...Might just climb out and give us a big wet sloppy hug.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Happy Camper
Camp: A form of comedic parody where the cliché conventions of a dramatic form like adventure are deliberately exaggerated to the point of absurdity.
I finally found the word that best describes my life.
I finally found the word that best describes my life.
Alone
"As he went forward it grew and grew, till there was no doubt about it. It was a red light getting steadily redder and redder. It was at this point that Bilbo stopped. Going on from there was the bravest thing he ever did. The tremendous things that happened afterward were as nothing compared to it. He fought the real battle in the tunnel alone, before he ever saw the vast danger that lay in wait." - JRR Tolkien, The Hobbit
Furry Interactions
I am so glad we have the dingos. The muskrats. The Rodents. Whatever you want to call them. I'm glad we have the dogs. Jake, of course. But even Coco.
Especially now that Maddie is old enough to interact with them. She LOVES them. She plays with them, talks to them, and gets very excited when they are let in the house, as she is the one who hands out the treats. Her consternations are even better...her use of the word "NO!" with lips pursed and finger pointed is just about the cutest thing I've ever seen.
I often think of how different her life would be without the mongrels, and how much they add to her playtime and her education. She'll grow up knowing about animals and thinking of them as family, and I like that.
Funny that I think like that, since I wasn't allowed to have Dogs growing up. I guess I just want her (and of course Zach) to have what I didn't.
Especially now that Maddie is old enough to interact with them. She LOVES them. She plays with them, talks to them, and gets very excited when they are let in the house, as she is the one who hands out the treats. Her consternations are even better...her use of the word "NO!" with lips pursed and finger pointed is just about the cutest thing I've ever seen.
I often think of how different her life would be without the mongrels, and how much they add to her playtime and her education. She'll grow up knowing about animals and thinking of them as family, and I like that.
Funny that I think like that, since I wasn't allowed to have Dogs growing up. I guess I just want her (and of course Zach) to have what I didn't.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Two Of A Kind
I admire the audacity of any clothes designer that puts the words "Two of a kind" on a bra. And I admire my wife for wearing it!
It Was So Good Even The Dogs Threw Up
So, the wine tasting was everything a wine tasting should be, and without spitting. It was more crowded than I like, and the rooms got very hot. Of course, someone is always cold so we had to leave the doors closed.
We did Northern Californian wine, although some people brought REALLY Northern California wine (Oregon), and we also got some Beaujolais. No worries. It's all good.
The kids invaded the basement and endowed it with a certain post-Katrina-esque ambience that took a good chunk of the next day to get cleaned up. There were carmel corn puffs stuffed into places that were both unnatural and seemingly impossible. Incidentally, the Sunday cleanup also included a generous helping of dog vomit, composed of a mix of all the previous night's appetizers, and, for all I know, wine too.
Wine was spilled, people were kissed who shouldn't have been, a kiddy sword fight broke out in the living room, and we're still waiting to see if Coco is pregnant. But it was fun all the same, as a Wild wine event should be. Try as I might, the wine itself is never the central attraction at my wine tastings...but it was really good nonetheless, and added greatly to the atmosphere.
I think next time we'll do a smaller event, one that is easier to control, and ask the tasters to get babysitters and leave the bandits at home. Live and learn.
P.S. I'll let you know about Coco...
We did Northern Californian wine, although some people brought REALLY Northern California wine (Oregon), and we also got some Beaujolais. No worries. It's all good.
The kids invaded the basement and endowed it with a certain post-Katrina-esque ambience that took a good chunk of the next day to get cleaned up. There were carmel corn puffs stuffed into places that were both unnatural and seemingly impossible. Incidentally, the Sunday cleanup also included a generous helping of dog vomit, composed of a mix of all the previous night's appetizers, and, for all I know, wine too.
Wine was spilled, people were kissed who shouldn't have been, a kiddy sword fight broke out in the living room, and we're still waiting to see if Coco is pregnant. But it was fun all the same, as a Wild wine event should be. Try as I might, the wine itself is never the central attraction at my wine tastings...but it was really good nonetheless, and added greatly to the atmosphere.
