Pizza by the pool

We sat by the vets' pool this afternoon: Skibo play in the water with his friend A, and A's parents, the vets and LOML I me watching them.  And, of course, occasionally getting in to swim or dive.

And then we had pizza and fruit salad and chatted and laughed.

Yours, thinking it was a lovely afternoon!
N.

Riding Camp

Boo has left.  She's gone.  For a week.  She's off at riding camp with her friend M, the only two girls from her Brownie troop who chose to go to the riding camp an hour or so away from here.

We're a little apprehensive about it: she's never stayed away from home for this long, but we're hopeful she'll have a lovely time!

Yours, missing her already!
N.

Tonic

My cinchona bark powder arrived yesterday -- the citric acid was on back order, though, so I was anticipating having to wait to try my latest culinary experiment.  But then I remembered the cheese kit having citric acid in, and checked, and sure enough, it does.
So, it's off to the store for some lemongrass, whole allspice berries, and some citrus.

Yours, thinking that making homemade tonic water should be a thrill!
N.

Lack of imagination

I had a complete lack of imagination about food today, and since Boo is leaving for riding camp tomorrow, LOML and I decided to ask her what she wanted for dinner tonight.
She seemed surprised when we said that "yes, LOML's spanikopita would be a suitable dinner": perhaps she doesn't think that her dinner should taste that good...
I threw together a hummus and tapenade and smoked trout pate to join the spanikopita, and we ate a lovely feast.

Yours, thinking that main dishes are overrated,
N.

Potluck at a pool

Potluck tonight was at a new location: a friend of ours who lives a mile or so out of town, on a lovely piece of land, beautiful tree cover, pool, etc.
And it was delightful to see how many people turned out, given that the start time was 6:00, and at 5:40 the heavens opened and tried to persuade all of us not to risk the run to the car.
Heavy, heavy rain, thunder, and scary looking lightning -- enough that LOML and I didn't bundle the kids into the car until it died down a little, at about 6:20 or so. 
But a ton of people showed up, including some nice new folks.  The food was good, the people fun, and the conversations, as always, interesting.

Yours, enjoying this tradition we've helped to start,
N.

The Library

Another good way for the kids to spend some time in the summer is making regular use of the library.  We went down this afternoon, and the kids took out three items each (in Skibo's case, two books and a video): they also signed up for a reading program the library runs: read thirty books over six weeks, and win a prize.

On returning home, and before going swimming, both kids sat and read all their books, logged them on the sheet, and have hence made great progress on their thirty book challenge!

Yours, loving the fact that our kids love reading,
N.

The pool

Our days in the summer seem to revolve around the outdoor pool: this year it is open every day except for Mondays, and we normally try to get a couple of hours in in the late morning -- avoiding the hottest part of the day, and enabling us to do something else in the afternoon.
Today we didn't manage that --- LOML and I spent a couple of hours working on the science lab for the elementary school: figuring out what was in all the kits, and trying to work out how best to make them most usable for the teachers.
We did get to go to the pool later in the day, though, and then cooked up mac and cheese for some friends who came over for dinner.

Yours, enjoying the summer,
N.

Awards day in the classrooms

Today was awards day in the classrooms at the school: we turned up at Skibo's class right on time (according to the schedule on the web) only to discover that his teacher had started early.  That being a first grade class, she had concocted an award for each student, and thoughtfully waited until parents got there before presenting to students --- so we walked in, and immediately she presented Skibo with the best reader award.
Then we wandered off to Boo's class: her teacher had not decided to start early, so we had forty five minutes to wait for her session.  She gave out at least one or two awards to every student in the class, and Boo scored particularly well, especially in reading and writing.  Other friends of hers got nice awards too, which was great to see.

Yours, finding it hard to believe that she's going into third grade next year, and Skibo's going into second,
N.

Summer fun about to begin

One more day for the children (actually, more like a quarter of a day) and then it's the summer for weeks and weeks and weeks....

Yours, hoping we can fill the days with fun and also make some of it educational,
N.

Pools, pools, pools

We finally made it to the outdoor pool this afternoon: it had opened last weekend, but things have been so busy, and school is still not out, and we'd not had a chance to go.
It was not too crowded when we got there, though by the time we left, it had picked up substantially.  We usually try to get there right at 1 on Sundays --- so many of the other families have other obligations at that time of day, and it means that we get more opportunity to enjoy the less crowded time.

We're wondering whether to put Boo into the swimming team this year, or just to put her through lessons again: either way, she's a lovely swimmer, with great form, and I'm looking forward to watching her swim this summer!

Yours, in dolphin mode,
N.

Birthdays again

A month or so full of birthdays: today is LOML's friend J, tomorrow is LOML's father, a couple of days from now is my brother's birthday, all on top of the birthdays in the past couple of weeks!
A lovely party this afternoon and evening for J: the vets had everyone over, and we swam and talked and ate: the pool was full of children and a handful of adults for about 5 hours in a row!  This time of year is just at the tail end of lovely weather: still possible to be outside without melting, at least in the shade, and the pool makes it so much more bearable!

Yours, grateful for the opportunity to enjoy days like today,
N.

Potluck? On a Friday?

Yes, potluck on a Friday.  A big success, down the street at friends with a huge field off the back of their garden: they put up a horizontal water slide ---- 30 some feet long --- and there was a great turnout. 
Thinking about it afterwards, neither LOML nor I could recall why potlucks were Thursdays, and not Fridays: there were lots of reasons not to be Tuesday or Wednesday this semester, but why we didn't go with Fridays, I don't know.

Yours, thinking Friday's the day from here on in,
N.

More evidence of Skibo's ability

We had our parent-teacher conference with Skibo's teacher this afternoon: it went really well: he's excelling all of the things they are teaching him, coming in in the 98th percentile nationally in math and reading, which given the spread of abilities at that age, and the fact that he's one of the youngest in the year, is very promising.
It was a quick conference, followed by a lengthy discussion with his teacher: she's moving up to second grade next year, and Skibo will stick with her: LOML and I are very interested in helping her figure out the best ways to incorporate science into the curriculum, and to help all the teachers there make the best use of the rather well stocked and under-utilised lower grades science lab.

Yours, enjoying being involved with education,
N.

A new month begins

And with it, a pancake breakfast in Skibo's class.  He got to show me a portfolio of lots of things that he'd written in class this year, and to take home a bucket full of educational games that his teacher had devised (or used of someone else's devising).

A lovely morning: so proud of the work that he's done!

Yours, finding it hard to believe he'll already be a second grader next fall,
N.

Happy Birthday to our friend E!

Happy birthday, E!
We're cooking away like crazy, as are others, for a party this evening down at the cafe.

Yours, having done a cherry bombe, ribs, carnitas, halfway through a chocolate roulade,
N.

A delightful afternoon by the pool

A rather lovely day: I got up late -- ridiculously late! -- and did little: I covered a cherry bombe with chocolate ganache, and put together the marinade for barbecued ribs for tomorrow's potluck for our friend E's birthday, but other than that was pleasantly just relaxed. 
This afternoon we headed over to our friends the vets, to swim and chat and just be: other than Skibo whacking his chin on the side of the pool (nasty little scare, which will probably lead to a nasty little scar) it was a lovely time.
And the children may just have new nicknames.  After discussing with Boo that she was nutty, we listed a bunch of nuts from which she chose her new nickname: Filbert.  And Skibo will be Dilbert.

