theparkerfamily.org

Naebody in Particular podcast cover: a collage of old family photographs, handwritten letters, a magnifying glass and a fountain pen

Naebody in Particular

You won't find them on a shortbread tin, but our ancestors live on so long as we keep telling their stories. Scots, Yanks, Canucks and the Auld Enemy. Newest posts are the ancestors, but scroll for the living.

  • out: lamont park

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    out: lamont park

  • “i’ll be over here … by the crust.”

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  • wall photos: mount pleasant

    [Snow, Mount Pleasant, Washington, DC.]
    [Mount Pleasant, Washington, DC.]
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    Photo by Chambo25 (used detail of Heller’s and Pfieffer’s signs).
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    Photo by jajajav.
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    Photo by katmere (used detail of National Baptist Church on left).
    [View of Mount Pleasant street with the three churches of 16th street.]
    Photo by mindgutter.
    we’re adding some local flavor to our place, celebrating how awesome mount pleasant is.considering i’ve take over 9,000 photos since i’ve moved here, i figured it would be super easy — but it turns out exactly three photos of them depicted mount pleasant (well, and didn’t include either baby sparklet or snow).

    i need to get out into the neighborhood more.

    the photos we used are above — with special thanks to the photographers.

  • found: big cheese

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  • found: static electricity

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  • out: walter pierce park

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    ohthankgod.

    it’s a balmy 49º out today, so sparklet and i got the heck outside. neither of us do particularly well (with each other) when we’re stuck inside each and every afternoon for three months, so its a #$&*#%ing relief to get even a little bit of running and sliding in.

    sparklet must have cycled through walter pierce park’s slides two dozen times in the half hour we were there. by the end, her hair was standing on end from the accumulated static electricity from the slides.

    wow, i can’t wait for spring.

  • the talimos

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    we’ve been stinked out of our place for the next two days while the painters come through and undo the chromatic damage we did to our walls in the last four years.

    fortunately, the talimos are the most awesome people on the planet and took us in — providing us a steady stream of friends, food and wine to help assuage the pain of every bit of character being stripped from our walls.

    i’ll spare the details to protect the innocent and prevent retaliation from PETFG (people for the ethical treatment of fermented grapes) but i will say there was a bolognese sauce involved at one point that i would consider jail time in exchange for the recipe.

  • packing crate

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    it’s snowing — which isn’t particularly conducive to packing a moving crate, nor preserving the finish of the lady sparkler’s favorite chair, nor the structural integrity of cardboard boxes.

    i’ve lost track of exactly how many boxes i’ve packed, through i’m guessing it’s in the 75-80 range. that, when coupled with seven chairs, three tables, two book cases and a dresser, it’s enough to both fill up a crate and remind me why i vowed not six years ago to never move myself ever again.

    a handyman came today to fix the sink damaged three years ago when our medicine cabinet fell off the wall, the painters come tomorrow to utterly crush my self-esteem/will-to-live, and the few pieces of “staging” furniture arrived this weekend.

    and then we list on Tuesday.

  • “This is Major Tom to Ground Control …”

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    photo of the week // sixteen months

  • lynnbrook.org

    as part of the sale, i’ve created a brochure-ware site for our building — i doubt i can get it onto the first page of google results for us, but it’s worth a shot.
    The Lynnbrook
    http://www.lynnbrook.org/

  • more real estate

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    another batch of prospective houses, and another batch of prospective houses that are just waaay over priced for the market.

    back in mid-January we looked at a couple of places (3300 block of 17th Street NW, 2000 block of Klingle Road NW) and they were both just ridiculously overpriced. we like one well enough to reach out to the opposing real estate agent, but the current owners were in a financial position that they couldn’t bring the price down closer to market value.

    this past weekend we looked at two more places (both 3200 block of Walbridge Place NW) and again, both were asking for more than the value we saw in the place. again, we liked one of the places enough to enquirer about it — but we just weren’t within each others ballpark on price.

    it seems like a lot of people who bought at the peak of the market are still trying to get all their money out, even though the current market just won’t give it to them.

    and so we sit.

  • found: awesomeness

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  • twitter saves the day, again

    I’m starting to think the office tweeter is the most powerful person in any bureaucracy.

    The internet is littered with stories about regular people getting their offline problems solved after complaining to corporations online.

    Heck, we did the same thing in the aftermath of a certain automobile recall last year.

    Turns out that corporate tweeters aren’t he only ones saving the day — the District government social media teams are jumping in, too.

    Our permit application to park a mobile storage container on city street this weekend mysteriously stalled earlier this week, and all of the lady sparklers efforts ended up in voicemail-laden dead ends.

    So, late last night I tweeted to the Districts official Department of Transportation account.

    hey, @DDOTDC – we have a POD permit app that’s been stalled/ignored for a week. who can help fix tmrw before it’s delivered this weekend?

    By 11:00 pm, I had an email address for the guy behind the twitter account, asking for details on our problem.

    By 7:30 am, I was CC’ed on an email from him, forwarding our problem on to a team of people to solve.

    By 8:30 am, the lady sparkler got a call on her cell phone from someone from DDOT saying they would clear everything up for us within the hour.

    At 9:04, my wife had the permit in her hot little hands.

    I don’t know how much of this little bit of awesomeness was caused by the social media phenomenon in general, or the epic person behind @DDOTDC in particular, or about just tunneling through the bureaucracy to find the actual human beings inside.

    Either way, whatever is responsible — thank you.

  • transit is like soo 2008

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    I’m commuting by public transit today — for the first time since the Bush II administration.

    Public transit isn’t especially kind to me these days.

    I’ve got 3 bus lines and a metro stop within 10 minutes of my door, but it takes a little under 70 minutes to actually use them to get to work.

    … which does not compare favorably to the 22 minutes it takes me to get to the office by car.

    … even if that office is a major conservation organization (we’re Eco-friendly, not Eco-crazy).

    I digress.

    We’re getting a POD (portable storage container) delivered to the house on Saturday, just in time to have our M.O.H. spend the weekend helping is pack.

    Unfortunately, the District hasn’t seemed particularly interested in giving us a permit (in a timely manner, at least) to park the POD on city streets.

    … which means we can’t put up emergency no parking signs asking people not to park where we need to put the POD.

    … which means we’re using the car to block off that space.

    … which means I’m commuting by public transit, regardless of fact that it increases my daily commute time by 416%.

    If there is a silver lining, it’s that I’m actually listening to music that I bought three months ago (Sara Barellies, The Killers, Arcade Fire) that I haven’t been alone with my MP3 player long enough to listen to.

    That, and I have plenty of time to blog about things that I would have otherwise completely ignored.

  • bolognese

    we had a bolognese at the talimo’s a couple weeks back. it was excellent enough to try and reproduce exactly, but i have taken a bizarre (yet principled) stand against ground turkey in italian cooking, so i cobbled my own together — creating a kind og bastard child of Emeril Lagasse and Mario Batali.

    (i’m not going to be able to get that vision out of my head, like, ever.)

    mine ended up a little dry, so keep the wine on hand — next time i’m probably going to add another 1/2 cup of white and red to the recipe so it doesn’t go bone dry after 2 hours of simmering.

    (more…)

  • found: car keys are useless with candy machines

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  • no country for old groceries

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    this is sparklet “helping” me unpack the groceries from Peapod — only the part you’d see in a movie trailer, directed by Quentin Tarantino.

  • toddler party

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    i seriously have no clue who any of these people are — except the redhead. him i recognize. i wonder if they all go clubbing together, too?

  • photo of the month: january

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    camera dump: january

  • “hey, can you teach me how to fleece a bag, too?”

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  • treatment

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    today was treatment no. 2 for sparklet’s port wine stain — and this one not only seems to have taken hold a bit better, but was a bit less traumatic to boot.

    of course, we get another two weeks of people looking at us like we beat our children, but it’s a small price to pay for dermatological happiness.

    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    horsing around

  • boxes, part two

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    we’re up to fifty-two boxes packed now — which is pretty impressive considering i had the flu for four days over last weekend and the lady sparkler just got back from three days in san francisco.

    well, if anybody had any doubts — it looks like we’re really putting our place on the market.

  • more

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    baby sparklet still isn’t speaking, but she’s starting to get the idea of sign-language.

    we started teaching her after aunt holly made the suggestion over christmas. so far she’s got “more”, “all done” and “juice” — that’s “more” in the photo as she’s looking for mommy to toss her upside down again.

    we are also just about ready to call sparklet’s second word: she barks something that approximates “up” whenever she’s wants you to bend over and pick her up.

    she’s nothing if not monosyllabic.

  • out: take your daddy to work day

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    photo of the week // fifteen months
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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    take your daddy to work day

  • walking home

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    sparklet insisted on walking home, tonight — and she made it all four blocks from the car back to the apartment. my back and i have never been so proud.

  • out: national building museum

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    national building museum with aunt melissa, washington, dc

  • goob

    we’ll, we’ve been bouncing around a little bit with nicknames for sparklet — not that we’re giving up on sparklet for external marketing purposes, but it’s a little harsh/abrupt/awkward to use in daily life.

    for now, we’ve settled on some variation on the word “goober” — including goob, goober bear, and goober nut. (it’s important to be nimble.)

    now, on the surface, i can see how this might sound odd, but in our defense the the urban dictionary — one of the least polite chroniclers of slang on our fine planet — defines goober as:

    a goober is just a kindhearted, rather oblivious goofball. it’s term of endearment really. it comes from the ancient scottish verb “to goub”, which has to do with doing a dance and smiling sheepishly while doing so, exposing the goubs in one’s teeth.

    so, it’s actually kind of appropriate.

    i wish i knew exactly how “goober” worked its way into our collective vernacular — i have a feeling it was because we were calling her doofus during her “running into walls” phase and decided we should shoot for something a bit more charitable.

    either way, the nickname was cemented about six months ago when we first watch disney’s meet the robinsons — one of the two lead characters’ nicknames is goob, and he has that sort of sheepish, lovable quality that we see in sparklet at this age.

    of course, he also turns out to be the arch-villain of the story, but that’s for another time.

