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Monday, September 29th, 2008
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| Subject: | Dear Dave and Abi |
| Time: | 9:46 pm. |
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(A draft of a thank-you note that I am writing to Dorie's brother and his wife.)
Dear Dave and Abi,
Thank you very much for the thoughtful collection of gifts that you have sent me. While I haven't quite figured out the best use yet for all of the items, rest assured that I will keep working at it until do. When the first box that contained one-hundred superballs arrived, I was excited. Had I only of known what pleasures were in store for me in your second box!
I'm not sure what I'm going to enjoy the most, so I'll just list them all:
Three Garfield "I Love Grandma" magnetic bookmarks
One "Mom" memo pad box
One "Grandma" memo pad box
Five boxes of thumb tacks
One wooden turkey head with eight wooden feathers
One stuffed dinosaur
One police car keychain
Three "dinosaur cardz you build into 3-D scale models"
Approximately fifty Winny-the-Pooh plastic gift bags
One "jumbo key holder"
One "puzzo tube" pen holder
One pair of broken headphones
Two die-cut woodcraft picture frame kits
One shower cap with pictures of steaks and USDA logos
Three light up tops
Three glass snowman candles
Three decks of "animals on safari" trading cards
Two boxes of wall hooks
Three red and green "Happy Holidays and Happy New Year" magnets
One stick-on reflector (for a bicycle?)
Two fluorescent-green "accupressure grips"
One red "PicTails, picture frame with a twist"
One cubicle picture frame
One sheet of spider and snake glow-in-the-dark temporary tattoos
One power outlet safety guard with built-in nightlight
Three suction cups
One 12-page mini photo album
Five sheets of "Deadtime Stories" stickers
One bottle of "Champagne Party" bubbles in a champagne-bottle-shaped container
One mini "Antiquing for Dummies" book
One box of adhesive felt circles
One holiday card registry book
One box of "Sign Here" sticky notes
One female shoe stretcher (foot-shaped), size "8 1/2 N"
One male shoe stretcher (foot-shaped), size "10 F"
Two inflatable barbells
Nine beachballs with mice and cats
Three "slime eggs"
One blue "electroluminescent wire"
One container of glow-in-the-dark maggots
One-hundred superballs
Dorie's personal favorite is the showercap covered in beef so I'm not getting that back any time soon!
Thank you again,
Joe
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Comments: Read 3 or Add Your Own.
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Sunday, September 14th, 2008
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| Subject: | Spore |
| Time: | 9:45 pm. |
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I'm not going to say "Spore Sucks", but it is a deeply flawed game. Which is sad, but I bought it for myself for my birthday (and a Tivo and a "free" HDTV) and I was expecting something more or different.
Right now, I'm on the space stage after enjoying the first several stages. The game is divided into several modes of play as you shepherd a specie into an intelligent, space-faring race. First, the cell phase is like a tutorial. It's very basic, just gets your creature onto land as a herbivore, carnivore, or omnivore and with initial customizations. The creature phase as your creature exploring a 3D world, fighting with other creatures, gathering food, and gradually getting new body parts and intelligence. This plays like the cell stage: you control one creature and it's largely about exploring your environment and finding new tricks. The next two phases though are completely different: After your creature becomes intelligent, you enter the tribal stage where you have to conquer or make peace with other tribes. It plays like an old copy of "Warcraft II", except more basic. You control groups, not individuals, and mob combat rules. Once you unify your tribes, you repeat the same in the nation phase except now you have planes, ships, and tanks at your disposal. And finally, you unify the whole world and head out into space.
Space is where the game falls apart. That's not to say that there aren't problems earlier, but overall the game feels balanced and good for its difficulty level. The play style (and, annoyingly, even the controls) are different from phase to phase, but on the whole it's a nice experience. The stages aren't too long, the goals are fun to reach, and the world mostly works. Sure, by the time you get to civilization stage (where you are designing tanks instead of your specie), the previous several stages feel an awful lot like a complicated process for creating a Spore "Mii" (the avatar system used in the Nintendo Wii), but at least you had fun doing it.
In space, you are back to controlling a single ship. You explore other stars, do missions for alien species, terraform planets, sell "spice" to many different markets, etc. And that's fun. But, inevitably, you don't please a nation. Or, worse, you provoke one, and then it's an insane amount of having your home planet beaten to a pulp every few minutes, losing colonies to raiding parties, and spending all your time defending instead of doing the things the game makes fun. And this is on the EASIEST LEVEL. (And, although you are bound to a single ship for warfare, none of the races that you compete against are bound to the same. It's just wave after wave of ships much more powerful than you. And there are upgrades out there for the weapons, but I die well before I unlock any of them.)