Yours, feeling like today felt like a holiday,
N.

Blue Garlic

I made a discovery today: it was, for a few moments, scary:  LOML and I were decanting the spicy concoction that we'd made yesterday, when we realised that the garlic cloves had changed.  More precisely, they had turned a rather lovely shade of blue.  Since we were planning on feeding friends soon after, and had intended to include some spicy goodness in it, we immediately turned to the net for information.

Fortunately, I happened upon this article, which reassured me, especially the use of the phrase "The garlic is still safe to eat".  So, rest assured gentle readers (I know there are at least two of you): if I offer you spicy goodness, and it contained a rather lovely shade of blue garlic, I'm not attempting to emulate Lucretia Borgia, I am merely feeding you wonderful food!

Yours, relieved, and rather impressed by the beauty of the result,
N.

Food discoveries

I've tried a couple of new things over the past few days:
a) smoked trout and caramelized onion pizza with garlic/sriracha mayonnaise
b) vinagre, after Viva Daisy's recipe, modified by a couple of additions:
I coarsely chopped a few inches of ginger root, and threw in a couple of tablespoons of szechuan pepper.  Absolutely amazing flavour!

Yours, spicing things up,
N.

A trip to town

LOML and I took a trip to the (small-ish) big city this morning: we've done it three or four times recently -- we get to go to decent supermarkets and buy exotic things like smoked trout which are hard to find (read, impossible) in the local stores.

On the way back, we got caught in the last of the storms passing through here (we're fortunately well east of the really destructive ones): last night and this morning dumped a good heavy rain on the region.  Fortunately this storm was quick to pass through, and it didn't slow us down very much: we went on to the new Asian grocery near-ish us, and on the way back stopped at the new Thai restaurant for lunch (sushi, in my case).

Quite a lovely little day out!

Yours, knowing that these little trips will end once the kids are out of school in a couple of weeks,
N.

Keeping the same teacher

We learned this week that Skibo's first grade teacher is going to be teaching second grade next year, and rather than the usual shuffling of classes that happens between grades, her students are being given the option of staying with her, or being shuffled between the other two classes.
LOML and I talked it over between us, and with her, and with Skibo, and decided that we were happy for him to stay with her: and then let Skibo make the choice.

Yours, happy he enthusiastically wants to stay with his teacher next year,
N.

A pulse

One of the difficulties that many volunteer groups (and businesses, and organisations, and...) have is the following: once you are well established, and everybody is involved and engaged, things go swimmingly.  But how do you get there?  How do you get from just a handful of people trying to so stuff, to good, organised group?
One thing that seems to be really important is for the group, the community, the interested parties, to make sure that the organisation has a pulse: some reminder to everyone that it is time to be involved again: this could be a newsletter, it could be making sure that meetings happen regularly, it could be phone trees: there are lots of ways to make it happen.

This topic came up this afternoon at a meeting of the Parent/Teacher Organisation for the school: how do we make sure that the PTO has a pulse, to bring parents out, to get them involved and to keep them involved?
Do we really want meetings every month?  Is that too many?  I feel that it's perhaps more than we need in terms of what needs to be done in the meetings, but the "pulse" that they'd bring, especially if scheduled in a regular fashion (say, always the second Tuesday of the month, or whenever) would be worth the extra time.

Similarly, next weekend will be the fifth first-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of my origami group (we threw in an extra meeting on a non-first Saturday too, so it's the sixth meeting) and my first without the help of my co-founder, who has up and moved away for a new job. 

Yours, keeping up the pulse,
N.

Academic Celebrations

The end of the school year is nearing for Boo and Skibo: only another couple of weeks to go: and this evening we had the Academic Celebration for the semester: in previous semesters each classroom has been festooned with samples of all the work that the students have done during the term, and there has been some sort of  presentation/dance/song session in the gym.
This time, however, the music/PE/art staff have been so pressed for time (they've all been pressed into doing double duty, at our school and at another elementary school) that they couldn't incorporate performances by all grades.
And the bigger, and better, change was that the school decided that all the classes should decorate the gymnasium with the examples of their work, grouped by grade level.
It meant that instead of LOML and me only seeing the sorts of things that Boo and Skibo have been doing, we got to experience the full spectrum of the school -- a great opportunity to observe, for instance, that the fifth graders are already studying the rudiments of cell biology.
It felt like a much more joyous event than previous celebrations, and I'm so glad that they made this change!

Yours, celebrating the students,
N.

Persistent coughs and colds

Boo and Skibo have had a terrible time trying to shake off a persistent cough this spring.  For three weeks now, they've had a cough hanging on: not  bad most of the time, but a few times a day they'll have a horrible time coughing.
And often, it's at bedtime, meaning that they don't get a good night's sleep.
Hopefully once they are out of school in a couple of weeks they'll recover, if not before then!

Yours, feeling sorry for the poor little ones,
N.

Birthdays

Birthdays, here and abroad, are piling up, it seems.  Today we helped a friend here celebrate her birthday: we threw a smallish dinner party: mushroom risotto, with sausages and chicken to go with it for the carnivores in attendance.  Today is also my cousin's birthday: tomorrow is my sister's, two weeks from then it is my brother's: and next week we are helping organise a rather larger potluck at the local cafe for another friend.
Lots of fun, this!

Yours, always happy to help friends and family celebrate,
N.

You load sixteen tons, and whaddaya get?

Maybe not sixteen tons, but LOML and I probably moved the best part of a ton of dirt and mulch this morning.  The dirt was most definitely not soil: it was ground up pine bark, apparently full of nutrients, but not good at water retention: LOML tells me that when it is mixed with clay it becomes a good growing medium.
Anyway, we basically replenished an 8x8 bed which had been hollowed out to put in a pond which was subsequently deemed too dangerous for the school garden. 

Yours, hoping that it leads to some lovely growth,
N.

Carnitas again

We are making carnitas in ten days for a birthday party, and I decided I needed another practice run first --- so this evening, carnitas it was.  Just as good, just as nicely warm and spicy, just as tender, just as delicious.

This recipe is really really good. 

Yours, saying "try it!",
N.

The kids are home!

The children are finally home!  They went with friends to a water park for the weekend, and because there was so much to do there were a couple of hours later leaving than we'd expected.
But now they are here, home and healthy, safe and sound.
They've had a wonderful time, and hopefully will sleep well tonight!

Yours, glad to have them back,
N.

Disappointment

All week I've been hearing about this weekend: we're supposed to see some sort of raptors?  Haven't seen a one.

Yours, wondering if the lack of raptors might signify the end of days...
N.

Leisure

Boo and Skibo are off for the weekend, with friends, visiting a waterpark a couple of hours from here.  This gives LOML and me the freedom to go to restaurants, wander leisurely, sleep in tomorrow morning, and basically not be parents for a couple of days.  Apparently the children had a great time this afternoon, and are likely to be so worn out that they will get to sleep really quickly.

There were some moments of excitement earlier in the day: people not being where we thought they would be at the time we thought they would be there (including Skibo, who was sitting quietly in his classroom reading by himself when he was thought to be elsewhere, and couldn't be found for a few minutes: fortunately I only heard about this after the fact, and hence was not scared stiff at the time!)