  • sixteen boxes down

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    we’ve been packing.

    the lady sparkler’s parents were here this weekend, which has meant a happy and distracted baby/baby mommy, which has allowed me to start the long process of fixing/packing casa de sparkler up for sale.

    art is off the wall, books are off the shelves, breakables are off the flat surfaces. and i’m starting to work through all those little projects i’ve been putting off for the last three years.

    first observation: each and every project takes two to four times longer with a child. i have no idea where exactly the time gets sucked too — it’s not like i’ve been the one looking after her while i’ve been operating the power tools — but i’m going to officially posit it as a law of physics.

    second observation: we have a lot of crap.

  • found: somebody who is having a day worse than mine

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  • guestbook: grandparents

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    guestbook: grandparents

  • out: talimo’s first birthday

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    out: talimo’s first birthday

  • good news/bad news

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    sparklet had her 15 month checkup today, and the good news is that she’s still growing like a weed at 28 lbs (97th percentile) and 33 inches tall (off the chart).

    the bad news is that she’s got some kind of an ear infection, which means that she’ll get her first ever dosing of antibiotics. she’s not contagious, according to the doctor, which is a darn fine thing considering her bff’s birthday is tomorrow.

    i see lots of Plaza Sésamo and Fraggle Rock in her future.

    UPDATE: sparklet no-likey the antibiotics. well, actually, she loves taking them — they just don’t stay down for long. i wonder how long this cycle of futility is going to last.

    UPDATE #2: we think it started off as an ear infection, and then became the flu — namely because i got the flu about three days later.

  • color correction

    our real estate agent came through tonight and picked out new wall colors that he said would help our place move more quickly.

    ever since we painted our very first room, the lady sparkler and i have known that we’d have to repaint all of our wall colors when we moved out — but it didn’t make the new (rather dull) color selections sting any less.

    Living Room
    before: after:

    Grape Green (Behr)
    Reticence (Sherman Williams)

    Master Bedroom
    before: after:

    Ruby Ring (Behr)
    Soft Tan (Sherman Williams)

    Nursary
    before: after:

    Acorn Squash (Olympic)
    Hubbard Squash (Sherman Williams)

    Bathroom
    before: after:

    Warm Spring (Behr)
    Caen Stone (Sherman Williams)

    Kitchen
    before: after:

    Cerise (Olympic)
    Sand Trap (Sherman Williams)

    Foyer
    before: after:

    Porpoise (Behr)
    Reticence (Sherman Williams)

    if i ever needed confirmation that i’m nothing like the rest of the kids on the playground, this did the trick.

  • mount pleasant-er

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    we might be in the market for a house.

    we’re not moving — at least, not moving out of mount pleasant — but there are a couple things going on that make us (er, the lady sparkler) think that it could be time to upgrade.

    • interest rates are down 2+ percentage points from when we signed a last mortgage. when you add that savings to what we pay each month in condo association fees, we can have about a 50% larger place without paying a dime extra per month.
    • we were planning on moving in the next 2 to 3 years anyway, and *man* our place seems a lot smaller than it did, saaaay 16 months ago.
    • the market has stabilized enough that we’re sure we can get all our money out of our current place.
    • the economy is starting to show signs of life again, which means that housing prices only have one direction to go (and that would be “up”).

    that said, if we can’t find a nice little fixer-upper row house in mount pleasant that we can afford now, we’ll just stay put until we’re on the other side of our daycare payments.

    we love our neighborhood, and haven’t given up on the idea that we can raise baby sparklet here. we love our friends, we love our nanny. we love the fact that our vote for federal office is basically meaningless (wait, scratch that last one).

    and, besides, there aren’t a lot of other options …

    within D.C., we certainly wouldn’t move east of 16th street (too speculative), nor south or west of mount pleasant (we couldn’t afford it), and there really isn’t much in D.C. that’s north of us (all residential, little commerce, reduced transit).

    outside of D.C., we have the same problems we’ve always had: new england and chicago are too cold (for my beloved); texas is utterly without seasons (for me); the pacific northwest is really far away and people there actually slow down at yellow lights (the latter is a “third rail” for the lady sparkler).

    and besides, we all know how much my beloved likes change.

  • video: strollering

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dL6y1sPQNVI

  • ohthankgod

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    our washer/dryer came today, ending a 44 day drought (not that we were counting). if this isn’t the absolute happiest day of our collective lives, it’s darn near close to the top.

  • video: dancing

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGNR8cLIafE

  • theater: true grit

    over christmas, the lady sparkler and i went to our first movie together in the last 15 months.

    and by “together” i mean that she decided to stay home and sleep, and i went to see “true grit” with my father and brother instead.

    and by “went to see” i mean that my brother is a fancy pants movie reviewer (examiner.com, twitter, radio show) and so i tagged along when he and my father decided to go.

    i’ll stay quiet on my own thoughts because my brother’s review is better, and heck friend/slash/literary illuminati robert lalasz’s review is better, too.

    but, i overall i’d give the movie three kumquats and a banana — it was better than Cats!

  • “i hear the pope wears a cereal bowl, too.”

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  • found: danger!

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    out: simon and dani’s birthday party, bowl america, falls church, va

  • out: tricycle in lamont park

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    out: tricycle in lamont park, mount pleasant, washington, dc

  • sleeping beauty

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    shhh … it’s 8:44 am and sparklet is still asleep.

    she’s been snoozing much better since we started the last round of sleep training — which we sorta had to do after a month of sleeping with her in our room (houston, costa rica, williamsburg) because the putting-her-down process was getting dreadfully long.

    so, starting about four days ago, we’ve been giving her a bottle, reading with her, saying good night, and then walking out when the bottle ran out (with a mandatory smooch on the noggin’, natch).

    we won’t talk about the first night, but by last night we had just four minutes of fussing before she settled down and put herself to bed.

    it’s pretty incredible how quickly babies adapt.*

    * = don’t try this at home. results not typical. professional driver on a closed course. before attempting sleep training, please check with your doctor about possible side effects (on you, not the baby) from sleep training. the author assumes no responsibility for, well, anything.

  • help

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    most of these pictures can stand without commentary, but there is a story around the last.

    today, i got home from work with sparklet under one arm and three packages under the other. i tossed my keys on the hall table, the packages on the couch and then dropped sparklet down on the floor.

    she immediately ran over to the hallway, grabbed my keys off the table, ran back to the couch, and started trying to saw the tape open on the box — just like she had seen daddy do with packages all December long.

    kinda make ya proud, doesn’t it?

  • excessive laundry

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b_D9DUG7SY

    about a month ago, our washing machine went kaput — and decided to flood the unit below ours.

    oops.

    the guy who lives there came up and told us, and was pretty chill about the whole thing.

    “oh, the last time this happened …”

    huh?

    turns out the previous owners of our unit flooded his apartment … as did the owners before them. actually, one of them did it twice, apparently.

    and, when we i pulled the washing machine out from the closet to see what the heck was going on, there was a half inch gap between the wall and the floor — so any time water splashed out of our machine, it went right through to the ceiling of his unit.

    so, i spent last weekend patching the open space — wood, plaster, caulk — and spent this weekend painting everything up nice and spiffy.

    and, while the lady sparkler was buying us new laundry equipment to complete the mini-renovation, baby sparklet was discovering the joy of automatic doors (see video, above).

    priceless.

  • holiday card 2010

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    dear friends,

    it’s been a crazy year, with hundreds of moments strung together into wonderful whole — and it was our friends and family that have bound the year together for us.

    it’s you who’ve given us the framework for our joy and we want to say thanks before we get too far outside the window of sentimentality that the holiday season provides.

    and so, may the very best of the season be with you this new year. may you experience in your life the joy, love and peace that you have brought to ours.

    with much love,
    tasha, evan and kate parker

    See Greeting Card on Pingg:
    holiday card 2010

  • happy new year!

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    sometime, ask me how much i love my wife — and the talimos. amen.

  • christmas downtown

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    christmas downtown, washington, dc

  • you suck, montgomery county

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    just got a “notice of delinquent parking ticket” in the mail from montgomery county, maryland for parking at an expired meter on november 12th at 5:17pm.

    there are a couple of problems with this scenario:

    • we never got the original notice of the parking violation for which we are now “delinquent.”
    • i wasn’t in montgomery county that day — twelve minutes before our “violation,” i took these pictures of kate at our home in mount pleasant and proceeded to upload them to flickr four minutes *after* our violation.
    • my wife wasn’t in montgomery county that day — thirty minutes after our “violation,” the lady sparkler stopped by pupusaria san miguel on her way home from work (for the best latin food in D.C., incidentally).
    • the “infraction” occurred on a federal holiday (Veteran’s Day) when parking restrictions don’t apply.
    • the citation *does not* list a make or model, so there is no confirmation that it was our car and not just a typo of our license plate.

    however, the only recourse Montgomery County provides is to appear — in person — before the 6th District Court in Rockville.

    given the cost of the ticket (at least in relation to my wife’s billing rate) and the distance between my work and the courthouse (55 minutes in decent traffic) there is no way in h-e-double-hockey-sticks that we’re going to contest the citation.

    you suck, montgomery county — yet another reason i’m never moving to the suburbs.

    PHOTO: Uploaded to Flickr by eddie.welker on 7 Sep 09, 12.59PM EST, via Creative Commons license.

  • cousins

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  • found: crazy people

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    more sledding

  • frosty, the snow chicken

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    frosty, the snow chicken

  • photos: snowfall in colonial williamsburg

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    photos: snowfall in colonial williamsburg

  • firsts: sledding

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    firsts: sledding

  • white christmas

  • firsts: new ride

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    firsts: new ride

  • christmas

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    photo of the week // fourteen months
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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    christmas

  • christmas eve

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    [Grant Poppa Roberts, Williamsburg, Virginia]
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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    christmas eve, williamsburg, virginia

  • guestbook: virginia

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  • found: christmas cheer

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  • christmas tree 2010

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    christmas tree 2010

  • photo of the month: december

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    camera dump: december

  • pre-christmas brunch

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    pre-christmas brunch

  • ¡el pato is back!

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    el pato rides again.

    after being missing and presumed dead for the last week, el pato seems to have dragged himself all the way from costa rica to an amazon.com distribution center in campbellsville, kentucky where he (rather intelligently if you ask me) UPS’ed himself the rest of the way to D.C.

    amazing.

    he also appears to have brought his girlfriend along with him — her name is Tica, which also happens to be the friendly, national diminutive for Costa Rican females.