There is hints of greatness here, but ultimately it falls flat. The stage is longer than the entire remainder of the game combined. And, if you get yourself locked into a spot where you can't win, you need to re-play all the other stages to get the bonuses that you had. (You can start at the space stage without the bonuses, but at a disadvantage. And since it's so difficult, I suspect you need them.)
So, I'm frustrated. I like what they've done, but I wish they had waited a couple more months to release the game. They could have made space a more balanced and fun experience. As it is now, it's just damn frustrating and you waste so many hours before you get yourself killed with no way to go back to a safe point.
My recommendation? Wait a month or two before buying. It's possible that the insanity that is the space level will be fixed in a bug release or something and it'll become more playable. Perhaps not, of course, but I can hope.
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Comments: Read 2 or Add Your Own.
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Friday, August 29th, 2008
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| Subject: | VP Candidates for the last 100 years |
| Time: | 10:11 pm. |
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I've been thinking about the nomination of Mrs. Palin for VP and there has been lots of news coverage about her lack of national political experience. Well, that's true enough, but what I wasn't sure if that was typical. So, I decided to do some digging. I haven't quite made up my mind what this all means, but the data's here for you to make your own decisions.
Note that the "Senator for ..." lines are years BEFORE the candidate was first made the VP candidate for a political party.
In short: 10 VP candidates without prior national political experience, 6 of those were governors (like Palin), 2 were state Senators, 1 was military, and 1 was academic
The most recent was Spiro Agnew, and we all know how that worked out. But Franklin Delano Roosevelt is also on that list, and he worked out okay.
No promises I didn't make an error someplace. I'm just throwing this together quickly.
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Joe Biden - Democratic - 2008 - Senator for 35 years
John Edwards - Democratic - 2004 - Senator for 6 years
Dick Cheney - Republican - 2000 - Secretary of Defense for 4 years, Congressman for 10 years, Chief of Staff for 1 year
Joe Lieberman - Democratic - 2000 - Senator for 11 years
Jack Kemp - Republican - 1996 - Congressman for 18 years, Secretary of Housing for 4 years
Al Gore - Democratic - 1992 - Senator for 8 years, Congressman for 8 years
Dan Quayle - Republican - 1988 - Senator for 8 years, Congressman for 4 years
Lloyd Bentson - Democratic - 1988 - Senator for 18 years, Congressman for 6 years
Geraldine Ferraro - Democratic - 1984 - Congresswoman for 6 years
George H. W. Bush - Republican - 1980 - Congressman for 4 years, Ambassador to the U.N. for 2 years, Director of the CIA for 1 year
Walter Mondale - Democratic - 1976 - Senator for 8 years
Bob Dole - Republican - 1976 - Senator for 8 years, Congressman for 8 years
Sargent Shriver - Democratic - 1972 - Director of the Peace Corps for 5 years
Spiro Agnew - Republican - 1968 - NO NATIONAL OFFICES (Governor of Maryland)
Edmund Muskie - Democratic - 1968 - Senator for 10 years
Hubert Humphrey - Republican - 1964 - Senator for 16 years,
William E. Miller - Democratic - 1964 - Congressman for 12 years
Lyndon B. Johnson - Democratic - 1960 - Senator for 12 years, Congressman for 12 years
Henry Calbot Lodge - Republican - 1960 - Senator for 13 years, Ambassador to the U.N. for 7 years
Estes Kefauver - Democratic - 1956 - Senator for 8 years
John Sparkman - Democratic - 1952 - Senator for 6 years
Richard Nixon - Republican - 1952 - Senator for 6 years, Congressman for 4 years
Earl Warren - Republican - 1948 - NO NATIONAL OFFICES (Governor of California)
Alben Barkley - Democratic - 1948 - Senator for 22 years, Congressman for 14 years
John Bricker - Republican - 1944 - NO NATIONAL OFFICES (Governor of Ohio)
Harry S. Truman - Democratic - 1944 - Senator for 10 years
Henry Wallace - Democratic - 1940 - Secretary of Agriculture for 7 years
Charles L. McNary - Republican - 1940 - Senator for 23 years
Frank Knox - Republican - 1936 - NO NATIONAL OFFICES (military, Spanish-American War & WWI)
John Nance Garner - Democratic - 1932 - Congressman for 30 years
Charles Curtis - Republican - 1928 - Senator for 20 years, Congressman for 14 years
Joseph Taylor Robinson - Democratic - 1928 - Senator for 16 years
Charles G. Dawes - Republican - 1924 - Comptroller of the Currency for 2 years, Director for the Office of Management and Budget for 1 year
Charles W. Bryan - Democratic - 1924 - NO NATIONAL OFFICES (Governor of Nebraska)
Calvin Coolidge - Republican - 1920 - NO NATIONAL OFFICES (Governor of Massachusetts)
Franklin Delano Roosevelt - Democratic - 1920 - NO NATIONAL OFFICES (New York State Senator)
Charles W. Fairbanks - Republican - 1916 - Senator for 8 years
Thomas R. Marshall - Democratic - 1912 - NO NATIONAL OFFICES (Governor of Indiana)
Nicholas Murray Butler - Republican - 1912 - NO NATIONAL OFFICES (President of Columbia University)
James S. Sherman - Republican - 1908 - Congressman for 20 years
John Worth Kern - Democratic - 1908 - NO NATIONAL OFFICES (Indiana State Senator)
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Comments: Read 1 or Add Your Own.
