what do I want in a car?

Aside from what it can provide in terms of fuel efficiency, I don't really care about things like engine size, torque, or horsepower...

What I'd really like to see in a car some day would be the ability for all of the cars on the interstate to participate in an ad-hoc 802.11 network that would allow them to do things like synchronize cruise-control speeds, share GPS information, and alert cars behind to any loss of traction, sudden slowdowns, etc. The department of roads should have access to the data real-time to provide congestion and traffic flow data. Maybe do some peer-to-peer music sharing too, if the other stuff is too boring/nerdy for you? :)

it's a different kind of hurt...

Every once in a while, in Taekwondo class, we get to learn combat Hapkido techniques, which I love. It's a lot of fun.

While Taekwondo is really focused on directly attacking or defending against your opponent. Hapkido is much more about using your opponent's energy against them, and controlling their actions.

Anyhow, I've decided that another major difference is how you feel a day or 2 afterward. With Taekwondo, you hurt because you've had an awesome workout and your muscles are getting their revenge on you. With Hapkido, you hurt because your body (especially your joints) have just been abused.

song dedication

Lily Allen's new album has a track called "F*ck You" that really resonates for some reason.  I'd like to dedicate it to the hate-mongers out there - like Limbaugh or Coulter, that intentionally profit from pushing rhetoric to the extreme and being as divisive as possible.  I've had it stuck in my head for days... seems like it's time to share. :)

Dad, why is my lunchbox dripping?

So, we were actually making pretty good time this morning and I was loading my son in to the car to go to school. I noticed it at the same time he said "dad, why is my lunchbox dripping?" and a pretty decent amount of water is leaking out of the sides and zipper of his lunchbox.. a steady trail of drips lead all the way back up the steps into the kitchen.

You know the TV spots for the juice boxes that say "respect the pouch!" as the tagline? This pouch had gotten no respect. The poor thing was sitting in the lunchbox, spilling it's guts out. Luckily the rest of the lunch was all sealed in plastic of it's own, but it meant a nice delay of washing the sticky off of the rest of the lunch and stuffing it all in a different lunchbag. To top it all off, I almost forgot to give him a new juice pouch for lunch. So far we're off to a great start this morning.

Headed out on a canoe trip

Maybe not the happiest look on his face, but this was a great time. We took a canoe ride with about 12 other people around the big island in Frontierland at Disneyland. This may have been the first time R has ever paddled a canoe before. Our arms were aching by the end of the ride. :)

As a new paddler, he was a bit splashier than the people behind us may have wanted him to be, but at least we were near the very back of the boat. In this photo we're still in queue, waiting for our canoe. We've got the big riverboat in the background :)

Princesses

Today, we're going in search of princesses!!

The big mouse

E and I stood in queue to meet the mouse himself. A little nervous, but Mickey was soft and very nice.

Jedi training academy

While R was receiving his Jedi training, Darth Maul tried to defeat him... silly Sith Lord.

quick look at the turbines

Stopped and grabbed a quick pan of a few of the wind turbines near Ellsworth, KS with our new Kodak Zi6. It still doesn't give a good sense of the scope of this place, but it's kind of cool to see them all moving at once. BTW, be sure to click the "HQ" button that will show up in the bottom right-hand corner of the video to see the video in full quality.

somewhere in central Kansas

I'm impressed by how well the kids are tolerating all of these hours in the car (we're probably having a much harder time with it than they are). They're whiling away the miles with Nintendo DS, books, coloring, story readers, Leapster, and even my iPhone - but I wish they would look up from the pages and displays for a while and take in the rest of the world from time to time.

The drive from Kansas City to Hays, KS is beautiful. It's carved through rolling limestone hills and lined with groves of twisted oak trees, alternating with fields, pasture, ponds, lakes and hilly grasslands. This time of year, the dominant colors range from grey to a tawny gold to dark greens... and the ever-present sapphire of the sky.

Driving this way in past years, I would see lots of active and lots of old abandoned farms, along with bales of hay and lots of oil wells. It's sobering to think that after Patty's funeral, we probably won't ever have a reason to come back to this part of the world.

The farms (both dead and living) are still there of course, and cranking out hay bales, crops and oil... but it's been a while since I've been this way. I don't know when it sprung up, but I was shocked (can you be pleasantly amazed?) to find miles upon miles of really huge windmills. The state of Kansas has apparently invested in a massive windfarm. It's beyond impressive, and really beautiful to watch these giants turning in the wind. Yeah, it's a great investment in the future and in developing alternative energy sources - but it's also kinetic sculpture on a massive scale. Very cool stuff. The photo I grabbed can't begin to tell the story - I think there are hundreds of these things... and they are huge, but maybe on the way back to KC in a couple of days we can stop and grab a shot or two with a better camera.

Winter wonderland

We had planned to hit the road yesterday, but ran into a number of problems... I got hit by a nasty stomach bug, which put us behind on packing, and there was an ice storm we would have driven through on the first leg of our trip. So today, we're finally hitting the road to start our adventure. In fact I'm writing this from somewhere southbound on I-435, north of Kansas City.

Some time after Christmas last year, I had this fantasy of not buying gifts for Christmas - instead, we could probably spend the same amount of money and just travel somewhere and be together.

Amazingly, through some extremely generous family, friends, and hotel rewards points, we're making it happen this year - we're going to Disneyland. :) We finally got to tell the kids and - once it actually sunk in, they're over-the-top excited.

I'm sure I'll post more about the trip later, but for now, just wanted to share this photo of the results of the ice storm that we missed yesterday. Really glad we didn't have to drive through it, but it's awfully beautiful to look at now that it's safe. We won't actually be California-bound for several days and many more miles, but we get to start living out of suitcases already.

speaking volumes

They say that kids emulate their parents...

I just don't see it. :)

Thanksgiving

My family is awesome and I love them dearly.

Tonight is all about family.  Here, my son is just jamming with his uncle and cousin while the rest of the family sits back and enjoys.  Typically musical, warm, sincere, and fun.  I look forward to these holiday nights at grandma's all year, and wish that we would all make up more excuses to get together more often during the year.

Life is good. :)

Keith Olbermann speaking for so many of us

I don't know who Keith Olbermann is, but take a moment to watch his commentary. He makes a passionate statement on the passage of Proposition 8 in California, and I appreciate what he's saying. Well said, sir.

documenting Barack Obama's life from 2006 through the end of the election

So it turns out that Edward Norton has been making a documentary about Barack Obama for the past 2 years. This will definitely be a documentary worth watching...