    … which, i guess, explains what he was doing for the last week.

  • ’tis the season for cubicle decorations

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    i love my co-workers.

    my team is the only group on our floor that’s decorated their cubes this year — and once again we’ve totally out done ourselves. the theme this year was “white trash” and i think i can safely say that we knocked it out of the park we’re just plain awesome.

  • welcome back

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    i’m not necessarily looking for sympathy, having just gotten back from 10 days in costa rica. that said, i feel obligated to point out that less than 36 hours ago we were in flip flops and bathing suits in 89 degree weather. right now, it’s snowing and 26 degrees. oy.
    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    first snow of the winter, arlington, virginia

  • last photo in Costa Rica

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    If there was one feature of the resort that sparklet loved above all others, it was the golf carts that they sped you from place to place in.

    Being simple city folk, we didn’t use them much at all — but when we did, she was giggling like a schoolgirl with the wind blowing through be hair.

  • photos: playa conchal

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    I finally got around to taking pictures of the resort on the morning we left, which just happened to be the only overcast day during our stay at the beach.

    There are days where the photos look better than the reality, and days where reality looks better than the photos. This was definitely a case of the latter.

    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    photos: playa conchal

  • video: fireworks

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iTi6jkoJ5s

  • table service

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    The hospitality in Costa Rica has been incredible.

    We’ve eaten dinner out every night, and each time the Ticos have gone out of their way for sparklet — from meals off the menu, to special accommodations, to near constant attention.

    In fact, we’re pretty sure that sparklet’s going to want to bring at least one of the waiters home. Oh, and one of the hostesses too if there’s room (the one named Katherine, appropriately enough).

    While she’s been down here, Sparklet’s developed a couple of quirks at the dinner table.

    She’ll pass objects around the table, in a very prescribed order and will forcibly intervene if (a) we mess it up, or (b) if she’s ready for the object to move in a different direction.

    During dinner, if mommy and I hold hands, she’ll pull them apart and insert her own. Then she spend a few minutes rearranging all six hands — including her own — in different orders and positions.

    And, when she’s done eating, she insists on feeding us whatever is left — even if it has already been chewed.

    It’s been a good vacation.

  • last day at the pool

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    last day at the pool

  • found: one of the girls

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  • sprinklers

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    This morning, sparklet awoke to find the grounds crew experimenting with the sprinklers out front of our unit.

    Ever the willing helper, she marched out the front door, inspected the sprinklers heads, and then stood over the controls until the ground crew came over to show her the ropes.

    And then, like all good grounds keepers, she cried when the sprinklers shut off without her direct authorization.

  • first look at stephanie and jorge’s wedding

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    there are still 2900+ more photos to review, but here is a first look at the photos from stephanie and jorge’s wedding. more to come, to say the very least.
    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    first look: stephanie and jorge’s wedding

  • Is there a Wedding Photographer in the House?

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    Steph and Jorge’s wedding photographer is going to be a no show tonight — so it looks like I’m going to “get” to shoot my first wedding.

    The maid of honor (not ours, but theirs) mentioned it in passing to the lady sparkler and my beloved volunteered me for the job — not that I wouldn’t have offered myself, but it’s awesome that my bride came up to me at the pool bar and said:

    Hey, I just told someone you could be the wedding photographer tonight — hope that’s okay.

    UPDATE: I’ve collected my thoughts and all my gear, and i’m actually feeling pretty legit — I’ve got the same camera a wedding photographer friend of mine uses for her weddings, four memory cards which can hold about 1200 photos, two batteries, and two pretty serious-grade lenses (both normal, and wide angle).

    That said, I’m seriously freaking out shot two things — well, three actually: 1) I’m shooting a wedding; 2) I’m going to blow through 1200 photos before the reception even starts which means I’m going to have to empty memory cards onto my computer while I’m still shooting and my laptop doesn’t have a battery; 3) I don’t have a legitimate flash, so shooting the outdoors-afterdark reception is going to suck something fierce.

    UPDATE 2: The “shoot” is over, and I have to say that wasn’t nearly as stressful as I thought it would be — though through no part of my own:

    • one of the bridesmaides had a professional grade flash (not to mention my exact same camera) which is the only reason we have photos from the reception.
    • that same bridesmaid was able to shoot the bride getting ready, so we got pictures from both halves of the preparations without it getting awkward or me being on two places at once.
    • friends jumped in several times throughout the night, dumping photos onto the computer and picking the camera themselves. and at one point we had amassed enough equipment that we had all three of us all shooting at once.
    • the bride and the groom were both incredibly flexible and were eager to line up the shots themselves, so all we had to do was point and shoot.

    I haven’t run through them all yet, but between the four of us we amassed over 3,000 pictures, and they all look pretty good considering.

    I promised the couple I would post everything by Christmas, but here are a few of the ceremony in the meantime.

  • found: super boxer girl

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    yup. my daughter is a super hero. with my boxers for a cape. i wish i was smart enough to be making this stuff up.

  • photos: birds

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  • cougar

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    sparklet had developed a bit of a reputation down here, specifically when it comes to younger men.

    She’s taken a special shine to one of the bride’s cousins — a man half her age — and hasn’t been shy about showering him with rather physical displays of affection.

    UPDATE: I thought they had something, he left town it the morning without so much as a word — only a secondhand goodbye through a despondent mother of the bride. typical.

    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    sunday morning

  • when pizote attack

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    this might be our last blog post ever.

    our positions, on the patio of our villa, were overrun at 10:41 am local time. we kept the pizote out of the interior — sparklet was napping inside — but we weren’t able to hold the perimeter against the pizote’s vastly superior numbers.

    UPDATE: nevermind. turns out they were just anti-revolution demonstrators, only interested in protesting our efforts to free cuba. once they knocked over our drinks, they moved on — it’s all good.

    UPDATE 2: the pizote came back through for a mopping up operation early on our departure day, but we had no revolutionary drinks to topple so they just ran right on by.

    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    pizote, playa conchal, costa rica

  • el pato is dead, long live el pato

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    sparklet’s favorite pool toy is missing.

    we’ve put out an all points bulletin for “un pato de juguete de color naranja y blanco, con rayas como una cebra” but given the complexity of the request, we’re fearing the worst.

    good-night, sweet pato — may flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.

  • found: jorge

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  • stephanie and jorge’s rehearsal dinner

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    stephanie and jorge’s rehearsal dinner

  • out: lunch with the bride stephanie

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    out: lunch with the bride stephanie, playa conchal, costa rica

  • found: sand castles

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  • blog hands

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    sparklet’s picked up this new party trick while we’ve been in costa rica — she now takes mommy and daddy’s hands and moving them around.

    at dinner tonight, she spent 10 minutes stacking and restacking our hands. sometimes her hand would be in the middle, sometimes on top or on bottom.

    at night, when we’re putting her to bed, if our hands come off the small of her back too quick, she’ll reach behind and slap them back into place.

    well, she’s a girl who knows what she wants …

    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    blog hands

  • cuba libre

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    we thought we were just drinking rum and cokes — a habit we picked up in belize — but according to the costa ricans we are actually drinking what’s called a “cuba libre”.

    of course, i don’t know who exactly we are freeing cuba from — Fulgencio Batista or Fidel Castro — but i am happy to say that we’ve been doing everything we can to bring libre to cuba.

    just another dozen or two more and cuba should finally be safe for democracy.

  • out: la playa con tia rebecca

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    out: la playa con tia rebecca, playa conchal, costa rica

  • faces

    ECPA20101210_6774 ECPA20101210_6774
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  • firsts: ocean

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    first feet in the ocean, paradisus playa conchal resort, guanacaste, costa rica
    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    firsts: ocean, playa conchal, costa rica

  • travel: playa conchal, costa rica

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    long exposures of stars at night, playa conchal, costa rica

  • parents of the year

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    at dinner tonight, the waitress came running up to us:

    excuse me! excuse me! nuestros cuchillos muy afilados!

    we look down at sparklet, and she is knawing on a set of cutlery wrapped up in a napkin, which is a relatively normal part of her dining routine.

    we were just about to say, “oh that’s okay” when we noticed instead of the usual table knife (the ones that can’t cut butter) she was gnawing on a steak knife.

    frankly, i’m surprised that the waitress didn’t call the costa rican version of Child Protective Services.

    she watched us let sparklet eat a steak knife, spoil her dinner with a blackberry smoothy, and adhere loosely to our version of the “five second” rule (which really works out to be more of a “minute and a half” rule).

    not our finest moments — but also sadly not our first.

    this morning on the trail to arenal, we had three separate groups of people stop us to “let us know” that sparklet was chewing on a stick (yeah, we knew).

    to make matters worse, perhaps you’ve noticed a new gash on sparklet’s head from a couple of days ago? yup, she ran into a wall in our hotel room.

    there’s also a (less noticable) bruise under her chin, which she got when she tripped over her own feet and landed chin first on the tile floor. oh, and when she fell she bit her lip, so that’s been bleeding on and off, too.

    and then, of course, there was that double gainer off the deck into the pool.

    come to think of it, maybe i should call CPS myself.

  • out: parque central de la fortuna

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    out: parque central de la fortuna, costa rica

  • out: butterfly conservatory

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    out: butterfly conservatory, el castillo, costa rica

  • “prepare to feel the wrath of my pool noodle!”

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    the blue ninja, weilding her terrible pool noodle, with her fearsome companion “el pato” at her side.
    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    “prepare to feel the wrath of my pool noodle!”

  • hike: parque nacional volcon arenal, costa rica

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    we are lucky people.

    putting aside the fact that we can afford to come to costa rica, that we both work with such awesome people that we can just dissappear for 10 days during the run up to year end, and that we have a (mostly) happy, healthy and charming little girl …

    … during the roughly 108 hours that we’ve been in Arenal, we’ve been able to see the very top of the volcano for exactly six hours — and three of those hours happend to be when we were hiking around the base of the volcano.

    i don’t want to run the statistical odd of this ever happening again, but i do feel like i should buy a lottery ticket.

    the main hike in the parque is about 2km from the primary parking lot to a (now fully cooled) lava flow from the 1993 eruption, which goes through a whole series of overlooks of both the volcano and the lake beneath.

    we knew nothing about how strenuous the hike was, but started feeling good when we saw two Russian grandmothers hobbling off the mountain as we made our way to the trail head.

    sparklet was a happy (and well fed) camper in throughout — and even hiked a bit herself on the way back.

    she’s a good egg.

