Vacation last month in San Diego took the family to Sea World. Where else? My wife Annie can be seen here on one of the water rides. She’s not perfectly focused, but that doesn’t diminish […]
Category: Living
Porch Light Stays Off Tonight
I am so work-stuff busy today I have no free time. But something happened in the backyard that warranted my taking a camera break and later a posting break. My daughter brought out her sled […]
For the Gipper
Washington mourned the death of Ronald Reagan this week. While sentimental and opportunity for people to pay last respects, the mourning struck me, as it always does, somewhat misplaced. Why show so much respect for the dead when the living could use it more?
I understand that Alzheimer’s gripped the former president and that maybe he couldn’t appreciate friends or fellowship the way he used to. What about the family? Particularly considering the seriousness of his illness?
I Must Be Living Under a Rock
Living in the Washington, D.C. area—hey, right off Connecticut Ave., baby—and tracking high-tech and the Internet for work, you’d think I’d know about what’s going on. Apparently, I have too much in common with Patrick the starfish from SpongeBob Squarepants. There’s a reason he lives under a rock, folks.
This morning, while checking the couple hundred or so RSS feeds I monitor, I stumbled onto this tantalizing headline, “Sex Scandal Rocks US Congress,” from Express India. So exactly how far around the world do I have to go to get local news: “Washington loves nothing as much as a summer sex scandal, and the season is off to an early start this year, as a Congressional aide was sacked after posting her lovemaking exploits on the internet”, according to the story, with a dateline of today.
Cicada Nation
Washington, D.C., is now capital of the Cicada invasion. These bugs are everywhere, looking every bit the survivors of some prehistoric meteor that wiped out all other ancient species. Saturday, while driving through an impending […]
The Rebel’s Love Birds
Yesterday, my daughter’s school held a yard sale for the PTA. I snapped these love birds using the Canon EOS Digital Rebel.
Bun Bun
My daughter’s in-door bunny got her first romp around the backyard yesterday. I used the occasion to try out my new Canon Digital Rebel camera.
The Odds on God’s Existence
A story in today’s Guardian says the odds favor God’s existence. The three writers cite work by Dr. Stephen Unwin, who used a 200-year-old formula used to “work out the likelihood of events” to determine with […]
Washington Winter Wonderland
Snow is pelting Washington this evening. Forecast for the D.C. metro region is 10-20 cm of snow. I’d say there’s 1 cm on the ground in the first half hour of snowfall. Lots of losers […]
Man on the Train
Wednesday afternoon, while on the D.C. metro, I saw a homeless man working the train for change. Lots of loafers beg for money around Washington; they’re professional beggars whose job is collecting handouts, sometimes pretty aggressively.
But this guy looked truly down on his luck. I’m not tall, about 1.6 meters, and this guy, sporting a well-weathered sleeping bag, was shorter than me. He shuffled politely through the subway car, asking people for money. What surprised me was just how many folks gave him money. Unlike the professional beggars, which more typically use disposal cups, this guy took cash by hand. Like the others, I gave him some change; I wanted to give more but hadn’t hit the bank machine before going on a trip to New York. He literally got all that I had to give.
My LinuxWord Souvenir: Poison Ivy
Wednesday afternoon I headed up to New York for LinuxWorld. Strangely, I developed a weird, itchy rash. Thank-you, LinuxWorld, you gave me poison ivy! Reliable Dr. Mirkin made the diagnosis this morning. Maybe Linux truly […]
NeoPets Alarm Clock
Rousting a kid is every parent’s morning nightmare. Those kids cling to the pillows the way leeches used to stick to our backs at the old swimming hole.
Two weeks ago, my daughter picked up a Pocket NeoPets electronic game, at the local Target using her allowance money. Promptly, at 7:30 each morning, the game buzzes to feed her critter—a Fairy Poogle, I do believe—and she hops out of bed with urgency no alarm clock could muster. It’s a parent’s dream situation.