for the these young adults to not honor verbal commitments than it is for head football coaches to not honor their written contracts. He recognizes that once a kid signs a letter of intent, he's committed. But at the same time, he seems unable to accept that the whole purpose of the letter of intent is a recognition that an oral contract isn't worth the paper it's written on.

Update (the morning after my insomniatic posting): The bottom line to me is that Forde seems to put a college football program's ability to rely on a kid's commitment to fill its recruiting class above the kid's need to make the best decision for his future. I think he has it backwards.

My Vote

2008-02-06T20:31:00.000-05:00

Despite the fact that the United States started with the "self-evident" premise that "all men are created equal," it took 94 years after its founding before blacks were able to vote, and it took another 50 years for women to be given that same basic right. Another 88 years have passed, and we're still waiting for the first non-white, non-Christian, or non-male to be elected president. Amazingly enough, either of the two remaining contenders on the Democratic side could end the white Christian male reign, and in the abstract I'm delighted by that prospect. But elections aren't in the abstract, they're about the positions, qualifications, and character of the individuals running for office. And how one casts his or her vote usually is influenced by other, non-substantive factors, such as perceived electability and how the media characterizes and portrays the candidates.

I try not to consider these last two factors, but in order to do that, I have to recognize the possible influence they play. In national polls, Obama is much more favorably viewed than Clinton is. There are probably a number of reasons for this, but the three non-substantive reasons I can think of offhand are: (1) charisma, (2) familiarity, and (3) sexism. Obama is young and handsome, and a dynamic speaker -- he has charisma that none of the other candidates possesses. As for familiarity, the old saw is that it breeds contempt, and given the "dynastic" concerns with respect to the Bushes and Clintons, that certainly seems true here. And then there's the media, which seems to take delight in holding Clinton to a standard that none of the other candidates are held to, a standard that strikes me as sexism pure and simple. Quite frankly, it disgusts me. It dates back to at least the Lewinsky scandal, and probably before -- she was condemned for having been cheated on and staying with Bill, but she would have been condemned at least as much for leaving Bill. With a media that takes delight in focusing on non-substantive rather than substantive matters among the candidates (quick -- tell me three things about John Edwards' aborted candidacy that don't involve a $400 haircut), she is criticized no matter what she does.*

Ok then -- assuming I can get past these non-substantive factors, where am I on the substantive ones?

On many of the issues I care about, such as choice, I think there's basically no difference between Clinton and Obama. With respect to the economy, their initiatives, while similar, show some differences, but to be honest I don't feel I'm qualified to say which one offers the superior package. On healthcare, I think Clinton has the more carefully considered approach, and Obama is looking somewhat shabby (but where she's going to come up with the money to pay for her superior proposal is another matter entirely). Otherwise, on pretty much every issue where they have a substantive difference, Obama comes out ahead. Katherine supports Obama based on her knowledge of the issues of Iraq, foreign policy generally, immigration, civil liberties, criminal justice, and human rights. Given the extremes that the Bush Administration has gone to on most of these issues, it seems critical to me that we have in office the person most likely to undo as much of those extremes as possible. hilzoy, probably the blogger I most respect, makes numerous additional points in Obama's favor.

As for qualifications, some argue that Obama is inexperienced, but on closer examination, that doesn't seem to hold up. Much has been made of Obama's desire to be bipartisan, which some have taken to mean that Obama will compromise on issues that he shouldn't just for the sake of bipartisanship.** But if one actually looks at his track record, as hilzoy has done, one can reasonably conclude that "Obama tries to find people, both Democrats and Republicans, who actually care about a particular issue enough to try to get the policy right, and then he works with them. This does not involve compromising on principle. It does, however, involve preferring getting legislation passed to having a spectacular battle." That strikes me as leadership -- he's been able to get good things done.

Lastly, there's the hard-to-quantify character issue, which I think also favors Obama.^ With respect to the campaigns, it's nearly impossible in a constantly under-the-microscope environment to remain completely clean among the inevitable mudslinging, and Obama isn't spotless in this regard. At the same time, Clinton seems to have done more mudslinging (largely through intermediaries, including Bill). Of greater concern to me is her efforts to change the rules of the election in midstream -- by arguing that the Florida and Michigan delegates should count only after it was clear that they broke in her favor (rather than challenge the DNC's bad decision to exclude them at the time the decision was made), and to sue days before the Nevada caucus over the rules that some of her campaign team helped create in last-minute changes to the rules established in Nevada. Beyond the campaign, however, is the sense that she formulates her positions not necessarily on what she believes is the right answer, but what she considers the most politically supportable one. Perhaps not surprisingly, I feel this way most about the way her position on Iraq has "e vol ved."

For these reasons, I've decided to vote for Obama this Tuesday. That being said, I still favor Clinton over any of the Republican offerings. If you watch the January 31 debate that had only the two of them, you can see substantive discussions and debate, something generally absent from the "I'm more conservative than you are, you hippie Liberal (but I still represent change from Bush)" Republican slugfests.