    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    hike: parque nacional volcon arenal, costa rica

  • found: puddles

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  • firsts: drinking straw

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    first drinking straw, with a blackberry smoothie at la choza del laurel, la fortuna, costa rica.

  • rain day

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    the weather channel says it’s not raining outside right now, but i’m afraid that it is. accuweather says it’s rained this morning, but would stop before breakfast, but i’m afraid it hasn’t.

    the costa rican weather service says it’s going to rain, but gives out it’s forcasts by thirds of the country — which is a bit like saying that it’s going to rain somewhere between michigan and maine today.

    all of this appears to have made the costa ricans into weather philosophers. when we asked for the weather outlook, the nice young lady at the front desk said:

    it looks rainy today, but it was beautiful yesterday. it could be beautiful tomorrow, too. who can say?

    awesome.

    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    rain day, arenal, costa rica

  • photos: lost iguana resort, costa rica

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    photos: lost iguana resort, costa rica

  • lessons learned

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    with great power comes great responsibility, and sparklet’s new found power of walking are starting to have great impacts — to her cranium.

    in the last twenty four hours, she has walked into two walls, collided into both the bed and the crib at full ramming speed, and fallen over about a dozen times.

    this afternoon, she did a full double gainer into the pool and then tried to breathe underwater — neither of which turned out well.

    (i’d give the flip a 4.2, but there was a discernable splash when she entered the water…)

    in semi-related news, she invented a new game today — called “toss mommy’s shoes into the pool.” she clearly thought it was the best game ever. so did mommmy.

    so did i — until she started to reach for my stuff.

    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    swimming, lost iguana resort, costa rica

  • travel: arenal, costa rica

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    holy crap, we’re in costa rica.

    i don’t think the lady sparkler or i really thought we were leaving the country until we landed in costa rica, looked around and saw a whole bunch of costa ricans.

    even then, only the temperature — 80 degrees, sunny — made me think that we weren’t just in some undiscovered part of our neighborhood in d.c.

    sparklet’s been quite the trooper during our day of travel. a three hour flight to miami, a two hour layover, a three hour flight to costa rica, and then a three hour car ride to arenal — all without anything approximating a meltdown.

    we rented a big honking land-rover-type monstrosity, which i was thinking was a comical level of overkill on the part of my beautiful wife, untill we drove through half a dozen landslides in the last 20 km to the hotel.

    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    travel: arenal, costa rica

  • found: ominous sign

    it’s 4:15 am. we’re leaving for costa rica in a couple of minutes. in the “you are here” text directly under it’s clock, my phone is telling we are in the Orlovskaya region, a small oblast in southwest Russia.

    even my phone thinks it’s way too early in the morning to up.

    UPDATE: I left my phone on the flight from DC to Miami, and didn’t realize it until I was 40 gates away. I ran back, tried to get about a half dozen people to help, and finally got on the plane with AA’s Miami operations manager. No phone. The Russian this morning really *was* a bad omen.

    UPDATE 2: I’m sitting on the flight to Costa Rica, and who to my wondering eyes do I see — but my new friend the American Airlines Miami operations manager. With my phone. She said it was in the overhead compartment of the earlier flight (which is funny, because I never was) and gave me a little eyes-down-nose-over-spectacles astonishment to be more careful with my belongings. And, that’s okay by me because it looks like she might be right.

    UPDATE 3: It’s the layover of return trip to DCA now, and I’ve still got my phone — but I just left my wallet, camera and computer unattended for 10 minutes next to an ATM I had attempted to use. In semi-related news, it’s increasingly hard for me to believe that there is no competency test before you’re allowed to reproduce.

  • nanny shots

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    nanny shots with the boyfriend, washington, dc

  • anniversary

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    it’s our second consecutive year celebrating our October wedding anniversary during the first week of December.

    so, we’ve now officially celebrated our anniversary in December more than we’ve celebrated it in October. we talked about just “moving” our anniversary to December, but i’m a little nervous that’d mean we wouldn’t actually celebrate it until February.

    we had a late dinner at georgia brown’s (which made me realize i’ve was selling it short as “just a brunch place”) followed by drinks at the willard (we were cold, it was warm) and then dessert back in our neighborhood (the heights).

    conversation was exactly what you’d expect — the baby we left at home, where we should go on vacation next year, TSA screening regulations, the desintigration of party unity on Capitol Hill, the rise of hyperpartisanship and it’s impact on the american psyche — you know, the usual stuff.

    yup.

    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    christmas decoration downtown, washington, dc

  • found: november

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    camera dump: november

  • found: the player

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  • the ceremonial first ornament

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    ceremonial first ornament

  • getting the christmas tree

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    getting the christmas tree, glover park, washington, dc

  • size restrictions

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    well, sparklet is officially too big to be a lap-baby.

    … not according to the airlines (they don’t really seem to care) but according to mommy’s stomach, my nose, and the eardrums of those around us, it’s about time to start getting her her own seat. sparklet careened around for the full three and a half hours out to houston, and then the full two and a half hours back.

    (while i’m just about over careening, at least it isn’t the most mortifying thing that happened during the trip.)

    for what it’s worth, it doesn’t actually seem to be a problem that isn’t limited to the airplane right now — if she’s being held, she wants on the floor. if she’s being carried, she wants to walk. don’t bother trying to put her in a stroller. and, if you turn your back for 1/4 second, she’s ready to bring on the pain.

    if these aren’t the terrible twos, i don’t want to know what’s coming.

    (really, don’t tell me.)

    ps. we leave for costa rica in exactly one week — and fortunately, we had the good forsight to get sparklet her own seat. ahhhh.

  • found: super pinky

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  • travel: last day in houston, texas

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    travel: last day in houston, texas

  • one barrel

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    today is a great day in the history of the sparkler household.

    after one thousand, one hundred and thirty three days of looking, we finally found a place in the united states that sells one barrel rum from belize (the rum we mixed with coke and drank like fish on our honeymoon).

    after about three years of trying just about every liquor store in virginia, maryland, d.c. and texas, we tried yet another store (spec’s) near the lady sparkler’s parents.

    not only did that have bottles of one barrel (they had 10!) but someone was in not 10 minutes earlier asking for a couple bottles themselves.

    now we just have to buy lots of bottles, slowly, each in a different disguise — it’ll drive up demand and make them think they need to keep it in stock to meet the popular demand.

  • found: regression

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  • guestbook: andrew and cori

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    i’ve seen my future.

    sparklet had a playdate this afternoon with a friend — one of our dedicated, arbitron-rated 3.7 blog readers — and her little boy, Andrew.

    aaaand, for some reason sparklet spent the whole time chasing Andrew around, trying to give him things (instruments he didn’t want), then trying to give him more things (kisses he didn’t want) and then try to pet his hair.

    andrew was a good sport about it all, but i have to admit i was paralyzed with fear for the whole time — which accounts for the utter lack of photos of sparklet’s early attempts at flirtation.

    nothing happened for me to be particularly embarrassed about (i guess) but something tells me that i’m not going to find the next sixteen years of my life to be particularly relaxing.

    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    guestbook: andrew and cori

  • out: trailwood playground

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    out: trailwood playground, houston, texas

  • macaroni and cheese (for adults)

    thanksgiving dinner is a really big deal for the lady sparkler’s family.

    everybody contributes a dish (or two) and each of the recipes are suitable for the pages of bon appetite or gourmet — wild rice with dried cranberries and chick peas, mexican Chayote with garlic, green beans with lemon zest and hand roasted pine nuts, a spiced pumpkin souffle.

    for the first time since “i” became “we,” i joined the thanksgiving culinary arms race this year — with macaroni and cheese.

    granted, it’s an adult version of mac and cheese — it uses gruyer and fontina instead of just cheddar, and uses both a tablespoon of mustard and a bit of red pepper to add a little kick.

    i’m pleased to say that i held my own.

    (i’ve tweaked the recipe each of the last four times i’ve made it, but it was originally based on alton brown’s baked macaroni and cheese.)

    full recipe after the jump.

    (more…)

  • found: the beginning of the end

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  • out: bear branch playground (again)

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    out: bear branch playground, houston, texas

  • thanksgiving day

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    thanksgiving day, houston, texas

  • out: bear branch playground

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    out: bear branch playground

  • travel: houston, texas

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    travel: thanksgiving in houston, texas

  • out of the frying pot …

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  • found: human space flight

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  • found: determination

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  • emergency! emergency!

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    i got a text message from the m.o.h. last night:

    What happened to your blog?!?

    what happened is that 1,101 individual, lovingly crafted blog posts had been spontaneously replaced by a single, solitary “sorry, no blog posts matched your criteria” message.

    #$%&$%.

    i logged into the wordpress admin and the dashboard welcomed me to edit my 0 posts.

    #$%&$%, @&#$%^.

    when i logged into the super techie backed (phpmyadmin, which administers that database that powers the blog) it said that the my wp_posts table — the one with the content for all 1,101 posts — was unavailable because it was “in use”.

    #$%&$%, @&#$%^ — #%$&$%.

    suddenly, the notion of replacing the notion of sparklet’s babybook with a happy, communal blog seemed like a pretty stupid idea.

    suddenly, the notion of only backing up said blog twice in the last two years (August 2010, July 2009) seamed like a pretty bad idea.

    at some point in the week hours of the morning — after two support tickets and 45 minutes of googling/panicking — i figured out that the database had “just” become corrupted, and i “just” needed to repair the table. after another 30 minutes of googling to find out how to do such a thing, i did it.

    and it worked.

    and now i’m successfully procrastinating on a plan to backup the website — at least until after the *next* disaster.