I think next time we'll do a smaller event, one that is easier to control, and ask the tasters to get babysitters and leave the bandits at home. Live and learn.
P.S. I'll let you know about Coco...
Monday, November 19, 2007
Passing On
Ever wonder what you'll die of? I mean, not in an obsessive, hypochondriacal way, but just wonder?
There are so many choices, from being shocked by an errant toaster dropped into the bathtub to being hit in the head with a high-velocity cocktail olive flushed down an airplane toilet.
Of course, it is always possible you will die in an uncommon way, perhaps even a bizarre way. Something like Heart Disease, or a Car Accident. I realize these are a bit far-fetched and not something you would normally consider, but they do happen, so it is possible your life will end that way.
As for me, I will guess something more probable...I think I will be killed when my ultra-light flies too close to a microscopic black hole.
But only time will tell...
There are so many choices, from being shocked by an errant toaster dropped into the bathtub to being hit in the head with a high-velocity cocktail olive flushed down an airplane toilet.
Of course, it is always possible you will die in an uncommon way, perhaps even a bizarre way. Something like Heart Disease, or a Car Accident. I realize these are a bit far-fetched and not something you would normally consider, but they do happen, so it is possible your life will end that way.
As for me, I will guess something more probable...I think I will be killed when my ultra-light flies too close to a microscopic black hole.
But only time will tell...
Zach Quote Of The Week
Overheard during our wine tasting, as the kids ran rampant through the house:
"It sucks having to stop playing dodge ball on the stairs"
"It sucks having to stop playing dodge ball on the stairs"
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Bags Of Tags
I do believe the proliferation of tags on stuffed animals has officially reached epic proportions.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Le Beaujolais Nouveau Est Arrivé!
It's here again, the most exciting wine-day of the year! On the third Thursday of November every year, the Beaujolais Nouveau is released. It is the first official wine of the season. Simple, rough, and short-lived, it is nonetheless a great way to kick off the fall and the holidays. And it's cheap! So, go get yourself some of this purple bubble-gum and banana flavored fun juice...and toast family and friends and life and love and freedom from parasites for another year! Whatever it takes...
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Under The Bridge, Eating Goats
Today: I am not happy with you. I feel very silly, and yet I know soon I'll be tired of being silly and the coffee will wear off and just the work will be left. There are no dancers or televisions in my cube here, so there will be nothing to look at but TPS reports and my little black fan.
The poor thing, thought it was getting an important job, but after the summer when the old building is cold as a gravestone it hardly ever gets to spin. The text written across the front guard, "Polar Wind" just serves to remind me how much I don't need that little black fan right now. But still, there it sits.
Next to the fan is a coffee maker. I haven't used it in a few weeks because they started selling coffee in the kitchenette of our floor for 25 cents and I don't think I can make coffee for less than that. It's very sleek-looking though, almost like art. Form followed function once, but now it's all form.
(I don't wanna go back to the TPS reports).
(Actually, we don't really have TPS reports here, but they do exist, even outside of Office Space).
This is my first day this season wearing a sweater. So it is a little hot in here. I think I'll switch on "Polar Wind"...
...ok, back to eating goats...
The poor thing, thought it was getting an important job, but after the summer when the old building is cold as a gravestone it hardly ever gets to spin. The text written across the front guard, "Polar Wind" just serves to remind me how much I don't need that little black fan right now. But still, there it sits.
Next to the fan is a coffee maker. I haven't used it in a few weeks because they started selling coffee in the kitchenette of our floor for 25 cents and I don't think I can make coffee for less than that. It's very sleek-looking though, almost like art. Form followed function once, but now it's all form.
(I don't wanna go back to the TPS reports).
(Actually, we don't really have TPS reports here, but they do exist, even outside of Office Space).
This is my first day this season wearing a sweater. So it is a little hot in here. I think I'll switch on "Polar Wind"...
...ok, back to eating goats...