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| Subject: | Phone Numbers |
| Time: | 9:31 pm. |
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Dear friends! I have lost your phone number. Sadly, all of my numbers were in my cell phone which has now gone to the great maker. (Motorola?)
I have replaced this with a new phone and now need to rebuild my copious library of friends and family phone numbers. (I do have a little book with some numbers in it, but mostly for family. I regret that many friends numbers have now been lost.)
(The phone actually broke two months ago and never had all the numbers from the phone before that, so this is really a rebuilding process.)
So, if you wouldn't mind sending me your number (to my gmail account, if you have it, or Facebook) or by responding here, I would appreciate it. (Gmail is first initial last name at gmail dot com)
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Comments: Read 3 or Add Your Own.
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Saturday, June 28th, 2008
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| Subject: | No one left the cake out, in the rain. |
| Time: | 8:22 pm. |
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It figures that the first day that I am able to go out an be a tourist on this trip, it would be a hot, rainy, humid, sweaty day. But, that doesn't stop me. If I could tourist in Jeju city with a nearby typhoon, a little hot air doesn't get to me. Though, I wish it had been nicer.
As you you, I'm a big history buff and since I've already been to most of the places in Seoul that scream TOURIST on previous trips, I wanted to do something different by going to places either of historical importance or about historical events. And, since I am in South Korea, you can probably guess what wars still get the most attention.
So, first thing this morning, I hit the subway and go to the "War Memorial of Korea". Which, contrary to the name, is actually a museum that has a war memorial in it. It's a very nice museum with a great history of the Korean War in it. That was probably a good third to a half of the exhibits. There was one floor (of four) devoted entirely to historical wars of the last roughly thousand years, but I didn't get much out of that section because there was no context. If I knew Korean history well, I'd probably know that during such and such dynasty, Korea was invaded by such and such or under the control of Japan or China or whomever at the time. But, instead, all I got was a jumble of names and lots of good pictures of Korean soldiers on horseback, cannons, some large military ships, etc. I don't really have a clear outline of Korean history until around 1900 when it was subjugated by Japan. (I know it spent a good amount of history being subservient to the Chinese, but that was a little less about cultural destruction and more about empire building.) The museum skipped ahead to post-Korean War conflicts including a section on Korean involvement in Vietnam and one on subsequent, smaller conflicts, including Darfur and Afghanistan.
The strangest thing about the museum wasn't what was in it, but WHO. There were dozens and dozens of little "cub scout" packs all running around in groups. I say "cub scout" because they were about the same age, wore a uniform quite nearly exactly like a cub scout/boy scout (including Western-style hat and funny necktie thing) and they had older boys (and girls) in similar, but different uniforms leading the smaller kids. As I would walk through the museum, I would hear someone from behind me or to the side call out "Hello!" and "How are you?" at me, and it would be a little kid, beaming and laughing. Some asked me where I was from and seemed to understand, others seemed like they really didn't. It was pretty fun.
My next stop was at "Seodaemun Prison History Hall". This prison serves as a testament to the 45-odd year period under Japanese rule where many prisoners were held there in horrible conditions. During those years, the Japanese rulers tried to stamp out Korean culture in its entirety: banning the Korean language, setting up Shinto shrines, making people change to Japanese names and speak Japanese, etc. Those who fought against this often ended up in a prison like this one. I have to say, walking through it and looking at the photos of the conditions and how inmates were treated and killed, I was reminded of the holocaust. I know it's not at the same scale and not the same situation (after all, they *could* just convert to Shinto, change their names, and speak Japanese -- Hitler didn't give the Jews those options), but it still turns my stomach to think about it... and what might have happened to the Korean people if Japan had not been defeated.