--
* -- That being said, sometimes charges of sexism go too far, and are unwarranted. New York NOW's condemnation of Ted Kennedy's support of Obama is one example. Another is the indignation some folks feel when Hillary is asked about Bill Clinton's role -- if she considers him an asset on the campaign trail based on his experience (and fails to repudiate his remarks that generate controversy), it's fair game to ask whether she considers him an asset in the White House based on his experience.
** -- Truthfully, I'm much more concerned that Clinton, rather than Obama, will seek bipartisanship at the expense of progressive principles, something her husband was frequently accused of. Case in point.
^ -- Then again, maybe not.

It Definitely Could Be Worse

2008-02-05T21:37:00.000-05:00

Furnace problems last night, thought we fixed 'em.
No hot air coming out this morning, time to call repairman.
Stay home until repairman's assistant comes, here by 9am!
Fixed by 10:15, head to work by 10:20, in before 11.
Kathy and Emelia get home to find house smelling of gas.
I call repairman, who agrees to drive the hour to check the furnace.
We go to Brian and Elisabeth's, the couple we share the nanny with, for pizza and put Emelia in the Pack and Play (where she refuses to sleep).
Repairman arrives, sees problem (assistant stripped the valve when reinserting it), apologizes profusely, but needs part that he can't get until tomorrow morning.
Furnace is shut off -- no danger to us, but no heat until tomorrow.
I open doors and turn on ceiling fans to air place out.
Get Kathy and Emelia.
Emelia falls asleep immediately in her own crib.
Tonight's forecasted low, in early February, is a delightfully unseasonal 54 degrees.

"Your Kid is a Freak"

2008-02-03T09:12:00.000-05:00

Not counting when we've had someone watch her so we could go to a wedding or Bar Mitzvah, I think last night was the fourth time Kathy and I have left Emelia with someone and gone out, just the two of us. Like the other three times, last night involved nothing more adventuresome than going to dinner and then returning. Oddly enough, each time has involved someone different watching her, and this time it was our friend Bryce's turn. Bryce loves kids, and she has none of her own. She keeps threatening to teach Emelia all the things we'd never want her to learn, which, given that both Kathy and I are oldest children who were ridiculously conformist growing up, is probably a good thing.

We went to Georgetown, a part of town we almost never frequent, as it's filled with tourists, college students, shops, bars, traffic jams, and it's a good walk from the nearest Metro. There are some good restaurants there, however, and we decided to try a seafood place several people had recommended. It was a bit noisier than we might have wanted, but we could still hear each other fine. The food was great and we ate far too much, but the service enabled us to dine in a leisurely manner, something we do all too infrequently these days. Our conversation over dinner was substantive, serious even, but refreshing all the same. Far too often these days we find ourselves reacting to circumstances, causing friction with and defensiveness from the other. Last night had none of that, and maybe that's what made it so enjoyable. Most evenings after Emelia goes to sleep, Kathy and I have a couple of hours to ourselves to talk about anything, but we rarely do. It seems strange that we have to go out to do what we could do any other night, but given that in the evenings we feel more in need of down time than serious conversation, maybe it isn't so strange after all.

We got home a little over three hours after we left (the longest of our four dinners out). The first words from Bryce when she saw us were, "Your kid is a freak!" Long pause. "In a good way." Bryce explained how after we left, E didn't get all upset. Then Bryce read to E, they played together, and E had a little bit of food. Then E said, "Night night," and Bryce followed Kathy's directions by preparing a bottle, then reading her a story as E drank the bottle. When E finished the bottle, Bryce stood up with her, said "Night night I love you," and put Emelia down. Emelia went right to sleep. In her experience with children (that includes nannying and lots of babysitting), bedtime was something kids avoided, not asked for, and she'd never had a kid that didn't fuss at least a little bit. Of course, Emelia fusses a little bit some evenings (and frequently for naps), but what Bryce experienced isn't uncommon for us (in fact, I'm writing some of this while E's napping -- she said "night night" at 8:15am, and was in bed shortly thereafter without a fuss).

At the same time, we hadn't thought much of it, simply because we don't have anyone to compare Emelia with -- we don't have any other children, or a great deal of experience with small children. In some ways, not thinking about Emelia as compared to other kids is the norm for us -- we haven't done a lot of reading about stages or expected experiences, so we take everything as "normal." I mean, we think she's amazing, but I generally chalk that up to being her parent. As far as our interactions with her, we don't hold a lot of preconceived notions about how she should be -- as long as she seems to be growing and developing, we don't sweat the details. Whether that's bad or good, I can't honestly say, but it does create these moments when someone on "the outside" finds something remarkable in what for us is the ordinary.

"I'm a Freak?"

Afghani Sentenced to Death

2008-02-01T20:21:00.000-05:00

What was Sayed Pervez Kambaksh's crime? He shared a report he downloaded from the Internet which contended that "Muslim fundamentalists who claimed the Koran justified the oppression of women had misrepresented the views of the prophet Mohamed."

I'm not about to suggest that things aren't any better under Karzai's rule than they were under the Taliban, but on this matter, there doesn't seem to be much difference. Karzai can still pardon Kambaksh, but given that a key ally of his proposed a ruling in Parliament that condemned Kambaksh, I don't expect it to happen without significant international pressure. As the article notes, the UK is attempting to do just that.

