took the day off from work to spend a little quality time with baby sparklet. we’ve been out straight between weddings and funerals — not to mention sick — and there was this little nagging voice in the back of my head saying that maybe it was about time for some father-daughter bonding.

… so of course this is the day that sparklet wakes up early, and then refuses to nap more than 20 minutes at a time the rest of the day.

she’s been teething since mid-April with one tooth well on it’s way in, and another two or three ready to pop through. of course, this has futzed up both her sleep schedule and her eating schedule, so cute beloved sparklet hasn’t been quite as cute this last little bit.

dodging rain, not to mention repetitive expressions of “i-should-probably-have-slept-longer,” we went down to the National Mall for most of the day. a little napping in the garden behind the castle, a little tummy time on the grass in front of the Hirschorn, and a little plant destruction in the botanic gardens.

we’re still working with baby on the basics of “gentle” — a term our cat emily would like her to pick up sooner rather than later — and sparklet just couldn’t seem to touch anything in the garden without destroying it.

wonder where she gets that from.

unlike last year, we didn’t go to awesomest Good Friday pagent ever — sparklet was in bed asleep — but Darrow Montgomery from the City Paper went and shot a couple of rolls.

my favorite is the guys with the lightsaber in the middle.

for belated valentine’s day — delayed due to that whole Austin/snow thing — sparklet and i chipped in for a photo album that the lady sparkler can keep in her work bag, so that she can gaze longingly at baby whenever she feels the urge.

the photo album has one photo a week going back to sparklet’s birth … which seemed like such a good idea, that i’ve put the whole thing live as a ‘photo of the week’ tag on the blog.

next up, we need to make our annual valentine’s pilgrimage to ben’s chili bowl … and the lady sparkler and i are working on a separate album (one of all the guestbook photos we’ve taken so far) to give to sparklet.

we’re back, and it looks like DC had every bit as much “fun” as we thought while we were gone.

while we were out, one of our favorite ways of keeping up with the snow was by following darrow montgomery’s photos at washington city paper’s blog. the above photo was taken about 100 feet from our place (for those who know Mount Pleasant, that “open” sign is at Heller’s Bakery) during the height of the second storm.

i can’t really fathom what it must have been like.

in the end, our long weekend in Austin for Auntie Nadine’s wedding turned out to be an 11 day journey. and, based on the size of the snow drifts, it seems being “stuck” in 40 degrees-and-rainy Austin was probably the best option.

still, it’s good to be home.

PHOTO: the above photo is courtesy Darrow Montgomery and/or the Washington City Paper. check out the rest of Darrow’s work, and the City Desk blog.

I think I should have guessed something was wrong last fall, when i accidentally left my iPhone in the car overnight. the next morning, when i realized what i had done, i secretly wished that my window had been smashed in and my iPhone taken.

Rock bottom came two months later, when I dreamed that my iPhone was stolen … and i woke up bummed that it didn’t actually happen.

Don’t get me wrong, i love my iPhone. It’s arguably the best thing that I have ever owned. it’s just not a phone — because for it to be a phone, i’d have to occasionally get AT&T coverage within the borders of Washington, DC.

It turns out that my problem is a mixture of the science behind AT&T’s network, and location-location-location. The range of each cell tower shrinks as more and more people us that particular tower. In DC, all the towers are on the beltway. When the network gets busy, the coverage retreats from the center of the city towards the edges … which is exactly where I don’t live.

So, once the new version of the iPhone came out (and another gazillion people started using AT&T’s network) my reception went from spotty to non-existant.

When I walk around Mount Pleasant on an average day, I get limited, spotty access to AT&T’s vinatge EDGE network. I’ll average about two hours of cell coverage a day in my house, but more often than not those tenuous bars disappear as soon as I try and make a call.

In Columbia Heights, I don’t even get that … my phone tells me I’m roaming. Last week, I actually ducked into the Columbia Heights metro station because I needed to make a call. As far as i can tell, the best chance of getting a signal up here is to go underground.