  • out: walter pierce park playground

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    out: walter pierce park playground, washington, dc

  • hike: knob mountain / elkwallow trails, shenandoah national park, virginia

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    it’s interesting how the camera only seems to capture when the lady sparkler is wearing the backpack.i’m calling this the last hike of the season — and while i hope it’s not actually going to turn out that way, it is getting pretty late into November. and, while we *are* taking the backpack to Costa Rica, based on the events of today i’m not convinced we’re going to use it much.

    granted, sparklet had never been on a hike for longer than an hour and a half, and the lady sparkler had been on one hike since she got pregnant two years ago, but needless to say, it didn’t go especially well today.

    note to self: (1) bring more food; (2) go over the trail details with your wife beforehand especially if she pretends not to care; (3) bring earplugs just in case you happen to fail on notes #1 and/or #2.

    trail information:
    Trailhead: 38.73885, -78.308208 (Google Maps); Length: 5.7 total miles; Elevation Gain: 800 feet; Trail Type: Loop (Jeremy’s Run Trail, to Knob Mountain Trail, to Elkhollow Trail); Skill Level: Easy-to-moderate.

    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    hike: knob mountain / elkwallow trails, shenandoah national park, virginia

  • guestbook: dinner with melissa

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    guestbook: dinner with melissa

  • found: urban foliage

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  • travel: gram’s birthday, williamsburg, virginia

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    [Grant Poppa Roberts, Williamsburg, Virginia]
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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    travel: gram’s birthday, williamsburg, virginia

  • out: merrywood playground

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    out: merrywood playground, williamsburg, virginia

  • el gato

    ECPA20100827_4877 by [ecpark] ECPA20100827_4906 by [ecpark]
    ECPA20100827_4882 by [ecpark] ECPA20100827_4905 by [ecpark]
    ECPA20100827_4897 by [ecpark] ECPA20100827_4907 by [ecpark]

  • turning the other cheek

    sparklet had her first laser treatment tonight, the first of a series of four or five that should dislodge the port wine stain on her cheek.

    and while we’re most excited for people to stop asking how she got that “boo-boo” on her face, the bruising from this treatment means we’ll have a solid week of people reporting us to child protective services instead.

  • found: foliage

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  • hike: limberlost trail, shenadoah national park, virginia

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    photo of the week // thirteen months
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    trail information:
    Trailhead: 38.579997,-78.381389 (Google Maps); Length: 1.3 total miles; Elevation Gain: 100 feet; Trail Type: Loop; Skill Level: Easy.
    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    hike: limberlost, shenandoah national park, virginia

  • found: jack-o-lanterns

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  • daylight savings

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    it looks like everything is back to normal in the sparkler household — well, healthy, if not normal.

    this weekend we opted out of yet another social event — our fourth missed halloween party / birthday party / playdate in 10 days — out of an over-abundance of caution that viruses (viri?) aren’t a heck of a lot of fun and probably shouldn’t be shared with friends and neighbors.

    so, we did what we could to keep sparklet’s mind busy while her body adapts to the time change — even if it meant carving month old pumpkins a week after the passage of Halloween rendered them seasonally inappropriate.

    p.s. i absolutely love the picture, above — there is something special in the annual slide towards winter, and in eeking out every last drop of sunlight with your friends before running inside for dinner.

  • pumpkin carving

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    firsts: pumpkin carving

  • spreading like a virus

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    yesterday was a day of worshiping the porcelain bowl goddess for the sparkler family.

    it started with the nanny shortly before noon, followed by myself around 12:30pm, emily the cat was next at 2pm, sparklet later around 9pm, and finally the lady sparkler at 10:30pm.

    and, it turns out that our nanny share family had a similar vision — they just got a two day jump on us.

    it’s looking like it’s just a 24-hour bug — the first three hours you think you’re going to die, the next three hours you wish you would, closely followed by 18 hours on your back.

    sparklet’s actually been a trooper through it all — not only last night during all the madness, but today with no nanny and two utterly debilitated parents.

    she even took an hour and a half nap on the couch with me early this morning once it was pretty obvious that i wasn’t going to be able to do much else.

    that’s my girl.

    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    spreading like a virus

  • found: braids

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  • fraggled

    after a week of saying it was just your average adverse (non-contageous) reactions to some recent vaccinations, our pediatrician announced today that sparklet could (?!?) have a virus.

    … which would have been really useful to know a week ago before we played typhoid mary with a half dozen of our friends kids.

    (fwiw, i’m still not convinced it’s anything other than the vaccines — this is completely unlike anything she’s ever had before, and she’s done the virus “thing” a couple times already.)

    she has been feeling pretty crappy since Friday, so we preemptively canceled all non-essential activities this past weekend — including jon stewart’s rally to restore sanity, unfortunately — to give sparklet the max chance of enjoying halloween Sunday night.

    so, the traditional role of a sick kid’s parent distracting the patient — especially if doing so will get them eating and drinking. but, after a couple of days worth of efforts that yielded no distraction, the lady sparkler and i finally pulled out the big guns:

    fraggle rock.

    and for a few brief minutes sparklet has found happiness, boucing up and down, moving her head like she was a heavy-metal headbanger. (i’m still working getting video, but she stops whenever she sees the camera.)

    it wasn’t much — twice, each time barely enough to get a couple of ounces of bottle in her — but it’s enough.

  • i’m pretty sure …

    … that i’m the only prog in D.C. who’s jumping for joy on his couch right now.

    and that’s because instead of watching the Democratic Party getting swept from the U.S. House of Representatives, i’m watching Tottenham Hotspur beat the crap out of reigning european champions Inter Milan in the champions league.

    nancy pelosi? tottenham hotspur? i’ll take the younger one, with the fewer surgeries — zing!

  • vote

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    i was thiiiiiiiis close to skipping voting this year — it’s the off year for the presidentials, all of the local contests were decided back in the September primaries (which d.c. conveniently screwed up my ballot for) and our representative in Congress can’t vote anyway.

    however, someone at work suggested it was sparklet’s civic duty to vote today, and who was i to get in the way a toddler executing her civic duty.

    so we voted.

    her picks were pretty reasonably across the board, until we had a bit of a disagreement over her choice for D.C.’s Shadow Representative.

    Sparklet was drooling towards Republican Nelson Rimensynder and i was going to object — but he’s never going to actually win (with 75% of D.C. voters registered as Democrats) and the position has no power anyway (technically, he would be seated if the District ever got the right to vote in Congress but that’s never going to happen).

    with that in mind, who am i to object?

    besides, as a resident of D.C., sparklet needs to get used the the idea of throwing her vote away.

  • video: fighting for control

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VjZG94fzn8

  • halloween in mount pleasant

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    our neighborhood takes halloween very seriously.

    kids flock in from all around the city. streets are shut down to make room for the hordes. there is even a certifiable street-to-street rivalry to see who’s going to throw the biggest block party.

    sparklet spent her first real Halloween — last year didn’t count for obvious reasons — over on hobart street where every house was open for trick-or-treaters, at least one in every three houses was decorated, and one house even had a fully scripted halloween performance (“haunted hobart street has talent!”) with scheduled showings at 7 and 9pm.

    unfortunately, sparklet’s wasn’t doing so well.

    it’s officially 7 to 10 days after her first year vaccinations, which is when all the nasty side effects are supposed to kick in — and boy are they kicking in. she made a good run at trick or treating, but just didn’t make it very far before the crankiness consumed her.

    she did, however, get her first real lick of candy — eg. not through a wrapper or cardboard box — a cherry dum-dum lollipop which mommy dutifully unwrapped for her.

    she made it through three of four licks before she took it out of her mouth … by the wrong end … got her hands all sticky … got the lollipop stuck to her hands … and spent 30 seconds trying to toss it on the ground, to absolutely no avail.

    priceless.

  • photos: halloween

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    photos: halloween with the talimos, mt. pleasant, washington, dc
    picasa: photos from the talimos

  • found: october

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    camera dump: october

  • jalapeno-cheddar scones

    we’ve always been a biscuit family, but we just cribbed a jalapeno-cheddar scones recipe from the talimo’s and i’m not sure we’ll ever go back. full recipe after the jump.

    (more…)

  • shovel

    ECPA20101030_7075 by [ecpark] ECPA20101030_7077 by [ecpark]
    ECPA20101030_7078 by [ecpark] ECPA20101030_7085 by [ecpark]
    ECPA20101030_7088 by [ecpark] ECPA20101030_7093 by [ecpark]
    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    shovel

  • dermatologist

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    sparklet had her first dermatologist appointment this week — Wednesday, when i was in Baltimore — to checkout the hemangioma on her left cheek.

    turns out it’s not a hemangioma — it’s a port wine stain.

    the good news is that you can remove a port wine stain with a handful of painless laser treatments right away, as opposed to waiting four to six years and hoping that it goes away on its own.

    the other good news is that it’s just your average birthmark, it’s not genetic, and not accompanied by anything like Sturge-Weber syndrome or Klippel-Trenaunay-Weber syndrome — diseases that are much icky-er to deal with.

    the final good news is that i was a Russian studies major, and i think that anything you share with Mikhail Gorbachev is pretty freakin’ cool.

    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    headshots

  • the nanny’s halloween party

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    EDITOR’S NOTE: from what i can make out with my limited español, the nannies of mount pleasant got together today and threw their kids a Halloween party. I imagine there was at least some awkwardness when two attendees (sparklet included) realized they were sharing the same tiger costume.
    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    the nanny’s halloween party

  • out: halloween @ edelman

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    mommy’s office threw a little party for the kids today, which led to sparklet’s first official trick or treating.

    unfortunately, sparklet kept getting confused — she thought it was a candy exchange, giving back candy at the next cube that she got at the previous, which was made even more thoughtful because she took the time to pre-moisten it before passing it along.

    for posterity, her first trick or treat trophy was a box of milk duds — though they dropped to a distant second once she got her first lick on a lollypop.

    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    out: halloween @ edelman

  • “is it true that red heads have more fun?”

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  • national aquarium in baltimore

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    i have a love/hate relationship with aquariums.

    aquariums, by and large, are nasty/brutish places, over-stuffed with parents desparately trying to ignore their shrieking kids — a chaos that is the exact antithesis of the peace you see underwater.

    so, while i love beautiful collections of fish in large tanks and could sit in front of just one exhibit for hours on end, at an aquarium if you stand in one place too long you are invariably jacked up against a wall by marauding tourists.

    tonight, however, the conference i’m attending rented out the national aquarium in baltimore after hours for all it’s attendees. so, instead of the building being overstuffed with nasty-brutish families … it was overstuffed with nasty-brutish drunk marketers.

    oy.

    deflated, i trudged my way through the aquarium with some friends at a brisk page — looking at the fish here and there, but moving pretty quickly to avoid the drunken pre-hookup marketer rituals.

    i fell behind my friends at one of the last exhibits and, as i finally made my way by the front entrance on my way out of the aquarium, an official looking woman with a yellow coat hurriedly waved me over.

    we’re shutting down the exhibit — you better get in there if you haven’t already been through. you haven’t been through yet, have you?