Edward Norton’s Obama Documentary Gets A Hollywood Ending:

"The 39-year-old actor said that he became inspired by Obama’s 2004 speech at the National Democratic Convention and felt inspired to capture someone from his generation — and not his parent’s — inspiring so many and rising in leadership."

This quote from the article especially resonates with me because that (very inspirational) speech at the 2004 DNC is exactly when I started paying attention to Barack Obama. I still carry it around with me on my iPod.

please vote today

Putting all of the rhetoric aside... all of the divisiveness and the fear. Today is the day to vote and make this extraordinarily long and expensive campaign season that we've all had to endure mean something.

Once I got to vote, my ballot (to the right) only took less than 5 minutes to fill out. After that, I went over and got my free cup of coffee from Starbuck's (which was more full than I've ever seen it).

On a broader note... I hate that, apparently, the easiest and cheapest way to engage voters and motivate them to vote is to polarize the issues and scare the crap out of them. Whomever is elected has the double-challenge of not only digging us out of the horrible mess that we're in as a country, but also of repairing the damage of millions and millions of dollars worth of advertising designed to scare people and tear both candidates down. Our political process is a mess - probably because the general public is so disenfranchised and apathetic about our government that the only way to approach them or to engage them is to terrify them. The vacuum of power left by apathy fosters this environment of fear, confusion, corruption, and the undue influence of lobbyists and private influence.

This is an amazing country full of incredible people... and if we could only try to achieve something together and see through the polarizing "Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt" we can go back to accomplishing great things.

whazzup?

John just shared this... well done and entirely unexpected.  Speaks for itself, so I'll shut up:

Waste

I need to get over it - it's just the way things are, but it really bothers me to see this.  The back of this garbage truck is full of perfectly recyclable cardboard.  At least cardboard is pretty biodegradable, but still - hard to see.  All we can do is try to make little differences on our own, and lead by example.

We're trying out a different recycling service here in Lincoln, starting this week.  RecycleLink has just partnered with RecycleBank, so they've got the dumpsters with the embedded RFID chip and they give you "rewards points" to encourage recycling.  It's not like we really need encouragement to recycle... we'll do as much as we can either way, but it may be worth it to see if we can get something out of it in terms of the reward points.

On the positive, the RecycleBank system is single-stream recycling, so you don't need to sort anything.  On the negative, they don't take glass or plastic bags... which really stinks.  We've gotten used to our current provider just taking everything (taking plastic shopping bags is especially nice).  The monthly cost is the same... $8/month, so we'll give this new one a shot for a while and see how it goes.

Autumn

Cool rainy morning here in Nebraska. I love this season (would love it even more if we could skip the allergies... but oh well). :)

Energy costs, my friends

I saw gas at $3.09 per gallon on the way in to work. It seems like the closer we get to the election, the more the gas prices are dropping. I understand that gas is less than $3.00 per gallon in Omaha. I wonder if it's going up in blue states to compensate?

Toothbrushes

I was getting the kids toothbrushes ready tonight and I saw 2 nearly identical toothbrushes for my son. One was light blue and the other was dark blue & I couldn't remember which was the latest. When I went out to the kitchen and asked him which was the right one my son shrugged but my daughter answered, very matter-of-factly "It's the light blue one." Then, after a pause, in the same tone (but with the very slightest hint of a grin) she added "the dark blue one has throw-up on it."

Turns out my poor, mortified, son has been using the dark blue one for a while. When he finally got done shrieking, she (mercifully) explained that it wasn't on the bristles.

UNL Rugby Football Club

I can honestly say that I would not be where I am today if I had not played rugby for UNL. My first three semesters at UNL were spent on academic probation. Playing rugby was one of the primary things that kept me interested in staying at UNL, and kept me going long enough to learn how to become a halfway decent student... at least enough to make it through. :)  I'm not sure what it's like now but when I started, basically, if you had what it took to keep coming back to practice, you could play.  Essentially, perseverance, indomitable spirit, and significant stones.

I can't say that I was ever a particularly good player.  I'm physically strong, but I'm big and slow and can't run for really long stretches.  No endurance when it comes to running... I hate it (give me a bike and I can ride forever... but running just doesn't agree with me).  Still, I played second row and loved it.  My job was to run from scrum to ruck to maul, collectively pushing the other team off of the ball so that the backs could get the ball and run with it.  If an opposing player was carrying the ball (and was actually slow enough for me to catch) I would wrap him up and knock him over.  In lineouts, I try to either come down with the ball, or at least knock it away from their guys.  Simple (even though I still probably played 3 matches before I really knew what I was doing). :)

Rugby is more than a sport.  It has this rich culture of tradition and brotherhood.  I can travel anywhere, and if I meet another rugger I instantly have a connection & a bond.  I learned songs that I can never remember while I'm sober - but friends that played rugby at different universities can still sing along and know all of the words.  You will tackle a guy from the other side, but you know you're going to drink with him after the match so you help him up.  It's an old cliche, but it's true... "Soccer is a gentlemen's sport played by ruffians, and rugby is a ruffian's sport played by gentlemen."

I'm on this journey through rugby nostalgia because this is homecoming weekend - UNL Rugby alumni weekend.  I played golf with some of my former teammates today, and it was very cool.  Amazingly, they all seem to have aged well.  Even cooler, I'm going to play in the alumni rugby match tomorrow.  Not only do I finally get the chance to introduce my kids to rugby, but they'll see me play it (probably very badly and for a short time), which makes it even cooler.

Hopefully I don't show up to work on Monday with a cast.  That would be less cool.

Quality time :)

Getting to enjoy our long-standing tradition of having father/daughter lunches on Monday. Today we're at Bagels & Joe .

This is the kind of stuff that makes everything worthwhile! :)

test day

R and I tested for our next belts in Taekwondo today.  I was really nervous... no worse than getting up to speak in front of a couple hundred people.  I did well on my form and on the sparring portion of my test... and only messed up a little bit on the one-steps.  R was, of course, awesome. :)

Hopefully mine was still pretty good overall and I should be in good shape for passing (think positive).  We will find out in a couple of weeks.

