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Saturday, December 28, 2002

as the old saying goes "be careful what you wish for". although i am enjoying my vacation, frankly, i'm getting bored - this is suprising even to me, who has never thought himself a particularly ambitious person. i'm starting to wonder if the fantasy of winning the lottery and retiring is just that - a fantasy. i'm actually looking fwd to school starting, in a way - although, i'm sure it won't be long til i'm stressed with the workload there - this confirms my notion that i will definitely want to shoot again for the nasa summer fellowship - although a summer off would be different than a winter off...

went sledding again - tried a different park, but, musch like tristan gale, who does much better at her home in park city, utah, we all agreed we liked our old standby better - so we went back there. going down face first is sooo cool - working on my form - hehe

my younger daughter only likes to ride the sled with me. i've convinced her that i can control the sled if it goes too fast - hehe - if there is ever a father daughter luge event in the olympics, we will be the early favorites

btw - you never notice how tired you are in an activity like this until you are done and get home and warm - but being in the cold w/all the bumps takes a lot out of you - at least it takes a lot out of me!

noticed some of my pants fit a lot tighter - washer/dryer must be malfunctioning during the holiday season - hehe

Friday, December 27, 2002

oh yeah - the previous post was the friday five for this week. i did not just spout these narcissistic ramblings randomly

went sledding - fun as usual - even got the guts - in honor of tristan gale - to try going down face first (albeit the smaller hills) - what a rush

got the final report from my faculty fellowship program - funny seeing pages and pages of incomprehensible and complex research by real smart guys - then mine - uh - "i built some web pages" - but hey, they asked for web pages and i delivered (and exceeded) what they wanted, which is a software developers job

1. What was your biggest accomplishment this year?
looking at adversity - specifically layoff - staring it in the face and kicking it's ass - coming back 10x stronger than before

2. What was your biggest disappointment?
not being perfect

3. Will you be making any New Year's resolutions?
hell, no

4. Where will you be at midnight? Do you wish you could be somewhere else?
right now, probably at home with my family. do i wish i could be somewhere else - uh, who cares...

5. Aside from (possibly) staying up late, do you have any other New Year's traditions?
uh, other than getting better looking with each passing year, no....



Thursday, December 26, 2002

sheryl crow's soak up the sun video was the #1 video in vh1's top 40 for 2002. i am very biased, but no complaints here...

in other video related news, saw a great video by someone, queens of the stone age - or something like that - drummer looked like dave grohl - where are deer gets hit by a car, when the guy gets out to look at it, the deer starts kicking butt. then it gets in the car and starts driving around, wreaking havoc. for a vegetarian with a twisted sense of humor, it was perfect...

we had a white christmas big time this year. hard to belive i was inline skating thru the streets around 4 pm on tues. got a bunch of snow tues PM, wed AM. great christmas...lot of adversity end of the year, but good everyone was able to be together, incl. my brother from new york.

kids, of course, had a blast - so much fun for them - a delight to see the holiday thru their eyes...

on a materialistic level, got a great black (what else) hooded sweatshirt with NEW YORK in silver letters on the front - i think i may have to go thru an initiaition of some sorts to be able to wear it - also, a 2002 winter olympic highlight dvd (high on my wish list - not really a suprise, though, was with my wife when she bought it), some sponge bob underwear, a framed drawing by my daughter and other odds and ends

don't know if it is post-holiday blahs setting in or not, but having an odd combination of lethargy and restlessness

Monday, December 23, 2002

the holidays/end of the year is often a reflective time... i started thinking about many of the blogs i visit and the folks i have come to know, at least on some level. i thought it would be fun to recall what first made me started reading their blogs - these are not the only things great about these blogs - but i'm kind of doing a rorshaugh (sp?) test on myself. if my memory falters or i omit someone, please forgive me...