The big downside to this museum is that it had scouts too, except MORE of them. Insane amounts. Clogging up all the narrow hallways and blocking the exhibits. (This was a converted prison complex after all. It wasn't exactly designed for this.) I don't know if today was a holiday or if every Saturday is like this, but it was almost impossible to enjoy (if that's the right word) the trip. Everywhere I went was "Hello!", "Hello!", "Hello!". "What's your name?" "Why are you here?" "Where are you from?" "I'm fine." (That one was a little confused.) "Hello!" I'm completely serious. I couldn't get away from the kids and they ALL thought they were being creative by trying to start up a conversation with me. And by the 500th "Hello", I was getting ready to respond with "Das tut mir leid, Ich spreche keine Englisch.", except that I would have had to do that to every kid that came by and that doesn't really change anything.
Escaping the swarms with my life, my third stop today was significantly farther afield: Incheon, about 1.5 hours by subway. Incheon is a separate city from Seoul, on the coast. During the Korean War, that's where General MacArthur and the US troops landed successfully to recapture Seoul from the North Koreans who had invaded. It's separate, but Seoul has pretty much expanded to reach it, so it's urban all the way there. (Incheon is also where the international airport is, although in a different part separated from the city of Incheon itself on a little cape or peninsula.)
On my way there, I stopped in a large underground "wedding mall". Imagine store after store, except every one of them is a jeweler or a tailor. Probably more than a hundred little stores, pretty much identical. I did find a delightful little sapphire pendant that I might have bought Dorie except 1) that specific store was closed 2) it was probably a lot of money and 3) she doesn't want me to buy her jewelry unless it is one VERY SPECIFIC type of jewelry that you give someone on a SPECIAL OCCASION. And even then, she doesn't want something store bought. (Oh, the pressure, the pressure. I'm just going to start buying boxes of cracker jack soon, I swear.) Above the mall with the tailors and jewelers (and dress makers, now that I think of it), there were shops that sold ONLY ribbons in hundreds of types, shops that sold only lace, shops that sold only flowers. Very weird and specialized. Dorie might have liked the fabric stores, actually. And the tailors downstairs generally had bolts of fabric on display that you could pick from for them to make your suit out of, though they had pre-made suits also.
In Incheon, naturally the first thing I did was completely go the wrong way and since I had a tourist map that was roughly two inches square in the back of a guidebook about Seoul which didn't include Incheon except as a footnote, I was off the map. I wasn't discouraged, but what I saw there was really different than whats in Seoul. I think many of the buildings are older since Incheon wasn't destroyed during the war as much. There are sections of TIGHT houses, one story, with the "roads" between them being hardly as wide as a modern sidewalk. I didn't go back into those sections since they looked more run down-- actually, everything in Incheon looked more run down than in Seoul-- but it was interesting and matched descriptions I've seen. I wandered around for a while longer and found what I thought was a bookstore, but after finding a book that I wanted to buy (a Korean "One Piece" for Anastas), I realized that it was a library. I had just never seen a library that only carried comics/manga and DVDs (some pornographic, but very few) before. Oh well. I guess he'll have to go without, unless I can find something at the Korean bookstore in the COEX Mall tomorrow.
Eventually, I did find the park that I was looking for, overlooking Incheon harbor. On a clear day, it would have been nicer. But, there in the center of the park, was the statue to General MacArthur that I was hoping to see, near (but probably not very near) where the US landed. An elderly Korean man who was also visiting the park, possibly around 80 though it's hard to tell, INSISTED on telling me, in Korean, exactly how great a man MacArthur was at great length. I know this because another Korean man there helpfully translated for him, apologizing because despite my protests the old man refused to notice that I didn't actually comprehend a single thing he was saying. But, it made me feel pretty good to be an American. It's nice to know that there was a simpler time when our intervention in a country was seen as such a positive thing. There were Good Guys and Bad Guys back then, it seems. Today, there are a lot more grays. Or, maybe it's a different perspective.
My biggest disappointment with the whole thing was that the park wasn't called "MacArthur Park". (It's "Jayu Park".)