L grabbed some video with her mobile phone so I'll share this very short bit here (it's like 17 seconds).  Since it's mobile-phone quality I have to explain that I'm the bigger white blob of the two blobs in the foreground. :)

the latest GOP flip - now privacy is good

The GOP has already taken up the banner of "feminism" now that it's to their political benefit... now they seem to have (finally) adopted the idea of "privacy protections" which is especially ironic. Glenn Greenwald with Salon has yet another fascinating analysis (along with a side-order of tongue-in-cheek) of the latest act in this fascinatingly dramatic election season:

What does Sarah Palin have to hide in her Yahoo e-mails? - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com:

"And then there's the McCain campaign, protesting this 'shocking invasion of the Governor's privacy and a violation of law' even though the GOP nominee has supported every last expansion of surveillance power and stood by the President's every last violation of our surveillance laws. I wonder if the laws which the Palin hacker violated are similar to the federal statute that makes it a felony -- punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a $10,000 fine for each offense -- to eavesdrop on the communications of Americans without warrants, or the multiple statutes (.pdf) which expressly outlaw the telecoms from allowing government spying on their customers without warrants from a court?"

Dr. Horrible

Very nice of Hulu to provide Dr. Horrible in a streamy format so that I can embed it right here. Personally, I bought it on iTunes & loved all 40-whatever minutes (better to do that anyhow... so that instead of Hulu getting the ad revenue, the money goes to the folks who worked on the video). I have to admit that I've only seen Neil Patrick Harris in a couple of things... Starship Troopers and this... and ...he's really good. I would like to get a Ph.D. in Horribleness.

Irony

So here we are... literally hundreds of cars queued up, in weather hot
and humid enough that you have to be running the A/C... burning tons
of fuel all together. All so that we can each recycle 3 electronics
items. Even with the recycling, I can't see how this isn't a negative
environmental impact overall.

saying goodbye to an old friend

Back in college, I had kind of a hobby in computers (along with biking, rugby, and some other... stuff). As I learned about things like email, or eventually HTML, I forced myself to get in and learn whatever I could about them... because as a mass-communications and sociology student, I was convinced that communication in the future would revolve around those technologies. One of the few occasions when I have been right. :)

When my grandma passed away, I used some of the money that she left me to get a computer of my own, instead of having to go downstairs and spend an unhealthy amount of time in the computer labs in my residence halls I bought this old Apple LCII computer (to the ultimate annoyance of my dad, an IBM devotee). :). I learned so much with this old box... design, layout, communications, csh, vi... and I met the most amazing people in places like the ISCA BBS, TRE BBS, or some old MUD's... worlds that probably only exist in human memories now. We're still in contact with some of those people today, and most importantly, I met my wife... the best thing to ever happen to me.

All of that, and probably my career today, probably happened as a direct result of this tiny little computer.

Nebraska Furniture Mart in Omaha is doing a recycling thing today. Displays, computers, etc. You can bring in 3 items per family, and they'll recycle the items for free. Since no one has been interested in my little "pizza box" in countless garage sales, and there is no way I'd want to think of it (not) decomposing in a landfill somewhere... I'm going to recycle it today. Maybe a less worthy ending than it deserves, but hopefully it'll recycle into something really cool. I think it's built up some good karma.

a rude awakening

Well, that was interesting...

At our house, we have those smoke alarms that listen to each other, so that if one goes off, they all go off. So, at exactly 6:00 this morning, they all went off. Just for one series of beeps (at least that any of us sleepyheads heard) - but definitely enough to get the heart pumping. Only the littlest of us didn't seem to notice the beeping... still sleeping peacefully.

So I stumbled around the house and checked everything out. All perfectly still, inside and out. Not a breath of wind outside, and even our birds and guinea pig were just sitting there... none of their usual hyper antics this morning. Kinda weird. Maybe they didn't like the rude awakening either.

I've seen glitches with those kinds of smoke alarms before. We had them at one of our old houses and sometimes they would go off during parts of Diddy Kong Racing (or one of the games around that time). It's like the game's music would hit just the right tone that they were listening for and they would go off. I think we had other things set them off too but it was too long ago, I can't remember what.

The idea of the "networked" smoke alarms is cool... get the word out and make sure that everyone hears. But I wish that they would add a strobe or some kind of easy indicator to see which one actually detected smoke (instead of just hearing one of the others go off). Maybe also indicate which one actually has the battery dying.. so it doesn't take hours (or days) of trying to track down the "chirps" to figure out which one needs a battery change.

"Barak Obama" by Cocoa Tea

Heard this on XM yesterday while driving around town.  Just had to share. :) Will have to see if the link to the song on Rhapsody works.

really cool front

This front just went over us... was the coolest thing. Literally, it dropped at least 5 degrees as it passed over. On the trailing edge of the front, all of the clouds were mixing and swirling. I really wish I could have captured video because I can't do it justice.

testing "Blog it" from Six Apart

Quick test post from the Blog It service from Six Apart. I'm not sure about the value of having something that lets you write one entry, and then cross-post it to a bunch of different blogs. This should appear on Blogger, and on Vox (which I don't use). Seems better suited to spammers than actual use. Will be more interesting to look at the facility to update my status once, and have it flow to Facebook, Twitter, Plurk, Spock, whatever... 'cause that's a pain.

Quality time with a rock garden

So, for landscaping, the black ground cloth alone really isn't good enough. Holds the weeds back for a year or two, but really can't stand the test of time. Landscaping is generally intended to have a bit more permanence than that, so you don't want to have to rebuild it every couple of years.

R and I are taking the lowest (and smallest) rock garden apart and going to put down newspaper, then new ground cloth, and that should put us in really good shape. Great re-use of the newspaper and it's awesome for weed control.

Pulled the Element out of the garage into the driveway (so it can actually get an XM signal) and we're listening to XM101 for some good reggae. Not really feeling XM much beyond this channel and the 2 kids channels. It probably won't last for us beyond the free trial.

ever want to seriously slap someone?

Take a look at the photo above... specifically the gold-ish minivan right up next to the building.

Apparently, this glorious specimen of humanity needed to go in and whine about something that was wrong with her McDonalds order - so she ignored all of the many open parking spots and, instead, chose to park across both of the handicapped spots for the building!

London and France...

My first ride of the season was perfect. The weather this evening was perfect, and we got to go together on a nice, easy, short ride out to dinner as a family. R and L rode their own bikes and E rode on the ride-behind attached to mine. Perfect. :)

On the way back home after dinner, there were a few spots where I kicked it up a little and got a little speedy. On probably the fastest of those times, I heard this beautiful little peal of giggles behind me. E said "Daddy, we were going so fast I could see your underwear peeking out!" Too funny... poor little thing. :)

Recitals

Strangely enough, I actually enjoy recitals. I'm sitting in one now (probably a bit rude of me to be writing). There is always great, really positive and encouraging energy in the room. Yes, there are a few really cool performances, but the applause is as much (or more) about making it through & the pride of accomplishment. You're very aware of how hard these kids have worked and practiced and agonized to get to this point, and how much courage it takes to get up in front of a group of people and put yourself on display. It's awesome. :)

I can also admit to a bit (ok, a lot) of relief and gratitude that my son is learning piano and not the violin. Wow.