Yours, wondering what to do with this freedom,
N.

New Phones

LOML and I decided we needed to get new phones today --- we'd been working with old phones handed down from friends, and they were not what we needed at all: while I sometimes think it would be super cool to have a smart phone, what I really need is a phone that works as a phone, not a computer in my pocket.  And I don't want to pay the extra fees for data plans!
We decided to go with no contract phones and just put our sim cards in, rather than extending our contract with AT&T for another two years --- we sometimes talk about switching carriers, and there didn't seem to be any benefit at all to buying the sorts of phones we wanted from AT&T (in fact, it probably saved us ten dollars or so to get them from another store).
On the way home, we stopped at the Thai restaurant and had dinner, then wandered around another couple of stores, taking our time in a leisurely fashion, no need to hurry.

Yours, enjoying the leisure,
N.

Happy Birthday to our friend the vet!

No potluck to report on this week: we went out to dinner with our friends from the veterinary clinic, and a few others, to our old favourite Japanese restaurant.
We had a lovely time: the food was good, the laughter plentiful, and the company great.  The service was not up to the usual standards, though, and we came away muttering about how bad our waiter had been.
We then went off and had birthday cake, and finished celebrating, returning home late in the day.  The children had all been playing together with a babysitter, and by the time we got them home it was way past time for bed.

Yours, wishing the vet a very happy birthday,
N.

Smoked Milkfish Pate

LOML and I made our long trip to by smoked fish today --- some trout and some mackerel, enough to last a couple of weeks --- and on our return, I decided to try making some pate with the smoked milkfish I bought yesterday.
For comparison purposes, I put together a batch of smoked mackerel pate as well.
I wasn't sure whether the milkfish needed cooking first, and the information I could find on the web was unhelpful (I suspect that it was already cooked, but every recipe on the web suggested that it needed to be cooked) so I decided that I would err on the side of safety and after thawing a piece, placed it in a small skillet and gently sauted it.
While doing that, I put together a smoked mackerel pate:
1 piece of smoked mackerel, skin removed (about 3-4 ounces)
1/4 cup of fat-free cream cheese (a quarter of a package)
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
2 tablespoons of horseradish (the grated stuff, not the "prepared" stuff in mayonnaise)
2 tablespoons of olive oil
I blended them all together in the food processor (they fit beautifully in the small bowl which sits in the main large bowl of the food processor).
All the while I was gently making sure the milkfish was cooked through: turning it occasionally.  I took it out of the pan, removed the skin, and checked that indeed it had been boned already: I let it cool, then broke it into small pieces just to check for any bones, finding none.  I then made the same recipe, with the milkfish (about the same weight) substituting for the mackerel.

Dinner consisted of soup (Tom Ka Gai, a Thai chicken and coconut soup), and a baguette with the pates made earlier.  There is a slight difference between the flavours: I think the milkfish is a little smokier, and LOML claimed to taste a little more sweetness to it, and I can definitely taste the mackerel flavour I'm so used to from saba nigiri, mackerel prepared as sushi: but the difference is subtle, and they are both very good.  LOML has a slight preference for the milkfish, and I prefer the mackerel, but not by much.

Yours, very happy with the way this turned out,
N.

New discoveries

LOML and I have made a couple of new discoveries recently: the new-ish Thai restaurant which we've eaten at a couple of times is one: it's only been open for six or seven months, and still has a "Now Open" banner by the street, so we're not too far behind the curve on that one.
A few weeks ago we saw a little sign on the street advertising a new Asian food market a little further down the road, and this afternoon I decided that I was going to check it out --- LOML was busy, so I had to go by myself.
It's a very nondescript looking store from the outside: in a little run-down strip mall just off the main road, a huge, rather empty parking lot, and little sign of life.
Entering the store, it appeared to have little character, and while the products on the shelves were oriental, the people in the store, three of them, were elderly southerners, deep in conversations about family and the past.
I was greeted with an offer of help, which I declined, happy to wander the store exploring the shelves.
The owner is from the Philippines originally, and that influenced, a little, some of the items she stocks.  There is a good representation of other items, though, especially Japanese, Chinese and Thai.  I was a little disappointed to not see many Indian items, but that's not a big deal: there are not too many things I've been unable to find elsewhere.
I did make one find, though.  We've been enjoying smoked trout and smoked mackerel lately, both whole and in a pate: unfortunately, it's apparently unavailable within a 30 mile radius of here, so we have to plan a special trip to buy it.  But the asian store did carry a smoked fish: a fish I'd never heard of before: smoked, boneless milkfish.  In a mood to try something new, I bought a package of it (frozen) along with some other things I was happy to find: wet tamarind, prawn crackers and garlic crackers, sheets for making thai fresh rolls, etc.
Now I just need to find the courage to actually try the new item!
Yours, waiting to report on the flavour later,
N.

Norse Myths

Skibo and LOML and I went to the library on Saturday morning, and found the children's book of Norse myths that I'd been unable to find with Boo on Wednesday.  I read a few stories to them from it on Saturday night, and more on Sunday.  This morning, Boo was coughing badly, and clearly not well, so I stayed home with her, and we read the remaining five or six stories about Thor, Odin and the rest.
Following that, we sat and talked music theory --- or rather, we talked about how to represent the notes played on the piano to play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star: I figured out how to use lilypond to produce sheet music with the notes, and the names of the notes, and the lyrics.
All in all, a pretty spectacular morning with my little girl,
N.

Remembering the past

I have to admit that the fact that I've posted every day for a year or more is misleading: I've put posts up several days after their origin....
There are two reasons for this: sometimes I feel very uninspired to post: but at the same time, I do want to keep a record of what I've been doing, and I actually rather like the effort to remember what happened a few days ago.
I write it in the present tense by choice, mainly to preserve a sense of narrative for me when I go back and reread old posts.
A couple of days may bring a little perspective too: but not really very much. True perspective only comes with the years (and probably another person's view of a situation).  And perspective is only worth shining on a few bright shining moments in a few lives: the rest of us and the rest of our times are the filler, the background, the shading, to a larger story.

Yours, filling in a little,
N.

Spring cleaning the windows

My tablet computer had been misbehaving recently, so we've decided it's time to give it a makeover.  Not a new machine, but a complete re-installation from scratch of the operating system.  Now, I've put windows on machines before, and I know how much joy that brings, and in spite of being un-working for the next few weeks (meaning that some days I might not even go into the office at all!) I decided that it was better to get my sysadmin to do the heavy lifting instead: and since he needed to check the registration of my ipad, and also set up a new internal drive for my laptop, I got to give him lots of important busy work to do today.

To give him due credit, he finished two of the tasks, and we'll get the tablet back tomorrow.

Yours, technically speaking,
N.

First swim of the season

We went out to the vets this afternoon to swim: the first time in the water this year (for me --- Boo and Skibo went in a month or so back).  But despite the warm weather we've had, it was still too cool for me -- I dived in, swam one length, and immediately got out.  Fortunately, standing in the sun was nice and warming, and I didn't get too cold....

Yours, no longer shivering,
N.

