On Memorial Day, we ventured to Lakewood to remember our Alexander, Paul Wellstone, and Mark Loesch. As we laid down flowers for these three, I thought about how all three were linked in that the were taken from us far far too early, but that they had left us with good memories.
There's a fundraiser for Mark's Memorial fund happening next week, and one of the things they put up was the full text from Mark's best friend Joe's eulogy. I had heard this through tears back in September, but had not had a chance to read the text. I'm grateful for them for posting it, and I'm happy to link to it here: Mark's Eulogy
For me, perhaps one of the most poetic ways to sum up Mark was Joe's closing:
"I can’t really find the best way to express what it was like to be with Mark, but it kind of reminds me of the interplay that I’ve seen between jazz musicians. Two of them will be trading solos, going back and forth, having a blast. One of them will play a riff and the other will play the same thing, but a little different. Then they’ll look at each other across the stage and share a knowing, joy-filled smile.
That’s kind of how I felt whenever I was with Mark."
Joe got it exactly right. No other deep thoughts here - Joe said it all so well, I just wanted to share the link.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Meet Dot
A few weeks ago, during the fish tank cleaning, our suckerfish passed away. Now, we had very very rarely even SEEN this guy around - he was terribly shy and entirely nocturnal, but one thing was for sure, that guy cleaned the tank. With his passing (and burial in our backyard, and subsequent disinterring by Bella who wanted to show her friend the coffin, and then final interment), we noticed just how hard he HAD been working.
Within a couple of weeks, a thick green scum had grown on the tank walls, and the goldfish were growing listless and depressed. I tried to mix some Xanax in with their food to no avail. Oh, sure, maybe I could have been cleaning that tank every 2 weeks, but in case you haven't caught up on the blog, there are plenty of other things vying for my attention.
This weekend while doing another errand, I nipped into PetsMart and acquired a new suckerfish. $2.25, financed over 6 months for low low interest of 17%. No wait, I paid cash. Right.
When I got him home, it was immediately apparent that there was a new guy in town: He was not shy - he jumped right to the job and could be seen out and on the move at any time, day or night. He took his job SERIOUSLY.
And I'm proud to note that not even 5 days after his arrival, the tank is spic and span once again. Bella has named this new fish "Dot". And he puts us all to shame with his industriousness. ALL HAIL DOT!
Within a couple of weeks, a thick green scum had grown on the tank walls, and the goldfish were growing listless and depressed. I tried to mix some Xanax in with their food to no avail. Oh, sure, maybe I could have been cleaning that tank every 2 weeks, but in case you haven't caught up on the blog, there are plenty of other things vying for my attention.
This weekend while doing another errand, I nipped into PetsMart and acquired a new suckerfish. $2.25, financed over 6 months for low low interest of 17%. No wait, I paid cash. Right.
When I got him home, it was immediately apparent that there was a new guy in town: He was not shy - he jumped right to the job and could be seen out and on the move at any time, day or night. He took his job SERIOUSLY.
And I'm proud to note that not even 5 days after his arrival, the tank is spic and span once again. Bella has named this new fish "Dot". And he puts us all to shame with his industriousness. ALL HAIL DOT!
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
In the Rose City
Tuesday AM I headed off for Portland OR full of optimism: A potential new client had agreed to take a very hot new resource at our company and I was flying out to seal the deal, as well as meet with a few other parties. The flight was packed and I was sandwiched between two generously proportioned gentlemen... at least it was an exit row, but it was not comfy.
By the time I hit my hotel, I got the news on my Blackberry: my resource wasn't available to me anymore, there was no deal (I'll spare you the politics). My meeting was canceled by the client (who had better things to do than meet with no resource on the table), and I had a few hours in the afternoon to walk around being angry.
I drove into downtown and soothed my nerves by browsing at Powell's world of books, which I've written about before: An amazing full city block of books. I even bought a couple of things, got some lunch, and walked off the stress. By late afternoon, I had come to see that it was in fact an ok decision, and the prospective client WAS understanding, so it's not a slammed door.
In the evening, I had a great dinner with an independent consultant who we've done work with, and compared notes on the market up here. I was surprised to see that I actually DO understand things up here, and that my read on a lot of the sites was correct. He did bring me one new contact who I'll be following up with. But more importantly, it was a great couple of hours of conversation and laughter with a complete stranger... who by the end of the night had become at least a good acquaintance. It was very fun. Just before bed, I was pleased to discover that the hotel bar had Laphroaig 15, so I was eased into sleep with a touch of Islay smoke.
As usual I snapped awake at 3am CST expecting Isaac to cry, but it was just the A/C unit.
I had another meeting this morning which got me another couple of leads to chase down, so in total, while I didn't get the one deal I was out here to get, I did get some great market intel, made a good connection, ate some good food, got some books, and generally had a good time. Now I'm in the WorldClub in PDX looking out over the concourse waiting to board my flight (and I got bumped to First Class to boot) so I'm feeling pretty GOOD about the trip now.
One fun thing: I left the GPS at home this time, and used a good old fashioned MAP: And it was actually fun to remember how to orient myself and pick up on where things are in relation to other things. I now have a much better mental map of Portland.
I can't wait to get home and see the family... especially after spending all that great time with them over the MemDay weekend (next post).
By the time I hit my hotel, I got the news on my Blackberry: my resource wasn't available to me anymore, there was no deal (I'll spare you the politics). My meeting was canceled by the client (who had better things to do than meet with no resource on the table), and I had a few hours in the afternoon to walk around being angry.
I drove into downtown and soothed my nerves by browsing at Powell's world of books, which I've written about before: An amazing full city block of books. I even bought a couple of things, got some lunch, and walked off the stress. By late afternoon, I had come to see that it was in fact an ok decision, and the prospective client WAS understanding, so it's not a slammed door.
In the evening, I had a great dinner with an independent consultant who we've done work with, and compared notes on the market up here. I was surprised to see that I actually DO understand things up here, and that my read on a lot of the sites was correct. He did bring me one new contact who I'll be following up with. But more importantly, it was a great couple of hours of conversation and laughter with a complete stranger... who by the end of the night had become at least a good acquaintance. It was very fun. Just before bed, I was pleased to discover that the hotel bar had Laphroaig 15, so I was eased into sleep with a touch of Islay smoke.
As usual I snapped awake at 3am CST expecting Isaac to cry, but it was just the A/C unit.
I had another meeting this morning which got me another couple of leads to chase down, so in total, while I didn't get the one deal I was out here to get, I did get some great market intel, made a good connection, ate some good food, got some books, and generally had a good time. Now I'm in the WorldClub in PDX looking out over the concourse waiting to board my flight (and I got bumped to First Class to boot) so I'm feeling pretty GOOD about the trip now.
One fun thing: I left the GPS at home this time, and used a good old fashioned MAP: And it was actually fun to remember how to orient myself and pick up on where things are in relation to other things. I now have a much better mental map of Portland.
I can't wait to get home and see the family... especially after spending all that great time with them over the MemDay weekend (next post).
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Sweet Victory
Papa and Bam were up for the Memorial Day weekend and it was as usual PACKED with excitement. My memories of the weekend included lots of Bella and Papa time, drawing both very very large and very very small parrots together... lots of falling asleep by 9pm, and a little bit of sleeping in while Papa and Bam dealt with the early rising kiddies.
Saturday and Sunday, Bella had a lot of good neighborhood play time: The "pack of kids" flitted from house to house, and we tried not to worry about where they were exactly, as long as we still heard shrieks of delight wafting up the block. Bella was in a very happy place. Two of the kids on the block have battery powered ride-in cars, and Pamela related a vision straight from Mogadishu of seeing the one kid driving, and another perched on the back holding a star wars blaster, going in circles around the yard. I'm pretty sure that in Somalia there is less giggling however.