Morocco's of San Jose

On lunch break from class today I stopped by a new restaurant called Morocco's. They've only been open for a few weeks. I've never tried Moroccan food before so it was worth a shot.

Really great stuff. I had the beef tagine. Think meat, stewed for hours, with fruits and spices and served with Moroccan bread or basmati rice. Between the sugared hot mint tea, and the stewed apricots and prunes, it's a dining experience that's all about a healthy tummy, too. :)

Unfortunately, they need to work on their menu. They have no menu posted on the window, and the to go menus they had sitting outside didn't nearly do enough to give you a good idea of what the food really was. It really took the (very friendly and approachable) owner coming out and talking to me about his restaurant and the food to keep me from walking by. I'm glad he spoke to me, but he shouldn't have had to.

Elemental

The lease for my 04 Vue is finally up.

Ever since I caught a ride back to my car with my friends who have an Element, I've been very impressed by them. I was able to sit comfortably in their back seat. Those words don't ever come together in the same sentence for me. Amazing. The interior is really like something out of Harry Potter... it's smaller on the outside than the Vue, but you could play football indoors. :)

Anyhow, we've committed, and I get to pick up my new car on Tuesday. I'm really excited. The kids legs aren't getting any shorter. :)

playing games on a rainy morning

Mom had to go out of town and R is at school, so it's just the two of us playing "Guess Who?" on a rainy Tuesday morning. Life is good. :)

it makes me feel really strong...

I've finally kept a promise I made to myself, and started Tae Kwon Do classes with my son. It's really great because I get to be in his class with him, and I get 2 hours of (badly needed) exercise a week. He's been in class for the better part of a year, so he's considerably more advanced than I am. I'm barely 4 classes in, and still struggle to know basic moves and stances (let alone the Korean commands and responses). The bonus is that, as long as he can be patient with me, I've got a great at-home tutor. I'm certainly a slow learner, and have generally lacked grace my entire life (a primary reason why my mom started me in competitive swimming when I was little... she knew she had to give me a sport where I was less likely to hurt myself or anyone else).

Tonight we had a particularly rough workout and I got a serious wake-up call. Our instructor ran out of things to have us do, and I heard him mutter "What to do? What to do...." I should have known right there that whatever it was, it wasn't going to be pretty. :) We wound up having to do nasty old Army exercises to the point that I literally left a puddle of sweat on the floor - and could barely stand up afterward. Awesome. :P

After class, as we were leaving the building, my son exuded "Wow dad, I love when we get to do those! When we're done, I just feel so strong!" I couldn't help but to (pant) my pathetic response "Strong? Dude, it was all I could do not to puke all over the floor." Of course he loved that!

Hopefully I'll be able to walk again by the next class. It's brutally obvious that I need this even more than I even realized. :)

not so green river in Chicago

It's beyond difficult to see green dye in the dark, but we just have to accept that the river has been dyed green on faith. Either way, Chicago is beautiful and so is the view from the bridge, here.

It's been a long day of travel, but all good. We got to see Stephen once we got in, and he took us to a 2-story McDonalds (with an escalator & a gelato bar) for a late dinner. Pretty wild. Also wild, after 3 weeks of orientation classes, I've officially graduated to being a full-fledged student of Tae-Kwon-Do. Should be fun (and likely pretty funny). :)

the hammer of spring?

The daylight-savings time change has hit me hard this year. Not sure why, but I've been desperate to stay in bed in the mornings, and having a very hard time focusing. Go figure... I think it's probably just a lame excuse for staying up too late. :)

Anyhow, I was walking my son in to school this morning and, over the noise of cars, other kids, and conversations, I heard a woodpecker. I don't remember ever seeing a lot of woodpeckers while growing up here in Nebraska, so it's always been cool for me to see one. Looking around, I spotted him on a branch not too far away so I was able to point him out to my son. It was a great moment - just standing there with all of the cars and the people rushing by us, in a totally different world.

It's a beautiful day today - 69 degrees right now. I don't know if woodpeckers are migratory, but it'd be nice to think that spring is on its way.

delegated

When Colorado held their caucus, my friend John mentioned on Facebook that he wound up being a delegate for Obama in his state. I never expected to follow exactly in his footsteps but, inspired by him, I told myself that I would speak up if it seemed like I should at our caucus.

So tonight was the big event... we've never held a caucus before here in Nebraska (at least that I know of) so it was all new to us. Overall, it was really cool. It was cool to see how many people turned out, and to know that there actually are Democrats in south Lincoln. It was cool to actually talk about things and learn what people thought, and to participate instead of just filing in and marking a piece of paper. I'm glad that we have adopted the practice, but the acoustics of the gymnasium where our caucus was held were terrible and it was pretty chaotic. Nobody really knew what to do (or could hear anything).

Our precinct was split into about 2/3 for Obama, and 1/3 for Clinton. There was only 1 undecided voter. Everybody seemed very appreciative of the "other side" and it was a good atmosphere. When we split out the first time, one girl kind of got roped into speaking for the Obama side because she had enthusiastically yelled out "Obama!" as the coordinator was explaining the procedure. She made great points, and so did the Clinton side, and no one but the undecided voter switched sides (she switched over to the Clinton side). No one really seemed to want to talk for the next round, so my friend Travis said "hey Paul, why don't you?" ...so I did.

I don't remember too much about what I said, but I got to speak after the Clinton supporter, who read a good quote from a magazine article. I would like to have spoken about hope, and about unity, and about working together. Hopefully I was able to make good points about education and healthcare, and about the war. Maybe I talked about my concerns about the irrational hatred that Republicans seem to hold for Senator Clinton, and how I didn't feel like she was the one who would be able to unite us all as a people. That's what I would like to have done, and I hope that I did justice to the cause... but I probably missed a lot of it. Mostly I remember that my hand was shaking so badly that I had to clench it and hold it against myself so that I wouldn't feel like a total loser. :)

I'm pretty used to public speaking by now, but I will never enjoy it... and I'm used to actually knowing what I'm talking about while I'm speaking. I do remember making an example of my mom as a scary right-winger... which was totally appropriate, and more than a little fun.

So after I spoke, no one switched sides again (other than the previously undecided voter, who switched over to the Obama side), and our precinct sent 2 delegates for Obama, and 1 for Clinton - and I wound up being nominated to be one of the delegates. I get to go to the Nebraska Democratic Convention in June... which should be another great learning experience. I'm also likely to keep my mouth shut there. :)

Tonight appears to be a big night for Senator Obama. He has been projected to win Nebraska, Washington, and Louisiana by the Associated Press. Cool beans!