    “um, no … i just got here.”

    i skittered on past, she pulled the rope across behind me, and for the next forty-five minutes i basically had the entire national aquarium to myself.

    joyous.

    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    national aquarium, baltimore, maryland

  • travel: baltimore, maryland

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    i’m in baltimore for a vendor conference and i think i’m annoyed. baltimore is far enough away that we had to get hotel rooms — and to strip out just about every ounce of excitement about spending time in city other than our own.

    i will say that, living in DC, i don’t “get” to wander around the streets of baltimore at night often, but that sounds an awful lot like something to be avoided — especially considering the only reason i was out was because i had forgotten contact solution and was desperately searching for a 24-hour pharmacy.

    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    travel: baltimore, maryland

  • detante

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    it appears that sparklet and emily the cat have reached some kind of detante — or maybe the cat is just so desperate for attention that her standards are dropping.

    emily has started (a) not running away the moment that sparklet makes eye contact with her, and (b) occasionally putting herself down in front of sparklet in such a way as to imply that she might actually not mind being pet.

    sparklet, for her part, has learned how to run her hand through emily’s hair without ripping any out. hard to call that petting, but it’s a start.

  • out: playdate at walter pierce park

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  • who’s feeding whom?

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    at the beginning of sparklet’s eating career, she was a bit of a streaky eater. first she would only squash, then she would only eat sweet potatoes, and then she’d only eat pureed garden vegetables.

    once she got onto solids, it was the same thing — first she would only eat sliced avacodos, and then she would only eat bonbel cheese wheels, and then she would only eat black beans (keeping Pollo Sobroso, our local Peruvian chicken place, open).

    fortunately, she’s started mellowing out a bit.

    we’ve working in eggs, apples (more about chewing then actually swallowing), bananas, yogurt, some little spinach things and lately sliced mushrooms sauteed in a little olive oil — all while keeping the previous staples in the mix, too.

    and, just when a (relative) decline in black bean consumption started looking bleak for Pollo Sabroso’s bottom line, sparklet has started consuming large quantities of Peruvian chicken and rice.

    so, it looks like we’ve got a lead on figuring out the whole eating thing — which is exactly what the doctor said would happen fully swapped over to milk. (she’s only gets formula right before bed now, and even that’ll be gone in a month).

    now if we can just get that whole sleep thing straightened out, we’ll be home free.

  • out: renn fest

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    out: Maryland Renaissance Festival, crownsville, maryland

  • one year checkup

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    sparklet went in for a checkup this morning, and she’s still ginormous — weighing in at 25.4 lbs (94th percentile) and standing almost 32 inches tall (off the charts at 97th+ percentile).

    two notable developments.

    first, we got an official diagnose from the doctor on sparklet’s mental state, when she was careening around like a lunatic, trying not to get measured:

    wow, she really hates not being in control — doesn’t she?

    (yup, thanks for the newsflash.)

    second, sparklet got four vaccinations — bringing her total lifetime count of shots up to thirteen — and had two vials of blood pulled by D.C. to test for lead and tuberculosis.

    there was a lot of screaming and yelling, but it quickly subsided once the needles went away — enough that she was clapping along to the music in the car ride home.

    no harm, no foul.

  • el tigre en el zoológico

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    el tigre en el zoológico, national zoo, washington, dc

  • found: murse

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  • not proud

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    forgot a belt today. used a bungie cord. no one noticed. not sure which makes me less proud.

  • guestbook: nancy and aunt melissa

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    guestbook (2009-10)

  • the pizza garden

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    our nanny share nanny doesn’t speak english. the lady sparkler and i haven’t spoken Spanish since high school.

    if that’s not a recipe for a laugh-track worth sit-com, i’m not sure what is.

    about six weeks ago, our nanny started saying how much sparklet loves running around “the pixa” — “the pesca” we ask?

    “no, the pixa” she she replies. “pixa! pixa!”

    “oh, of course — the ‘pixa!’” we finally replied, without an ounce of comprehension. “boy, does she love that!”

    over the next six weeks, we proceeded to ask every native Spanish speaker we’ve ever known what “pixa” meant en Español.

    not a clue.

    i Google translated about a dozen different spellings — pisca, pixa, pitsa, pesca, pixza.

    nothing.

    we finally decided that she meant either “pesca” which is Spanish for “fishing” or PISCA which is the Paranormal Investigation Society of Central Alabama.

    we were pretty confused about where they could possibly go fishing in northwest D.C., much less the intricacies of travel to Central Alabama, so we gave up and called it a day.

    fast forward to yesterday, when our beloved nanny share partners came to the zoo for sparklet’s birthday, and they said:

    hey, have you guys been over to the pizza garden yet? it’s a giant pizza that the kids can climb all over. maria says that they really love it.

    pizza. pixa. pizza = pixa.

    (cue laugh track.)

    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    the pizza garden, national zoo, washington, dc

  • birthday cake

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    well, that didn’t go particularly well — the very first time she tried a cupcake, you would have thought that she was being force-fed peas.

    fortunately, we tried it again the next day and it did go a little better — even though *i* was actually the one to smear frosting all over her face.

    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    cake

  • found: distraction

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  • firsts: piggy-back ride

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  • first birthday

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    thank you all so very much for coming — sparklet had a blast, and we couldn’t have picked a more perfect day for it. if you took any photos while you were there, please email/comment them along — while we got *some* good ones, i know we didn’t catch everything that was going on.

    it was great seeing you all 🙂

    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    sparklet’s first birthday party, lion hill @ the national zoo, washington, dc

    more photos from:
    hparker23185 · cmfol

  • more presents

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    photo of the week // one year
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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    more birthday presents

  • snort

    we don’t know what in tarrrnation she’s doing, but sparklet has taken to squinching up her nose randomly throughout the day. i can’t wait for her to be old enough to explain this all to me.

  • *sigh*

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    a special anniversary for the lady sparkler and i tonight, celebrating three hundred and sixty-five consecutive days without accidentally killing our daughter — go team!

  • birthday presents

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    see slideshow of the best photos on flickr:
    first birthday presents

    see slideshow of all the photos on flickr:
    first birthday presents (unabridged)

  • “i’m ready, y’all — when does everyone else get here?”

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    i might be going out on a limb by saying this, but i think sparklet’s ready for tomorrow, and — more importantly — for Saturday.
    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    “i’m ready, y’all — when does everyone else get here?”

  • gender violation

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    three different people referred to sparklet as a boy a total of eight times today — i wonder if the blue star wars “AT-AT” t-shirt i bought for her had anything to do with it.

  • video: oh no, we’ve lost one back there

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QU-md8GSpDY

    and not two minutes earlier i was thinking to myself — “wow, i think she’s finally getting the hang of this hiking thing.”

  • hike: snead farm, shenandoah national park, virginia

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    trail information:
    Trailhead: (Google Maps); Length: 3.2 total miles; Elevation Gain: 500 feet; Trail Type: Loop; Skill Level: Easy.
    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    hike: snead farm, shenandoah national park, virginia

  • found: double down

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    i walked into Front Royal’s KFC today, expecting their new double down to be something so disgusting that it would put even paula deen’s wretched monstrosities to shame.instead, i got awesomeness. pure. unadulterated. awesomeness.

    don’t get me wrong — one was enough, quite possibly enough for the rest of my existence.

    but, wow.

  • pumpkin patch at butler’s orchard

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    pumpkin patch at butler’s orchard, germantown, maryland

  • guestbook: nadine & nadav

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    guestbook: nadine & nadav

  • found: big round nose

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    i hope someone besides me remembers their sesame street …

  • “sooooooo big.”

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  • out: turtle park

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    out: turtle park, washington, dc

  • you’re invited: sparklet’s first birthday

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    after a couple of months of dithering, we’ve finally decided to do something for sparklet’s first birthday.

    we’d been bouncing back and forth between wanting to do something but wanting to push off (as long as we can) the days of elaborate affairs with Oscars-level guest gift bags.

    so, we’ve decided to do something — but go militantly informal.

    basically, we’ll be picnicking at the bottom of Lion Hill at the National Zoo on Sunday, October 16th from 3pm to 5pm — and if you’d like to join us, we’d love to have you.

    we’ll bring a little food (cupcakes, snacks) and some blankets, and then just let Sparklet run around in the grass for a bit. i’m sure Sparklet will be taking guests on frequent tours of all her friends at the petting zoo. Other than that, just hope to be visiting with some friends and family.

    as part of the “militantly informal” part, we will be forcibly ejecting anybody who brings any presents, but please come and hang out with us if you have a free afternoon.

    no special need to tell us if you’re coming, but feel free to either drop us a comment/email or RSVP through the facebook event we’ve setup.

    we hope to see you soon 🙂

    Details

    Lion/Tiger Hill is the big grassy hill at the bottom of the Zoo (see the official zoo map here) where they do concerts and such.

    if you drive, the zoo’s parking lots D & E are very close to Lion Hill (and cost $15 for anything less than 3 hours) but we’ve had good success parking in the neighborhood just outside the Adams Mill Road entrance to the Zoo (link to Google Map) which is also very close to where we’ll be.

    If you metro, come in the main entrance, and keep going down hill, following the signs for the Lions/Tigers and the Kid’s Zoo.

  • found: the truth

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    “if you lived here you’d be home by now, but you still couldn’t vote.” mural on 18th street in adams-morgan, washington, dc.

  • out: kalorama park

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    out: kalorama park, washington, dc

  • out: walter pierce park

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    the austin spindlers (auntie nadine, uncle nadav) have flown in from Tejas for the long weekend. friendly faces, more hands — awesome.
    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    out: walter pierce park

  • #1000

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    jeez, that was quick. it took me five whole years to get to blog post #500 and now just 12 months later i’m at #1000.

    now, i’m not exactly a linear blogger — i’ve usually got 20 or more drafts posts going at any one time, many of which will eventually be backdated by twelve months or more. just last week I added 40+ posts about our trip to Europe in Spring 2009.

    but, everything i do is in service of my horrific memory — the point of going back and blogging about Europe isn’t so others will read, but so that future me can remember.