I rounded out my trip with a visit to Chinatown, near the park. It's Seoul's only Chinatown and it's not that large and looks pretty much exactly like Chinatown looks in San Francisco except with more stairs ad the Chinese words are subtitled in both Korean and English. I bought a doughnut-like concoction from a street vendor, but I regret not eating at any of the restaurants. They have "Chinese" food there that was invented in Korea and highly recommended by all the guide books. (Sort of their own "Chicken Tikka Masala", which was invented in London.) But, I wasn't hungry. Oh well.
And that was pretty much my day. No idea what I'm doing tomorrow, but I'll try and do as much as I can because I only get two days.
The biggest disappointment is that the camera that I took, which is the backup camera anyway because the charger for my real camera went missing right before the trip, more thoroughly broke. Most of the time, it simply won't focus. Not a slightly-out-of-focus issue, but "multi-colored blur" for all the pictures. I managed to get a few shots before it went to hell and a few more if I would reboot the camera a couple times, but in the end nothing I could do would get it to focus. (And yes, I had it on the right settings.) No pictures for me this trip, I suppose.
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Comments: Read 3 or Add Your Own.
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Tuesday, March 11th, 2008
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| Subject: | Biological Basic for Religion in Mammals |
| Time: | 10:09 pm. |
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I think that I may have just solved one of the fundamental mysteries of mankind: the origin of the believe in the supernatural. Naturally, I did this by observing my cats.
Joshua, you see, has developed his own feline religion. He can't talk, so he can't easily communicate this religion, but by observing him, I think I have the gist. It involves my bathtub and the everyday miracle of "the water coming down". Now, I don't mean when I take a shower (he's watched that a number of times and mostly he thinks its just loud and damp), but other times. Times when I'm not home. I've now several times found him sitting in the bathtub, face of innocent contentedly, staring at the faucet or the shower head. He'll look up at me if I walk by and meow at me, but when he has his special time with the water faucet, that's his special time.
And the reason why this works is that SOMETIMES, just SOMETIMES, because of the way the water sits in the pipes or something the neighbor does upstairs, the water drips just a little bit and he can drink it. More often, it doesn't and he sits and waits hopefully, sometimes falling asleep in the tub, waiting for the miracle to happen. (I admit that at times I've helped it along, but not in quite some time.)
Sometimes Simba joins him in the waiting, but never seems as interested. Maybe he just does it for the community.
And this may be where religion comes from. It's not too far off. A long time ago, we can dimly remember that SOMETHING happened that we didn't understand, but we liked it. And, ever since, we've been sitting in the bathtub wondering what it was and whether it will happen again. Hopeful. Optimistic.
And that's religion.
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Comments: Read 1 or Add Your Own.
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Friday, February 22nd, 2008
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| Subject: | Little Nell meets Teller |
| Time: | 2:17 am. |
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First, a disclaimer: This post contains the worst picture of me ever. It severely needs cleaned up, having the red-eye removed, etc. But, I'm posting it now as a matter of expediency. And even if it were cleaned up, it would still be a horrid picture. But, it's one that you only get one shot at, so I'll live with what I get.
Today, Litte Nell met Teller, from Penn & Teller.
Now, you might not know who Little Nell is or why you should care. You see, Little Nell is one of my pocket frogs-- a habit I picked up when I started dating Dorie, though I have taken it to a new and ridiculous extreme. My first frog was one that I discovered in a jacket that Dorie had lent me after we started dating. I named him Murray and he traveled with me everywhere. Dorie and I got some great pictures of Murray at Niagara Falls, in Disney World, etc. Unfortunately, through an abundance of love, Murray became a bit weakened. He has lost some of his stuffing/sand and so he's been able to go out less recently. (We may do some surgery to help this.) In his place has been Little Nell, my green pocket frog. I took her on somewhat reluctantly-- she was a stowaway on my trip to China (and we still have no idea how she ended up in my luggage) but recently she's been going out with me instead of Murray. We have some pictures of her on the Great Wall and in Washington DC and now in California and elsewhere. She's not a replacement for Murray, but I'm glad to have her. (And yes, she is named after Little Nell Campbell, the actress who played Columbia in the Rocky Horror Picture Show.)
And tonight, Dorie and I went to the Penn & Teller show. And afterwards, we managed to get this picture:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jpranevich/2283513892/
Oh God, it's such a horrible picture of me, but that's Little Nell perched contentedly on Teller's shoulder. (We had about five seconds to get this and it was taken by some random lady who was also waiting for an autograph, so it's not very good. But we're very excited for getting it.)