Obama rally in Lincoln

We're waiting longer than I'd expected. I had read the site to say that it was an 11:00 event but it's past 11:30 now and people are still piling in. The good thing is that by showing up early I've managed to get in the first few rows. They have music playing... Jack Johnson, newer U2, a little top 40 stuff, a lot of upbeat stuff that I've got on my iPod. So certainly targeting certain demographics - but varied just enough to make it obvious that they're being inclusive. It's a little bit older crowd than I'd expected, especially for an event on campus. That might have to do with the way it's been publicized. Seems like it's all been set up pretty last minute, so I guess publicity has been channeled through more traditional Nebraska Democrat channels.

The main level of the Lied is pretty much full now. They've brought a number of people on stage (possibly volunteers or members if Lincoln for Obama), and I saw other folks like Ben Nelson hanging around the stage before many of the audience had arrived. It's 11:45 now and it looks like they're getting ready. It doesn't look like they're going to open up the upper balcony so it looks like we're close to capacity.

The regular UNL ASL interpreter is working the event. The host/MC is asking about the caucus and emphasizing the importance of the caucus. She is explaining how to find caucus location (via pushing the Obama website http://nebraska.barakobama.com) and she's talking about the process of choosing a group, convincing others during the caucus, and selecting delegates - also outlining volunteer opportunities for the campaign like phone banking.

Now, Senator Ben Nelson introducing Ms. Obama. He is presenting a rather rural and homey side. About half the group stood for him... the whole group stood when Obama entered. Very strong positive energy in the room.

Ms. Obama is a very personable and engaging speaker. Lots of back-channeling from some in the crowd (the "amen," "allright," "yes, sister" kind of thing if you're not familiar)... pleasantly uncharacteristic of a Lincoln, Nebraska audience. She is spending a lot of time talking about the divided nature of the country currently, and the cynicism. The lack of engagement, and the impact that fear and isolation have on us all. The ideas around the lack of engagement, the divisiveness, and the hopelessness of so many Americans seems to be a strong theme of this campaign and it is very welcome. She's talking about her children and our children, and the values that are being pushed on them by the current culture. When did being mean or stubborn become synonymous with being strong? Something I've asked for a long time.

Offers herself an a positive example of what public schooling can and should be. Nothing miraculous about her childhood beside the love and the work ethic of her parents. People want to know that if they get sick they won't to bankrupt. If their kids go to public schools they'll be ok & have a future. If they retire they'll be able to do so with a little comfort and dignity. Spending a lot of time relating to the audience and demonstrating that she and her husband really understand what it's like to struggle. Mr. Obama grew up with a white single mother in the 1960's, and spent time on food stamps. She also mentioned how she's 44, and finally only a couple years out of having paid off their educations, and trying to save enough to ensure a future for their children. She couldn't be here today if it weren't for her 70-something year old mother who is at home and watching the kids for her.

She's talking a lot about the exact same things that we all complain about every day. Listening to this, I do have strong confidence that they understand what is needed and that they will help us all to work toward fixing things together. This country is suffering from a deficit of empathy and we've lost a sense of ourselves and of compromise and connection. She talks about her experience of traveling and campaigning and meeting with people & how beautiful it's been to see how willing and hungry people really are to fix it.

We're at war, but the only ones who are asked to sacrifice are the soldiers and their families. The vast majority of us are only asked to keep shopping & spending money. When soldiers finally return home, they do so without the resources they need to rebuild their lives, and it's wrong.

These notes here can't possibly do justice to what she's said, but it's clear to me that one of these candidates is not like the others. It's clear to me that one of these candidates has a strong work ethic and understands sacrifice and compromise. It's clear to me that one of these candidates truly understands how to listen to the needs of Americans and the ravages of poverty, because he's lived them himself.

I may be tasting the Kool-aid, but ever since I first listened to Barak Obama speak during the last Democratic National Convention, he's given me a sense of hope that I don't think I've ever felt around a representative (or anything political). To me, "hope" is the operative word... it's what seems to be missing more than anything else. I hope that people can come to rediscover the strength of respect and compromise, and that people can dream about what we can achieve together. I think that because of his background, and because of his youth, his passion, and because of the obvious passion of the people surrounding him, Barak Obama is the right choice.

waiting to hear Michelle Obama

I'm sitting in the Lied Center, waiting to hear Michelle Obama discuss her husband's candidacy. What's interesting right now is watching the crowd assembled here... it's all about mobile devices - people taking pictures of themselves, the crowd, the facilities. Content is being generated everywhere, and you have to assume that a lot of the content will be posted publicly. You know it happens all of the time, but it's in a more concentrated form at an event like this, and it's fascinating to watch.

sad news

I was shocked and saddened today to learn of the death of Kent Hendrickson. I really don't know how to react at this point, but I will miss him & 4th floor of Love won't be the same without him. Kent was a colleague and a friend. He was a warm and genuine person who cared deeply about education and UNL. It's very hard to understand that he's really gone.

UNL Official Killed In Crash On Snowy Interstate - KETV Omaha:

"A University of Nebraska-Lincoln associate vice chancellor has been killed in a car crash.

The Nebraska State Patrol said Kent Hendrickson, 68, was driving eastbound this morning on a snowy stretch of Interstate 80 just east of Waverly when he lost control of his car. The patrol said Hendrickson's car crossed the median and was hit by an eastbound car.

Hendrickson was taken to a Lincoln hospital, where he died."

Yes we can

Whomever the next president is, they have an enormous (probably Sisyphean) challenge ahead of them - cleaning up the mess that the current administration has left us in, let along trying to move forward as the world evolves. Not a good place to be. I like & respect Senator Clinton - I feel like she was behind a lot of the good that happened during her husband's time in office, but I feel like she's already put at a serious disadvantage because the right-wingers have such a strong, and even irrational, hatred for her.

The more I see from Obama, the more I like him. I recognize that if he's elected, he'll probably just be thrown into the blender... but I have a sense of hope with him that I don't for the others. The video below speaks for itself, and is worth sharing.

Obama buys ad space in Nebraska for the primaries

I'm impressed.

Nebraska has a late primary... so late that most people pretty much have the opinion that it doesn't matter what we vote (especially on the Democratic ticket). I know many Democratic voters who switch sides to at least try to bring some more moderate influence to the red side.

