This one's for Ann

Here's a little something to smile about, and I hope your week is much better than the last.

Rain!!

I am jealous of all of the Michiganders, because you all have snow! We just get rain now.
We went to see Oscar animated Shorts last night, and they were fun. My favorite was Peter and the Wolf (I think it won too).
Otherwise trying to get rainy day stuff done!

School of Rock

Tonight we learned "Back in Black", "Sedated", and "Sweet Home Alabama" on the guitar tonight. It was funny to see a bunch of middle aged folks try to hammer these out.

Now if I could get the last Little House on the Prarie Book....

1888 photo depicts Helen Keller, teacher - Yahoo! News
One of my childhood obsessions! I think Sylvia the protagonist of one of my dramatic stories would be inspired too.

Why voters pick Bugs Bunny over Daffy Duck. - By Jeff Greenfield - Slate Magazine

Why voters pick Bugs Bunny over Daffy Duck. - By Jeff Greenfield - Slate Magazine

The Language of Autism - Well - Tara Parker-Pope - Health - New York Times Blog

The Language of Autism - Well - Tara Parker-Pope - Health - New York Times Blog

Demographic shift

I have no idea how I got on this mailing list.

Mobile Desktop

I just love this stuff.

Nada Mas

I swear I really do not have much to say lately. Just working mostly and trying to enjoy free time. There is a lot that I am putting off (yearly business taxes, annual paperwork for work, etc). I can kill a day so quickly. All I accomplished today was the following:
1. Go to Whole Foods (before all of White Plains)
2. Wash my toys
3. Straighten up the house a little
4. Put away our ski stuff (only out of guilt since Mike was working on tax planning)
5. Played guitar twice
6. Made some scheduling calls for work
7. Printed paperwork that I need signed this week
8. Cooked breakfast, lunch, and dinner
9. Worked out at the Y
10. Went to an open house
11. Drove by 4 houses nearby for a look
12. Watched Breaking Bad (pretty damn good little show)

Yesterday was similarly eventful, except we got to cross country ski for a while. I also went shopping for a classical guitar which is complicated since stores do not ever have any lefty classical guitars. I think I know which one I want, but I need to find out if it can be switched without messing up the guitar. We also did some drive-bys yesterday, and it left us more on the depressed side. Today was more uplifting. I need a good book. My last book was depressing, but I just want a good book that I can not put down. The last one I read like that was before Christmas, Special Topics in Calamity Physics.

Ohh, the Horror!

We drove up to Fahnstock to ski today, and we passed a sign that said,

Donald Trump State Park

Vacation Aside

I did not really write much about my trip. When you ski, it is up the mountain and down for hours and hours. It was the perfect Utah week.

Due to my advanced age and crappy joints, I need to take a break after skiing 3 days in a row (I can ski daily with a full backpack on cross country, but downhill just kicks my silly knee's ass- I bet you did not know that knees have asses did you?). My in-laws who are 30+ years older than me can ski more days than I can. I do not think I will be out there when I am 75. Mike thinks by then they will have sport knee replacements, so that is my best hope. You would not believe all of the octogenarian skiers we come across. We met a man last week who was complaining about waiting to turn 80 so he could ski free at Deer Valley, and when he turned 80 they discontinued the program. They used to let you ski for free at Park City when you hit 70, but I guess too many people are skiing after 70 and the program was pulled (much to my father-in-law's sadness!). I digress........

On my day off, I had the opportunity to see one of my pool clients try adaptive skiing at the National Ability Center (based in Park City)

http://www.discovernac.org/

My client is a little guy, so his first day out was not the greatest. I got to ski with him on the second day though, and it was really great. He did not like the chairlift much, but I can not blame him (he was skiing in a sitting set up where they lift you up on the chairlift. I would not like that either, and I am used to lifts). They work with adults and kids with a full range of disabilities, and they offer other activities in addition to the ski program. The adaptive equipment was really cool to see and I had to ask how they evaluated candidates for appropriate devices. All you need is to be able to move your head a little, and you are able to ski with assistance.