Unfortunately, I haven't heard anything about the U.S. doing anything on Kambaksh's behalf, and while I'd like to believe the government is doing something, I'm not optimistic. For Bush to acknowledge that there's a problem with freedom in Afghanistan would serve as too sharp a contrast with what he said in his State of the Union address:

In Afghanistan, America, our 25 NATO allies, and 15 partner nations are helping the Afghan people defend their freedom and rebuild their country. Thanks to the courage of these military and civilian personnel, a nation that was once a safe haven for al Qaeda is now a young democracy where boys and girls are going to school, new roads and hospitals are being built, and people are looking to the future with new hope.

With that context, I'm not optimistic about Kambaksh's fate.

Toy Story

2008-01-30T20:06:00.000-05:00

I think I've always personified various objects that have a purpose, and it somewhat saddens me when they cannot achieve their purpose. Consequently, the movie Toy Story will always have a place in my heart.

These days, that movie seems much more real, as Emelia has dozens of toys, many of which are neglected in favor of others. Kathy collected some of the hardly used ones for giving away, but unfortunately she kept them in a paper bag in the front room, and so Emelia has gone through the bag and "rediscovered" these toys, leaving them strewn on the floor. These toys apparently have their purpose renewed, and will live in our household for another month or two.

Not so one of her Christmas toys, a talking refrigerator that wished to engage Emelia in learning activities. Emelia didn't understand the requests that the toy was making, for example, to find a food item beginning with a certain letter, or if she did, wasn't able to comply. But she enjoyed hearing the earnest voice, and kept going back to it. It was magnetic, so naturally we stuck it on our refrigerator. Alas, the toy was small enough to be carried, and solid enough to really smack against the hard kitchen floor the several times Emelia dropped it -- it took quite a beating in a very short time. Kathy was able to revive it once, but couldn't make it work again the next time, and apparently Emelia started freaking out when Kathy couldn't get it to work. So Kathy put it in the trash, part of an out-of-sight, out-of-mind approach that you can mostly get away with at this age (sorry Josh and Kim, but she really did love it while it lasted). The little lettered food magnets remain on our refrigerator, and Emelia is content to play with them.

I feel badly for the refrigerator, obnoxious though it was -- it "died" unfulfilled. It never got to be played with as it was supposed to be, except when Kathy or I would help put the right object into it for Emelia. It never really got the chance to help Emelia with her letters or food identification. Poor mistreated (though at least not neglected) toy.

Innocent Victims of Subprime Lending

2008-01-29T19:36:00.000-05:00

I came across this depressing article today, describing the massive increase of abandoned pets as a result of the flood of foreclosures that are happening all over the country.

"[M]ost people grappling with foreclosure are returning to rental housing or moving in with relatives — two situations where it can be difficult or impossible to bring pets."

Shelters and rescue groups are having to turn down pets because they have no space for them. If anyone is thinking about getting a pet, please consider adopting from a shelter rather than going to a breeder or pet store. Especially now.

Junebug, Our "Pound Puppy," Enjoying The Beach (January 2007)

For Anyone in Need of an Emelia Fix

2008-01-27T17:20:00.000-05:00

Here are three photos taken over the last 10 days:

She's growing up so quickly. There's the physical sense -- she seems to have hit a growth spurt in the last month or so, so that she's outgrown many of her outfits ridiculously quickly. She's gotten her molars in, and is finding it much easier to eat foods she used to have difficulty with (today she ate grapes for the first time without us needing to peel or break them up). Plus as these photos show, she's not a baby anymore -- she's truly a little girl.

There's also the mental sense -- she understands so much, and is rapidly improving her communications skills. Her favorite new word is hat, and she's perfectly willing to put anything on her head, be it a pot or a dog bowl, and call it a hat. Another word we hear constantly is "mao" -- she's become a cat fancier, and anytime she sees a cat a big smile appears on her face, and she calls "mao" (she hasn't got the "e" sound in there yet). We've gotten her a couple of toy cats, and on Friday Kathy got her a knit backpack with a cat face on it -- Emelia is smitten with it.

It's Not About the Money

2008-01-22T20:17:00.000-05:00

Today in the mail I got a notice from E-Z Pass that I ran a tollbooth in Maryland a couple of weeks ago. I was livid as I read this, as I know quite well that I didn't run the toll -- either the machine malfunctioned or the attendant didn't signal to the machine that I paid. If I pay within 30 days, there's no fine, so with the stamp I'm only on the hook for $2.41. That means that the rage I felt was way out of proportion to the inconvenience I'm now facing. All the same, I don't think my anger was an overreaction -- this letter all but accuses me of stealing!

The letter also claims that they have me on videotape -- somehow I'd wager that the tape is focused on the red/green light rather than the tollbooth (which may support their accusation), so it doesn't include the interaction that I had with the attendant, or show whether money exchanged hands. It was the first toll on the trip up to Wilmington to get Kathy, and the funny thing is that I remember that particular exchange -- I gave the attendant a $20, and he said all he had were ones. I either said or thought something to the effect, "That's ok -- they're going to be used to pay the rest of the tolls."

So is it worth trying to fight over two dollars and forty-one cents? Given the principle involved, I think it's worth making a phone call before I send the money. But principle or not, it probably isn't worth any more effort than that.

Louise, Inc. Annual Report

2008-01-05T20:48:00.000-05:00

When Emelia was less than a month old, I took a photo of Emelia Louise together with her great-grandmother Louise, her grandmother Virginia Louise, and her Mom Katherine Louise. Today we got a chance to get the four of them together in a photo again, and while three of them don't look dramatically different, the littlest one is a lot less little.