    (speaking of, i just spent 15 minutes reading through my posts tracking Sparklet’s “firsts”, and last week i spent what felt like an hour digging through the 50+ “photo of the week” posts tracking her growth. awesome.)

    back at post #500 i joked that:

    i have doubled the wonderful women in my life, and will certainly be doubling the silly, stupid things that i want to write down so i don’t forget.

    … and that has certainly turned out to be the case. i’ve never had so much material to write about, or so many things i’ve not wanted to forget.

    so, thanks to my 2.7 3.7 loyal readers for tagging along — here’s hoping that the next 1000 will be as much fun as the first.

  • firsts: overalls

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    i promised myself i’d never do a blog post that says “look how cute my baby is” — but, damn she’s cute in big people clothes. just sayin’.

  • marketing 101

    dude.

    late last month the formula we’ve used since month one to supplement mommy milk — similac sensitive r.s. — all of a sudden disappeared from the shelves, without a trace.

    we tried all the usual stores — empty shelves. the lady sparkler and i both went online to the manufacturer’s site, and it was gone like it never existed in the first place.

    after about two weeks, the empty spaces on the shelves suddenly filled up with a new flavor of formula in a baby puke green color.

    after two more hours of digging — er, googling — it appears that the new flavor (similac sensitive for spit up) is actually just a re-branded old flavor.

    only a different product name. and a completely different color. and a different safety seal. and no reference to the previous brand.

    how did we know? i had to compare the UPC codes off a bottle of the old formula.

    now, i’m not much of a marketer, but if they had kept any one thing from the previous design — keep the red bottle, keep the product name, keep a reference to old product — we wouldn’t have missed a beat and would have kept buying the “new” stuff like lemmings off a cliff.

    seriously, people. marketing 101.

    P.S. sparklet is just about off formula entirely (and mommy phased out of pumping late last month). starting this week we’ve got her on a mix of milk and lactaid — the latter being a holdover over from similac sensitive r.s. being lactose free.

    once she gets used to the whole milk thing, we’ll start phasing out the lactaid, and viola — high cholesterol, full lactose baby.

  • anniversary, apparently

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    the lady sparkler and i got a call from my mother today, wishing us a happy third wedding anniversary. we both looked at each other and said:

    wait, it’s our anniversary?

    apparently.

    UPDATE: aunt melissa has volunteered to babysit for us on a night of our choosing to help us go out and celebrate. yay 🙂

  • smile like you mean it

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    well, auntie jojo picked a heck of a weekend to come visit. sparklet got sick on Friday — a pretty standard ear/nose/throat thing — and i picked it up like clockwork on Sunday night. (it’s Tuesday, and i still haven’t been to work this week.)

    thank God she was family, and not somebody that we were trying to impress.

  • baby’s new web site design

    Screen Shot 2013-11-11 at 4.56.02 PM
    happy (early) birthday, sparklet!

    daddy doesn’t do much, be he does do web sites — so he spent the last couple of days designing and building out an new look in honor of your first birthday.

    the last design was great, but it was mostly someone else’s work, and i threw it up literally overnight when bad people started doing bad things to our website.

    so happy birthday, baby sparklet.

    someday you’ll be able to read — and when you can, you’ll finally understand why daddy’s been sticking that camera in your face for the last 12 months.

  • “mommy — this would go better if my shoes weren’t on backwards.”

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  • national zoo

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    see slideshow of the photos on flickr:
    national zoo, washington, dc

  • hank’s oyster bar

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    photo of the week // week fifty-one
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    it wasn’t ten minutes into our dinner tonight at hank’s oyster bar that i noticed — sparklet was tonight’s reminder to all the couples in the room to use birth control.

    we’re pretty sure she’s getting sick (head cold), she’s teething out of her skull (we’re up to 8 teeth now, at least that we can see), she’s not sleeping (see first two) and now that she’s walking regularly, she’s just not finding the sweet confines of a high chair quite as alluring.

    i did the first (of what i’m sure will be many) evacuation of a restaurant so others could eat in peace — which is more than fine, as i’m always the first one done eating.

    we decided to play in traffic (and with strange dogs) instead.

    see slideshow of photos on flickr:
    hank’s oyster bar, washington, dc

  • guestbook: auntie jojo

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    see all the photos on flickr:
    guestbook

  • out: walter pierce park

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    see slideshow of photos on flickr:
    walter pierce park, washington, dc

  • found: september

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    camera dump: september

  • auntie jojo, guest photographer

    [Guest Photographer, Jojo-Monster.]
    [Guest Photographer, Jojo-Monster.]
    [Guest Photographer, Jojo-Monster.]
    auntie jojo is town this weekend, which means we have all sorts of bonuses — extra set of hands, extra eyes for averting potential disasters, extra brain to cover the sleep deprived, extra attention span for she-who-has-separation-anxiety, and an extra person looking through the view finder. i hope she never leaves.
    see slideshow of the photos on flickr:
    auntie jojo, photos from guest photographer

  • “i got my passport, furball — where’s yours?”

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  • bucket envy

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    after last week’s fill-the-bucket-with-mulch-a-thon i decided to spring the $2.79 — i know, i know, it wouldn’t have been so expensive at IKEA — to buy sparklet a bucket of her very own.

    sparklet was so enraptured that she refused to give the bucket to the guy behind the counter to check out. now, if only we had some mulch to put in the bucket …

  • turns out you *can* put a price on everything

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    it was an interesting trip back from Williamsburg.

    we left right before nap time so she’s sleep on the way, but she threw up around mile 65, let forth a massive poo around mile 120, and then we finally gave up at mile 175 (Potomac Mills) because we just couldn’t stand being in the car any longer. (she never napped.)

    the one thing i love about IKEA is because it is a lot like taco bell — try as you may, it’s really hard to walk out of there spending more than half at what you’d spend at any of their competitors.

    seriously, we got sparklet her birthday presents — a table/chair set and a 6-foot long alligator/crocodile (i can never tell the difference, especially when fake) — and all together they cost $0.37.

    oh, if you see sparklet, don’t tell her what we got her for her birthday. don’t want to ruin the surprise.

    UPDATE: in the small miracles department, sparklet slept through the night after skipping her afternoon nap on the way back from williamsburg. i’m not sure the 12 hours of uninterrupted sleep is worth the pain of cranky daytime sparklet, but it’s a hypothetical that i’m willing to explore 🙂

  • firsts: crayons

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    one could argue that this is sparklet’s second use of crayons, but if she drew my father’s day present without mommy’s help then we seriously need to pass on pre-school and send her straight to the School of the Art Institute in Chicago.

    first crayons: plaza azteca, williamsburg, virginia.

  • playtime

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    [Grant Poppa Roberts, Williamsburg, Virginia]
    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    playtime in williamsburg, virginia

  • travel: williamsburg, virginia

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    quick trip to williamsburg to see the gram, grampa and poppa. we’ll see the grandparents in a couple of weeks for sparklet’s first birthday — crazy, i know — but the next time we see poppa might not be until christmas.
    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    travel: williamsburg, virginia

  • week fifty

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    photo of the week // week fifty

  • fill the bucket, empty the bucket

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    i just spent 10 minutes watching sparklet fill the dump truck with mulch, empty the mulch from the dump truck, fill the dump truck, empty the dump truck …

    when she finally got bored with that she found a bucket — and i spent 15 minutes watching sparklet fill the bucket with mulch, empty the bucket of mulch, fill the bucket of mulch, empty the bucket of mulch …

    i actually have video proof — but it is not for the those with a low threshold of boredom.

    … and i only took the video because i needed something to do to prevent me from lapsing into a coma.

    i can’t believe i have a worse case of A.D.D. than my child. where did she get this attention span from?

    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    fill the bucket, guy mason park, glover park, dc

  • video: zoom, zoom

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IE2XMBsUQKU

  • sleep training

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    well, it’s probably no secret that sparklet ain’t sleeping much.

    we had a nice window of largely uninterrupted overnight sleeping between month four and month nine, but it’s been some variation on the 10pm/1am/4am wakey-wakey-eggs-and-bakey theme since then.

    in a feeble attempt to demostrate parenting leadership, we’ve launched on a campaign of sleep training.

    (fwiw, i have no idea what that means either, other than it makes us feel better that we’re doing something.)

    there seems to be two big problems:

    first (in the immortal words of our pediatrician) if you wake up every night at 1am and eat a sandwich, pretty soon you’ll be up every night at 1am looking for a sandwich.

    so, as of last Friday, no more overnight sandwiches for sparklet.

    the other issue is some kind of separation anxiety from mommy — whenever the lady sparkler leaves the nursery over night, baby sparklet is awake 5 minutes later (or less) screaming for company.

    ironically, daddy leaving the room seems to have no such effect.

    this, of course, is one of those double slaps in the face. first slap? she doesn’t care if daddy leaves the room. nice. second slap? i’ve become “the closer,” and am now on baby duty each every time she wakes up during the middle of the night, because realistically i’m the only one that can get her back down.

    it’s like rain on your wedding day. or a free ride when you’ve already paid.

    crazy.

  • preview: costa rica

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    friends of ours are getting married this december — some of the very same friends who shared this charming RFK moment with us many years back.

    he’s costa rican, she’s from ohio.

    i’m not exactly sure how long they debated about which hometown would hold the wedding, but i’m guessing it took about as long as us deciding to attend ourselves.

    the wedding is in the Guanacaste region of northwest Costa Rica, and we’ll tack on some time before hand around the volcanos of Arenal.

    and, sparklet’s getting a passport.

    part of the reason we’re going is because sparklet will be at such a good age — 15 months, which is old enough to walk and old enough to be amazed by the animals and old enough to eat sand.

    we’ve already filled out her passport paperwork (that’s the photo we used, above) and we’ve bought us some plane tickets (sparklet get’s her very own seat).

    now, we just need places to stay, some way to get around, and some really big suitcases.

  • sunday afternoon

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    out: playground at walter pierce park, adams-morgan, washington, dc; playground at guy mason park, glover park, washington, dc.

  • video: first steps towards walking

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uYapFWrrX0

    sparklet’s been taking three or four steps for a couple weeks now — far, but not far enough to get out the video camera.

    today we finally got our act together and took her out to a nearby ballfield (guy mason park in glover park). that gave us enough space to put the camera on a tripod, which giving us the four hands required for this sort of walk-training instead of just two.