It is pretty pathetic that there are not many adaptive sports programs around here. A huge metropolitan area and not many options. It makes me want to start a program around here. Maybe in the water?????

Never Too Young for That First Pedicure - New York Times

Never Too Young for That First Pedicure - New York Times
I know multiple preschool girls who have had professional manicures. Pretty scary.

The little things

One of my patients who is significantly autistic looked me in the eyes today 3 times. That made my day.

More pics

I wish I was still on vacation!!!

Here is my second try. Peruvian tunnel at Snowbird. You stand on a conveyer belt to get through the tunnel to the other side of the mountain. Hey, wasn't that a book that I read obsessively when I was a kid?

Greatest snow on Earth

9 feet of snow in the last 3 weeks, blue skies, powder days, friends, and family created the perfect conditions for a good time.

Unnecessary Low Ridin'

We saw a girl today with a snow suit that was designed for snowboarding (one piece). The funny thing was that the suit had the belt low around the waist as if she was wearing low riders. I did not think it would matter for a snow suit, but what do I know.

Greetings from Park City

There is a ton of snow here, and our first day yesterday was typical Utah sunshine. The drifts in town are taller then me! Everyone is skiing well too, so that is good. In fact, Park City was pretty dead yesterday. Usually it is much more crowded this weekend.

We also made it out here reasonably well. I was happy not to have to spend the night on the floor of an airport like last year. The crowd on our flight was on the annoying side though. I was worried we would have to abort takeoff. This is the first time I have seen somebody get out of their seat when the plane was beginning to take off. I kid you not. I was on a plane once where we landed with some guy in the bathroom, and he had the pilot bitching him out when we deplaned. We ended up in the last row where your seats do not recline. Then the dude in front of Mike laid all the way back. Mike decided to be a little annoying in response.

What is the deal with people standing right next to the luggage belt so you have to hit them with your bag when you get it? Is it a NY crowd sort of thing? That just drives me nuts, especially in an airport when people are bringing a ton of large bags and gear. I wanted to unleash a little passive-aggressive behavior.

It is all worth it to have a few days of winter!

I'm about to pay way too much for a house, and I know it. Does that make me a fool? - By Tim Harford - Slate Magazine

I'm about to pay way too much for a house, and I know it. Does that make me a fool? - By Tim Harford - Slate Magazine

Off to Utah

We are heading out tommorrow to ski. I am excited as usual (they have a ton of snow!), but one of my patients is going to be out there learning adaptive skiing. So now I will have something to do on my days off! I am really excited to check it out, and I will be sure to take pictures of it! So I will be checking out the National Abilities Center!

http://69.2.249.50/index.htm

I apologize about the inability to link. Believe me, I have tried to get this fixed to no avail several times.

V Day

As a child, my birthday cake was always decorated with Valentine hearts. You would think that I would be into Valentine's day, but I am not. Valentine's day is in my mind the equivalent to New Year's Eve. You go out to a crowded and more expensive dinner. You expect the day or night to be the best one of the year. It's just too much pressure. I suppose I have never had a great Valentine's day.
I think it is great to take time out to express good feelings to people. I do not have a problem with people celebrating it. Mike and I do not do anything for it either. I find that we find our own version of in throughout the years. Here are some pictures of what I mean. We challenge each other to achieve and find beauty in the world. I would not trade that for a dozen roses.

Copy Cats

Psychology - Mimicry - Persuasion - How to Build Rapport - New York Times

Frozen Grand Central

F'in great!

F'in chord

I have always hated playing the F chord. It is just really f'in hard. It is really appropriately named. We started guitar class again this week, and the teacher just told me to move my elbow down. Now I can actually play an F. That only took about 3 years to find the one piece of advice that works consistently. The other good sign about our teacher is that he has not given me a hard time about my lefty guitar. So now I am less frustrated and motivated to achieve my resolution of 3x/week playing. So Pat will someday get my lefty recital.