Scattered

2008-01-03T18:35:00.000-05:00

On a Monday about a month ago, I was at home sick. It was recycling pick-up day, and yet again someone had put their recycling in my filled bin, their newspapers and magazines balanced atop my bottles and cans. That particular day was very windy, and the papers and magazines went flying, along the street and into my yard and my neighbors' yard, before the city had picked up my recycling. I spent a good 20 minutes cleaning cleaning up the debris, furious that I needed to do this when I should have been inside taking it easy.

Fast-forward to yesterday, and a plastic bag left by the curb somewhere on our street on another windy day. The bag, filled with styrofoam peanuts, was no match for the wind and was blown into the street, where it was hit by a passing car that tore a hole in the bag. A substantial number of peanuts were scattered, but the bulk remained in the bag, which some well-intentioned(?) soul picked up and placed into my yard. The gusts didn't abate, however, and the bag, now with a significant hole, emptied into my yard. I threw away the bag and what remained inside, but my heretofore plain plot is presently populated by a platoon of pink packing peanuts.

When I got home tonight I borrowed Tom's Shop Vac in the hopes that I could get rid of the peanuts, but the damn things are too big for the vacuum's hose! So they continue to infest my lawn, and it's too cold (and too dark when i get home) to pick them up one at a time.

I figure that right now, a couple of people are running a serious karma deficit.

Hungry

2008-01-02T19:46:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I drove back from Connecticut. Other than a couple of hours in heavy rain, it was an easy drive -- there weren't many cars on the road until early afternoon, and by then I was into Maryland. I made the trip with just the dogs -- with Kathy working Monday through Wednesday, we realized that taking one more day off (today) meant that she didn't have to go back to work until the 7th, and she decided to spend those days with her folks.

So today was the first day back in the office in nearly two weeks. And among all the other things I was doing at work, I couldn't help but notice that I was hungry, despite having eaten a normal sized lunch for me. I guess it's no surprise that all those days of hanging around my in-laws' house, with tons of snack food and sweets readily available (not to mention beers to try), had gotten me used to consuming a lot more than I ordinarily do during the day. And that hadn't been the only source of disruption to my generally healthy eating habits -- during the preceding month, there had been our annual party plus leftovers, office holiday parties, and candy all over the office. And it's a given that I need to revert to my pre-holiday intake pattern ASAP, lest the consequences overwhelm me. So while the hours passed at work, I did my best to avoid the vending machine, all the while conscious of how close it is, and how easy it would be to grab an extra bite. Tick. Tock. Somehow I made it through the workday without any snacking -- success!

When I got home, I ate the last 6" of the Subway sub I'd purchased on the drive home yesterday. Then I had a little bit of the ridiculous amounts of chocolate lying around the house. Then I went over to Tom's, taking a beer and an unopened package of Hanukkah M&M's that my friend Barrett had given me. Tom didn't eat the M&M's, but I did -- I figure I ate about five ounces, plus some cheese and crackers Tom offered up. So much for success. Maybe I'll have better luck tomorrow. Sigh.

Happy 50th Birthday, Billy Bragg

2007-12-20T07:57:00.000-05:00

He's not twenty-two, and hasn't been for a long time, but happy birthday to Billy Bragg, folk-punk rocker (punk-rock folkie?) extraordinaire. In his honor, here are a few songs:

The wonderfully cheesy 1991 video to "Sexuality":

A solo version of "She Came Along to Me" (from Mermaid Avenue, an album Bragg made with Wilco, putting music to unrecorded songs of Woody Guthrie):

And finally, early birthday wishes + "A New England":

Do Glasses Make The Man?

2007-12-09T18:24:00.000-05:00

Above -- Old Glasses, New Glasses.
Below -- Old Glasses, New Glasses.

The aging process seems imperceptible, but the 23-year-old prediction that my eyesight would improve slightly several years before I'd need bifocals has begun to come true. The recommendation at Friday's appointment was that I should try to avoid using my glasses when I'm reading, in the hope that I can strengthen my eyes so that I won't need bifocals. The optometrist said that my astigmatism may make it too difficult, but that it was worth the try. I type this paragraph without my glasses, and I can just make out the words. For the proofreading, I put the glasses back on.

'Tis the Season 2

2007-12-06T20:06:00.000-05:00

I know a beer snob like me shouldn't take pleasure at seeing a bunch of Grolsch bottles, but sometimes it's all in the presentation.

My friend Pete sent this to me, joking that it was something for the beer party. Maybe in past years, but all I could think of in the here and now was, "Oh yeah -- I could see Little Miss Destructo Girl having a reaaaaallly good time with that. Sure she'd just 'look' at it."

'Tis the Season

2007-12-04T11:05:00.000-05:00

It's December, and that means that there are plenty of great events to experience. Last night, for example, there was a beer dinner featuring two highly regarded, extremely rare beers that I was looking forward to trying. Tonight is my friend's 20+th annual Hanukkah party, an event I always enjoy. And this Friday is our annual holiday beer party.

Alas, being December, it also means that sickness is capable of rearing its ugly head in any variety of ways. The malady that struck me is some sort of stomach bug, one that made my innards feel as though they were covered in bile and left me with no appetite whatsoever (it took a lot of willpower just to eat a few crackers, a banana, and a package of Ramen yesterday). Fever/chills and throbbing headache are the bonuses.