Saturday night Randy had a birthday gathering at his house with margaritas, burgers, and good company. It was a beautiful spring evening and we all sat out in the clear night without any bugs to bother us. Isaac joined the kids in play - he's really in the middle of things nowadays. He's comfortable climbing ladders and sliding down slides, so his enjoyment of backyard playsets has really increased, and us parents need to sit there and make sure he doesn't fall and crack his noggin.
Speaking of noggins - Isaac woke up Saturday with a bit of a devil in his car and was pulling on one of the gates when it sprung open and bopped him on the forehead. he got a cut and a big goose-egg up there, which canceled our plans to have his formal portrait taken that weekend. We watched him carefully for any signs of a concussion, but he refused to count to ten or recite the alphabet backwards, so I'm not sure what other signs to look for. He was basically his exact same old self all weekend, so other than the cosmetics, I think he's doing fine.
On Sunday, we had a wonderful dinner at Carrie's in which Isaac ate a whole lot of avocado and somehow managed NOT to get into as much trouble around the not-very-childproofed house as we had expected. Isaac and Freddie (the Boston Terrier) started out on the wrong foot with Freddie knocking Isaac down a few times... but by the end of the visit, the two were great friends and Isaac was bellowing macho boasts of excitement and good cheer (standing legs akimbo, fists clenched, growling "HAAAAAAAAA!" with a big grin. A lot)
Out back, Pamela's victory garden is coming together: We're putting up a little fence to dissuade the varmits from eating our veggies... so we were digging fenceposts all weekend (digging 20 inch holes is a lot of work!). In the end, it's a very cute fence, with a nice little gate in, but the gate has enough space in it to be a rabbit superhighway so I figure we haven't done MUCH to stop the animals, just enough to slow them down, and hopefully make them think twice about what they're about to do.
Monday night we got Maggiano's spaghetti for dinner, which Bella announced to be the "Best Spaghetti EVER". She ate two full plates of the stuff (to our astonishment - she ate almost twice as much as me), and an hour later had two bowls of frosted mini-wheats for "dessert". I'm thinking she'll be adding 3 inches to her little frame in the coming weeks. Isaac also chowed down on the stuff by the handful - the man likes his spicy food!
One final vision from the weekend: Isaac is a dancing machine, we know this. He loves to dance and has some pretty fun moves. On Friday he treated us to a new move which I'll call the "Kickstand" - he puts one leg back and rocks back and forth, while doing hand jive. On Sunday, I caught him standing in front of the oven, looking at himself in the reflection. He slowly put his leg back in Kickstand position, and did some of his dancing in slow motion, watching himself. Yes, I caught him REHEARSING HIS NEW DANCE MOVES.
Tuesday I took off for Portland, but PapaBam stayed past lunch: Joe treated us to a painting on the Garage for the Victory Garden, and he also built a strange little owl for Bella out of a bit of wood left over from the fence posts. It's always wonderful to have bits of papa-art around, and these are things we'll enjoy for years to come.
So, Happy Memorial Day to all.
Saturday and Sunday, Bella had a lot of good neighborhood play time: The "pack of kids" flitted from house to house, and we tried not to worry about where they were exactly, as long as we still heard shrieks of delight wafting up the block. Bella was in a very happy place. Two of the kids on the block have battery powered ride-in cars, and Pamela related a vision straight from Mogadishu of seeing the one kid driving, and another perched on the back holding a star wars blaster, going in circles around the yard. I'm pretty sure that in Somalia there is less giggling however.
Saturday night Randy had a birthday gathering at his house with margaritas, burgers, and good company. It was a beautiful spring evening and we all sat out in the clear night without any bugs to bother us. Isaac joined the kids in play - he's really in the middle of things nowadays. He's comfortable climbing ladders and sliding down slides, so his enjoyment of backyard playsets has really increased, and us parents need to sit there and make sure he doesn't fall and crack his noggin.
Speaking of noggins - Isaac woke up Saturday with a bit of a devil in his car and was pulling on one of the gates when it sprung open and bopped him on the forehead. he got a cut and a big goose-egg up there, which canceled our plans to have his formal portrait taken that weekend. We watched him carefully for any signs of a concussion, but he refused to count to ten or recite the alphabet backwards, so I'm not sure what other signs to look for. He was basically his exact same old self all weekend, so other than the cosmetics, I think he's doing fine.
On Sunday, we had a wonderful dinner at Carrie's in which Isaac ate a whole lot of avocado and somehow managed NOT to get into as much trouble around the not-very-childproofed house as we had expected. Isaac and Freddie (the Boston Terrier) started out on the wrong foot with Freddie knocking Isaac down a few times... but by the end of the visit, the two were great friends and Isaac was bellowing macho boasts of excitement and good cheer (standing legs akimbo, fists clenched, growling "HAAAAAAAAA!" with a big grin. A lot)
Out back, Pamela's victory garden is coming together: We're putting up a little fence to dissuade the varmits from eating our veggies... so we were digging fenceposts all weekend (digging 20 inch holes is a lot of work!). In the end, it's a very cute fence, with a nice little gate in, but the gate has enough space in it to be a rabbit superhighway so I figure we haven't done MUCH to stop the animals, just enough to slow them down, and hopefully make them think twice about what they're about to do.
Monday night we got Maggiano's spaghetti for dinner, which Bella announced to be the "Best Spaghetti EVER". She ate two full plates of the stuff (to our astonishment - she ate almost twice as much as me), and an hour later had two bowls of frosted mini-wheats for "dessert". I'm thinking she'll be adding 3 inches to her little frame in the coming weeks. Isaac also chowed down on the stuff by the handful - the man likes his spicy food!
One final vision from the weekend: Isaac is a dancing machine, we know this. He loves to dance and has some pretty fun moves. On Friday he treated us to a new move which I'll call the "Kickstand" - he puts one leg back and rocks back and forth, while doing hand jive. On Sunday, I caught him standing in front of the oven, looking at himself in the reflection. He slowly put his leg back in Kickstand position, and did some of his dancing in slow motion, watching himself. Yes, I caught him REHEARSING HIS NEW DANCE MOVES.
Tuesday I took off for Portland, but PapaBam stayed past lunch: Joe treated us to a painting on the Garage for the Victory Garden, and he also built a strange little owl for Bella out of a bit of wood left over from the fence posts. It's always wonderful to have bits of papa-art around, and these are things we'll enjoy for years to come.
So, Happy Memorial Day to all.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
One more from Bella
Last night, one of the gists of my talk about Magic with Bella was that I had never persevered in developing the manual dexterity required for sleight of hand magic. To this day, I am a terrible card shuffler, while my sister has somehow gained the skill of the shuffle-and-bridge. Bella excitedly told me she has a SPECIAL way of shuffling cards, and she wanted to show it to me first thing in the morning.
So this morning she showed me. The process is as follows:
- Take the deck of cards firmly with one hand, and rifle through them with the other: This makes a pleasing Fwwwwwwip sound, but does little to rearrange the cards.
- Spread the deck out FACE UP on a table.
- Turn them all to face down, moving them around as you do so.
- Pile the cards into a "perfect circle", and then deal out hands by picking random cards from the middle of the pile.
- Once the cards are dealt, THEN scoop up the remaining cards and pack them into a deck.
The whole process took well over 5 minutes.
Throughout, Bella was serious and thoughtful, as though she was trying to remember the exact order of her "special method". At the end, she smiled proudly and picked up her hand for a game of Go Fish.
I said that is was a very good technique.
"Maybe I should be doing the shuffling, nowadays" she replied.
Nowadays? Where does she GET this stuff?
So this morning she showed me. The process is as follows:
- Take the deck of cards firmly with one hand, and rifle through them with the other: This makes a pleasing Fwwwwwwip sound, but does little to rearrange the cards.
- Spread the deck out FACE UP on a table.
- Turn them all to face down, moving them around as you do so.
- Pile the cards into a "perfect circle", and then deal out hands by picking random cards from the middle of the pile.
- Once the cards are dealt, THEN scoop up the remaining cards and pack them into a deck.