Video Games Activate Reward Regions Of Brain In Men More Than Women

ScienceDaily (2008-02-08) -- In a first-of-its-kind imaging study, the Stanford University School of Medicine researchers have shown that the part of the brain that generates rewarding feelings is more activated in men than women during video-game play. ... > read full article

Daily Show - John Oliver and the Polling Crew

Priceless!

Good Day

My week has been a little on the weird side. I just have been really busy trying to get my caseload ready for all of the reports I have to just sit down and write. I have all of my annual reviews nearly done. I like to have them all down around now in case one is popped on me.

I had a bunch of breakthroughs in the pool this week. It has been really fun and the kids are really improving. So that is fun to see too. I have been upset about a child I see and the family situation, so that has weighed on my mind a lot too. So a good pool day is just what I needed today.

Dept. Of Homeland Security: 'Has Anybody Seen A Blue Folder?'

This one's for KC

Harrison police: Naked Giants fan faces charge | lohud.com | The Journal News
Who has the smarter fans?

Super Tuesday?

Happy Fat and Super Tuesday. It does not feel super to me, since I am not really excited to vote today. Although Obama is inspirational and charismatic, he lacks substance. I tend to agree with most of Hillary's policy, but is she electable? I liked some other the other guys who dropped out! Maybe I will register as a Republican and vote for Huckabee!!!

As for Fat Tuesday, there are no Paczki anywhere around here. That is what Fat Tuesday is all about. I like to roll Polish style!

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4490722

Yeah!

When will America embrace Pingu? - By Dana Stevens - Slate Magazine

I have been a fan for a while.

Paris Boots

As you know, I am not a fashion plate. When I was in Paris, I really dug these tall boots that the women tended to wear with trench coats. I need to get a new long coat too (Mine is shapeless and circa 1992ish). They wore the wool coats that are belted, but have shape like a skirt. I am sure that you can not really picture what I mean about it, but maybe I could find a coat like it here. Anyways, the boots were tall, with flat soles, but not clunky lookin'. I like things I can walk in, you know what I mean. So with great delight, I found a pair at the mall today when I was momentarily distracted (getting a birthday present for one of my kiddos). I saw a pair of Paris boots in Paris for 250 Euro, but 100 dollars was much easier to swallow (on sale). Who thought Paris boots could be found in White Plains? I have been scanning boots for them for a couple of weeks. The only other pair I found were on sale for $400 which is way too steep for this cheap bastard. Now I need a good excuse to wear them. I do not think they would work for my job. Hey, I am going to the city on Saturday, and that is perfect!

I watched American Chopper tonight (half of it when I remembered), because they were doing a bike for Mott Children's Hospital. Of course those losers did not reveal the bike on the episode. Now I have to figure out when it will be on again!!!!

Frank Mills

This one is for my sisters. We need to post our awesome version. I was talking to Sue tonight, and she told me that her in-laws thought she was crazy and never heard this song! This is the only song I know from Hair. I do not even know many words from Hair. Oh yeah, I know the Age of Aquarius too.

Official Sees Kenyan Ethnic Cleansing - New York Times

Official Sees Kenyan Ethnic Cleansing - New York Times

I guess it may not be a good year to visit Ed. I am suprised that this is not publicized more.

Why are bank security questions so monstrously stupid? - By Josh Levin - Slate Magazine

Why are bank security questions so monstrously stupid? - By Josh Levin - Slate Magazine

Mike and I were just discussing this. He had to answer 10 questions for something related to work, and he felt he was sharing too much personal information. His solution was to answer all of the questions with the same nonsensical response. Now he only has to remember one response. I agree the questions are annoying, especially for me. I am not very opinionated or decisive, so I do not have favorite books (I can narrow it down to perhaps a top 20) or movies.

Food for Thought

Rethinking the Meat-Guzzler - New York Times

Odds and Ends

First off, A+K
The box of fun was a great treat! Sorry we have not had a chance to call you yet, but the Coot's shirts were well worth the wait! The tile is really cool (someday I will have somewhere to put it!), books are great, and where did you find the Depeche Mode concert from when we went to it? Mike is sick of hearing me giggle at Colbert's antics.