A new restaurant

We heard last week that there is a new Thai restaurant in the next town over, and that it was reasonably good.  Last night we decided to give it a try: Boo was on a sleepover, so LOML, Skibo and I headed down there.
Our first impressions were that it would be okay, but not that much better: the decor is okay, and the staff reasonably quick.  But then the food came: we started with a chicken satay between us, and some tempura shrimp for Skibo.  Surprisingly, he liked the satay too (especially the fact that it came with skewers!) and started right into it.
We were very pleased by the flavour of the satay, and his shrimp were excellent too: cook just to be done through, not overly done and chewy, and the batter was extremely light and crisp.
The restaurant also does sushi, and since that was what I was in the mood for, I ordered a sushi special: LOML ordered a massuman curried chicken, and we waited for a few minutes.  Not long after, our food came out -- including a miso soup and a small salad with the sushi.
Everything was superb: the sushi was very fresh, very tender pieces of fish, beautifully presented: the curry was ordered medium spicy, and that's how it came, and the complex flavours merged and mingled to give a delicious result.
Best of all, when we got the bill, it was not a case of sticker shock.  Everything was reasonably priced, and it tasted great. 

Yours, thinking that perhaps we've found a new favourite restaurant!
N.

Graduation!

Congratulations to all of my students who graduated this morning!  And to anybody else who is graduating around now too!

Yours, celebrating en masse,
N.

Potluck down the street

For the second week running, we didn't host potluck: of course, that didn't stop us from cooking for it.  Since I was able to take some time off this morning I made fresh pasta, and yesterday I made a nice meat sauce, and LOML constructed a lasagna from it (actually two, one made with gluten free store bought pasta for today's host).  Delicious!

Yours, glad that potluck is finally rotating a bit, but definitely intending to host again,
N.

Ceremonies

Tomorrow is graduation, but I think that I prefer the smaller, more intimate, ceremony this evening: the Honors College gave awards to all the Honors students who have completed senior theses this year: and I was able to congratulate many of my favourite seniors.

And it was nice that it was a small enough group that there was time to read a short bio piece about each student.

Yours, celebrating with them,
N.

I Pad

My IPad arrived today!  I had hoped that it would be a little bit more intuitive to begin with -- I was rather surprised, and not a little upset, that I had to load ITunes onto a non-linux machine in order to start the thing up for the very first time --- whatever happened to "it just works out of the box"?

That done, though, it does work.

Yours, playing with a new toy,
N.

Boo's doing well

 LOML and I were delighted to see a letter from Boo's teacher today:

Honestly, Boo has NO weak areas: she is ahead of the game in everything.  I expect her to qualify for Gifted and Talented next year, although I haven't heard anything official.
She picks up on things so quickly and makes great connections. She points things out to me sometimes that I didn't think of. 
Keep enriching her learning by exposing her to cultural, written works, and the wonder of the world around her. 
As parents, you have already done a great job of this.
It has helped to mold her already awesome personaliy.  Keep doing just what you're doing.
I want to meet up with Boo in 10 years and confirm all of my expectations of her.  I have loved her this year.
LOML and I are so proud of our little girl!

Yours, thrilled,
N.

And I didn't!

And I didn't go in to work today, as promised yesterday!  And since I'm not getting paid for the first summer session, I don't consider it playing hookey at all.

Yours, having had a nice relaxing day,
N.

Taking Boo to the library

Boo and I walked to the library this afternoon: we would have taken Skibo too, but he had disappeared for a play date (literally, through a confusion of who had said what, we didn't know he had gone, or where -- though Boo did -- which has led to new rules about parents being told when you are leaving, etc).
The walk was delightful: on the way there, we discussed why Wednesday is called Wednesday, which led to a discussion of the names of all the days of the week, and thence to Norse myths and legends.
On the way home, we discussed the 13 year cicadas who are out at the moment: we talked about their life cycle, the way that they burrow to the roots of a tree and sit there for twelve and a half years, sucking on the rooty goodness: and she absorbed it all, and later took great delight in informing LOML about all these facts (which, I want to add, she got completely right).

At the library itself, she learned how to ask the librarian for help in finding a book, in this case about Norse myths; although they showed a book in stock for young people, we ended up having to borrow an adult book instead: I'll look forward to reading it to her!

Yours, loving how much of a learning-sponge she is right now!
N.

Grades are in!

And having attended a Master's Thesis defense this morning (successful, I am glad to report), I am done for the semester.  At least until Thursday.

Yours, thinking that tomorrow, I might just not go in to work at all.
N.

I love faculty meetings

They just make the time run so much less quickly.  And at this stage of life, that is a blessing, right?

Yours, in snark,
N.

Law and order

I watched an episode of Law and Order, UK, this evening.  I'm struck by two huge differences between the popular show over here and the British version.  Of course, they have the same theme tune, and the same dramatic structure, but they illustrate two rather significant differences between the two societies.
The first difference is the societal use of CCTV footage.  It is ubiquitas in British society these days, and people seem to be completely accepting of the fact that everywhere they go, they will be filmed.  I suspect that this makes a lot of detective work a lot easier.  It's a development that I'm uncomfortable with, but I understand the impulses which drive a society to make that choice.
The second obvious difference is the compassion showed by the prosecution towards a minor who changes his plea to guilty: advising him to get psychological counselling so that he is not lost in the prison system: it's not the sort of scene I've often seen in US legal dramas.  But in the UK version it's presented as rather a natural inclination of a prosecutor.  I was rather touched by the inclination to try to change behaviour (and punish) rather than just punish it without the attempt at reforming and rehabilitating the individual.

Yours, enjoying the fact that I can appreciate cultural differences like this,
N.

Carnitas

Last night we had carnitas at the potluck.  I looked around the web at a bunch of recipes, and picked various features I liked from several: here is what I actually cooked:

Carnitas, my adaptation of several recipes

6 lb pork shoulder, boneless (I had a few bones I removed)
1 quart chicken stock
Orange juice
Zest of an orange
1 small can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
5 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 stick cinnamon
3 bay leaves
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 tablespoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Cut the pork into 1-2 inch cubes. Put in a heavy pot, add the chicken stock, and enough orange juice to cover the meat.  Add the remaining ingredients, bring to a boil, stir and reduce the heat to simmer.  Simmer uncovered for 3 hours, and add more salt to taste.  The pork should be very tender.

At this point, I still had a lot of liquid left, and the recipe I was using suggested that it should mostly have reduced away by now.  So, instead of slavishly following the recipe, I heated the oven to 450, removed the pork from the liquid, placing it in a roasting dish, and turned the heat on the liquid up to high.
I put the pork into the oven, turning it occasionally, until it crispened up nicely.  When the sauce was reduced to about a cup or two of thick liquid, I added it to the pork, and stirred it to distribute it well.

Served with small corn tortillas, a feast fit for a Cinco de Mayo celebration.

Yours, happy to share my happiness!
N.

Slow as molasses

I just got word this morning that the IPad 2 will not be shipping for a little while; it now appears that it will take 35 days from order to delivery, and since it took several days for the order to be placed after I requested it, it's looking like a total of 8 weeks from start to finish.
It's the sort of service I used to expect in the pre-internet days: nowadays I've been spoiled by quick deliveries, and am typically dismayed when a delivery is going to take more than three or four days. 

Yours, thanking Apple for reminding me that patience, while wearing thin, is still a virtue,
N.