Consequently, I missed work yesterday, and skipped last night's beer dinner. I'm feeling somewhat better today (no bile!), but still very weak, so I also stayed home today, figuring it was better to rest up a little more and regain my strength. The remnants of the kegs with the two rare beers go on tap at 5pm, but I went slightly green when Kathy offered to make me eggs this morning, so beer isn't an option, nor is tonight's Hanukkah party.

My goal is to be healthy for our party, and for the slew of prep that's needed to get the house ready. As for Kathy, she seems to have come down with a cold herself (it seems to be one of the standard variety ones), but trooper/masochist/martyr that she is, she's working through it. Emelia might have been sick last week (and in fact, might have given me my illness), but if so it was mild for her, and right now she's doing fine (knock wood).

Thanksgiving in Photos

2007-11-27T21:20:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving was at my folks' house in Clearwater, Florida this year. It was exhausting, but good. It almost seems like we're getting comfortable spending time as a family, something I wouldn't have guessed possible just a couple of years ago. Except for the pre-race photo, all of these pictures are from my new camera (and the pre-race photo is from Kathy's new camera). Generally i was quite pleased with the pictures I got, chalking up the ones that didn't come out right to user error.

Kathy reading to nieces Leynie and Lauren and nephew Hunter as my sister Shari looks on

Luke, Emelia's younger (by three months) cousin

Hunter

Leynie

Lauren

Most of us before the Thanksgiving Morning 5K (we walked)

My brother Josh with Emelia

My brother-in-law John with Leynie (his daughter)

Kindle

2007-11-20T19:25:00.000-05:00

Looks like Amazon is taking a stab at selling a new and improved e-book, called Kindle. It looks very cool -- the two big selling points are its size (about the size and weight of a paperback) and its readability (no backlighting, very easy on the eyes). The fact that you can get your reading materials (not just books, but magazines and books as well) wirelessly via free data connections is really cool as well.

That being said, at $400 I think it’s at way too high a price point, especially since that only gets you the reader (for that price they could at least throw in a couple of free downloads!). For $400 it's possible to get a laptop that can do all the things that Kindle can do, and then some. In essence, you're trading the versatility of a laptop for the size and readability of the Kindle. Apple showed with the iPod that it's possible to charge a premium for size, but the iPod offers features that are comparable, not inferior, to the competition.

There's also the risk that the market for these devices doesn't develop, so you've put a good chunk of money down for an item that won't be supported in the future (this wasn't such a risk in the early days of portable mp3 players, since mp3s were already being made and used en masse by the time portable players showed up). Then you have to pay for the content. At $10/book, the price is about the same as for a paperback, except you can't share it or sell it. There are also monthly subscriptions available, e.g., $0.99 for blogsites, and more for magazine and newspaper subscriptions, though the content for almost all of these subscriptions is already available for free online (I believe it actually costs more for the Kindle version of the Washington Post than the paper version does, without the coupons!).

The fact that Amazon is also using a proprietary file system is also troubling. Apparently it's possible to convert pdf files (the format previous e-books have used, and the standard for home computing) to a version that can be read with the Kindle, but why should you have to?

So I guess I'm pretty skeptical that sales of Kindle will be able to catch fire. I do, however, think that they could make it work in one of two ways.

The first way would be to, in addition to lowering the price of the unit, ditch the per item approach and follow the music subscription approach -- have a $14.99/month (or something like that) subscription to unlimited content that's tied to the particular device, and whose access is contingent on maintaining one’s subscription. I admit that I have no idea how such an approach can work as far as splitting the subscription fee among all the authors and publishers whose works would be used, but I'm looking at it from the consumer side, and this seems like a service that could have some appeal.

Another way that it could succeed is if they're able to make all textbooks available (something that doesn't appear to be the case right now). Given how much a semester's worth of books weigh (and cost), college students would be delighted to have access to a light (and hopefully more affordable) way to have all their books. And once college students have the device, they could conclude that purchasing additional reading material wouldn't be such a big deal, particularly if they grow to appreciate the format.

It should be interesting to see if the Kindle takes off. I think it can, but not unless Amazon makes some significant changes.

MLS Cup 2007 was at RFK, so I went to Brooklyn

2007-11-18T20:13:00.000-05:00

My sport is soccer, and I have a third row midfield season ticket to DC United. United had the best record during the regular season, but got eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. I had already purchased a ticket in my usual seat for this year's MLS Cup, which was being held here, but I didn't go.

My cousin Jeff has been a stage manager for various off-Broadway theater productions, and while someone might mistake that fact for his occupation (it isn't -- he's a high school English teacher in Brooklyn, a challenging task to say the least), it's much more accurate to say that role perfectly describes him. He's the guy behind the scenes who gets things done. That wasn't why I asked him to be my best man (technically he was also the maid-of-honor), but when I got sick the Friday before my Sunday wedding, that talent came to the fore when he and Kathy took care of the last-minute details. As it also did when little things needed taking care of at the wedding.