This weekend we finally skied, although conditions were not ideal. In order to get great cross country conditions, we would have to drive 4-6 hours. We wanted to avoid staying over for 2 nights as well. So we settled for what we could get, and it was better than going to the Y again. We skied about an hour and a half, and it was good to be able to get back home and make dinner afterwards.

Today we hit the gym hard, hit some open houses (expensive!). We both really liked a tudor in Old Greenwich we saw today. Normally Tudors are dark, but this one was light filled and near Tod's Point which is a big bonus.

Google Party Sketch (Good Quality)

Bill Clinton: 'Screw It, I'm Running For President' | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

Bill Clinton: 'Screw It, I'm Running For President' | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

Consumer reports

My cell phone sucks, but so far I can not identify one that I want either. The thing I just do not like about my cell is the call quality. I can hear everyone fine, but I keep getting told that nobody can hear me. I keep reading reviews online, but they do not really talk about call quality at all. I do not give a shit what games are on there! So before I waste more money on another shitty phone.....
So, anyone have recommendations? Sue said she thinks that they all suck!
What I like about my cell:
1. User friendly and easy to acess functions
2. Easy speaker phone access
3. Good battery life
4. Would prefer a Nokia
5. Dependable performance and timely (I always get all of my voicemails, etc immediately, but that may be my service)

Other than that, I have had my nose to the grindstone, my ass at the gym, and my fingers on the guitar strings. The writer's strike should never end!

Radiohead - 15 Step (Live at 93 Feet East)

This is been stuck in my head all day.

Who's on board?

Today I saw 2 little "Baby on Board" signs with the suction cups (classic edition) on 2 different cars. I have not seen one of those for a long time. Am I going to see some suction cup Garfields next?

Freakonomics - Stephen J. Dubner - Steven D. Levitt - Red-Cockaded Woodpecker - Endangered Species - New York Times

Freakonomics - Stephen J. Dubner - Steven D. Levitt - Red-Cockaded Woodpecker - Endangered Species - New York Times

Movie cliches

I watched part of Troy last night while I was reading, and man does that movie totally suck. The acting was really crappy, and the it was just one cliche to the next. Here are some examples:

Does every movie with extended fight scenes (historical or fantasy alike) now feature a woman singing (without words--aahhh ahhh ahhh ahhhhhhhhhhh!) with slow motion violence?

Does every death have a prolonged speech?

Can Brad Pitt speak English? His dialogue reminded me of an old Arnold movie.

How many funeral pyres can there be in one movie? Especially with the woman aaahhing and the camera moving out slowly.

How many movies does Orlando Bloom just shoot arrows at other warriors? I liked him a lot better as an Elf.

Following Troy, another classically cliched movie appeared, Top Gun.

First of all, Tom cruise can not play a bad ass.

It is scary that I knew the soundtrack sequencing. I started singing, "Danger Zone" when the movie opened, and "Take my Breath Away" when Tom Cruise got on his motorcycle to visit the chick.

The music during the flight sequences was really dated now, and it would be something you would expect on a Navy recruiting video.

The Tom Cruise character is essentially a renegade cop who can not follow the rules but is able to redeem himself due to his brilliance and talent. Whoa, was that a run-on sentence? Same character in many movies, just slightly different professions.

Goose must not have had a 6 pack, because he was the only one with a shirt on during the volleyball scene.

What I have concluded from all of this? I need to just stick to my book or perhaps get a little work done!

March

I was talking to my sister in law yesterday, and she casually commented that she hates March. After that comment, I just had to know what was so offensive about March? Her argument: no holidays, no days off, and crappy weather. She does not like basketball, so March Madness does not work for her. When I thought about it after speaking to her, I am convinced that March sucks. The only holiday is St. Patricks day which I do not celebrate despite my Irish ancestry. It is kind of a sucky holiday anyways. Drinking green beer (what did the beer do?) and eating horrible corned beef and cabbage (I have not touched corned beef since the early 90s when I found out it was essentially eating a hunk of lard). I would rather celebrate Thai or Indian heritage. The weather is too warm to ski and too cold to bike (the dreaded 40 zone where there is no potential for snow either). You have to get working on your taxes. When I think of the months, it is like a big blank. I can smell the grass in May, the sand in July, and the leaves in October. The kicker is that March is 31 days of cold, grey hell. So all that agree the March sucks unite!