Just Chill
My latest playlist for the Apple TV is called "Chill Out", a combination of several "genres" (I use that term loosely because there is a genre nowadays for just about every band or album) including "Ambient", "Chill Out", and "Deep Couch". Remember when genres were things like "Rock" and "Jazz"?
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Extended Warranties
This is where "The" motorcycle ended up. I wonder what that says about the "Metaphysics of Quality".
Fully Hungry And Half Insane In The Latin Quarter
...And while we're on the subject of amazing coincidences...
My brother Brian went to Paris years ago and had dinner at an Indian restaurant named "Chez Gandhi", somewhere in the Latin Quarter. He said the food was good but the rice was $11 extra. I only remember this because I thought the name was hilarious. Pretty much perfect for a French Indian restaurant, but with a built-in paradoxical joke: naming a restaurant after a man who fasted most of his life.
Anyhow, I was in Paris on business years later. A carload of us hungry, overtired engineers was driving the streets on a Saturday night looking for a place to eat. We got lost and drove for what seemed like hours, passing the throngs of people out walking, as well as hundreds of great restaurants. There was no parking anywhere. We must have driven by a half million people out in the streets (I love Paris!). We found a highly-recommended French cafe to eat, but had to park about a mile from it. As we walked the streets we took a few shortcuts and got lost again. We gathered together (which for engineers is like herding cats) on one side of the street to regroup and talk about which way to go. I leaned on the wall of a restaurant, exhausted and starving. I said something like "I am SO sick of this...why don't we just eat here?" and looked for the first time at the sign on the wall: Chez Gandhi.
My brother Brian went to Paris years ago and had dinner at an Indian restaurant named "Chez Gandhi", somewhere in the Latin Quarter. He said the food was good but the rice was $11 extra. I only remember this because I thought the name was hilarious. Pretty much perfect for a French Indian restaurant, but with a built-in paradoxical joke: naming a restaurant after a man who fasted most of his life.
Anyhow, I was in Paris on business years later. A carload of us hungry, overtired engineers was driving the streets on a Saturday night looking for a place to eat. We got lost and drove for what seemed like hours, passing the throngs of people out walking, as well as hundreds of great restaurants. There was no parking anywhere. We must have driven by a half million people out in the streets (I love Paris!). We found a highly-recommended French cafe to eat, but had to park about a mile from it. As we walked the streets we took a few shortcuts and got lost again. We gathered together (which for engineers is like herding cats) on one side of the street to regroup and talk about which way to go. I leaned on the wall of a restaurant, exhausted and starving. I said something like "I am SO sick of this...why don't we just eat here?" and looked for the first time at the sign on the wall: Chez Gandhi.
The New Model
Owing to a broken headphone jack (2 cents, maybe) I got a new work phone. It looks more indestructible (less destructible?) than my previous model, and that is good because it is going to be abused relentlessly. Yesterday Brian came over and showed me the new phone HE got for work. Guess what? Same phone!
Perhaps they are taking over...are you paranoid?
Perhaps they are taking over...are you paranoid?
'Member?
They say that if you remember the 70's, then you weren't there.
In my case I was just a grade & middle school kid, so I remember...playing jacks and shoeing horses. What? Ok, perhaps that was another life and a different '70s...Ok, I have it now...I remember...music. Yes. I have always liked music. My first concert was Kiss, in 1978, at the height of their popularity. What a show. It was loud and bright and amazing for a wide-eyed 13 year old. I'll remember it forever.
Many years and many concerts later, most bleed together in my memory. Oh, there were good ones, but very few really captured the same magic.
This ticket was from one that did, an amazing and exciting blast from the past. Cell phones have replaced lighters as the illumination of choice, and everyone looks older and tired. But they sounded great and everything just came together that day...
...And it was my birthday.
:)
In my case I was just a grade & middle school kid, so I remember...playing jacks and shoeing horses. What? Ok, perhaps that was another life and a different '70s...Ok, I have it now...I remember...music. Yes. I have always liked music. My first concert was Kiss, in 1978, at the height of their popularity. What a show. It was loud and bright and amazing for a wide-eyed 13 year old. I'll remember it forever.