Grilling

We've been grilling at work.  Not the sort of grilling that requires a barbecue and charcoal.  No, we've been grilling students.
More specifically, we've been starting to grill PhD students: we have a series of exams which PhD students have to pass before being deemed ready to write a thesis: the first three are written, testing comprehensive knowledge of three important areas; the fourth is an oral exam.
Traditionally, here, it has been a chance for the student to present their understanding of their field, together with partial results they have already obtained.  Grueling, but not too scary.
But recently, we've been trying to beef the fourth exam up: asking more difficult questions, and asking questions unrelated to the topic of the presentation.
Today was my first such exam in the new, more inquisitive format: the student passed, essentially with flying colours, although he may have felt less confidence at the result prior to being informed --- he faced many really hard questions, and demonstrated first hand that saying "I don't know" won't get you failed in an exam.  Several times!

Yours, glad that I didn't have this sort of gauntlet to run,
N.

Happy Cinco De Mayo

We had a lovely potluck this evening: rather than having it here, E&C took on the role of hosts --- and their house is a lovely place to hold it.  A nice crowd turned out: and the food was good too: a lovely mix of mexican and tex-mex dishes.
I went with two salsas: a tomatilla and serrano chile salsa, and a tomato and habanero salsa, with serranos replacing the dangerous fruit: and, as my main dish, a carnitas.
All three dishes went down quite well: especially the carnitas --- spicy, slightly sweet, tender and crispy all at once.  And everyone else's food was equally delicious!
Yours, planning to post recipes soon,
N.

Another "will this semster ever end?" post

Yet again, the fin de semestre period seems to drag on and on.
And once again, I echo my old, late, friend, John Neff, who at this stage of the semester would utter the immortal words:
"will this semester never end?"
It always did.  And so, I have faith that this one will as well.
Yours, ready,
N.

Horses!

The white horse in the front is the one that Boo and Skibo got to ride on on Saturday.

 

Yours, thrilled by the fact that they are getting to experience this!
N.

Bittersweet, and not a victory, but...

I'm delighted that the NDP in Canada look set to take over a hundred seats tonight: it's bittersweet that the multi-party system looks set to give the Conservatives a majority of the seats with perhaps under 40% of the votes.
I'd have loved to have seen a minority government, with the NDP in solid second place, and an agreement to move towards a more proportional representation system as an outcome.

Yours, enjoying being a remote political junkie,
N.

Civic affairs

LOML and I tossed a mental coin this evening, and I was the one to go: the town is finally discussing a non-smoking ordinance for restaurants and similar businesses, and those in favour wanted a strong turnout.  I wanted to go too, in part because I think that the ordinance is a good thing, but also to let the owners of the restaurant most impacted by this know that we care about their restaurant -- that we want to see them succeed after the ordinance (we hope) passes.
I used to enjoy sitting in the bar area of the restaurant back in the days when I was a smoker.  Two things happened: one, I quit smoking, and two, the ventilation of the smoking section got worse.  I know the reasons for the former change, and can speculate about the reasons for the latter: the result was that about three years after I'd quit smoking, and had continued going down to visit the pub, perhaps once a week, I realised that I hated the way that it made my clothes smell: it was much worse than it had been: obviously, my sense of smell had improved, but I think that the smoke had gotten much worse.
And I wanted to let them know I'd love to come back and be a customer again.

Yours, hoping that the ordinance passes, and that its impact turns out to be surprisingly positive on the restaurants,
N.

Mockingbirds

We went to see a local production of the stage version of To Kill A Mockingbird this afternoon.  We know many of the actors, and had been looking forward to the show: and came away incredibly impressed. 
The actor playing Atticus is a good actor --- we already knew that --- but he was magnificent in the role of the lawyer: absolutely convincing as the cool, kind but firm father.  The actress playing Mayella Ewell was outstanding too, as was her younger brother in the role of Jem Finch.  Totally unforced performances, believable and natural.  Scout was played by an eight-year old who shows real promise for the future.
I really enjoy theatrical productions, though we only go a few times a year --- but this production was absolutely outstanding!
We took Boo and Skibo along: I had some qualms ahead of time, but we talked to them about the storyline, and why it's an important play: Boo was thrilled by it, and Skibo, though initially resistant to going, enjoyed much of it. Until he fell asleep, curled up in his chair, during the trial scenes.
LOML and I were both brought to tears at the end, of course: the final few minutes are gut-wrenchingly sad.
Yours, impressed by the calibre of the local company,
N.

New Experiences II

Boo and Skibo have gone off to their first baseball game this evening: the local AAA team has a lovely stadium, and their friends decided to catch tonight's game, and asked if Boo and Skibo would like to go along.  And then they'll stay over with their friends for a sleepover.

Yours, hoping that they enjoy the game!
N.

New Experiences

Boo and Skibo got to do something new today (well, not quite new, but they'd only done this once before, and it was a long time ago).  One of LOML's friends, Pat, has some horses, and invited us over this morning so that the children could ride them.
When called, the horses came thundering in from the field, cantering around us, finally slowing and coming in for a visit.  Almost as quickly, they cantered off again.  Pat finally walked off after them with a halter, and led one into the paddock, then led the other two into a fenced off area, and the children got a chance to try riding.
Boo was first: we lifted her up onto the horse, she grasped a hunk of mane, and Pat led her round in a circle.  She was rather nervous at first, but after five minutes or so she had relaxed and was enjoying it thoroughly.
Skibo took his turn, also a little nervous, and also soon enjoyed himself.
For a good part of an hour, they took turns, more and more comfortable.
We're really looking forward to the next time!

Yours, really grateful to Pat for this wonderful opportunity!
N.

cogito ergo minus

I am now the happy user of an ergometer: a Concept 2 (B)  (i.e. rather old!) rowing machine: thanks to my friends in the rowing club -- who use newer machines for their exercising, and have seen fit to lend this to me on a long term basis --- I can now practice rowing on dry land for the first time in a long time! 
Now the only difficulty is going to be keeping the little ones from clambering all over it: they are absolutely fascinated with it!

Yours, hoping that this will help me to shed a little extra (of which I have a little extra)
N.

Picnicking by the lake

Not really a picnic, and not really by the lake --- but they call it the spring departmental picnic, and the lake is only a few hundred feet downhill, so....
A very nice time this evening: the children ran off and played --- mostly well, and mostly nicely: LOML and I chatted with colleagues of mine from work who we see but rarely -- usually at this sort of event, and all in all had a nice few hours.  We hadn't been sure that we wanted to go, but we thought the kids would enjoy it: I think I can say that, happily, LOML and I both did too!

Yours, having enjoyed a gentle evening

Prior to potluck

Prior to potluck, I went to a reception for students who have won, or gained honorable mention in, national scholarship competitions: since a student of mine won a rather nice one a few weeks ago, I was invited to attend.
Unfortunately, he was not able to get here: he's off in Eastern Europe for the semester, studying harder than he would ever be made to study here.  I'm looking forward to seeing how much he's learned while away: I'm hoping for good things from him in the future!
Yours, congratulating my student,
N.