So tonight, I can sleep happy. When I get back, I'll have to send Mr. Teller an apology for putting a frog on him. (His question: "It's not a live frog, is it?")
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Tuesday, January 1st, 2008
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| Subject: | At last... |
| Time: | 11:35 pm. |
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And finally, I'm home. Those last couple of hours are the worst, aren't they? I'm all for driving into new and unexplored territory through the wilds of Virginia and beyond... but that same four hours between New York and Boston just exhausts me every time. It's the familiarity of it all, perhaps.
My cats are excited to see me, which is good. There's a special limit with cats: if you aren't gone long enough, they're mad at you for leaving. Gone a bit longer, and they are just glad to see you again. And a bit longer than that, they disown you and think they belong to your cat-sitter. For every cat there's a different limit and 10 days seems just about right for mine. (Shani's cat Mitzie seems to get into the lonely and glad stage within 3 days, I think.)
Time for refreshing sleep in my own bed. Sure, the bed isn't magically made every day while I'm gone, but I can overlook that minor failing. (I suspect that at 29, if I haven't learned to make my own bed every day, I'm not likely to ever learn.)
Night! Happy new year.
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Comments: Read 1 or Add Your Own.
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| Subject: | Happy New Year! |
| Time: | 9:57 am. |
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I haven't been actively scared of fireworks since I was four, but last night was pretty terrifying... and fun.
Instead of seeing the DC fireworks, we stayed in the "family friendly" Alexandria, Virginia first night celebrations. We were supposed to need $15 badges each to get into the events (which we didn't go to anyway), but the hotel gave us a pair for free. After some initial frustration because we couldn't figure out where the events were, we took a free bus to the other end of the Old Town, had sushi, and then walked back. It was great and not too cold.
There were two odd things about the fireworks display.
First, rather than have them in front of a government building, they instead were done near (an extremely well-lit and attractive) Masonic Temple. (The wikipedia article on Freemasonry might be a good diversion right now, if you're not familiar.) That wasn't a problem, of course, I just thought it a little strange.
The second thing that was odd was that the fireworks were shot from right in front of the building and were *exceptionally* low. Really low. Insanely low. So low that the ones that burst in the air seemed to send embers quite nearly down into the crowd. I'm sure they didn't, but it seemed that way. The show started fairly slowly and they strangely used only one type of firework at a time, but once they heated up it was fast and furious with explosions everywhere (and since they were so close to where we were sitting, we had to turn our head to keep them all in view). Great scene and well worth it. And then we were able to walk back to our hotel rather than trying to navigate the insanely crowded metros for hours.
And now we're getting ready to leave. (Or rather, Dorie is sleeping and I am writing. But that's a lot like leaving.) 8 hours or more of driving along one of the most heavily populated long strips in the country on a holiday. I can't wait!
(And thankfully we picked up some more books on tape from Kit since we will be finished with "Melting Stones" by Tamora Pierce today. We've already listened to two Shannon Hale books on the trip: "Princess Academy" and "Enna Burning".)
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Monday, December 31st, 2007
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| Subject: | Richmond and Beyond |
| Time: | 6:17 pm. |
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Continuing my story...
Richmond was supposed to be the souther-most point on our trip, but we instead decided to visit one of Dorie's friends in Williamsburg which made *that* the southern-most point. In either case, Richmond was fun, if brief. We spent the morning at an excellent Civil War museum (where it didn't even call it the "war of northern aggression" once. I was disappointed, but clearly just not far enough south.) We also visited "Monument Avenue" to look at some monuments and had lunch at a great restaurant in the neighborhood they call "The Fan".
From there, we were driving again to Dorie's friend's house. That went very well (I have to track down Kit's LJ at some point) and they treated us to Mexican for dinner.
I really think I could live in southern Virginia. The climate may actually be perfect for me. It has seasons, like real places for people to live in should, but it is also relatively warm in the winter. Cold enough that hats and gloves are nice, but no so cold that your nose freezes off. To me, that's probably a perfect middle ground. Sadly, I don't think there are jobs there doing what I do... but I can see why Ed loves it so much. (But I couldn't possibly be as out of the way as he is.)
The remainder of the evening was driving to Alexandria where we are staying for the three nights in "DC". That was actually a pretty long two days of driving between the weather and the unexpected size trip (an hour each way) to Williamsburg.