Colbert Report Lou Dobbs

http://www.comedycentral.com/motherload/player.jhtml?ml_video=147922&ml_collection=&ml_gateway=&ml_gateway_id=&ml_comedian=&ml_runtime=&ml_context=show&ml_origin_url=%2F&ml_playlist=&lnk=&is_large=true

Friggin' hilarious!

Nothin's up

I swear my productivity has been up since the TV ran out. There is nothing on at all, so we have been doing taxes and other crap we do not really want to think about right now. I was teased tonight with some snow for 15 minutes, but it is raining again. I guess I have to drive to it this weekend, just in time for it to get painfully cold.

BTW, Colbert report was pretty friggin' hilarious tonight. I got to get the Lou Dobbs interview up. You will wet yo' pants.

Otherwise, I am just doing a lot of work. No fun or exciting stories. Just a lot of whining.

I dreamed last night that I had to go to swim practice, and we all had to try to stand on the lane markers and balance. It morphed into a Seinfeld episode where George was doing something stupid. I remember laughing a lot. At some point I met Rufus Wainwright, whatever that is supposed to mean. I must be nuts.

Federica Von Stade : Cherubino's

This is the first opera aria that I get stuck in my head all day. The music is really good in Marriage of Figaro! Sorry if this is geeky.

Amen to this one!!

Don't send in the clowns - Yahoo! News

In search of.....

Winter!!!!

I got teased by the latest noreaster that missed us on Sunday night. We were out late and the roads were even pre-salted! Then we woke up to green out the window which is a huge disappointment. I loook forward to storms like a little kid (probably 'cause I get the day off too). Then I was hopeful for tommorrow, but now it is just going to rain. This means we will be taking a now annual MLK weekend drive to New England or Northern NY to find snow. Wish us luck, because we do not always find it either! I feel confident about NE though since Boston just got slammed with our snow.

I just hope our only snow is not in Utah. I have not been able to go out to Rockefeller to enjoy the winter properly in so long......wahh!!!!!!! Damn, now that theme song to the show "In Search of" with Leonard Nimoy is stuck in my head.

I'm not worthy...

We hit a couple of open houses this weekend. One was a lark, and the place was literally a mansion. At least it was really impressive for 1,400,000. Usually at that price point here, the house is nice, but nothing super special. This house was totally cool. It was built in the 20s by some noted architect, and it was made of stone. Of course I kept thinking about how much it would cost to heat and cool a house that is 5,000 square feet! Anyhow it was actually priced well considering how amazing the house and property were. We are not looking into buying that high by any means.
We checked out another house (in Rye). It was 1,250,000. For 2,000 sq/ft, .20 acres and old (seriously, 1960s kitchen) and old baths. They made an addition on it, but I know the house was bought for 860,000 in 2004. I do not think so. You put on a coat of paint, and suddenly the house is worth that much? No friggin' way. I always tend to tell Mike what I think I would offer for various houses. Last night he put it in a spread sheet he made with local market trends to help us forcast pricing. I was pretty damn close. Maybe I should become a realtor. I will treat your kids and conduct an open house. I suppose my sellers would not be happy with me!
We are so ready to move, but with the delusional people out there, who knows what we will be able to get. It is just totally insane and makes me absolutely sick to my stomach knowing what we will have to spend even when the market drops this year. I am just not willing to commit to something that huge and not be totally happy. I just want to be excited about where we end up.

Belated Birthday Wishes

To KC,international man of mystery!

WNYC - Radio Lab: Sleep (January 11, 2008)

WNYC - Radio Lab: Sleep (January 11, 2008)
This is a fun episode. Cool stuff.

Damn resolutions!