The whole process took well over 5 minutes.
Throughout, Bella was serious and thoughtful, as though she was trying to remember the exact order of her "special method". At the end, she smiled proudly and picked up her hand for a game of Go Fish.
I said that is was a very good technique.
"Maybe I should be doing the shuffling, nowadays" she replied.
Nowadays? Where does she GET this stuff?
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Nailed it
So today was the day I presented to the Healthcare IT conference. It was a 1 hour session about my idea for a new methodology for data warehousing with newer electronic medical record systems... Ok it sounds dry, but it's actually a pretty cool way of looking at existing data in a new way. The hitch is that my "big idea" is actually sort of radical in that it's never been done, nor was it even possible until a couple of years ago...
The other hitch is that I was HOPING to have proven it already with a starter client, but due to delays, I'll actually be pitching this same idea to a client TOMORROW. I guess today was great practice!
What was odd was that while there was some good discussion from the participants, there was one in attendance who for one reason or another decided to challenge me on some very basic points - asking about historical precedent, data structures, query design, and other very micro things. Fortunately, they were all things I'm prepared to discuss, so the whole group got to watch me design a star schema for a medical administration record, and differentiate it from a snowflake schema... which if anything established that while the new idea is pretty out there, I am not a dreamer and I know of what I speak.
Afterward I followed up with the student, and I came to realize her challenges were actually due to the fact she's been asked to design a mini data warehouse and while she had read the key texts in the methodology, it wasn't really gelling for her. So my explanation of the concepts in the context of my proposal actually helped HER understand better what she needed to do. There was also a little of an ESL issue there, which led to things sounding perhaps more abrupt than they needed to be... but all was forgiven, since I was able to handle it.
Of course there were a couple of people in there from competing companies - one of which I know i pitching to the same clients I am - and he was taking furious notes during the presentation, so I'll be interested to see if my little idea makes it around before I do. Such are the risks of vision.
I started ROUGH by the way - the first 3 slides were not my own, and they were more background and overview... I was stumbling to summarize, but had to just swallow my pride and READ the text on them. Once I made it past them, I was far more comfortable.
A admit that a part of me was dreading this day, since I really was presenting an idea, not a proven product... but seeing that I was able to carry it, it made me think HEY, I could totally present to venture capitalists! Why the heck NOT?
The other hitch is that I was HOPING to have proven it already with a starter client, but due to delays, I'll actually be pitching this same idea to a client TOMORROW. I guess today was great practice!
What was odd was that while there was some good discussion from the participants, there was one in attendance who for one reason or another decided to challenge me on some very basic points - asking about historical precedent, data structures, query design, and other very micro things. Fortunately, they were all things I'm prepared to discuss, so the whole group got to watch me design a star schema for a medical administration record, and differentiate it from a snowflake schema... which if anything established that while the new idea is pretty out there, I am not a dreamer and I know of what I speak.
Afterward I followed up with the student, and I came to realize her challenges were actually due to the fact she's been asked to design a mini data warehouse and while she had read the key texts in the methodology, it wasn't really gelling for her. So my explanation of the concepts in the context of my proposal actually helped HER understand better what she needed to do. There was also a little of an ESL issue there, which led to things sounding perhaps more abrupt than they needed to be... but all was forgiven, since I was able to handle it.
Of course there were a couple of people in there from competing companies - one of which I know i pitching to the same clients I am - and he was taking furious notes during the presentation, so I'll be interested to see if my little idea makes it around before I do. Such are the risks of vision.
I started ROUGH by the way - the first 3 slides were not my own, and they were more background and overview... I was stumbling to summarize, but had to just swallow my pride and READ the text on them. Once I made it past them, I was far more comfortable.
A admit that a part of me was dreading this day, since I really was presenting an idea, not a proven product... but seeing that I was able to carry it, it made me think HEY, I could totally present to venture capitalists! Why the heck NOT?
It's MAGIC
Magic with Bella: Tonight as I was trying to tell her a story from my youth about a "magic" folding quarter, Bella told me a few of her favorite magic tricks. (All are in her own words - I'm just transcribing here)
1) You need a gardening glove and a cap from a marker. Hold the cap out, and then tell the person to close their eyes. While their eyes are closed, slip the cap into the glove. Then when they open their eyes, they can't see where the cap went!
2) Take a stuffed animal, say like a dog. You hold the dog out, and then tell the person to close their eyes. While their eyes are closed, stuff the animal into a box or something.
At this point I remarked "You'd sure need to trust that people will close their eyes, because if they open them, they'll see how the trick is done!". Her answer: "I DO trust them. I always trust them."
Then:
"One final final question. For tonight, I mean. Do you think a bee would ever sting a butterfly?"
I answered that I didn't THINK so, because what could a butterfly do to annoy a bee?
"Are you kidding? The butterfly could totally get down in front of the bee and flap its wings right in the bee's FACE. That's what"
I conceded the point.
1) You need a gardening glove and a cap from a marker. Hold the cap out, and then tell the person to close their eyes. While their eyes are closed, slip the cap into the glove. Then when they open their eyes, they can't see where the cap went!
2) Take a stuffed animal, say like a dog. You hold the dog out, and then tell the person to close their eyes. While their eyes are closed, stuff the animal into a box or something.
At this point I remarked "You'd sure need to trust that people will close their eyes, because if they open them, they'll see how the trick is done!". Her answer: "I DO trust them. I always trust them."
Then:
"One final final question. For tonight, I mean. Do you think a bee would ever sting a butterfly?"
I answered that I didn't THINK so, because what could a butterfly do to annoy a bee?
"Are you kidding? The butterfly could totally get down in front of the bee and flap its wings right in the bee's FACE. That's what"
I conceded the point.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
The Victory Garden
Another 100mph weekend... Saturday started with Isaac's swim lesson: He's improving more and more very week, and is remembering the routines: There's a bit where a bucket with holes is pushed underwater and it makes bubbles... Isaac was hollering out "BUBBLES" BEFORE it was time for the bubble bucket! He also just loves to float on his back - he seems so tranquil and doesn't mind the water in his ears one bit.
When we got home, it wound up being one of those "around the neighborhood" days - Bella was playing and playing, Isaac was tagging along, and we were getting caught up with all of the neighbors. It was good to be out on lawn chairs in people's yards. The BIG news is that I finally got a tour of our old house on the block, and they're going crazy great guns on an internal remodel - the basement has been extensively redone - they moved the furnace and water heater, and fixed the beams, and behold, it's actually a fully usable space now! So it will be a great place to see movies and hang out in my opinion. Good for them! In the evening, Uncle Ant came by to watch Ocean's 13 and enjoy some single malts, which was a great end to the day.
Today we worked on our Victory Garden: The brick walkway was one thing we got done - we also had the b-ball court taken out. Friday night, we lugged the old basketball hoop (on a heavy 10-foot pole) to the curb, took a picture, and put it on craigslist for free. By 10am Saturday it was GONE! So that remnant gone, we essentially had 2 4x16 planter boxes and a field of mud strewn with grass seed.
Today, we turned that space into something more: Pamela found some vintage metal chairs and created a sitting area (with some of the remaining bricks from the front). 16 bags of cocoa shell mulch, and the mud pit is now a garden, with just a bit still remaining to await the growing of the grass. There was a lot of hauling in the day... and Bella out of nowhere asked me if I could walk on my hands, so I had to prove to her I could (3 steps), and show my front handspring as well (yeah, I'm a little sore on that). There's still work to do on the garden (we'll probably build a fence of some kind), but it's really starting to feel like something intentional back there... I'm still trying to figure out if I like it more than the rocky uneven asphalt pad.... ;)
In the late afternoon, it was a party for Bella's preschool class: A moonwalk was rented, food was brought. Bella and 16 of her classmates (and their siblings) spent over 3 hours running around having a great time. Isaac was in the middle of it all. He developed something of a flirtation with one of Bella's classmates. Everytime this girl came around, he would freeze, point, and shriek. That is class. Not every girl, just this one. Smooth.