It's been a tough couple of months for Jeff. His father (my Dad's brother, Paul) died in September after a four-year battle with cancer. And for the last few months of his father's life and also during the aftermath, Jeff was shuttling down to Brevard, North Carolina, missing work to be there, helping his stepmom and being there for his sister. Both my Dad and I encouraged him to grieve for himself rather than continue his role as stage manager even then, but for Jeff that was easier said than done. There was a memorial service in Brevard at the end of October, to which Kathy, Emelia, and I went. As Kathy put it so succinctly, he's always been there for us, we should be there for him. During the ceremony, Jeff broke down when he was supposed to recite something, but later recovered in order to give an incredibly moving, eloquent, funny, and wholly spontaneous reflection on his father.

A couple of weeks after the memorial, Jeff's mom (my Aunt Faith) fell, shattering her left ankle, tearing all the ligaments and breaking her leg. As her only child, Jeff immediately dropped everything to be with her in New Jersey (Uncle Paul and Aunt Faith divorced when Jeff was a child), once again missing school, even though he had already fallen quite behind. After Aunt Faith's surgery, Jeff sent out an update to his friends, which said, among other things,

Beyond that my freaking birthday is next saturday and I could really really use time to see a bunch of people. I was just adjusting to my dad's death and trying to get myself back together this past weekend when i got the call about my mom.

It may not sound significant, but those two sentences were remarkable in that Jeff asked for help, rather than giving it. I gave my MLS ticket to a friend in the hope that he could sell it, and e-mailed Jeff's old roommate and best friend, Tony. I set it up with Tony to stay with him and his wife, and didn't tell Jeff I was coming. Tony suggested Jeff come over early to go out for dinner before heading to the bar where everyone was to meet up. Jeff's double take expression when he saw me was priceless, and the entire evening, from dinner on, was great. Tony observed that it was the most relaxed he had seen Jeff in about a year.

As for me, it was great to know that I was able to give something to him, and I didn't miss the game at all.

Jeff with Emelia in North Carolina

An Obsession Renewed

2007-11-16T20:08:00.000-05:00

In the original Star Trek, the character Spock is a Vulcan, a species that prides itself on logic and rationality. Still, a Vulcan's logic and rationality must bend to erratic behavior every seven years, as part of a mating season. I'm pretty rational and fairly logical, but it goes without saying that I'm not a Vulcan. First, I can't wait seven years between matings. Second, my rationality apparently goes out the window much more often, at least every 2.5 - 3 years. But rather than being tied to mating, my temporary leave of my senses takes place because I go camera crazy.

I've been happy with my camera -- it's given me lots of great shots, and it shows no sign of falling apart. But it's got a weakness, and that weakness is the action shot. The action shot wasn't so important to me the last time I bought a camera because at that time I didn't have in my life a certain little girl who has trouble staying still. No matter that it has image stabilization, even that can only do so much -- virtually any point & shoot digital camera is going to have the same difficulties, given the little lag between clicking and the camera taking the shot. The alternative to a point & shoot is taking the plunge and buy a dSLR. Making the decision to buy one was easy -- picking which one was much harder.

While I like the idea of getting a camera that I can grow with, an opportunity that a dSLR affords, I knew I wouldn't be looking to become a serious photographer, and I don't have an interest in buying several different lenses. So it seemed that a "low-end" dSLR would be fine. The nominees were the Canon Rebels (XT and XTi), the Nikon D40x, the Pentax K100D, and the Olympus E-510. All of these are highly regarded, so in many ways I couldn't go wrong. Unfortunately, because all of these are highly regarded, I had a lot of trouble picking among them. The choice boiled down to picking between a less-popular brand with good quality, a ton of features, and a great price (either the Pentax or the Olympus), the popular camera (the Canons), or the ugly stepchild of the photographer's brand (the Nikon D40x).

Blah blah blah -- no one but a techno/camera geek would want to hear about how I chose among these options, so I'll skip that part of the tale and tell you that I went with the Olympus E-510. The price was great, and the camera has image stabilization inside the camera, mucho megapixels (10.1), a dust reduction system, and a mediocre live view (this isn't bad -- the other dSLRs don't have live view at all). Plus, the kit I went with comes with two well-regarded lightweight lenses that give me a huge range (28-300mm equivalent). I just got the shipping notice that it's expected to arrive on Tuesday, so if all goes according to plan I'll have it when I head down to Florida the next day for Thanksgiving. Hopefully my family will understand if I'm somewhat preoccupied with playing with my new toy instead of hanging with them (don't worry Mom and Dad, I'm kidding (mostly)).

For what it's worth, over the Thanksgiving holiday I won't be the only one with a new toy. Whether the decision was made as a salve to the guilt I'm feeling from my big purchase, or simply because she's been looking into getting a tiny camera with image stabilization, Kathy's new toy is scheduled to arrive on Monday -- it's a PowerShot SD850 IS, a seriously updated version of the camera she's had for nearly three years. At around $250, it's ridiculously inexpensive compared to what that price got you three years ago.

One of Emelia's favorite words is "cheese" -- I have a feeling that we're going to be asking her to say it more often than she already does, even though she might get disappointed when after she says it, her parents don't give her one of her favorite foods.

About That Birthday...