For the first time I can remember (maybe ever), a Democratic candidate has bought TV space for the primary campaign here in NE. I really do appreciate the effort - and it's a good, positive spot, too. Very cool. I've embedded the ad that will run in the Lincoln media below.

carcinogens from plastic

Bisphenol A (BPA) is something we've been keeping an eye on for a while now. Even to the point where we cancelled our bottled water service for home. It was a really great service, but when we brought up our concerns and the research findings to the company, they were very dismissive.

Personal choice here, but we prefer to err on the side of caution... especially when it could be family health at risk.

The report below has been getting press for the last couple of days, and is interesting. The way I'm reading it (and it's only my unscientific interpretation of an article about a report) it looks like the most BPA is going to leach while either the plastic or the substance inside the plastic is hot. if it's cooled back down again, it may be less dangerous. The way I had understood things before, once a plastic container had been heated up for sterilization... the structure was weaker and it was more likely to leach BPA from that point on. Still not cool either way (weak pun weakly intended) and a good argument for (readily recyclable) aluminum and glass.

globeandmail.com: Boiling water spikes bisphenol A levels:

"The finding suggests that parents sterilizing polycarbonate baby bottles by heating them in water or in a microwave may be inadvertently increasing the amount of the estrogen-mimicking chemical leaching from the containers. It also indicates hikers who use the bottles as a thermos to store hot tea or liquids may be doing the same.

The addition of boiling water increased BPA migration rates by up to 55-fold compared with water at room temperature, according to experiments run at the University of Cincinnati. A paper outlining the findings is being released today in Toxicology Letters, a peer-reviewed journal.

The researchers tested both new bottles and old, scratched bottles whose plastic had turned opaque, and found age of the containers didn't influence how much BPA they leached in an hour, but adding hot water to them did."

Stranded-ish

Have I ever mentioned how I don't get along with the whole holiday lights-thing? I'm writing this from my roof (lovely view of my landscaping there).

I was taking advantage of the 60 degree weather to take the lights down. While it didn't seem all that windy, the ladder blew over anyhow. I know that I could still jump down at a low spot if necessary... maybe when nature calls... but my wife is on her way home to rescue me and school is getting a message to R to take the bus. E is happily playing DS (and laughing at my predicament). So it's all pretty good.

Maybe I can get a tan while I'm up here. :)

Psychotropic crazies

Years ago, when I first built the landscaping in front of my house, I went out to Home Depot (or one of those places) and bought some sage to plant in the landscaping. It's great stuff... drought resistant, blooms through the whole growing season, and attracts butterflies and things. Now our attorney general is trying to make me a criminal.

Apparently he has heard that the plant, also called salvia, has psychotropic properties and (consequently) has launched a crusade to illegalize it in the state. I think he has a vision of roving herds of teenagers gathering in front of my landscaping... nibbling at the leaves (and would seem to prefer that any teenagers so inclined would stick with equally stupid [but apparently more toxic] choices of smoking, or huffing paint and cleaning chemicals). Gotta love this state.

Psychotropic herb salvia may be illegalized in Nebraska:

"Most salvia is consumed by either smoking or chewing the plant's leaves. Wayne Briner, a professor of psychology at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, said salvia's effects generally last for 15 to 20 minutes, and users often report laughter, loss of body identity and feelings of becoming an object.

'It's not known for producing auditory or visual hallucinations like LSD, and people who use it report feelings of insights and feeling connected with the universe,' Briner said. Briner published a paper in 2003 documenting the health effects of salvia on mice and rats.

Briner's study found salvia isn't addictive and has almost no possibility of overdose. Briner said negative effects of salvia stem from users being unaware of their actions while high."

beset...

The whole family has been beset all week by nasty colds. My poor son was diagnosed earlier this week with pneumonia, a sinus infection, and an eye infection. The rest of us have fared no better - but not been diagnosed. We've all missed a lot of work and a lot of school. I'm writing now from the lobby of the Dr's office, hoping to be done in time to make my 10:00.

Of course I wait until I'm desperate to visit the doctor.... pure genius. But speaking of desperation, my cousin who grew up in Calgary recommended that I try Buckley's Cough Syrup. In desperation, I tried it... wow.

It's hard to describe... it tastes, smells, and feels like you're poisoning yourself - I wouldn't be surprised if I had turned in to Mr. Hyde overnight, but it really does work! There seems to have been some serious improvement. It's a Canadian plot to prove, once again, how much tougher they are than the rest of us. :)

update: it's a viral thing for me, but I've got a nasty ear infection. Antibiotics for the ear, plus he prescribed something better than regular over-the-counter cold medicine... but (funny thing) he told me that the Buckley's would be fine too, if I could stand to use it any more. At only $5/bottle, I think I'll go for it. Wagey Drug is the only place I could find here in Lincoln carries the stuff. Oh, and I did manage to make my 10:00 with plenty of time. :)

Happy New Year

We're heading to the make-believe New Year's party at the Children's Museum (which has become kind of a tradition for us). Kids are looking lovely... and oozing personality as usual. :)

science education takes a hit from Bush administration

With the amount of resources that China, India, and many other nations are investing in education - specifically science, math, and engineering education - actions like this one reported below in the Chronicle are beyond baffling. It's like, as a nation, we're going out of our way to shoot ourselves in the foot.

It takes me back to the brilliantly stated "cookie" argument presented by Ben Cohen (the Ben & Jerry's guy). Check out True Majority.org for more. It's certainly not through force of arms that we can ensure our future... it's through simple investment in what matters most.

Congress Backs Away From Science Education - Chronicle.com:

"The occasion for the slam is the 2008 Omnibus Appropriations bill being considered by Congress, according to a blog post today by the Computing Research Association, a task-force member.

'The President and Congress, for all their stated support this year for making basic research in the physical sciences and engineering a top budget priority, ended up essentially cutting, or flat-funding, key science agencies after accounting for inflation,' reports the blog."

singing

While we were driving around this morning, my daughter asked me to switch the radio to Christmas music. After a little while, I heard her singing sweetly along with a carol she knows. A few minutes later, she asked me:

"Daddy, is mommy working tomorrow?"

"Nope, she's home all day."

A minute or 2 later:

"Daddy, are you working tomorrow?"

"Yes baby, I need to work all day. What's up?"

"My Christmas program is tomorrow, and I just don't want you to miss it. There's going to be singing, and stories, and it's going to be really nice and I'm going to sing in it... and Daddy? I'm really good!"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world baby."

I'm totally looking forward to the program! :)

Wow

How/when did she suddenly become a big girl??