To date, my only hope for salvation comes because Gizmodo.com is giving away a new Google Android if you write in to them and tell them why you deserve one. Which I did.

I need it because I’ve had 36 dropped calls in one day … because I regularly get voicemails a week after they are sent and text messages the following morning … because I now give my wife’s cell phone number out to friends and family … because I can’t stand the thought of riding out the last 6 months of my current phone contract.

So far, they have had 12,000+ comments, so I’m guessing i’m not going to be first in line to win. Either way, my contract with AT&T is up this summer, and once it expires, i’ll be long gone.

It turns out that it doesn’t matter how great your phone is, if your network blows chunks.

PHOTOS: Street in Mount Pleasant, DC by Chambo25 via a Creative Commons license; Darth Phone image courtesy Gizmodo.com.

Sparklet’s First Bar in Adams Morgan: Melissa, Nadine and Joanna @ Bourbon, Adams Morgan, Washington, DC.

i was seated for jury duty this month, and — as with all major life events — my initial response was that i should live blog the whole thing.

but, a couple things held me back.

first of all, while the jury is free to talk about the case after it has been decided, it’s not permitted to talk about it before a verdict has been rendered. needless to say, this puts a pretty big damper on the “live” part.

second, i respect the whole judicial process enough to (a) be hesitant to air my version of other people’s dirty laundry, (b) not want to be focusing on blogging when i should be concentrating on the evidence before me, and (c) i really don’t want there to be enough specifics for anybody associated with the trial to track be down and either thank or assault me.

as a result, there’s nothing here that discusses the substance of the case, i didn’t publish anything until well after the case was over, any times have been redacted and the times would have been unreliable anyway because i did all my “blogging” during recesses.

so, yet again, my live blog is pretty far from being live.