We dragged home by 7:45 and did triage bedtime, and everyone was asleep by 8:30, including Pamela. I'm just documenting things, and will probably be down by 10. But it was a great weekend of being outside, getting fresh air, having the kids run around, and generally it felt like spring was REALLY HERE. It was wonderful.
When we got home, it wound up being one of those "around the neighborhood" days - Bella was playing and playing, Isaac was tagging along, and we were getting caught up with all of the neighbors. It was good to be out on lawn chairs in people's yards. The BIG news is that I finally got a tour of our old house on the block, and they're going crazy great guns on an internal remodel - the basement has been extensively redone - they moved the furnace and water heater, and fixed the beams, and behold, it's actually a fully usable space now! So it will be a great place to see movies and hang out in my opinion. Good for them! In the evening, Uncle Ant came by to watch Ocean's 13 and enjoy some single malts, which was a great end to the day.
Today we worked on our Victory Garden: The brick walkway was one thing we got done - we also had the b-ball court taken out. Friday night, we lugged the old basketball hoop (on a heavy 10-foot pole) to the curb, took a picture, and put it on craigslist for free. By 10am Saturday it was GONE! So that remnant gone, we essentially had 2 4x16 planter boxes and a field of mud strewn with grass seed.
Today, we turned that space into something more: Pamela found some vintage metal chairs and created a sitting area (with some of the remaining bricks from the front). 16 bags of cocoa shell mulch, and the mud pit is now a garden, with just a bit still remaining to await the growing of the grass. There was a lot of hauling in the day... and Bella out of nowhere asked me if I could walk on my hands, so I had to prove to her I could (3 steps), and show my front handspring as well (yeah, I'm a little sore on that). There's still work to do on the garden (we'll probably build a fence of some kind), but it's really starting to feel like something intentional back there... I'm still trying to figure out if I like it more than the rocky uneven asphalt pad.... ;)
In the late afternoon, it was a party for Bella's preschool class: A moonwalk was rented, food was brought. Bella and 16 of her classmates (and their siblings) spent over 3 hours running around having a great time. Isaac was in the middle of it all. He developed something of a flirtation with one of Bella's classmates. Everytime this girl came around, he would freeze, point, and shriek. That is class. Not every girl, just this one. Smooth.
We dragged home by 7:45 and did triage bedtime, and everyone was asleep by 8:30, including Pamela. I'm just documenting things, and will probably be down by 10. But it was a great weekend of being outside, getting fresh air, having the kids run around, and generally it felt like spring was REALLY HERE. It was wonderful.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Mad-Town
A whirlwind 2 days this time: Took a 45 minute puddle jumper flight from MSP to Madison, which has the CUTEST little airport. We headed to the hotel and then walked a block up to the Great Dane brewpub, where the 4 of us were congregating. The goal of this trip was to have a mid-quarter checkpoint on how we're doing as a company, and also to meet with our primary vendor to make sure that we are still in the green with our partnership. The 4 VPs (3 Sales, 1 Marketing) and the COO were invited, but one VP had to drop out due to a horrible horrible case of Shingles.
So the 4 of us began our checkpoint meeting with some great food and a couple of microbrews: I had an ABSURD sandwich - 1 beef patty, 1 bratwurst patty, bacon, cheese, grilled onions, and extra hot mustard on a pretzel roll. And a side of stewed cinnamon apples. Honestly I'm STILL full from that one.
We did meet through the afternoon into the early evening... a break for refreshing naps or TV time, and we re-congregated for "team building" which meant a couple of drinks at the hotel bar (where they had all of our favorites - Lagavulin for me, Effin vodka for Randy, Hendrick's Gin for Mike, and a masterful AppleTini for Shawna). Out the window we saw some long processions of uniformed people, and thought that perhaps it was a commencement of some sort... this being UW Madison's commencement weekend... But alas it was a memorial for a doctor, nurse, and pilot who perished in a medivac helicopter crash.
Then out to a Tapas bar a block away for 3 hours of nibbling... Bedtime at midnight.
In the morning, I was up by 7, got dressed, and went out for a walk around downtown Madison. I do love that downtown - it is just so beautiful, but also very compact and navigable. I found a bagel place and got a pastrami and egg bagel: They had just baked the bagel, and I watched the guy go back and do all of the cooking on a small grill - this was not a precooked egg-cake in a steam tray as SOME places deliver (I'm looking at YOU Brueggers!!!) With a fresh cranberry juice and a double espresso, it was heaven.
We headed out to the vendor's headquarters, which is literally in the middle of a cornfield: It's a testament to the singular vision of the founder, Judy: The place is filled with eclectic art sculptures. Conference rooms are named after her favorite movies. There are no cubes - 3000 employees and everyone gets an office. When they brought in lunch, it was seared ahi tuna and field greens. You can definitely see what is being bought when a hospital spends $50 million on their product (to be fair, the software cost isn't THAT high, but the total budget usually is)... and yet you can't dislike them - while it's huge and amazing, it's not ostentatious, it's not flaunting anything... it's just saying "this is who we are, and we're doing this". I applaud them.
The meeting was 4 hours of great back and forth - they told us where we're good, where we're bad. We got a preview of what they're working on... We recommitted that we're going to be a good partner, and I think that everything was very positive. One of the attendees is actually a Project Manager who I worked closely with on that crazy project (where I was working 20 hour days 2 weeks after Isaac showed up in the house), and so it was great to catch up with her. One of the other guys was a direct witness to my "we Built This City" debacle in Orlando, so we had a good giggle on that too.
We barely made the flight home, and the 45 minutes was quite uneventful... I got home, and immediately got to work on preparing for the arrival of Randy, JeMae, and Jenny: It's their 10 year anniversary this weekend, and so we had a little celebration on the back porch in 75 degree sunny beautifulness. Grilled chicken (I'm finally understanding the grill controls, and can cook chicken without turning it into a black cinder), couscous with mango, and crisp green beans. A carrot cake for the anniversary was happily devoured by the group.
Bella's big news: She woke up today and decided that she can ride her bike. And she rode it a lot in the day, and while I watched tonight, she rode up and down the block with Jenny, her confidence growing with each pedal. She even fell off, tumbling clear into the Hostas, and she wasn't discouraged... she dusted herself off and got right back on. In the day, Bella and Pamela did a lot of gardening together. As they sat together on the bathroom counter scrubbing the dirt off of their feet this afternoon, Bella told Pamela "Mom... just so you know.... you're the best mom in the entire universe".
That really made Pamela's day.
Isaac was chasing the girls up and down the sidewalk: He loves those girls more than anything. With the warm weather, neighbors who we haven't seen for up to 6 months are finally out for walks. I learned from one of them that Isaac's nickname on the block is "Mister Excitement". We've finally realized that he truly is master of the back yard - he can climb up the gym, slide down, navigate the stairs of the deck, and generally knows how to get around. All we really need to worry about is him LEAVING the yard... but inside the yard, we don't need to hover anymore. He's good.
So now the world is falling asleep - we've all been so busy, and it's time to recharge for another fun weekend!!!
So the 4 of us began our checkpoint meeting with some great food and a couple of microbrews: I had an ABSURD sandwich - 1 beef patty, 1 bratwurst patty, bacon, cheese, grilled onions, and extra hot mustard on a pretzel roll. And a side of stewed cinnamon apples. Honestly I'm STILL full from that one.
We did meet through the afternoon into the early evening... a break for refreshing naps or TV time, and we re-congregated for "team building" which meant a couple of drinks at the hotel bar (where they had all of our favorites - Lagavulin for me, Effin vodka for Randy, Hendrick's Gin for Mike, and a masterful AppleTini for Shawna). Out the window we saw some long processions of uniformed people, and thought that perhaps it was a commencement of some sort... this being UW Madison's commencement weekend... But alas it was a memorial for a doctor, nurse, and pilot who perished in a medivac helicopter crash.