We were just talking about super-heroes, and she told me that one of her super powers would let her shoot kittens at a bad guy.  Then while the bad guy was distracted by the cute kitten, she could smash them (but not the kitten).  Definitely a start. :)

Baking bread

Kids are making batter from the Amish "Friendship Bread." Smells awesome... very good yeasty smell that really makes me want a pint.

o Christmas tree

All set for the holiday season. Much love to everyone!

Fun dinner tonight

I did something tonight that I've been wanting to for a long time now. I let the kids make their own dinners. I put aluminum foil in a big soup bowl, and then let the kids cut up hot dogs and baby potatoes, then they got to add whatever veggies or bits that they liked. R chose corn, mushrooms, tomatoes, and worcestershire sauce. We added ground pepper, sea salt, canola oil, and a bit of water. E chose a lot of the same, but added raisins (to every one's) and carrots, skipped the mushrooms and tomatoes, and opted for soy sauce instead of worcestershire. Then we wrapped up the foil and threw it on the grill for a while. It all stewed up nicely and turned out great. I hope we can do it again soon - endless possibilities, fun experimentation, and the kids get to have some control. All good. :)

At the football game

Here's the view of the pitch from our seats this year. No sky, no scoreboards... pretty much sitting in a cave. :) Have to ask for an improvement next year.

a harsh winter?

Despite what the climatologists and meteorologists are saying, my body seems to be trying to prepare for a long harsh winter... possibly via hibernation. Maybe bears really just get nasty sinus infections that make them sleep through the winter - actually because they can't focus on tearing up that camp site or terrorizing that mini-van because halfway through they'd forget what they were doing and crash out.

Preparing to hibernate also helps you to channel several of Disney's troupe of dwarves. Especially Sleepy, Dopey, Grumpy, and lesser-known brothers Spacey and Snotty. While the logical bits of me are screaming to get more exercise and cut a few pounds, these damned dwarves are conspiring to consume all of the time in the day, and convince me that the small "snack size" Halloween candy isn't really big enough to be a problem.

I'm sure there is more of a point to this post... but I've lost focus and need to sleep now. Wake me in a few months, would you? :)

Safari park

The Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha has a "safari park," where you can drive through herds of elk, deer, bison, etc. For the last couple of years, my mom and my kids and I have gone out to the park to drive around and then get out and hike up to see the bear, the wolves, etc. It's a great time.

These are some shots I grabbed as we wandered around on the trails. I'm really enjoying this new family tradition.

awesome lunch

Enjoying a lovely yellow curry at Jai Thai - around 1st and Blanchard in Seattle. Wish I could share more than just what it looks like. Totally hitting the spot.

The conference has been really good, but I'm excited to get back home and hug my family.

Pumpkin patching

Had a great time getting muddy and worn out at the Roca pumpkin patch. It was the nicest day we've had in weeks and there were lots of fun things to do - lots of really good pumpkins too. Here the kids are going down one of those huge inflatable slides together. Only 8 & under though, so we couldn't try it out. :( With all of the rain lately there was serious mud. The tractor pulling the hay ride out to the pumpkin fields almost got bogged down in the mud. The tractor behind us did get stuck. Have to see how L's company picnic tomorrow goes...

Pentagon!

My son just woke me up, but he is still asleep. Apparently L put him in bed with me and went to another room (usually happens when I'm snoring hard). :) So, out of his dream he just shouted "PENTAGON!" like he was on a quiz show or something. I'll force myself to be good, but I'm more than half-tempted to wake him up just to see what he was dreaming about.

rest in peace Dr. Owomoyela

I was very sad this afternoon to read of the passing of my friend and former professor, Dr. Oyekan Owomoyela. Oyekan was an amazing man and a prolific author who worked to preserve the oral history of the Yoruba tribe of Nigeria. I will miss seeing him around campus - and I will really miss his warmth and humor. Another site has re-posted a letter from Oyekan's wife telling others of his passing.

The Scarlet | 10/18/2007 | For The Record:

"Over the course of his career he became a leading collector and scholar of proverbs of the Yoruba tribe in Nigeria. Owomoyela's collection of Yoruba proverbs was featured in the Oct. 6, 2005 edition of the Scarlet."

orange belt is official

R completed his testing for his orange belt a couple of weeks ago, and as of today it's official. He just found out for sure that he earned his first belt when his instructor did presentations today. We're very proud of him. :)

Bush's vetos have sucked

Ok, so he's only done it what, like twice now? Both the stem cell research veto, and this one have both really sucked. This time he vetoed the State Children's Health Insurance Program. This is a program that provides health insurance for millions of kids who need it. So, if we aren't able to provide basic services to these kids while they're still kids, we get to pay a lot more when they're older or have more catastrophic illness - beside the fact that taking care of people (as opposed to blowing them up) is just the right thing to do.

It's absolutely irresponsible for the President to have vetoed the program... his administration has loaded us (and untold future generations) with colossal debt - but it seems only for destructive purposes. If money is being spent for positive or proactive purposes, he is apparently strongly against the expenditure.

Please stand up, and urge your congressperson to override Bush’s veto - for children who will otherwise be denied access to health care (or will put the burden of the health care directly on our hospitals). Recent polls have shown that 86% of the American people support SCHIP, with seven in ten saying they support the Democratic plan to expand SCHIP by $35 billion over the next five years.

I don't get political very often, but it seems like the right thing to do.

A beautiful day for fluttering

This afternoon it was beyond beautiful outside. Truly one of those days that makes you feel like even Nebraska has its share of paradise. Unfortunately, I never made it outside until late afternoon, but it still made for some really great walking around campus to and from a meeting. :)

On the drive home, I opened up the windows and the sun roof. The sun was beating down, the wind was whipping around, and it was awesome. It was when I checked the rear-view mirror that I noticed it...

Apparently, one hardy little hair on the very top of my head has been ducking the razor and trying to grow (it's not like I have to be all that thorough in the wasteland up top). :) It was glowing brightly in the sunlight from the open sunroof. My solitary hair (I swear the thing is probably 1/2 inch long... I'm ready for a comb-over) was fluttering for all it was worth in the breeze.

Maybe if I concentrate really hard... mind over matter, another hair will pop out and join it. Then it wouldn't have to be lonely. As it was, my hair and I enjoyed the rest of the drive home together.

a blast from the past

I was in a Borders today, back in Omaha, and I happened to see a copy of The Reader. It's a weekly entertainment rag for Omaha. There, on the front cover, was a kid that I knew way back in Jr. High. I remember Houston Alexander as a quiet little guy with a big 'fro. He was a cool kid. Now he's an "Ultimate Fighting" champion with the same hairstyle as me... and much bigger muscles. Funny how we grow. :) It's a decent article, and his life makes a rich story.