xx:xx	why am I always the first one to show?  I should have learned by now.  in government, the early bird just waits longer.
xx:xx	the Boston red sox used to be the cincinatti red stockings.  not sure how I feel about that, or the fact that I learned that today in the jury room.
xx:xx	too much oxygen is pumped into the juror services staff room.  the prople giving the orientation are way too happy.
xx:xx	no more Ken Burns baseball, we’ve moved onto crowd-favorite (and queen latifa vehiccle) secret life of bees.
xx:xx	female attourneys/clerks wearing heels on tile floors sound suspiciously like clydsdales.
xx:xx	Dakota fanning would make a credible meth addict.
xx:xx	fellow jurors?  jeans and sweaters.  potential perps?  best suits I’ve ever seen.
xx:xx	man, some of these attourneys look really young.  or really old.  did anyone graduate law school between 1950 and 2000?
xx:xx	being seated.  i’m 54th of 70 for 14 jurors.
xx:xx	person next to me’s light reading material: 10 Year Strategy to End Homelessness.  further proof our city ain’t like your city.
xx:xx	person next to her?  reading the Belgian inheritance.
xx:xx	who architects courtrooms?  really, is there a practice/specialty required to make everything round and panel the walls with cheap pergo?
xx:xx	the whitenoise machine they use to keep bench conversations confidential is going to come to blows with me.  I feel like there are subliminal messages in there telling me to kill, kill, kill.
xx:xx	this trial is about stuff that is waaaay more exciting than I really want to be participating in.
xx:xx	i’m pretty sure “au bon pain” is French for “stale, crappy food.”
xx:xx	I got nervous about making it to the bench, but apparently they interview everyone, and come back through again for the formal selection.
xx:xx	the good news is if I don’t make this jury, it’ll be difficult to imagine that I’ll be back in the lounge for enough time to get selected into another one.  the bad news is that i’m going to make this jury.
xx:xx	if I ever saw a DC cop that wasn’t 6 ft 2 inches, 200+ lbs with a buzz cut, I’m not sure I’d believe they were legit.
xx:xx	this, but still not wild about being legally responsible for deciding someone’s residence for their forseeable future.
xx:xx	seated as part of the last group.  that keeps up my perfect “selection” record, having been seated each time I’ve been summunsed.
xx:xx	jury is 60% female, and two-thirds white. I wondered if I was going to have problems when the five of seven people excused before I was seated were 30ish white men. big departure from my previous experiences.
xx:xx	sam waterston has created such a high bar for prosecutors, it’s a wonder that anyone gets convicted anymore.
xx:xx	I want to google the defendant’s name so badly…
xx:xx	paranoia is sinking in.  I’m genuinely skiddish that I’m going to be approached by someone associated with the case, even though it’s never happened to me on any prior cases.
xx:xx	do people really do illegal things just for kicks?  on tv everything is always a crime of passion, and for some reason that’s more okay to me.
xx:xx	no one on either side of the aisle knows how to craft a narrative.  I honestly think both lawyers need message training, or should let me ask the questions.
xx:xx	heard the story today of a juror who was late coming back from lunch because she went shopping.  judge asked her what she bought, and then fined her the cost of those items.
xx:xx	one of the attourneys’ is trying to force being angry (and doing it very badly) to throw the witness.  feels like he must watch the “You can’t handle the truth!” scene from A Few Good Men every night before he goes to bed.
xx:xx	… oh, and his forced histrionics are really pissing off the Judge.
xx:xx	if I ever go on a crime spree, I’m going to retain good counsel beforehand.
xx:xx	people make me sad.
xx:xx	more juror reading material:  International Economic Management textbook, the New York Times, Other Boleyn Girl, an Excel spreadsheet, three iPhones and two Blackberries.
xx:xx	the phrasing of “The Govenment calls ______ to the stand” really skeeves me out.  Way too Orwellian for my taste.  The fact that DC’s “local” procecutors are actually Feds (an artifact of our being a Federal district) just makes it worse.
xx:xx	I’m pretty sure that i’ve caught the counsel smirking (twice) as witnesses have beaten back clumsey, ham-fisted attempts on cross to discredit their testimony.
xx:xx	It seems obvious in hindsight, but I’m having a hard time coming up with anybody who wants to be in this courthouse right now.
xx:xx	If we need juries for cases like this, I think juries should be required for weddings held up stairs … it seems unfair to know that, as soon as you get seated, you’re going to be depressed for the next week.
xx:xx	Turns out that the person who was most ornery about being seated is an executive assistant to a member of Congress.  Why is that not surprising to me?
xx:xx	… she’s also taking notes with a holiday Christmas light bulb pen.
xx:xx	can’t imagine how lonely it must be to be a defendant on trial.
xx:xx	pretty sure a juror is wearing a tennis skirt and running tights to court.
xx:xx	the marshall (?) tasked with guarding the defendent has fallen asleep.
xx:xx	the attorneys can identify and discuss evidence that doesn’t meet the burden to be formally introduced.  that strikes me as strange … if they can talk about it, why can’t we see it during deliberations?
xx:xx	overheard during deliberations, thrice: “maybe I am watching too much television, but why didn’t the police ….” damn you, CSI.
xx:xx	I’m struck by how civil jury deliberations are, even in the face of strong opinions and widly differing world views.
xx:xx	just heard not one, but two references to “Twelve Angry Men” during deliberations. i honestly thought i was the only person under 60 who had seen that play/movie.
xx:xx	during jury instructions, judge mentioned a case in another jurisdiction had to be retried because jurors became facebook friends and discussed the case during recess from deliberations.
xx:xx	the jury definately has it’s lions and it’s lambs. half are actively debating the merits of the case, and half seem content to follow along.
xx:xx	the guy next to me is/was a Leeds United fan.
xx:xx	I will say that the thoughtful, inclusive nature of the deliberation has restored most (if not all) of the faith in humanity I lost during the trial.
xx:xx	Consensus. I’m going home and hugging my baby girl.

in other news, I’ve been summoned for grand jury duty this spring … which I am actually looking forward to a bit more. in grand juries, the burden of proof is lower, and the reprocussions (an indictment) are less severe.

grand juries are also allowed to indict a ham sandwich, and that sounds like fun.

UPDATE: You’ll never guess what happened the week of my grand jury summons. this and this. i’ll never be this lucky, again. ever.