So far in DC, Dorie and I have spent a tremendous amount of time in the Holocaust Museum (yesterday evening and this morning), the Modern Art museum, and the Air & Space museum. I had wanted to see the zoo again, but we did have a zoo in Columbus and all four of our collective feet were about to fall off. Today was actually an amazing, beautiful day. Just perfect for sight-seeing. (But since we've both been to DC before, we didn't do too much-- just headed straight for the museums that we were interested in.)
Tonight, we're going to the Arlington, VA "old town" for a street fair and fireworks to ring in the new year. (And this year we'll be able to speak the language and count down with everyone. Last year, I wished I had a French phrasebook.)
And although I didn't visit the zoo this trip, I did visit there a number of years ago and collected this bit of wisdom which I've been holding onto ever since. It sounds fairly silly, but roll it around in your head for a while and think it over. It's actually pretty deep. (Especially for things you learn in a zoo.)
- Don't sit on the fake rocks-- they're hollow.
- Don't sit on the real rocks-- they're hard.
Happy New Year everyone!
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| Subject: | West Virginia |
| Time: | 4:53 pm. |
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You should all be proud of me. I only sang the infernal John Denver song *once* while visiting the "Wild and Wonderful" state of West Virginia. (That used to be their slogan, but now it's "open for business". I liked "Wild and Wonderful" quite a bit better.)
Here's some facts that you might not know about West Virginia:
- The whole state has a population less than 1/3rd the population of the Boston metro area.
- Of those, 96% of the population is white. It is the least diverse state in the nation.
- It has the lowest median income of any state.
And that said, Dorie and I spent a night in a hotel outside of the exceptionally beautiful city of Charleston and we had a great time. We didn't do too much sight-seeing in that city (mostly because we slept in), but we did a bit of walking around the state capital grounds. I think it would be better to come back in the summer.
The real item on my agenda for WV was to take Dorie to the "New River Gorge Bridge" which is the highest bridge in the Americas (and formerly the highest in the world). I had many raised eyebrows at work when I announced that I was taking Dorie to a bridge, but I think we both enjoyed the view and it had a nice gift shop. If you want to see the bridge yourself, just find a WV state quarter because that's the view on the back of it.
Because of the weather, there were a couple of things I wanted to do but were unable. We didn't get to stop in Morgantown to visit West Virginia's own monorail. (And, as far as I know, the only "subway-like" mass transit system in the state.) Also, I had hoped to see one of the ancient Native American burial mounds, such as the one at Moundsville, but I wasn't able. Perhaps on my next trip. (And you'll note I have no interest in the casinos at Wheeling.)
I bet you didn't even know West Virginia had that many interesting things, did you?
After West Virginia, and in a horrible downpour, we made our way to my former coworker Ed's place in Standardsville, VA. (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) oedstero). It was nice to see him, Peggy, his sons, and her daughter while there. We also discovered an amazing toy (the "eye-clops" or something similar) which I need to buy for Dorie as soon as I find a convenient excuse.
And from there, we went to Richmond, VA. (Which is another post.)
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Sunday, December 30th, 2007
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| Subject: | Visited States |
| Time: | 11:16 pm. |
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Dorie and I have been arguing about this today, but it seems that when we actually get down to counting, she and I have visited the same number of states. (But obviously not the same ones.) Neither one of us are counting airport visits or times when we only briefly drove through someplace.
I'm not counting road trips with my parents when I was very young. If I did, I would have to add South Carolina, Georgia, and Indiana... but I don't remember those trips well (if at all). In Canada, Dorie and I have both been to Ontario and Quebec. Dorie has been to at least Guanajuato, Mexico City, and Baja California in Mexico... but I've never been to Mexico at all.
For your (well, my) reference...
Joe's visited states:
create your own visited states map
Dorie's visited states:
create your own visited states map
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| Subject: | Columbus |
| Time: | 10:59 pm. |
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I've worked it out: This trip will total out at 1,922 miles, give or take. That's quite a few miles. Last year's trip through the frozen north was about 1,500 miles (which Dorie skipped the first 500 or so since she flew into Pittsburgh) and our much shorter trip through Florida only clocked in at 600 miles. This is roughly the distance from Boston to Key West, so remind me of that next year so I have an idea where to go.
This trip will entail driving through 11 states: Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Virginia, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey.
After spending Christmas with my folks, Dorie and I drove off to Columbus. We had seen Kira and her parents in Pittsburgh, but by an amazing coincidence she was in Columbus also. Imagine that. :)
Columbus isn't a great city, but it is a nice city. We visited COSI ("co-sai" not "co-see", apparently) which is their children's science museum... and it was excellent. We also visited the Columbus Museum of Art because they had an exhibition of people that painted in one of the same gardens that Monet pained in. (Some patrons were quite upset that they had MONET in big letters, but nearly none of his own work. I suppose they had a point, but marketing is marketing and they should have actually read the brochure.)