Many years and many concerts later, most bleed together in my memory. Oh, there were good ones, but very few really captured the same magic.
This ticket was from one that did, an amazing and exciting blast from the past. Cell phones have replaced lighters as the illumination of choice, and everyone looks older and tired. But they sounded great and everything just came together that day...
...And it was my birthday.
:)
Monday, November 12, 2007
Mediterrano
I make dinner almost every night. My family loves the cuisines of the various countries that surround the Mediterranean Sea (For the record, they are: Gibraltar, Spain, France, Monaco, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Yugoslavia, Albania, Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Israel, Lebanon, Egypt, Libya, Malta, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco). We eat this food for health reasons, yes, but mainly because it's varied, simple, and incredibly delicious. We (and that includes Maddie) like our food spicy, bold, and interesting, so we go through a very large amount of just about every kind of spice and herb you can think of. I think we could keep a stall in the Delhi spice market in business.
Yesterday we made one of our frequent trips to Penzeys Spices for a major re-supply. This is always a fun thing because the store smells great, and I always find something new and exciting to try. This time it was Mahlab, the pit of the sour cherry. It has been used in Turkey and Syria for thousands of years to add an interesting flavor to breads such as Qurban. So, off I go to find ways to integrate this into our ever-expanding palette of flavors.
Incidentally, I really think it's a great thing for the kids, this kind of cooking. For one thing, it gives them a full and nutritious diet, full of interesting textures and flavors. Maddie loves Hummus. Zach is crazy about Indian curries. Heather likes Channa Masala and I am a seafood stew nutcase. But even more than that it introduces them to a world of different foods, something they will not get by going to Bennigans or eating something microwaved that slid out of a frozen box. We all do what we can, and I am glad that I can do this for my family, who I love so much.
Yesterday we made one of our frequent trips to Penzeys Spices for a major re-supply. This is always a fun thing because the store smells great, and I always find something new and exciting to try. This time it was Mahlab, the pit of the sour cherry. It has been used in Turkey and Syria for thousands of years to add an interesting flavor to breads such as Qurban. So, off I go to find ways to integrate this into our ever-expanding palette of flavors.
Incidentally, I really think it's a great thing for the kids, this kind of cooking. For one thing, it gives them a full and nutritious diet, full of interesting textures and flavors. Maddie loves Hummus. Zach is crazy about Indian curries. Heather likes Channa Masala and I am a seafood stew nutcase. But even more than that it introduces them to a world of different foods, something they will not get by going to Bennigans or eating something microwaved that slid out of a frozen box. We all do what we can, and I am glad that I can do this for my family, who I love so much.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Red Red Wine You Give Me Whole Heap Of Zing
So, our big wine tasting is coming soon! We've got over 20 people confirmed, with who-knows-how-many additional assorted hangers-on, offspring, pets, and jesters. Our theme is "Northern California" this year, so everyone has been asked to bring a bottle from that "region". I've already had a couple people ask me what they should bring. Honestly, if you can't find a wine from Northern California you might as well cash in your chips right now. And these are my friends :)
Friday, November 9, 2007
Bleeding On The Inside
Help! I have an Air Supply song stuck in my head and it won't leave me alone. I thought I could wait it out, but I'm afraid I am going to need to take drastic action, lest I crumple and die with the last bars of "Lost in Love" oozing through my consciousness.
At first I had thought of detaching my entire cerebral cortex, but after a little web research I decided that was overkill. The temporal lobes are the real villains here, specifically their seedy underbellies, which play a crucial role in forming and more importantly retrieving musical memories.
Only problem is, they are pretty hard to get to, probably because they are important. Maybe I'll just have to wait it out...and be thankful it's not "Muskrat Love".
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Thursday, November 1, 2007
The Chicken And The Witch-King Of Angmar
What does a cute little fuzzy chicken have to do with the terrible Lord of the Ringwraiths? She's his sister, of course! On Halloween, things like that can happen.
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