Sparklet’s First Pub: Holiday Party w/ Ashley, Sarah, Jennifer and Ryan @ Tonic, Mount Pleasant, Washington, DC.

there are times when i love my wife, and then there are times when i love my wife. tonight, i love my wife.

the lady sparkler has wanted to see U2 since she was twelve, and when they announced the were coming to DC — er, suburban Maryland — earlier this spring, absolutely nothing was going to stop her from being there.

fast forward eight pregnant months later, i gave her every chance humanly possible to back out if she felt like she needed to. heck, *i* even tried to convince her that she needed to.

but she was undeterred.

based off our last horrific fedex field experience (real madrid v
dc united) we left a gazillion hours early, and were in the parking lot by 5 pm for a 7 o’clock curtain.

if there were seats farther away from the stage (and speakers) I’m not sure where they were, but that was definately by design. we also got tickets on the club level, so the lady sparkler was hanging out in cushy seats in the lobby for the two hours before the show.

… or should I say the three hours before U2 came on stage, because we made if it through about 10 minutes of the opening act (“Muse”) before retreating to the cushy seats. their music was hard to describe, but Bono later said “I’ve never heard three people make so much noise.”

the main event itself was incredible.

a lot of the reviews i’ve read about the tour has focused on the giii-normous spaceship stage thing, and argued that it overwhelmed the show … but from where we were sitting (opposite endzone, three sections up) it was the perfect extension of the ant-sized band, and brought the show into our living room.

the band spanned just about the whole breadth of their catalogue (25 years worth, shockingly) and the audience vibe was great (considering we were in DC). there was a decent amount of politics — Bono introduced his band as a “cabinet,” referred to himself as U2′s “well-turned-out” Speaker of House, and praised Bush for his work in Africa (?) not-once-but-twice.

a couple of interesting tweaks to the show through the stage’s media boards … they turned “Sunday Bloody Sunday” into a song supporting Iran’s so-called Green Revolution, and “Walk On” into a song for imprisoned Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

my beloved was over the moon through out. she came in without hoping for a particular song for fear of being let down, but came out with all of her favorites checked off — “city of blinding lights”, “ultraviolet (light my way)”, and “with or without you” — none of which did i think she had a chance in hell of hearing.

(fwiw, one i heard them plow through “where the streets have no name” i decided that i could die happy…)

but the big takeaway? the Edge is every inch responsible for the band’s musical success. Adam Clayton plodded on his bass guitar, Larry Mullen Jr hit some things (including a bongo) and Bono pranced around the stage … but the Edge drove the show the whole evening long.

SET LIST: no line on the horizon · magnificent · get on your boots · mysterious ways · i still haven’t found what i’m looking for / stand by me · elevation · your blue room · beautiful day · blackbird / new year’s day · stuck in a moment · breathe · city of blinding lights · vertigo · you know i’ll go crazy … tonight · sunday bloody sunday · mlk / walk on · one · amazing grace / where the streets have no name · ultraviolet (light my way) · with or with out you · moment of surrender

strange things are afoot at the circle sparkler.

two nights ago, my cat, my wife and I conspired to pour half a bottle of wine into my laptop. fortunately, it fried the keyboard and not the whole computer. unfortunately, it was really good wine.

meanwhile, an electrician came this morning to replace our electrical circuit breaker box of death, which apparently has a bad habit of not tripping when small kids put their fingers in associated electric sockets. needless-to-say, the lady and I have decided that this is (in fact) a bug, and not a feature, and decided to replace.

back with the laptop … after I got the electrician settled, I started a long drive towards Suburban Maryland to drop off my computer with the people who we contract to service it when stupid people do stupid things. (did I mention it was my work computer?)

once I got to beautiful, non-historic Lanham, I went to where Google Maps said the repair service was. Found the road, found the street number, pulled into the parking lot. No computer repair people. I whip out my handly iPhone, double check where I am. then I double check where I am supposed to be. both are right, except they obviously aren’t.