2007-11-10T10:16:00.000-05:00

Emelia turned 1 on Wednesday (damn did that year go by quick!), and while I feel quite behind in posting about other things that I've done or thought about, or that have happened in the past few weeks, I figured the birthday photos needed to be posted regardless. We didn't have a party by any stretch -- the people with whom we share the nanny, as well as Tom, came over to sing happy birthday, and to eat the chocolate-frosted muffins Kathy made, but that was it. We hadn't initially planned on doing anything, but what kind of first birthday would it be without chocolate frosting (which Emelia thoroughly enjoyed)?

Many thanks to Tom for taking these great photos!

Pocono Vacation

2007-10-16T01:16:00.000-04:00

The folks had a time share that they sold a couple of years ago. In June they announced to my siblings and me that they had one exchange week left that had to be used by mid-November. When no one else could use it, we grabbed it for a week of Fall Foliage in the Poconos, a place neither Kathy nor I had been.

We headed North on Saturday, a day before our rental began, after I discovered that there was a beer festival outside of Philly on that day. Despite accusations from everyone I've told about it, I honestly didn't set this up -- we picked the rental for this week because I was off for Columbus Day. I only realized that I'd be able to attend the festival a couple of months after we booked the trip. While I was at the festival, Kathy and Emelia went 15 minutes away to visit with Kathy's grandmother.

The next day, we meandered through parts of New Jersey en route to the rental. Among other stops (i.e., stops other than the beer/wine store and brewpub), we visited a state park, where Emelia got to strut her stuff:

Alas, all that walking wore her out.

In the Poconos, our accommodations were at Split Rock, a resort by Lake Harmony. We stayed in a one-bedroom apartment with full kitchen. The resort itself had plenty of activities, but not surprisingly, there wasn't much geared toward children less than one year old. So for the most part, we used our rental as a launch point to explore the area.

Weather was warm, hot even, the first couple of days. On Monday we visited a nearby brewpub for lunch, and went past an outlet shopping center on the way back home. There, we picked up a winter jacket for Emelia (the blue Michelin-man one in the photos), and looked for a couple of other things. Even as we were doing it, we realized how idiotic it was to trudge through an outlet mall packed with tons of shoppers on Columbus Day on a sunny 85-degree day.

Our accommodations were less than 15 minutes away from a great state park, Hickory Run, with over 15,000 acres. Hickory Run was Kathy's and my favorite part of our vacation. We went there three separate times, and visited wholly distinct areas each time.

But just because Kathy and I enjoyed the hikes, don't think for a minute that nature was Emelia's favorite part of the vacation. Every time we entered the main entrance to the building we were staying in, we ended up passing a painting that made her smile. We even took her to that picture sometimes when she was getting a bit stir-crazy in the apartment, to her great delight.

Yes, our budding art critic was smitten with a painting of a dog wearing clothes.

Thursday was when the rain came, and cooled everything considerably. Fortunately we had picked that day as our pampering day -- I got a massage in the morning, and Kathy got a haircut and pedicure in the afternoon. By Friday afternoon, the weather had cleared again, and we returned to the outdoors.

It turned out that our week was a bit early for foliage -- we still got to see some color, but most of the trees were still green.

Other than those last two days of Maine, this also was the first vacation with just the three of us. Emelia didn't sleep as well as she does at home, and never slept through the night. The fact that I snored a couple of nights in a row meant that I was relegated to the sofa in the living room for the rest of the stay. It actually wasn't that uncomfortable (and the bed wasn't too comfy anyhow), but it still wasn't the ideal set-up. All of us were pretty tired by the end of our trip, but also pretty relaxed.

Civic Pride

2007-10-04T21:37:00.000-04:00

And no, I'm not making a pun about our 2002 Honda Civic. Apparently my neighborhood is one of the 10 best in the country, at least according to the American Planning Association. Of course, I didn't need an organization I've never heard of to tell me that.

A New Emelia Video

2007-09-30T16:07:00.001-04:00

A mediocre example of her walking (seems like she can walk forever), but since it's the only video of her walking that we have so far, I guess it'll do. ;) Besides, the highlight isn't the walking, but the smile.

An Unreasonable Application of a Reasonable Idea

2007-09-24T21:35:00.000-04:00

Raise your hand if you know how the electoral college works. If you do and live in the United States, you're part of a small minority. For those who don't, here's a very brief civics lesson.

The general idea is that citizens of each state vote for representatives (electors) to a body (the electoral college) that selects the president, and the number of representatives each state gets for the electoral college is weighted, based on the number of senators plus representatives to Congress. As for how the representatives for a particular state votes, that's usually on a winner-take-all basis. In other words, if a candidate has more votes than the runner up in a state, all the state's representatives to the Electoral College vote for the winner. While this process usually results in the popular vote getter for the whole country winning the election, it doesn't always. The 2000 election is a good example of that. Because of the winner-take-all approach, in theory someone can win the 11 most populous states by one vote each, get crushed in the remaining 39 states, and still get elected president.