Then out to a Tapas bar a block away for 3 hours of nibbling... Bedtime at midnight.
In the morning, I was up by 7, got dressed, and went out for a walk around downtown Madison. I do love that downtown - it is just so beautiful, but also very compact and navigable. I found a bagel place and got a pastrami and egg bagel: They had just baked the bagel, and I watched the guy go back and do all of the cooking on a small grill - this was not a precooked egg-cake in a steam tray as SOME places deliver (I'm looking at YOU Brueggers!!!) With a fresh cranberry juice and a double espresso, it was heaven.
We headed out to the vendor's headquarters, which is literally in the middle of a cornfield: It's a testament to the singular vision of the founder, Judy: The place is filled with eclectic art sculptures. Conference rooms are named after her favorite movies. There are no cubes - 3000 employees and everyone gets an office. When they brought in lunch, it was seared ahi tuna and field greens. You can definitely see what is being bought when a hospital spends $50 million on their product (to be fair, the software cost isn't THAT high, but the total budget usually is)... and yet you can't dislike them - while it's huge and amazing, it's not ostentatious, it's not flaunting anything... it's just saying "this is who we are, and we're doing this". I applaud them.
The meeting was 4 hours of great back and forth - they told us where we're good, where we're bad. We got a preview of what they're working on... We recommitted that we're going to be a good partner, and I think that everything was very positive. One of the attendees is actually a Project Manager who I worked closely with on that crazy project (where I was working 20 hour days 2 weeks after Isaac showed up in the house), and so it was great to catch up with her. One of the other guys was a direct witness to my "we Built This City" debacle in Orlando, so we had a good giggle on that too.
We barely made the flight home, and the 45 minutes was quite uneventful... I got home, and immediately got to work on preparing for the arrival of Randy, JeMae, and Jenny: It's their 10 year anniversary this weekend, and so we had a little celebration on the back porch in 75 degree sunny beautifulness. Grilled chicken (I'm finally understanding the grill controls, and can cook chicken without turning it into a black cinder), couscous with mango, and crisp green beans. A carrot cake for the anniversary was happily devoured by the group.
Bella's big news: She woke up today and decided that she can ride her bike. And she rode it a lot in the day, and while I watched tonight, she rode up and down the block with Jenny, her confidence growing with each pedal. She even fell off, tumbling clear into the Hostas, and she wasn't discouraged... she dusted herself off and got right back on. In the day, Bella and Pamela did a lot of gardening together. As they sat together on the bathroom counter scrubbing the dirt off of their feet this afternoon, Bella told Pamela "Mom... just so you know.... you're the best mom in the entire universe".
That really made Pamela's day.
Isaac was chasing the girls up and down the sidewalk: He loves those girls more than anything. With the warm weather, neighbors who we haven't seen for up to 6 months are finally out for walks. I learned from one of them that Isaac's nickname on the block is "Mister Excitement". We've finally realized that he truly is master of the back yard - he can climb up the gym, slide down, navigate the stairs of the deck, and generally knows how to get around. All we really need to worry about is him LEAVING the yard... but inside the yard, we don't need to hover anymore. He's good.
So now the world is falling asleep - we've all been so busy, and it's time to recharge for another fun weekend!!!
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Media Notes
I'm in a media consuming mode right now - I've been listening to a lot of music, and trying to catch up on films.
1) Iron Man was completely fantastic. I loved everything about that movie. It was a pitch-perfect superhero film, and really captured the Tony Stark paradox - the rich jerk who wants to do good for the world... with an awesome toy. I cannot recommend this movie enough. IT ROCKS. And stay to the very end for a total fanboy cameo...
2) M83 has made an incredible album called "Saturdays = Youth". This album is a masterful blend of 1982-1984 shoegazer pop - at times sounding like Cocteau Twins, Echo and the Bunnymen, Thompson Twins, and a hundred others. It's not synthpop, it's not dancey, but it's truly a distillate of that particular era. As I listened to it for the first time, I had a full body hallucination/transportation: I literally was back in my room on Oakland Avenue, sitting in my hanging chair, hearing this music on vinyl. I can't recommend it enough... TO MY PEERS OF THAT ERA. I really have no idea if this album would work or resonate with anyone who wasn't in that space at that time. Strange.
3) www.hulu.com is my new love affair: They have full 30 Rock episodes, and individual skits from Saturday Night Live, at high resolution. Just go look at this skit about GOOGLY EYES ON PLANTS. Then keep surfing around!
And that's my media update.
1) Iron Man was completely fantastic. I loved everything about that movie. It was a pitch-perfect superhero film, and really captured the Tony Stark paradox - the rich jerk who wants to do good for the world... with an awesome toy. I cannot recommend this movie enough. IT ROCKS. And stay to the very end for a total fanboy cameo...
2) M83 has made an incredible album called "Saturdays = Youth". This album is a masterful blend of 1982-1984 shoegazer pop - at times sounding like Cocteau Twins, Echo and the Bunnymen, Thompson Twins, and a hundred others. It's not synthpop, it's not dancey, but it's truly a distillate of that particular era. As I listened to it for the first time, I had a full body hallucination/transportation: I literally was back in my room on Oakland Avenue, sitting in my hanging chair, hearing this music on vinyl. I can't recommend it enough... TO MY PEERS OF THAT ERA. I really have no idea if this album would work or resonate with anyone who wasn't in that space at that time. Strange.
3) www.hulu.com is my new love affair: They have full 30 Rock episodes, and individual skits from Saturday Night Live, at high resolution. Just go look at this skit about GOOGLY EYES ON PLANTS. Then keep surfing around!
And that's my media update.
Already...
Looks like I'm doing weekly postings. Well, the bite has mostly healed on my arm, and Isaac has not been foolish enough to try again. His brainstorms are still going and he's not resting all that well, but he remains cute as a bug. His tendency for saying "HI" to the world continues unabated.
We took Bella to a Girl's Highschool Synchronized Swimming event on Monday, and she sat watching it all with her inscrutable "observation mode". No visible reaction to positive or negative, but her attention was fixed... like a cat watching a bird through a window. She didn't want to tell us what she thought about it either... Until the next day. Pamela held both arms out with her thumbs out, pointing sideways. Bella took the hands and rotated them to BOTH THUMBS UP. Sometimes you need to give a kid a tool to let them say what they need to say. The variable thumbs is a pretty good indicator for Bella.
For my own part, I was completely amazed by the Synchro: There was some pretty good stuff, and some pieces where you learn that unsynchronized swimming is just sort of a mess. The highlight for me was one where 3 girls did an extended piece to the theme to Requiem for a Dream. That movie, if you don't know, is a tragedy following the descent into drug addiction and complete life ruination of 4 people, but with some stunning visuals. What had me almost dying were some of the moves the girls were doing - clock movements with their legs (from the "shooting up" scenes), chopping movements at the arms (allusions to needlework I imagine) and in one dramatic move, gripping the forearm firmly while the hand falls limp, and casting the limp arm away - a clear allusion to Jared Leto's loss of his arm to gangrene in the dramatic conclusion. Oh I'm telling you, I had no idea Synchro was capable of such narrative!
Continuing back in time - Mother's day was fun for all: My gift was to take care of the kids from the night before through the night past, and all time in between. Pamela got a nice long snooze in, breakfast in bed (though this wasn't THAT relaxing since both kids insisted on snacking with Mom, and messing up the new sheets), a trip to the Arboretum, and general relaxation. At the Arboretum, Isaac said "Hi" to every single person there. And some more than once. But he brought a huge smile to so many faces, it just made me laugh.