Chilli, soup, for potluck

I made a chilli and LOML made a west african curried peanut and squash soup for potluck this evening.  Everybody raved about LOML's soup --- perhaps the biggest hit we've had all year! 
It was, though, a smaller turnout than some weeks --- friends were sick, or cut off the tip of a finger, or had to work on presentations for their daughter's school project the next day: but nonetheless, a pleasant crowd, and another lovely time was had.
Next week, we head over to E&C&M&A's house for a Cinqo de Mayo celebration!
Yours, already planning on making something appropriate,
N.

Lines

I've been exercising, exercising a lot, recently.  Turning the corner, age-wise, inspired me to try and make sure I'm in shape to stay around a little while longer.
And as with cars and odometers, or people and ages, there are significant weights: lines one has to cross, lines which are like the equator, or the meridian.
Today, I cross such a line, for the first time in years.  I'll probably oscillate back and forth across it for the next few days -- almost certainly so! -- but if the recent past is a prologue for the near future, in a week or three my weight will be stable and below the line.

Yours, very pleased that my driver's license now overstates my weight!
N.

Selfishness

When I was in high school and when I was an undergraduate, I read a lot of Robert Heinlein: I enjoyed, and perhaps still would enjoy his writing a great deal.  I also read Richard Bach: in particular Jonathan Livingston Seagull and Illusions.  One message I took away from those books is the importance of recognising that everything that we do that we claim we are doing for whatever altruistic reason, at some deep level, we are doing for selfish reasons.  I still think that this is true: when I help people out, when I volunteer in the school, whenever something like this makes me feel good, I'm doing it because it makes me feel good.
I never got the Ayn Rand cult, though.  My take on the whole issue differs from hers and from Heinlein's in that I think that society can make decisions as a whole to help us all feel good about helping the less fortunate, rather than relying on individuals' atruism.
We can choose to make sure that everyone has health care.  We can make a similar choice to make sure that children don't go to bed hungry.  We can make the world a better place.

It's why I consider myself a progressive rather than a libertarian.  It's a choice I want our society to make: it's a good choice, and I'll argue for it!

I was inspired to think about this by the fact that people have apparently chosen to vote with their dollars to not support the new movie of Atlas Shrugged.

Yours, shrugging,
N.

The advantage of a night class

One course is over!  Except for the exam period, that is.  My origami and math class is finished, except for next week when the students have to turn up to hand in final projects.  I've told them to wow me.  I hope that they do!

We're constructing a Menger Sponge as a class, and I hope that we'll be able to finish it next week, although I expect that it will take a good while after that to get it done.  But we've got enough units folded, and a good chunk of it put together already: enough to make me think that it may happen sooner rather than later.

Yours, having enjoyed the folding again this semester,
N.

Playing

the waiting game.  Three weeks, nearly (more than three weeks since the request, and slightly less since the order was placed) and I am still waiting.
Yes, I'm becoming one of the Pad people.  They are like Pod people, but slightly less tied to a 1960's sci-fi/horror flick.  But to assist me in retaining my sanity, at least temporarily, Apple is helpfully taking their own sweet time in delivering said object.

Yours, thinking "tant pis: I have not time for it at the moment anyway",
N.

ps I think that "tant pis" is a rough translation in this instance for sour grapes.

Boo and jump

Boo and I sat down to do a couple of pages of JUMP math today as well: I want to make sure that she and Skibo are at the same stage when we do the worksheets (even though she's nearly two years older, he's very advanced, and it will be better if they are learning together, I think).
I was slightly surprised to see how hesitant she was with the worksheet associating fractions with shaded portions of geometric figures: however, once she got over her first qualms, she proceeded apace and did well.
I am very impressed, more so every day, with this whole JUMP math project.

Yours, contemplating ordering more workbooks,
N.

JUMPing for joy

I decided to try out some of the first worksheet from JUMPmath: I downloaded both the teacher's guide, and the workbook.  After reading the instructions fairly carefully (since this does seem to be a program in which the instructor's role and attitude is critical), I printed out the first couple of worksheets.
Skibo had been misbehaving this morning, and as a consequence was not allowed to go along with Boo and a friend to an easter egg hunt: so he and I sat down with the worksheets, on fractions, and did some mathematics.
We started with a review of multiplication, which he's just started to do (I think on his own, but it may be in class): he did very well at that, and so we moved on to fractions.
Now, Skibo is in first grade, and I'm fairly sure that he's not doing fractions at school yet: nonetheless, he took to the worksheets like a duck to water, immediately getting the idea of what the fractions represent, pictorially representing them as segments of a circle, subtriangles within a big triangle, and other sorts of shapes.  (As an aside, I was pleased to see that the worksheets didn't just use circles, as is common here: using a variety of shapes to represent fractions really helps instill the idea).
He then went on to adding fractions with a common denominator, getting the idea really quickly. 
Not wanting to push him too quickly, we stopped after four or five worksheets.  Best of all, he loved doing it, learned it well, got all the concepts, and wants to do more.  I now need to give Boo the same worksheets so that she can catch up, and they can work them together.

Yours, thrilled by the care taken in designing this programme,
N.

In Mississippi, everyone has access to health care

According to the Governor of Mississippi (as we say here, thank heavens for Mississippi!) everyone in the state has access to health care.  I assume that he means by that that anyone can turn up at the emergency room and get care.
I'm sure that that is true: emergency room doctors and nurses do indeed take care of people.
But having visited an emergency room a little over a year ago --- with a pain that I didn't think was anything (and the doctors quickly agreed) but was in my chest area, I know that there are issues here.
For example, I had insurance: so they were happy to treat me.  But before the doctor came out and told me the good news that I was right to think that I shouldn't be worried (which is, of course, very different from not being worried!) I was greeted by a representative of the business office, asking, "as a courtesy" whether I had a credit card with me, and would be willing to pay for the other charges.

Getting scared by a chest pain that was nothing cost us a lot of money.  Do I regret getting checked out?  Of course not!  But at the same time, it might be nice to live in a civilized country, which recognized that prevention is a lot cheaper than cure, but that multiple insurers have "tragedy of the commons" incentives against any one of them providing prevention, and so the country as a whole ends up paying for the cure.  When the cure is possible.

Yours, thinking that it's sad that we have to mourn the remainder.
N

A jumping off point

Maths is hated by many, reviled, and it is acceptable to say to a random stranger, "I was never any good at maths: I just don't get numbers".
So read this article.  Find out more.  And get your school to consider this approach!

Yours, inspired by this,
N.

Exercise, the wii, and a personal trainer

I don't think that I need a personal trainer: perhaps it would help, but it has always seemed rather like an extreme luxury.  A buddy system for exercising? Perhaps: but I haven't had the exercise buddies since my days rowing as an undergraduate.
But the Wii fit?  It tracks days I miss, and days I don't: it graphs my weight, and tells me when I am -- or am not --- obese:  and it shows how many hours I've put into exercising with it: and it's ridiculous, but knowing that I've been doing this for 84 days, and have accumulated a little over 81 hours is driving me to want to do a bit over an hour each day, just to get the average up.

Yours, recognizing that this is in spite of recording no exercise for 6 days when I was in India, and hence the average is ridiculous,
N.

The light at the end of the tunnel

There is light at the end of the tunnel.  I can conceive of having a day, in the foreseeable future, when I don't feel that there are seventeen things going on that need handling all at once.   And it may even be only weeks, a couple of dozen days, away.  And I have to say, I am looking forward to it!