And yet, there is no requirement that a state have all its electors vote for the statewide winner. In 1972, Maine decided to have two of its electors vote for the statewide winner, with the other electors decided based on Congressional district. With Maine presently having four electoral votes, it's possible that Maine can vote 3-1 in the electoral college. In 1992, Nebraska (presently with six electoral votes) adopted what's known as the "Maine Method," and those two states are the only ones that do not follow the winner-take-all approach for their electors. Going back to the 2000 election, if Florida had also done this (and assuming no other state did), then Gore would have been elected president.
[/civics lesson]

It seems so much more reasonable for the electoral votes to be assigned under the Maine Method that it seems a wonder that more states haven't adopted it. Actually, given the politics of getting laws changed, it's no wonder at all. If you've got a largely Democratic state, with its governor and state legislature majority Democrat, and most of its Congressional representatives the same, there's no incentive to change the state laws so that the Democrats lose electors to Republicans. And the same holds in reverse. Thus, generally speaking, about the only way to switch to this approach en masse would be at the federal level, where both Democrats and Republicans have something to both win and lose. I'm not sure, however, that even if there was the impetus, whether the change could be done by statute. If it had to be done by constitutional amendment, it would be much harder, given that it would need to go through all those state legislatures that aren't changing things right now.

The wrinkle to all this is that some Republicans in California are proposing an amendment to the California constitution that would adopt the Maine Method in California. The amendment, which can pass by a simple majority of voters, would bypass the legislature. California has by far the most electors in the country, and in recent years has voted Democrat in the presidential elections, by significant margins. But not all of California is Democrat. In the current Congress, 19 of its 53 seats in Congress are held by Republicans. Under the Maine Method, if only 15 of those districts voted Republican in a presidential election, California would shift from 55-0 to 40-15, i.e., from +55 for the Democrats to +25, a difference of 30. It's far more likely that Republicans would carry even more districts (according to the link above, Bush took 22 districts in 2004, so the "Maine Method" would have moved Kerry's net in the state from 55-0 to 33-22, a difference of 44, and made the count in Ohio irrelevant). As you can imagine, that would make a huge difference in the 538-seat electoral college, given Bush defeated Gore by only five electoral votes in 2000.

The Republican entities promoting the amendment contend that this change would cause candidates to pay more attention to California, but political scientists say it would have the opposite effect. That's because gerrymandering has created so many safe districts in the state that there won't be but a handful of districts in play. They say it would be far better for candidates to focus on states like Florida, with its 27 electoral votes all going to the winner, and a fairly even split of the electorate. But then again, no matter the assertions being made, as the numbers I pointed out above demonstrate, there's little doubt that the point of this amendment is to neutralize a key source of electoral votes for Democrats.

Will California enact the Maine Method? As I noted, in the abstract it seems like a very reasonable idea. The question is whether voters will be able to look past the abstract and recognize the partisan purpose of the proposition. Perhaps some will say that it's the right thing to do on behalf of California, even if other states don't do the same. Regardless, if it passes, it will have major repercussions for presidential elections for years to come.

Look Who's Walking

2007-09-19T21:18:00.000-04:00

In the first 11 days after Emelia took her first steps, she didn't do much walking. A step here, and a few steps there, but that was about it. Generally speaking, she still preferred to grab a finger or a hand, just for reassurance. Here are a couple of photos from Monday morning.

You can see plenty of confidence, but there's also the hand that she insists on holding.

Yesterday she finally started walking. Many steps all in a row, and not necessarily ending with a fall onto her tush. By this evening, she was taking more steps than crawling. As her success grew, she even started demanding "star treatment."

Okay, maybe not, but I think the photo's a keeper.

No Photos But...

2007-09-06T20:13:00.000-04:00

You know who took her first steps this evening, one day shy of turning 10 months. All you experienced parents can chuckle to yourselves at my thinking that things aren't really going to change much, given how much mobility she already had.

Cool Music Site

2007-08-26T13:40:00.000-04:00

A friend sent me a music site in passing, and I've been checking it out for the past couple of days. Seeqpod is basically a music search engine that allows you to hunt down artists or tunes you like and which are already on the web. It's still in beta, but I'm loving some of the features, such as making your own playlist in no time at all (and being able to embed it into your blog). Here's one I just whipped up for a mellow Sunday, and which I'm playing right now (warning -- I'll probably tinker with this playlist over the next couple of hours, so what's here when I published this post might not be what'll be here later on):

Have fun making your own.

Environmentalism and Us

2007-08-24T20:07:00.001-04:00

Kathy and I seem like we're on the cusp of something that seems like more than a phase, but because we're generally so bad at following through on our "grand plans," it may ultimately turn out to be only a phase. The thrust of our intention is trying to become significantly more environmentally conscious. Doing things like trying to reduce, or better yet, eliminate the number of plastic bags we use and generally reduce the number of disposable products (and even containers) we buy (definitely trying to avoid bottled water). And buy more local foods (particularly produce). And buy fewer "things," especially new stuff. And get rid of a goodly amount of our stuff.

Kathy's bought washcloths that we're trying to use instead of paper towels, and nylon bags instead of plastic ones. This past weekend we took those bags to Eastern Market (although the temporary building doesn't re-open until tomorrow, there are plenty of vendors lined up on weekends) and used them for the fruits and vegetables from West Virginia and Pennsylvania. Later, we used canvas bags when we did a grocery run.

I don't know how far we'll get (or whether I'll revert to being a relative Environmental Inactivist), but the fact that we pretty much independently reached similar conclusions bodes well for our willingness to pursue this path. We're not looking to be radical (yet), and we recognize that whatever we do is a fraction of what we could do. For instance, we still use plastic bags (I have to clean up after the dogs somehow), our house is woefully energy inefficient, and we're still using disposable diapers. At the same time, we figure that every little bit helps.