This is the time of year when the gym is crowded with good intentions. I will give things a few weeks to clear out and I will try not to let the crowds annoy me. They opened this little annex with these awesome stationary bikes at the Y where in theory you can race others at the same time (they have not hooked the bikes up together for it yet). They have monitors where you ride courses like a video game. I find it pretty motivating. Mike wants to race me really bad, but he is just kicking my ass out there regardless (we ride the same courses). It tends to reward pure power, and these creaky knees have not been turning out the watts lately. All I know is that I need to get my joints in shape for skiing, even though snow has not appeared anywhere in these parts yet (at least ski-worthy). I need to recover from my vacation of eating, sitting, eating, and walking.

I was just reading a news article about workout music. It was all about high beats per minute with a constant rhythm. They were mentioning a lot of lame garbage. I acquired a nano recently and put together a gym playlist. I think I am an old fart for the following reasons:

1. Most of the motivational stuff is from the 80s and early 90s. I guess I have gone soft rock.
2. There is a lot of dirty Prince, and I have to be careful not to sing along. I do not think the people at the Y could tolerate "Irresistable Bitch" or "Lady Cab Driver"
3. I have come to the conclusion that anything from the Run, Lola, Run soundtrack is motivating.
4. You can always respond to Work Hard by Depeche Mode or The Pixies.

Speaking of the Pixies, I heard the Breeders are coming out to tour this year. I lost my Breeder's CD years ago, but that was an old gym CD.

I did make a resolution this year. I decided to try to play guitar 3 times a week. Wish me luck.

Top of Effiel

This is part of the view.

Eiffel Tower

sorry about the quality, but I hope you get the idea!

Paris, the final chapter

I am sure you are all sick of hearing about Paris, so this is the end. We got up on New Year's eve and took it easy. We visited the National Archive and the Picasso museum. We ate food from the street and strolled about. We had a terrific dinner (I ate Fois Gras), and met Mike at 11 on the Metro. We went to the Champs Elysee for the New Year's celebration. We walked in the festive crowd of thousands with our bottle of cheap champagne. At midnight, nothing happened! No countdown or anything to officially mark the New Year. Just people yelling, "Bon Annee" at random intervals. It was pretty funny that nothing happened, but it was still fun. When we got back to our hotel, things were really hoppin'. We had to leave at 6 AM the next morning, so we called it a night. When we made our way to the airport, things were still hoppin'.

Paris, Part 3

After our insane museum schedule, we decided to chill out. We aimed to go up the Eiffel the first thing in the morning (try to get there before it opened to beat the insane crowd). The tower was well worth the wait, and coming before it opened made the entire visit from start to finish last 2 hours. On the first deck they made an elaborate ice bar and you could put snowshoes on to walk the outer ring. It was not worth it since most of the snow they made had melted. We walked down from the second to the first level. We were lucky to get a clear day.

We hit the open markets of Rue Cler after the tower to buy some awesome breakfast. We even got some cheese at a fromagerie. After we ate the cheese, we left it in our hotel room. That was a mistake when we returned hours later. Our room smelled like the Fromagerie! We visited Les Invalides where the war museum and Napoleon's tomb are located. Man did Napoleon have Napoleon syndrome! It made Grant's tomb look spartan. The war museum was really great, and they had a amazing exhibit on WWI and WWII. I need to learn more about the wars.

We jumped on the subway to meet up with my friend, Mike. He is really my brother's really good friend, but we used to hang out when I lived in Ann Arbor. He lives right outside of Paris in Vincennes. We toured Chateau de Vincennes which is cool castle dating back from the 12th century. It was closed when we got there, but Mike sweet talked our way in (ticket sales were done, but they were still open for a half hour). We then joined his family for dinner. It was fun to meet his wife, try local foods, and meet his kids. His little ones speak English to him and French to their mom. We kicked ourselves out and made it back to the city.

http://en.chateau-vincennes.fr/

Now see if you can find what belongs to Napoleon in this group of pictures!

Eiffel redux

When we loaded up the digital frame for Mike's tanta, we scanned this picture of his Dad walking down the Eiffel tower. We decided to take similar shot!