The night before (Saturday) was a meeting of the Summit Hill Scotch Whiskey Society. YES - my love for scotch has emerged from the basement, and I'm now meeting with other like-minded individuals in large St Paul mansions. This was around 40 people from investment bankers to firefighters and all points in between, congregating in the 3rd floor ballroom of a grand dame of Summit Avenue, sampling some delightful and rare drams. Of course Ant and Chicken were there as well. As I was the driver (and the next day was Mother's day), I took it good and easy... and had no regrets.
Back to present day now:
After a delay in getting some gravel, we're back on track with the yard recovery efforts: The new brick front walk was 90% laid today and will be complete tomorrow... and already it's an incredible improvement to the house - this grand brick promenade leading up to our stairs is truly a red carpet welcoming the world. The bricks are an impossibly deep red, they're clay, and have naturally rounded edges, so it looks quite ancient and proper.
The back garden is coming together as well, thanks to Pamela's efforts: That horrible basketball court is gone, and in its place beautiful black dirt and two 4x16 raised planter beds. We'll be growing all SORTS of things back there. I think we have 5 different varieties of tomatoes going in... and of course many herbs.
My materials showed up today: I'm an ordained Reverend in the Church of Spiritual Humanism. My next step is to get registered with the state (and I have all of the proper documents, including my certificate and my letter of good standing). So if anyone needs marrying, let me know. I specialize in those ones where people fly the reverend to Tahiti for the ceremony, by the way. I'm very good at those.
Oh and a few work notes:
The creative work I alluded to last week was well received by all parties, so it felt pretty darn good. Now I just need to cobble together a 45 minute presentation about a project I haven't actually done yet, and deliver it to >50 peers in 1 week. No problem. That one has finally begun to emerge from the cooker (or the cocoon) and the words were flowing today... I should have this in the can by the end of the weekend.
After two weeks of no travel, it's off to Madison for one night tomorrow, then another week here, and then one-nighters for the next two weeks, Portland and Seattle. I have some new contacts in both markets and will be working hard to build those up. Ah, this crazy life I've signed up for!
We took Bella to a Girl's Highschool Synchronized Swimming event on Monday, and she sat watching it all with her inscrutable "observation mode". No visible reaction to positive or negative, but her attention was fixed... like a cat watching a bird through a window. She didn't want to tell us what she thought about it either... Until the next day. Pamela held both arms out with her thumbs out, pointing sideways. Bella took the hands and rotated them to BOTH THUMBS UP. Sometimes you need to give a kid a tool to let them say what they need to say. The variable thumbs is a pretty good indicator for Bella.
For my own part, I was completely amazed by the Synchro: There was some pretty good stuff, and some pieces where you learn that unsynchronized swimming is just sort of a mess. The highlight for me was one where 3 girls did an extended piece to the theme to Requiem for a Dream. That movie, if you don't know, is a tragedy following the descent into drug addiction and complete life ruination of 4 people, but with some stunning visuals. What had me almost dying were some of the moves the girls were doing - clock movements with their legs (from the "shooting up" scenes), chopping movements at the arms (allusions to needlework I imagine) and in one dramatic move, gripping the forearm firmly while the hand falls limp, and casting the limp arm away - a clear allusion to Jared Leto's loss of his arm to gangrene in the dramatic conclusion. Oh I'm telling you, I had no idea Synchro was capable of such narrative!
Continuing back in time - Mother's day was fun for all: My gift was to take care of the kids from the night before through the night past, and all time in between. Pamela got a nice long snooze in, breakfast in bed (though this wasn't THAT relaxing since both kids insisted on snacking with Mom, and messing up the new sheets), a trip to the Arboretum, and general relaxation. At the Arboretum, Isaac said "Hi" to every single person there. And some more than once. But he brought a huge smile to so many faces, it just made me laugh.
The night before (Saturday) was a meeting of the Summit Hill Scotch Whiskey Society. YES - my love for scotch has emerged from the basement, and I'm now meeting with other like-minded individuals in large St Paul mansions. This was around 40 people from investment bankers to firefighters and all points in between, congregating in the 3rd floor ballroom of a grand dame of Summit Avenue, sampling some delightful and rare drams. Of course Ant and Chicken were there as well. As I was the driver (and the next day was Mother's day), I took it good and easy... and had no regrets.
Back to present day now:
After a delay in getting some gravel, we're back on track with the yard recovery efforts: The new brick front walk was 90% laid today and will be complete tomorrow... and already it's an incredible improvement to the house - this grand brick promenade leading up to our stairs is truly a red carpet welcoming the world. The bricks are an impossibly deep red, they're clay, and have naturally rounded edges, so it looks quite ancient and proper.
The back garden is coming together as well, thanks to Pamela's efforts: That horrible basketball court is gone, and in its place beautiful black dirt and two 4x16 raised planter beds. We'll be growing all SORTS of things back there. I think we have 5 different varieties of tomatoes going in... and of course many herbs.
My materials showed up today: I'm an ordained Reverend in the Church of Spiritual Humanism. My next step is to get registered with the state (and I have all of the proper documents, including my certificate and my letter of good standing). So if anyone needs marrying, let me know. I specialize in those ones where people fly the reverend to Tahiti for the ceremony, by the way. I'm very good at those.
Oh and a few work notes:
The creative work I alluded to last week was well received by all parties, so it felt pretty darn good. Now I just need to cobble together a 45 minute presentation about a project I haven't actually done yet, and deliver it to >50 peers in 1 week. No problem. That one has finally begun to emerge from the cooker (or the cocoon) and the words were flowing today... I should have this in the can by the end of the weekend.
After two weeks of no travel, it's off to Madison for one night tomorrow, then another week here, and then one-nighters for the next two weeks, Portland and Seattle. I have some new contacts in both markets and will be working hard to build those up. Ah, this crazy life I've signed up for!
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Injury
Isaac has been a bit over the top these past days - lots of yelling and pointing and general unreasonableness. Mondo Tantrums. And yet he also maintains a lot of sweetness - it's VERY clear that he's in the middle of some brain development and is having some trouble adjusting. This morning, he climbed into bed with us (after sleeping through the night....?) and systematically ran through is favorite words: Mamma, Dadda, Bella, Airplane, Wawa, Baba, Dis, moremore, dar (car), duk (truck), WOOF, Meow... and so on. It was sort of an internal checklist he was going through.
As we were downstairs getting ready to go to school, I was helping Bella with her pants when he snuck up and BIT MY ARM. He actually chomped my bicep, and broke the skin. I yelled "NO BITE" and he stumbled back and started to cry. After a minute of letting him realize he had done wrong, I did comfort him, but man did my arm hurt.
But what I must confess is that being bitten sends unique signals to the most primitive centers of the brain, and the ancient primate comes alive "YOU UNDER ATTACK - YOU FIGHT NOW". There was an overwhelming urge to retaliate in kind... against this little kid who I love with all my heart. It was very strange to have that override kick in, and I'm very glad that I have enough control to simply sit it through and assess the situation. Anyway - i'm no fan of biting, and we'll just have to watch this!
Isaac is sloooowwwllly starting to make food a part of his diet: Tonight he ate two pieces of spicy sausage and red bell pepper pizza, the night before was 1.5 pieces of pizza and 2 green beans, and the night before that was a piece of buttered bread and around 20 ziti noodles in spicy red sauce. I think the boy likes a little flavor in his food. He also loves chips and salsa, and likes medium hot salsa! You know, whatever it takes for this guy to start replacing bottles with solids.
Bella was under the weather again this week: Big puking Monday, no appetite Tuesday, but by Wednesday, she was back in form. Mid-afternoon today, she was complaning of an earache, so we took her to a minute clinic, where the "short" test showed no Strep (but clearly swollen nodules in her throat), and we won't get her full culture until Monday.
Our yard is complete chaos: We're having a brick walkway put in to replace the shattered concrete up to the front of the house, and we had that nasty rock-filled asphalt "Basketball court" taken out of the backyard. We also had that rocky asphalt scraped off of the concrete driveway in the back, so that the kids won't scrape themselves up as they have every summer. Finally, big planter boxes are going in behind the garage, so we'll have veggies this summer!