amelie est bonne: loved her tag lines 'a francais' at the end of each post...i.e. amelie est tres...
bread, coffee, chocolate, yoga: good insights on yoga - interesting combo of topics!
fluid pudding: wow - on my short list of favorite blogs - very witty and fun - i remember her dialouge recreations (a technique i've stolen - uh - borrowed on occasion) - unlike me, who overfrequent posts might water down my blog - she posts infrequently, but each one is a gem
furnace: loved the mentions to bands i never heard of - helped remind me that vital music is still being made today...
girl on a bus: loved the little drawings
herdis: her adventures in the wild!!!
JenBen: ah, yes - every blog needs a troublemaker - just kidding!!! my first and only guest blogger and interview partner!
journey inside my mind: one of the first blogs i checked out - fellow alias fan!!!
kathryn lively: enjoyed reading about her return to catholicism, plus she has good taste in movies. tv and music - always a plus, in my book
kellyanne: travelled to asia - as i am interested in asian culture/spirituality i started reading her and didn't stop when she returned
kristiv: ah yes...the lovely (i imagine) viking queen. my first memory of her was posting a spoiler about er - in iceland apparently they get the show after we do - whoops! i have a feeling she is a pistol - keeps us honest here!!!
large hearted boy: THE best links - i am always amazed how he finds this cool stuff
melanie: in response to my statement on another blog (amelie's?) that i couldn't try a recipe cause it had marshmallows in it, reminded me there are vegan ones!
mixed grill: i think i saw her comments on taz's blog - add to that frequent iron chef posts and i'm there, dude note to self: - need to update the link
otter's den: liked her posts re:reiki and other spiritual topics...
pulp friction: ah, karen - wow - another on the short list of favorite blogs - really feel a sense of simpatico with her - on the same wavelength - the FIRST thing i remember about her blog is
comparing and contrasting the aesthetics of speedskaters vs. figure skaters...
sharon: don't know anyone nicer in blogland. period.
rainbow: another blog i feel strikes a responsive chord in me
techfluid: another blog i've read for quite a while - first thing i remember is her reminiscences of school. warm and witty. i've guestblogged for her....

merry christmas to all!!!

please feel free to introduce yourself to someone you don't know...

the latest odd sport i've been getting interest in is the ominously named skeleton, largely for two reasons:
don't worry folks - this is one sport i have no intention of trying - unless you count sledding down the hill...


has a child ever literally exploded in anticipation of christmas?


joe strummer is dead
the clash were unstoppable in the late 70's. london calling was and remains one of my five or so favorite records ever. i don't know of any other record that rocks as hard AND smart AND witty - this record was perfection - trying different styles as a great actor plays different roles and they pulled them all off
christ - this is sad...

Sunday, December 22, 2002

took the kids to see the nutcracker and then perhaps the most outrageous/impressive christmas lights i've ever seen,.

in betwee ate at quaker steak and lube. they are a small franchise that started in sharon, pa. i believe and is now spilling into ohio. their opening was a major local event - they are always crowded. when i ate meat i loved their food - we ate at the one in sharon ages ago. i LOVED chicken wings. they kind of have a psuedo-50's dines/car shop motif - kind of like they goofed on in ghost world. i went today cause i know my wife wanted to go and said earlier today she wanted a steak. i had no clue what i'd eat - but you can always get a salad or piece together a meal from two appetizers - plus, what the heck, absolute worst case scenario - there's a taco bell and donatos pizza down the street. anyhow, to my delight and suprise, their menu has a vegetarian section - pretty much gardenburgers - so not necessarily anything earthshattering - still, given their image and demographic, i was happily suprised to see they at least making an effort to accomodate us herbivores. i was proud of myself, i recognized their hot sauce as frank's hot sauce. i am a real connosieur. the garden burger i had w/mushrooms, bleu cheese and hot suace was pretty tasty - although as with many things (bbq chicken, buffalo wings, etc) the food is only a vehicle for the sauce. was darned tasty. i see more visits in my future. fun place

for those of you who know what a sopranos fan i am (the tv show, loki, not dawn upshaw, et. al. though i do like her), might be suprised that i have never seen goodfellas

well, in a bit of serendipity described earlier, i got it from the library. i am only half way thru it (glad i have 3 weeks vacation) and i realize i am in the minority here, but i really don't get all the accolades this film received. i have several objections: i think relying on a narrator usually weakens a film; wayyyyy tooo long, overreliance on music to set the time/place/mood. it seems to me there is less there than meets the eye - on the surface seems like a great movie - but it has the trappings of a great movie and not the substance.don't get me wrong, it's a good movie - but imho has received far more praise than deserved. let the comments flow...tell me what i am missing...50.000,000 elvis fans can't be wrong!

does it get any better?

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