"Doing what needs to be done has been his modus operandi as an artist, DJ, father, blue-collar worker and pro fighter — from completing large graffiti mural projects to gaining custody of his kids to donating a kidney to daughter Elan, to breaking a hand in a bout but toughing out the injury to win."

I definitely wish Houston and his family the best!

Tae Kwon Do

R is absolutely loving his classes. Finally got his uniform today. He will test for his orange belt in a couple of weeks. Cool. :)

Ames Same-Sex Couple Gets Married - News Story - KETV Omaha

This is very cool... congratulations to the happy couple!

Ames Same-Sex Couple Gets Married - News Story - KETV Omaha:

"A Des Moines minister has married two Iowa men in the state's first legal same-sex marriage.

Iowa State University students Sean Fritz, 24, and Tim McQuillen, 21, both of Ames, were married Friday morning by the Rev. Mark Stringer of Unitarian Church in a service at a private home."

Ate up.

To celebrate the end of the first week of the term, a day of glorious weather, my teeth feeling better, and burn some vacation hours, I've opted to bike to work today (wow, this is a really long pseudo-sentence). It's about time as I haven't been able to for about a month and a half. That month and a half break plays in in a second.

I left the garage a few minutes after my son caught the school bus and, as I was heading through the neighborhood I saw his bus again. I thought "oh cool, I'll catch up and give him a wave." So I started my first ride in weeks right off with a heavy sprint... brilliant.

I caught the bus after about a mile at the light at 14th and Pine Lake. R didn't even see me because he was busy reading a book, but I suddenly realized that I was really unprepared for the chase I had just given... like, big ouch. :) Heart thumping, pain in the lungs, couldn't swallow or cough kind of pain.

I've now spent the last 6 or 7 miles leaving a disgusting trail of saliva and mucus... feeling more than a little like some kind of a troll. By now, I'm feeling a ton better, and I'm taking some time to enjoy the weather here at Antelope Park before I go the rest of the way in.

I definitely need to hit the bike more often, and I probably also need to take my lovely wife's advice and get the prescription for my inhaler refilled. As much as I like to try to deny it, it looks like that post-exhertion asthma is still hanging around.

Best dentist visit ever

So I hate going to the dentist... always have, but it's gotten worse over the years. Probably why I've had so many problems that probably could have been fixed with regular maintenance instead of expensive and traumatic repair (ugh... let that be a lesson - break the cycle of fear and procrastination before it gets you).

Anyhow, things have gotten better over the past year. We've invested a lot in getting me all fixed up, and I've got a really good regular dental office. Finally done with all of the scraping, planing, filling and now tooth-pulling nightmares (other than paying it all off). :)

I just had a follow-up appointment to check on the progress of my dry socket from pulling my wisdom teeth. Maybe the best dental visit I've ever had. The appointment only took a few minutes... Dr. O'Nele showed me everything he was doing in a mirror and explained what everything was and what everything did. I even saw some of my own exposed jawbone... how often can you say that without some kind of severe trauma? Then when the appointment was over he wrote me a check because we had overpaid for the procedure. He actually came in under budget - awesome! :)

A lack of wisdom

This morning I had my wisdom teeth surgically removed. While I had enough room in my mouth for them, they were difficult to clean. Even my hygenist had trouble cleaning them. It turns out (from what the doctor observed today) that 3 of the 4 teeth were quite rotten.

Last night I treated my wisdom teeth to a last meal of (of course) Chipotle and then green ginger tea and pastries from Starbucks. Seemed a fitting farewell for my teeth. Definitely my comfort food(s) anyhow... and much better than today as I've been rediscovering ABC foods like applesauce, pudding, & mashed potatoes.

I've been dreading today for weeks, but as with most things, the anticipation was worse than the actual event. I was put under with IV sedation, and the anesthesiologist was very sweet. Dr. O'Nele did a great job, and next thing I remember it was done. I've been doing a lot of sleeping but I'm having a hard time right now because the local anesthetic is finally starting to ease up for my jaw. Going to take some more Rush Limbaugh candy and hope to crash for the rest of the night. I can rest easier knowing that with the wisdom teeth gone my mouth is already a MUCH healthier place.

Dance recital

Dance recital
Originally uploaded by abureuben

E had a dance recital today, was a lot of fun. I actually let R wander around with the iPhone and take pictures (he shot this one). This seems to capture her personality pretty well. :)

Team in Training

My friend Heath is doing something that I really admire. He's training to ride in a 100-mile (century) bicycling event, "El Tour de Tuscon." He insists on calling it an "event" instead of a race... he's just hoping to finish the thing... not win it. :) He's riding for himself... for health and for personal growth. More importantly, he's riding for people who are struggling with terrible cancers like Leukemia, Lymphoma, and Myeloma.

Heath is riding in the event via the support of a very cool program called "Team in Training" that pairs athletes with sponsors and mentors. Team in Training provides lodging, airfare, coaches, and support to allow them to compete in marathons, half marathons, triathlons, and century bike rides. In return, the athletes raise funds that all go to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. It's one of those incredible "everybody wins" kind of ideas that can grow out of something as tragic as these cancers.

Heath is close to raising his mandatory goal of $4,500 that allows him to ride in the event. I've contributed what little I can, but that's the key... every little bit helps. Not just Heath and his ride, but it helps support people struggling with (and against) blood cancers. You can get to know Heath as he rides and trains on his "Biking Adventures" blog. Please support him at whatever level you can, and please spread the word to raise awareness of this great program.

Heath's Tour de Tuscon "TNT":

"I am training to participate the El Tour De Tucson 100 mile bike race as a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team In Training. All of us on Team In Training are raising funds to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives. I'm completing this event in honor of all individuals who are battling blood cancers. These people are the real heroes on our team, and we need your support to cross the ultimate finish line - a cure!

Please make a donation to support my participation in Team In Training and help advance the Society's mission. Remember, if I don't raise the $4,500, I don't get to go to the race!"

Dinner disaster

Dinner disaster
Originally uploaded by abureuben

I had big plans for dinner tonight. Was going to make little foil packets of veggies and potatoes on the grill along with burgers and roasting ears. Unfortunately we wound up being out of aluminum foil, so I improvised in a Pyrex bowl that I've used on the grill plenty of times. Only this time, the bowl decided to explode... not really sure what happened there. Then, while I still held out fantasies of salvaging some of my (really lovely) potatoes, my roasting ears started to get burnt.

Still managed not to have to go for pizza, but it was definitely a challenge. I had to abandon the potatoes, but the corn pulled through and the burgers were good.

Now I'm picking up shards of glass out on the deck. :)