That said, every spring, as graduation approaches, I realise that I'll have students, friends, move away, and each spring, it brings a little sadness to me, although, of course, I do share the joy they are, justifiably, feeling.  Of course, the perfect remedy is to listen, once again, to Salad Days.

Yours, gently humming "if I start looking behind me, and begin retracing my tracks..."
N.

What Krugman said!

As Paul Krugman said today: patients are not consumers.
And not only that, it's wrong to see them that way.  Consumers who are trying to cut costs spend less, it is true: but often in health care that is spending that is spent less wisely.  It's better to go for a regular checkup, a relatively cheap procedure, than to get extraordinarily expensive care once a bad situation develops.  But in the US today, even those with so-called "gold plated" policies face punitive fees for check-ups, and are discouraged from making sure that they are healthy.

Yours, thinking that "What Krugman said" could be a regular blog heading,
N.

Taxing questions

If most of our jobs come from small businesses, and the problem with taxing the rich is that most small businesses are taxed in the same grouping (leaving aside whether a business that is reporting an income for an individual in the millions is efficiently creating jobs), perhaps there is a simple solution.  Let's correct the tax code so that it distinguishes between the following: an individual making millions of dollars; an individual who, say has written a book or done something else independently, and is earning millions of dollars, but is not an employee; and finally, individuals who actually are running a small business, employing a few dozens or scores of people, and truly creating jobs.
Then we can discuss whether a reasonable tax rate on each group could help the economy, and perhaps create some more jobs.  And cut the deficit.

Yours, thinking that this is just one way things are really messed up,
N.

Menger sponges

I'm finally getting around to getting a class to fold a Menger sponge (Wikiread about them -- they are fun): we're going to fold the level 2 sponge, since it only requires a few thousand business cards, rather than 60 thousand for the level 3.  I do know of some people who have folded the level 3 sponge, notably Jeanette Mosely, who has observed that folding a level 4 sponge from business cards would be impossible: it would weigh a ton (literally) and would collapse under its own weight.
We folded two level 1 sponges at the end of tonight's class, and will fold the remaining level 0 cubes to make the 18 level 1 sponges remaining next week.  I hope to have some photos soon!

Yours, fractally speaking, approximately,
N.

A call for a new Robin Hood!

In the current state of affairs in this country, watching what is going on in Wisconsin, Ohio, Florida and New Jersey is depressing.  But tonight, Michigan takes the cake.  Michigan's governor pressed for, and obtained, a law allowing him to essentially strip the local government of their powers, appoint a representative to take over from them, and force them to do whatever the hell he wants them to.

In the case of Benton Harbor, they were given the rights to a beautiful sandy beach a long time ago: but a corporation who makes kitchen and laundry appliances, and whose name might rhyme with curlcool, who used to employ a lot of people there, has a plan.  Seems they own a lot of land where they used to put people to work and they want to build an entertainment complex, golf course, etc, there.  That is fine.  The problem is that they also want to take the beach from the city and make it for the use of their members.

The city objected, and the previous governor pointed out that there was nothing that she needed to do --- the city government runs this, and they don't want it, so it won't happen.
But now, there is a law in place, which has been implemented in this instance, whereby the governor can declare a municipality fiscally at risk, and appoint his own representative, who has, essentially, Sheriff of Nottingham powers over the town.

I'm not calling for slings or arrows against this outrageous fortune. 
But I'd love to see a few righteous judges slap this down!

Yours, frustrated enough to snap a quarter staff,
N.

Not quite wet-folding

I've been meaning to try wet folding (an origami technique) for a while now, and have been waiting for the right impulse: it's right round the corner, I can tell, but not quite there yet.
However, I did get to work with wet paper on Saturday for a while: we'd had a massive storm Saturday morning, and after it was over, Boo went outside to discover that she'd left a book outside.  It being a book she was very interested in, she was naturally rather upset: so I spent some time thinking about the best way to dry out the pages: the paper is quite glossy, so there was a good amount of water just sitting on each page, and the paper itself was perhaps a little less soggy than if the pages had had a more matte finish.  I took some paper towels and wiped each page dry-er, then put a sheet of paper towel between each page. 
By yesterday morning, it appeared to have been working, to an extent: the pages are separable (my biggest concern was that they would end up glued together) and now feel only slightly damp.
The spine will probably fall apart, but at least Boo can still read the book and do all the activities in it.

Yours, thinking that this one might just possibly work,
N.

And the results were delicious...

Well, the results of yesterday's breadmaking class were delicious.  And gone in a flash, along with the bread that I made at the same time.  Of course, it didn't hurt in the slightest that there was also stuff to go with it.
We started with a chinese corn and shrimp soup: not bad, but I'd have liked a bit more thai flavour to it: some lemongrass, perhaps, and fish sauce.  Definitely a recipe to try again, though.
Next we had tapenade, red pepper hummus, sriracha allioli, smoked trout pate, smoked mackerel pate, and slices of each of the smoked fish (I used half of each pack to make pate, and had half left to use as a topping: it goes spectacularly well with the allioli. 

Yours, having felt like cooking again!
N.

Impromptu breadmaking classes

Friends came over this evening to make bread.  Now, I don't usually have friends over to make bread at my house (I usually do that myself) but in this instance, they were welcome: they'd expressed an interest in learning how, and since I've been making the no-knead recipe, it's the sort of thing that one can teach in a matter of minutes.  And so I did. 
And then, of course, rather than kick them out and on their way, we all sat down and had a glass or two of wine, and enjoyed the evening.  Tomorrow they will bring the bread back over, and we'll bake it, and have it for dinner.

Yours, looking forward to seeing how it turns out,
N.

Happier news

We had friends over for dinner this evening: two of Boo and Skibo's best friends, and their father: their mother was off with her parents; her father has had stem cell replacement, and today was the make or break day: would the cells show signs of grafting.
And fortunately, yes, they did, his white blood cell count is back on the rise, and things are looking positive.

Yours, very much relieved for all concerned,
N.

Death of a great person

Sidney Harman has died.  He is most famous for his audio equipment -- I remember years ago coveting my friend's fabulous Harman Kardon receiver and amplifier.  But his contributions were far bigger, and far greater.  He provided education and training for the workers in his factory: he taught black children in Virginia in the sixties when their schools were closed to try to avoid desegregation: he gave his employees stock ownership, and progressive policies.  If only all corporate leaders would take his point of view and follow his example!

Yours, celebrating a life well led!
N.

Holey Balogna!

I've just bitten my tongue, the inside of my mouth and my lip.  I've just watched a segment, on the Daily Show, in which Jon Stewart played Bill O'Reilly saying a bunch of statements about President Obama that I agree with.  My goodness, does this mean that the end of times is indeed here?
O'Reilly pointed out a bunch of rubbish that has been claimed by the wrong-wing-media, and pointed out that it's rubbish.  Obama was indeed born in Hawaii, not Kenya, Michelle Obama does not have the largest number of aides of any first lady, etc, etc, etc.
Yours, wondering what the world has come to when O'R is sounding saner than the "mainstream" republican candidates for president,
N.

Having travelled Air France recently

Having recently formed a poor impression of Air France's service, I was, nonetheless, horrified when I finally saw the video of their plane "clipping" a smaller jet!

Yours, seriously considering never travelling Air France again!
N.