In the evening, we went to the Columbus Zoo and Dorie petted a goat. Mostly, we were there because they had an absolutely amazing display of Christmas lights throughout the whole zoo from one end to the other. Thousands and thousands of lights, except in the animal enclosures of course. (You really couldn't see any animals after dark, which is just as well because I'm sure they needed to sleep.)
My only complaints about Columbus was how difficult it was to find any food what-so-ever on a weekday at 3:00 PM. I know that some restaurants close between lunch and dinner, but we ended up stuck at a fast-food pizza place (which turned out to be better than expected) as a last resort. (The museum was open until 8:30 on Thursdays, but the museum cafe closed at 1:30.)
And after Columbus, we went to West Virginia. Which will be another post. Probably.
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| Subject: | On the road again... |
| Time: | 7:08 pm. |
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Map on Google Maps
I've now been away from home for more than a week and I haven't even posted to LJ once. This has to be a new record of some sort, though probably not something that I should be proud of. We're in Arlington, VA now and spent the day in DC. I have to type quickly because Dorie just went to the pool, but maybe I can summarize briefly.
Dorie and I left Boston on the 22nd and headed for my parents for Christmas. That was excellent, although I think I was overfed. (Three Christmas dinners. Really.) This was Dorie's first "Christmas" with my family and although she was nervous about it, I think it went very well. Christmas morning was with my mother, my brother and his wife, and little nephew Mason. Dinner #1 was with my father-- he had ham and lasagna and it's a good think we had two more dinners coming because Dorie was pretty much stuck eating bread. (This was around 1:00 PM) Dinner #2 was with my sister (around 3:00 PM) and she also had ham, but other foods that Dorie could eat and that worked out. And Dinner #3 was back with my mother, with Cornish game hens.
We stayed in Pittsburgh for several days, though the only friends I managed to see was kazulanth (Kira) and greybeh (Heather). Heather looks like she is doing very well and I'm glad that we managed to meet up with her.
And now I'd better run, but you can tell from that map that we had a lot more adventures which I'll have to write about in a bit...
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Saturday, July 21st, 2007
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| Subject: | Harry Potter - No Spoilers |
| Time: | 11:35 pm. |
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Just finished processing the book, which I finished reading earlier. It gives you a lot to think about. Possibly not my favorite in the series, but right up there.
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Look! I have a new towel warmer. Don't you love a warm towel when you get out of the shower? (And the fur's an added bonus!)
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Men are from Mars.
Woman are from Venus.
Joshua is from Amazon.
(Repost because Dorie tells me that for some reason these posts-from-Flickr don't show up on her friends page.)
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| Subject: | A fuzzy haiku |
| Time: | 12:49 am. |
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My Doriemonster
Two eyes, two ears, but no fangs?
Good thing I like her
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| Subject: | Et tu, Brutus? |
| Time: | 12:20 am. |
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It's finally that blessed time between the end of the Spring semester, and the beginning of the Summer one. I have decided not to take any Summer courses (because I can find none that I am interested in enough to be worth $2600), BUT I will still TA over the summer.
Today, Dorie and I enjoyed things as much as we could. We had a late start, ate sushi for lunch, took a nice walk in Prospect Hill Park, came into my work to doodle on whiteboards (she drew lots of rabbits, I mostly tried to draw monkeys robots and failed), watched two more episodes of Doctor Who, then went out to see a local production of "Julius Caesar", and had a late dinner at the IHOP. Pretty good, I think.
The play was put on at the Arsenal Center for the Arts, just a couple miles down the road from me. It was mostly current or former Salem State College students, but they still did a fairly good job. The death scenes (of which there are many) were a bit overboard and the "modernizing" of the play (which directors love to do with The Bard, it seems) was uneven. (They were aiming for modern politics, everyone wearing suits with Caesar sporting a Texas accent. They missed. It seems sometimes they were playing the Sopranos, sometimes the West Wing, sometimes they were College Kids in Suits). All that aside, it was an excellent way to spend a couple of hours and we both really enjoyed ourselves. I wish we had eaten first, but next time we'll know better.
Tomorrow, we have a barbeque with her parents, her brother, his fiancee, and her parents also. That should be fun.
(And yes, my subject line is technically incorrect: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Et_tu,_Brute%3F. I know. But I like it better this way.)
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