At work, I'm having one of those good weeks where some concepts I've had cooking in my brain are finally ready for paper: Yesterday I did a huge rewrite of that article I had ghostwritten last week: I think only one sentence was left untouched. Now it's really MY article now. And today I got some good brainstorming on the top secret "project boondoggle": This may never fly, but it is a pet project of the big CEO of our parent company, and he's interested in MY ideas on this, so I'm going to run with it. And my proposal for the new business line finally took shape and I got some diagrams put together...
I just love it when I have a creative couple of days - when the whiteboards have squiggles, pictures have been drawn, and pages have been written.
Looking forward to the weekend
As we were downstairs getting ready to go to school, I was helping Bella with her pants when he snuck up and BIT MY ARM. He actually chomped my bicep, and broke the skin. I yelled "NO BITE" and he stumbled back and started to cry. After a minute of letting him realize he had done wrong, I did comfort him, but man did my arm hurt.
But what I must confess is that being bitten sends unique signals to the most primitive centers of the brain, and the ancient primate comes alive "YOU UNDER ATTACK - YOU FIGHT NOW". There was an overwhelming urge to retaliate in kind... against this little kid who I love with all my heart. It was very strange to have that override kick in, and I'm very glad that I have enough control to simply sit it through and assess the situation. Anyway - i'm no fan of biting, and we'll just have to watch this!
Isaac is sloooowwwllly starting to make food a part of his diet: Tonight he ate two pieces of spicy sausage and red bell pepper pizza, the night before was 1.5 pieces of pizza and 2 green beans, and the night before that was a piece of buttered bread and around 20 ziti noodles in spicy red sauce. I think the boy likes a little flavor in his food. He also loves chips and salsa, and likes medium hot salsa! You know, whatever it takes for this guy to start replacing bottles with solids.
Bella was under the weather again this week: Big puking Monday, no appetite Tuesday, but by Wednesday, she was back in form. Mid-afternoon today, she was complaning of an earache, so we took her to a minute clinic, where the "short" test showed no Strep (but clearly swollen nodules in her throat), and we won't get her full culture until Monday.
Our yard is complete chaos: We're having a brick walkway put in to replace the shattered concrete up to the front of the house, and we had that nasty rock-filled asphalt "Basketball court" taken out of the backyard. We also had that rocky asphalt scraped off of the concrete driveway in the back, so that the kids won't scrape themselves up as they have every summer. Finally, big planter boxes are going in behind the garage, so we'll have veggies this summer!
At work, I'm having one of those good weeks where some concepts I've had cooking in my brain are finally ready for paper: Yesterday I did a huge rewrite of that article I had ghostwritten last week: I think only one sentence was left untouched. Now it's really MY article now. And today I got some good brainstorming on the top secret "project boondoggle": This may never fly, but it is a pet project of the big CEO of our parent company, and he's interested in MY ideas on this, so I'm going to run with it. And my proposal for the new business line finally took shape and I got some diagrams put together...
I just love it when I have a creative couple of days - when the whiteboards have squiggles, pictures have been drawn, and pages have been written.
Looking forward to the weekend
Monday, May 05, 2008
Dream Mixing Bowl
Things you need to know to understand this dream:
1) I like the new Madonna/Justin Timberlake Single "4 Minutes"
2) The song is built around a big super-fake sounding brass sound
3) It was produced by Timbaland
4) Timbaland also produced the last Duran Duran album
5) Caesar just saw Duran Duran and said that Roger Taylor's playing made the songs sound WAY better than the Timbaland versions with his hiphop drum loops all over the place.
The post is called Mixing Bowl because this dream I had last night was so clearly directly influenced by the above data, but it was combined in a very fun and ridiculous way.
Curtain:
I am in a beautiful recording studio visiting a friend, and I spy the master tape for "4 Minutes" loaded on one of the decks. I hit play and throw the volume to maximum on the board, and the engineer walks in rolling his eyes.
Before he hits stop, I tell him: Whoah - those drums are different! "Yes, it's Roger Taylor from Duran Duran". He begins to move some faders around, and say "Check this out... This song was actually written by Duran Duran for THEIR album, but they didn't use it, and Timbaland gave it to Madonna".
With a move of his hands, he has removed Madonna's voice, and now it's Simon Lebon... with rich 4 part harmony? "Oh yes, Duran Duran actually write all of their songs in barbershop quartet style, so they usually track it with just voice, and then we redub in all the other instruments, and back off their harmonies for the final mix".
Another change of the mixing board, and the cheesey horns are replaced with a lush orchestral arrangement: "If you can believe it, that's the London Philharmonic - we had them lay down a full take for this" By the time the final chorus hits, a swell of a boy's choir can be heard as well.
I only wish I could have recorded the Duran Duran full orchestral with Roger Taylor drums and 4 part harmonies (with a touch of boy's choir) version from my dream. It really was pretty splendid.
1) I like the new Madonna/Justin Timberlake Single "4 Minutes"
2) The song is built around a big super-fake sounding brass sound
3) It was produced by Timbaland
4) Timbaland also produced the last Duran Duran album
5) Caesar just saw Duran Duran and said that Roger Taylor's playing made the songs sound WAY better than the Timbaland versions with his hiphop drum loops all over the place.
The post is called Mixing Bowl because this dream I had last night was so clearly directly influenced by the above data, but it was combined in a very fun and ridiculous way.
Curtain:
I am in a beautiful recording studio visiting a friend, and I spy the master tape for "4 Minutes" loaded on one of the decks. I hit play and throw the volume to maximum on the board, and the engineer walks in rolling his eyes.
Before he hits stop, I tell him: Whoah - those drums are different! "Yes, it's Roger Taylor from Duran Duran". He begins to move some faders around, and say "Check this out... This song was actually written by Duran Duran for THEIR album, but they didn't use it, and Timbaland gave it to Madonna".
With a move of his hands, he has removed Madonna's voice, and now it's Simon Lebon... with rich 4 part harmony? "Oh yes, Duran Duran actually write all of their songs in barbershop quartet style, so they usually track it with just voice, and then we redub in all the other instruments, and back off their harmonies for the final mix".
Another change of the mixing board, and the cheesey horns are replaced with a lush orchestral arrangement: "If you can believe it, that's the London Philharmonic - we had them lay down a full take for this" By the time the final chorus hits, a swell of a boy's choir can be heard as well.
I only wish I could have recorded the Duran Duran full orchestral with Roger Taylor drums and 4 part harmonies (with a touch of boy's choir) version from my dream. It really was pretty splendid.
Friday, May 02, 2008
Sniffles
This mild cold is sticking with me like glue... which I believe will scotch my plan to give blood tomorrow - they ask for 3 days of health prior to donation. At least I had that steak. MMMmmmmmm Steak.
I got home safe and sound, and am just happy to be back with the family. Isaac was very sleepy when I went to get him our of bed (I couldn't wait), and he wound up falling back asleep hugging Pamela, which was so cute and sweet we had to let him rest. Bella was out playing quite a bit, but I got to put her to bed, so we had some cuddle time. I swear she got 5 inches taller in my absence!
Isaac is really working on his words: He can identify the shape "Star" (TAR), and is noticing all the different animals in books I read to him, though now many are called by the sounds they make: A cow is a "MOO", a horse is a "NEIGH"... though fish (BISH) do make sounds "smack smack smack".
Pamela's making a decoupage plate of some of Isaac's favorite things (AIRPLANE is front and center), we're sitting by the fire, and I'm about to go upstairs and see f I can make some headway on that sleep deficit.
One final note: I finished two more books via Kindle this trip, one of which was the first book in the Neal Stephenson "Massive Period Piece" trilogy... which as you'll recall I had previously tossed aside at page 200 in the paper edition. Sticking with it was quite rewarding - the story DOES get moving and there are some amazing set pieces concocted. Now I have 2 more books to go... already loaded in the Kindle naturally.