Blowing my own trumpet

or rather, my own trombone....
I was invited a few weeks ago to a banquet honouring a handful of the very best students at the university, those to whom we have given a free ride -- full scholarship, tuition, room, board, interesting academically relevant trip each year, books, you name it.  And each year there is a banquet.  But to my surprise when I read the invitation more carefully (yes, I know, I tell my students all the time, read things carefully --- all I can say is that I eventually did, and it was not too late!) the banquet was not in my student's honour.  Each of the ten or so students was invited to nominate one person (professor or otherwise on campus) who had had a huge impact on her or his experience here. 
And my student picked me --- which makes me very pleased!  She's done a fantastic job here, and is off to graduate school next year, and I expect great things from her in the future.

Yours, honoured, and proud, both as the honouree and of the honourer,
N.

And I'm back

Just a day trip: a great talk by a great origamist, plus an informal folding session first.  Nice to see some former students too!

And afterwards, dinner with other friends at an Ethiopian restaurant: not a cuisine I've eaten a lot, but it was very good (and very inexpensive!) 

Yours, back to get on with the rest of the week,
N.

In the morning

I'm off tomorrow, off to see one of my all-time favourite origami artists and scientists give a talk on the things he does!  What a thrill!

Yours, thinking how lovely it is to be able to hang out with the superstars in your field,
N.

Parks

We spent a lovely morning today, exploring a local park, in the "big" (rather small) city forty-five minutes from here.  There's a stunning suspension-style bridge (stunning unless, like me, one suffers from oh-my-god-I-have-to-walk-down-the-middle syndrome:-)) and waterfalls, vistas and scenery galore.
Then we took a walk downtown: Boo and I were particularly taken by the quotations in bronze embedded in the sidewalk (or as I used to call it, pavement): ranging from anonymous, to Yogi Berra to Mark Twain, a lovely selection of quotes.
We had lunch at a chain not-quite-fast-food restaurant: decent enough, quite tasty, in fact: but I'm suffering from taking this whole getting-healthier thing seriously, and decided that no, I couldn't have a burger, no, I couldn't have fries, and no, I couldn't have chicken wings.  The thai salad was not too bad, but I resented every minute while eating it the fact that it wasn't wings!

Yours, attempting to make healthier decisions, and resenting myself for it,
N.

Smoke free

Nine years and counting.

Yours, cleaner for it,
N.

Trout

Trout for dinner tonight: no almonds, unfortunately, but I made something akin to a stuffing of brown rice, mushrooms, onions, garlic and lemon juice, pan-fried the trout, removed the bones, and then spooned the mixture into the fish.
Yours, happy with the result,
N.

Wonky political stuff

At this point,  I think that I'd rather that the republicans shut the government down for the day, or perhaps the weekend, and then arrive at a compromise to open it up again.  At which point, everything should be back on the table, including all the cuts agreed to by democrats.  There's a tentative, fragile recovery going on right now, and cutting spending is almost the worst thing to do at this moment.  We'd be far, far better off getting employment numbers way up, so that tax revenues go up, than cutting stimulating spending right now.  Of course, I'm on the losing side in this argument.
After all, what do I know.
Yours, feeling that most republican elected officials know even less.
N.

Burgers!

For the second time in about four weeks, I made burgers: I've discovered that if you mince very finely a small onion and half a red pepper, and saute them until the moisture is gone (and usually a bunch of garlic too, though tonight I neglected that ingredient for some reason!) and then stir it into a beaten egg, with just a little cumin and coriander, salt and pepper, and some ground beef, it makes a magnificent burger.
You can cook the burgers so that they are cooked through ---leave a little pink if you choose --- but it's not necessary: the vegetables keep them incredibly moist and juicy, even though they are not pink inside. 
And tonight's burgers were perhaps the best I've ever made!
Yours, joyfully singing my own praises,
N.

Another cranes project

I discovered yesterday that there was another group on campus folding cranes: and in the case of this group, they're actually getting donations for every crane folded; so I diverted a good number of cranes to them instead: none of the ones that we'd strung ---- those I've already promised, but perhaps another hundred that were, as yet, uncommitted.

Yours, loving that origami can be a part of the reconstruction process,
N.

A picture is worth a thousand

cranes....

Yours, not just stringing you along,
N.

A thousand cranes

My class and I strung cranes on wool this evening: we are ready to send twenty strings of fifty cranes (that is, a thousand cranes) to Princeton for the million cranes project.  Over the next week or two, I hope that we can commit to another thousand -- we've got 150 strung already towards it, so it's not beyond the pale!

Yours, happy to help this worthy cause,
N.

Spring break for children

Spring break comes but once a year.  Unfortunately, the one time it comes is different for me than for the children.  Consequently, I enjoyed my spring break a couple of weeks ago, and Boo and Skibo are off this week.  This makes it impossible to go anywhere as a family.
LOML has a class on Monday mornings, so I'm staying home until lunchtime with the little ones.  We've been exercising on the Wii (I've already managed to shed a pound or two of the extra I was showing yesterday, which is reassuring), although it's hard to call what they are doing "exercising": they are doing the island run game: they are supposed to jog on the spot, but they've discovered that if they gently shake the remote it works better.  So that's the way they insist on playing it, much to LOML and my amusement.

Yours, wishing the schedules could be better aligned, but knowing that wishing won't make it so,
N.

Exercise and diet

 A lesson in exercise and diet today: for various reasons, I didn't exercise on the wii as much early in the day (read: at all) as I had intended: this is okay, since I was able to do a fair bit late in the evening.
However, for other reasons, I ate rather less healthily than sometimes too, and as is often the case, the reason for the unhealthiness also makes it the sort of food that I want to eat more of.  And I did.
Somehow, according to the wii fit boards weight measurement, I put on about six pounds during the course of the day.  Now, I intend to make them vanish as soon as possible, and some of them may have been fluid retention.  Nonetheless, I didn't think that I had actually taken in that much weight in food and drink!

Yours, thinking that it is nice that even when I do something like that I'm still well under my previous weight,
N.

A bunch of cranes

In support of the Million Cranes project, I taught a bunch of girl scouts, from daisies to juniors, to fold origami cranes today.
This was a bit of a challenge: daisies are in kindergarten or first grade, and I've never faced teaching cranes to anything lower than second grade before.  But I precreased a bunch of paper for them, so that they could focus on folding and creasing, and not finding the right place to fold, and thanks to a lot of enthusiastic (if inexperienced) volunteers helping me, they did a fantastic job!

A decade or so ago, I asked a colleague, an expert at origami, for any suggestions as to how to teach origami cranes to second graders: the response was "Wow!  You're ambitious, aren't you?"  Nonetheless, I think that it can be done quite successfully, and the fact that even the littlest ones were able to contribute cranes today means a lot to me!

Yours, proud of all my junior folders,
N.

Note to self #2

When leaving girl scout camp to return home, don't leave pillow on the bunk.  Even if the camp is only an hour from home.

Yours, even more stupid.
N.

Note to self

When going girlscout camping with Boo and LOML (Skibo staying with a friend for the night rather than being the only boy there), if you are going to forget the suitcase, do so when the camp is only an hour's drive from home.
That way, as today, you and LOML can drive back pick it up.

Yours, feeling really stupid,
N.