fifteen minutes later, I realize that even though I am on Nicole Road, the building number i found (4421) is technically on Forbes Road, a street which (i should note) three blocks away. the 4421 I need is actually across the street from the 4421 that i found. there are two 4421s, on opposite sides of the same road that shares two names.

this, unfortunately, is the part of the day that will end up making the most sense.

back at home, we already know that we are getting a bigger (wider, taller) electrical panel box than what we had before, namely we had to rip out a kitchen cabinet to acommodate the new sized box. which we then had to special order a (smaller, daintier) replacement because our cabinets had been discontinued.

in the process of ripping out our old electrical box, our fearless electrician discovered that there is a pipe running along side the old box. a pipe that can’t be moved. on the other side is a door jam, that also can’t be moved. so our box won’t fit. and it’s the smallest box they make.

they suggest we put the box on the other side of the same wall, which, i should mention, would be in the living room. about four feet off the floor, right next to the couch. all I can hear in my head is future prospective owners having a conversation like, “do you like the first place we saw, or the one with the electrical box in the living room?”

I ask for other options.

at the same time, at the other end of the living room, another electrician is installing a light in our hall closet, which is both the most important room in our house (storage) but also the darkest. turns out that our closet is surrounded on all four sides (and ceiling) by concrete. turns out it is also hard to run wires in and through concrete.

back in the kitchen, our fearless electrician has decided we can put the box in the kitchen if it isn’t fully recessed. meaning it will stick out from the wall. meaning I am glad I’ve been too lazy to return my friends compound power mitre saw, because I will be putting a wood facing around our new electrical box this weekend.

they go about their business.

with the pressing computer and electrical stuff actively being resolved, I finally settle back to work. I use the term “back” because last night I had nightmares about elevator outages/accidents in the Capitol building, which got me out of bed at 5:00 am. for the record, I have no idea what that dream means either but, I was working at my desk by 5:30 am.

back to present day: I sat down in baby sparklet’s room, with my battery operated phone and my battery operated computer, and settled in for a long day’s work. it was only then that I realized I didn’t have a battery operated cable modem, or a battery operated router. so i wouldn’t be doing any battery operated work today.

so I headed off to find a café. I chose starbucks, entirely because they have ATT wifi, which I get for free because I have an ATT iPhone. turns out, free wifi is only if you access the Internet from your iPhone. so it turns out that i had to pay for access. at a place I hate. to a company I despise.

the rest of starbucks went better — I just had to fight for a table, fight for a plug, and then sit across from a random guy off the street who was rocking back and forth, talking to himself. this was fun and all, but I had to hop on a couple of conference calls for work, and didn’t want to givecrazy rocking guy a reason to think I was talking to him. I walked back home.

did I mentioned I hate ATT? that’s because I can’t really use my phone at home. I often have to go down to the courtyard in front of my building to use the phone, which is unfortunate because my coverage is especially bad when it’s raining and that’s not a fun time to be outside.

so, it was raining. and I couldn’t be in the courtyard. so I went to my car, and sat in the front seat for the next three hours. never once thinking of the ramifications of carbon monoxide in enclosed spaces. promise.

the good news is that my iphone sometimes drains quickly if I am doing network heavy things, like checking email or reviewing documents … otherwise known as working. well, to be fair, *that* wasn’t the good news, the good news is that in my car I could plug my iPhone in to a car charger, which should stave off my power problems.

but, I learned something new today — namely that my phone won’t charge (in the car) if you are talking on it. which is what I was doing. for three hours. in my car. because it was raining. and I had no power at home. or cell coverage.

I don’t remember much about the rest of my day. I wrote a large check to our fearless electrician, I finished up some work, I started prepping the electric box for my new weekend project, and finally took my morning shower around 6:00 pm.

the one thing i *haven’t* done today is try to install the new kitchen cabinet that we had to special order to replace the one we ripped out to make room for the new electric box. I think I might be stalling because, while the new cabinet is two inches smaller, and our new electrical box three inches farther out from the wall.

I think that might just about finish me off for the day.