I got home safe and sound, and am just happy to be back with the family. Isaac was very sleepy when I went to get him our of bed (I couldn't wait), and he wound up falling back asleep hugging Pamela, which was so cute and sweet we had to let him rest. Bella was out playing quite a bit, but I got to put her to bed, so we had some cuddle time. I swear she got 5 inches taller in my absence!
Isaac is really working on his words: He can identify the shape "Star" (TAR), and is noticing all the different animals in books I read to him, though now many are called by the sounds they make: A cow is a "MOO", a horse is a "NEIGH"... though fish (BISH) do make sounds "smack smack smack".
Pamela's making a decoupage plate of some of Isaac's favorite things (AIRPLANE is front and center), we're sitting by the fire, and I'm about to go upstairs and see f I can make some headway on that sleep deficit.
One final note: I finished two more books via Kindle this trip, one of which was the first book in the Neal Stephenson "Massive Period Piece" trilogy... which as you'll recall I had previously tossed aside at page 200 in the paper edition. Sticking with it was quite rewarding - the story DOES get moving and there are some amazing set pieces concocted. Now I have 2 more books to go... already loaded in the Kindle naturally.
Home again from SF
Thursday started inauspiciously: My whole purpose to being in SF this time was to maintain a table (for recruiting and sales) at a nursing symposium. To this end, I was shipped our banners and some literature to hand out… three large unwieldy boxes of stuff. I hopped into a cab and gave him the address, and minutes later was dropped off… only to discover after hauling my stuff inside that I had been dropped off 3 blocks from the actual place.
So I grabbed my huge boxes and slogged, huffing and puffing in my best suit. I arrived with plenty of time to set up, only to find our tables were off in a corner of the event that could not be happened upon accidentally, so foot traffic was doomed to be light.
Add to this that I spied no fewer than a dozen of our major competitors lurking around, NOT with a table but free to roam through the crowd, passing out cards, making connections. No this wasn’t going to be a great day by any means.
As the day progressed, it became obvious to all (my competitors included) that this was not a prime hunting ground at any rate: The people here were not key decision makers – they were mostly rank and file, and most without the sort of experience we hire for either. So by the end, the wolves were mostly standing around comparing war stories, and there was no business being transacted.
One good thing was watching some of the presentations: It’ll be at a forum very like this one that I’ll be presenting in 2 weeks, so it was good to get a feel for the format. The other thing that was good/interesting is that it continues to validate some of the product ideas I had for nursing tablets, RFID, and pager systems from a few years ago… there is still nothing like this on the earth….
The day felt like a bit of a waste, though getting the name out and maintaining a presence is certainly not a bad thing. Midway through, I took a call to discover that one of my clients in Portland has decided to cancel all 2009 initiatives to recover from a budget shortfall, so that’s an opportunity not there either.
At least the East Coast is looking quite promising!
Pamela reminded me that I’ll be donating blood on Saturday, so I should go get some steak, so steak I got, building up that iron in my blood – though not enough to set off the metal detectors at the airport. No further SF shenanigans – since I really don’t want this cold to take root, I decided to turn in a bit early.
For one reason or another, sleep didn’t come to me in the night – I had 3 hours down, 2 hours of raging insomnia (I actually turned on the lights and read for a while), then 2 more hours of sleep before heading to the airport.
At the airport, I took the plunge and registered for the TSA Frequent Traveler Program: In this, they scan two forms of ID, take finger prints, and scan your retinas. In 2 weeks I’ll get a card that will allow me to jump to the head of a security line with a scan of my finger and eye. It is very sci-fi, and I suppose I should be somewhat concerned about the privacy implications, but something about the technology was just irresistible to me. Retina scans! Plus, cutting 10-20 minutes out of a security line is pretty attractive. It’s not for all airports yet, but it is at a few of my frequent ones, so it may be worth it.
While going through the security line, I did witness a sad sight: a very old man with a walker and obvious cognitive issues being run through the metal detector back and forth being asked about things in his pockets, having his shoes taken off, etc. Seriously TSA, when you see that, just take the dude aside right away – it reflects poorly on you!
It was my every intention to try to sleep on the plane home, but after a valiant 45 minutes of keeping my eyes shut, my brain showed no signs of interest in shutting down. So I’m typing this up and will post it when I land…
This was a very long week for me: I felt like my trip to SF really wasn’t that productive, AND I didn’t feel well enough to properly goof off. Add to this that between last week’s trip, the weekend in Seattle, and this week’s trip, I’m missing my Isaac and Bella something fierce. I’ve been looking forward to an extended roughhousing and cuddling session immediately upon my return. Like for 2-3 days.
I have no trips this week coming up, which is good because I need to continue to refine my presentations for late May. And I need to anchor myself in a place for a while before flying again.
So I grabbed my huge boxes and slogged, huffing and puffing in my best suit. I arrived with plenty of time to set up, only to find our tables were off in a corner of the event that could not be happened upon accidentally, so foot traffic was doomed to be light.
Add to this that I spied no fewer than a dozen of our major competitors lurking around, NOT with a table but free to roam through the crowd, passing out cards, making connections. No this wasn’t going to be a great day by any means.
As the day progressed, it became obvious to all (my competitors included) that this was not a prime hunting ground at any rate: The people here were not key decision makers – they were mostly rank and file, and most without the sort of experience we hire for either. So by the end, the wolves were mostly standing around comparing war stories, and there was no business being transacted.
One good thing was watching some of the presentations: It’ll be at a forum very like this one that I’ll be presenting in 2 weeks, so it was good to get a feel for the format. The other thing that was good/interesting is that it continues to validate some of the product ideas I had for nursing tablets, RFID, and pager systems from a few years ago… there is still nothing like this on the earth….
The day felt like a bit of a waste, though getting the name out and maintaining a presence is certainly not a bad thing. Midway through, I took a call to discover that one of my clients in Portland has decided to cancel all 2009 initiatives to recover from a budget shortfall, so that’s an opportunity not there either.
At least the East Coast is looking quite promising!
Pamela reminded me that I’ll be donating blood on Saturday, so I should go get some steak, so steak I got, building up that iron in my blood – though not enough to set off the metal detectors at the airport. No further SF shenanigans – since I really don’t want this cold to take root, I decided to turn in a bit early.
For one reason or another, sleep didn’t come to me in the night – I had 3 hours down, 2 hours of raging insomnia (I actually turned on the lights and read for a while), then 2 more hours of sleep before heading to the airport.
At the airport, I took the plunge and registered for the TSA Frequent Traveler Program: In this, they scan two forms of ID, take finger prints, and scan your retinas. In 2 weeks I’ll get a card that will allow me to jump to the head of a security line with a scan of my finger and eye. It is very sci-fi, and I suppose I should be somewhat concerned about the privacy implications, but something about the technology was just irresistible to me. Retina scans! Plus, cutting 10-20 minutes out of a security line is pretty attractive. It’s not for all airports yet, but it is at a few of my frequent ones, so it may be worth it.
While going through the security line, I did witness a sad sight: a very old man with a walker and obvious cognitive issues being run through the metal detector back and forth being asked about things in his pockets, having his shoes taken off, etc. Seriously TSA, when you see that, just take the dude aside right away – it reflects poorly on you!
It was my every intention to try to sleep on the plane home, but after a valiant 45 minutes of keeping my eyes shut, my brain showed no signs of interest in shutting down. So I’m typing this up and will post it when I land…
This was a very long week for me: I felt like my trip to SF really wasn’t that productive, AND I didn’t feel well enough to properly goof off. Add to this that between last week’s trip, the weekend in Seattle, and this week’s trip, I’m missing my Isaac and Bella something fierce. I’ve been looking forward to an extended roughhousing and cuddling session immediately upon my return. Like for 2-3 days.
I have no trips this week coming up, which is good because I need to continue to refine my presentations for late May. And I need to anchor myself in a place for a while before flying again.
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