  • “this… stuff … is… AWESOME!”

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  • week forty-nine

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    photo of the week // week forty-nine

  • found: babies eat free

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  • hike: schaeffer farm, seneca creek state park, maryland

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    trail information:
    Trailhead: 39.142838, -77.310373 (Google Maps); Length: 3.5 total miles; Elevation Gain: Minimal; Trail Type: Loop; Skill Level: Easy.
    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    hike: schaeffer farm trails, seneca creek state park, boyds, maryland

  • video: catch

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dxM1aibiZE

  • firsts: shoes and socks

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    shoes and socks

  • photos: bear rocks preserve, west virginia

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    photos: bear rocks preserve, west virginia

  • photos: monongahela national forest, west virginia

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    photos: monongahela national forest, west virginia

  • wishing

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    we’ve got a new CMO at work — chief marketing officer — and i’ve been itching to meet him.

    i’m itching partly because i’ve heard such great things, and partly because i don’t have a good track record with meeting my “C”-level executives so i want to get it out of the way.

    see, when i first started at my current gig i met the then CEO … on my second day … in the 2nd floor bathroom.

    it was awkward as hell, and over the next four years he proceeded to introduce himself to me each and every time he saw me, never once remembering that we had met before.

    about three years ago we got another CEO and about a month into his tenure i met *him* for the first time … in the 4th floor bathroom.

    it was awkward as hell, and I haven’t really talked with him since.

    so it was with GREAT relief that i made it to the conference (which our new CMO is leading/attending) without any untimely meetings in a bathroom back in the worldwide office.

    it just so happens that i met our new CMO this morning … in the bathroom of conference center … while i was actively using the, er, facilities.

    it was awkward as hell.

    no word yet on if we’ll ever speak again.

  • archive: the year in tweets, 2009-2010

    I started tweeting two years ago, today — so i’m archiving another batch posterity, on the off chance that Twitter goes belly up and takes their historical archive with them. Not bloody likely, but I’m neurotic like that.

    14 Sep 10 … i just spent 45 minutes watching TV on mute so i don’t wake the baby. i’m 300 miles away at a conference for work.
    8 Sep 10 … i just watched … two minutes! … of Aftermath with William Shatner … before his speach pattern … forced me … to turn it off.
    1 Sep 10 … froyo!!!
    26 Aug 10 … oh, and the zoo becomes much more interesting when your daughter wants to climb into the pens.
    26 Aug 10 … there is something about the use of a toddler “leash” that creeps me out.
    25 Aug 10 … awww. little kids with backpacks, shuffling off to school. it’s the only time of year when i’m happy to be old.
    16 Aug 10 … not much can top watching kids from an inner-city school seeing a panda for the first time.
    14 Aug 10 … are you ready for some futbol?
    14 Aug 10 … fifteen minutes late to the Nats game, and they’re already losing.
    13 Aug 10 … last night i saw a 60-year old drunk woman jump onto her table and start dancing. we shall never speak of this again.
    12 Aug 10 … i have somehow pulled a hamstring, which would be more tolerable if i had actually exercised at some point in the last 18 months.
    11 Aug 10 … my current book of stamps are for 39 cents. i’ve missed 3 rate increases, and apparently haven’t mailed anything since 2006.
    7 Aug 10 … dude, I can’t take you seriously as an angry-tailgating-hipster when you’re driving a PT Cruiser. not gonna happen.
    7 Aug 10 … just tried to engage the turn signal on our stroller. might be time for a nap.
    29 Jul 10 … weekend, in no particular order: reunion, cousins, boating, bowling, remembering, seafood, family birthday and a trip to Fenway. nice.
    26 Jul 10 … this “I’m tired so I’m going to sit up” phase is getting pretty old.
    22 Jul 10 … in my tivo queue, “b-girl: a young woman overcomes obstacles to complete in underground break-dancing.” uuuhhhm, Tasha??
    20 Jul 10 … hey, Jeff Smith (@SpeakUpW1). thx for waking my sleeping baby to canvass me about your campaign. let’s not do that again, maybe?
    15 Jul 10 … I feel like I need some kind of large sporting event to monopolize my time.
    9 Jul 10 … no way LaBron wins a championship in the next three years, which makes him throwing Cleveland under the bus that much sadder.
    7 Jul 10 … date night!
    3 Jul 10 … #$%&@ Germany. I’m running out of teams to root for.
    27 Jun 10 … if I’m in the running to be the youngest person seeing a concert at your venue, it’s time to rethink your business model.
    27 Jun 10 … pretty sure I just set a record for most times getting cut-off in a single trip to home depot. I [heart] suburbia.
    26 Jun 10 … this is why I’m proud to be Canadian.
    23 Jun 10 … watching tape of France v So Africa. feel like I owe it to watch the hosts win. feel like Im owed watching the French vomit on themslvs.
    22 Jun 10 … watching CNN raise money for the Conservancy’s work in the Gulf. I love watching someone else do my job for me.
    18 Jun 10 … “i’mmm rocket powwwered, slooow motion through the sky.” http://youtu.be/ELZ0k4xoMwk
    18 Jun 10 … I honesty have no clue where I street parked my car last night. you suburban people with your fancy “driveways” suck.
    16 Jun 10 … at the Tift Merritt concert. There’s like 12 people here, and the guy at the front asked to check my purse. Not a good night so far.
    16 Jun 10 … going to a rock n’ roll show tomorrow (well, Tift Merritt) and it’s making me feel so young and hip (except that it’s Tift Merritt).
    11 Jun 10 … i’m watching the world cup, and you can too — a primer: http://shar.es/mAyN5
    7 Jun 10 … beat L.A.! beat L.A.!
    29 May 10 … pitcher of shiner bock, watching the Celtics. Houston is *exactly* like the western part of Massachusetts.
    25 May 10 … sparklet just grabbed me by both ears and started gnawing on my nose. think she might be hungry.
    20 May 10 … girl just posed for a picture in front of the logo on our building at work. ahhh, it must be intern season.
    16 May 10 … there’s a lot of crazy looking things at the zoo today, and they all seem to be on the wrong side of the glass.
    9 May 10 … my 21 lbs, 30 inch, 6 month-old baby is going through another growth spurt. <shudder>
    6 May 10 … champions league for tottenham hotspur! I know nobody knows what that means, but trust me its a really big deal.
    2 May 10 … God, this baby is cute.
    26 Apr 10 … it’s five years with @nature_org for me, almost two years longer than i’ve held any other job. oh, where has the time gone?
    24 Apr 10 … sadly, @koonsauto doesn’t seem to be taking the toyota recall very seriously | http://bit.ly/ay4ntX
    24 Apr 10 … yay! @koonsauto agreed to fix the issue with the prius recall, and in record time | http://bit.ly/ay4ntX
    24 Apr 10 … you lose the right to criticize my driving if (a) you’re actively jaywalking, or (b) wearing green short pants w/ embroidered puppies.
    23 Apr 10 … the only thing worse than a dentist appointment is arriving to find the office closed, and knowing you’ll have to do it all over again.
    23 Apr 10 … waiting for the bus with a woman in a full burkha, with a closed face and gloves. that’s pretty hardcore for this part of DC.
    20 Apr 10 … and i, for one, welcome our new #prius overlord.
    18 Apr 10 … thinking of getting a 2008 Toyota Prius (VI). anything we should be concerned about?
    12 Apr 10 … my email inbox has no apparent function beyond collecting Facebook notifications.
    10 Apr 10 … wow, t-shirt just set new bar for jingoism: “If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you can read this in English, thank a soldier.”
    7 Apr 10 … I was just pick-pocketed by a five month-old. life as i knew it is pretty much over.
    5 Apr 10 … thanks for all the birthday wishes! I love you guys 🙂
    28 Mar 10 … neighbor just asked for two ethernet cables and a networking hub. is this the new cup of sugar?
    26 Mar 10 … what happens in middle america that makes tourists think it’s okay to walk 7 abreast on DC sidewalks?
    22 Mar 10 … feeling silly because i stayed up last night to watch, not basketball, but the health care vote on CSPAN.
    16 Mar 10 … we’re talking about you, Jon Colman. are your ears burning?
    13 Mar 10 … way to go, terps. nothing says “we’re best in the conference” quite like losing your first game in the tournament.
    10 Mar 10 … as certain as any law of physics, a baby’s likelihood of waking up early is directly related to your need/ability to sleep in.
    9 Mar 10 … trying to figure out who to blame for the forest of white hairs that has sprouted from my noggin’.
    3 Mar 10 … “facebook and omniture are huge advocates for privacy.” #omtrsummit
    3 Mar 10 … either i’m really bad at picking breakout sessions, or my expectations are just way too high. #omtrsummit
    3 Mar 10 … it’s 9:00 am and i’m at Club Dork? #omtrsummit — http://tweetphoto.com/13123004
    3 Mar 10 … The Killers are playing tonight at #omtrsummit!?! our subscription fees are obviously way too high if they can afford that.
    2 Mar 10 … why I don’t watch CNN: “Is US Quake Next? 75 million Americans at Risk”
    27 Feb 10 … phrase I was not expecting to hear tonight: “is that Susan Boyle singing ‘Wild Horses’?”
    21 Feb 10 … who has a phone they use as an mp3 player, that’s on verizon, that doesn’t suck? need an excuse to toss my AT&T/iPhone in the toilet.
    15 Feb 10 … there is a nun ice-skating on the National Mall. I wish I was making this up.
    25 Jan 10 … does it count as an “outing” if you’re just pushing around a sleeping baby?
    7 Jan 10 … how #att has made me swear off my #iphone — http://theparkerfamily.org/musings/posts/3625
    27 Dec 09 … first date with wife in three months. no clue what to talk about that doesn’t involve diapers. wish me luck.
    9 Dec 09 … you forget how diverse DC is until you are standing in line at the courthouse for jury duty.
    2 Dec 09 … snickering because my Chinese-made computer is stuck in a customs review by the Dept of Agriculture. Wrong type of “Apple” boys.
    18 Nov 09 … mourning the death of Ken Ober, host of MTV’s classic game show “Remote Control” – http://tinyurl.com/ygj2qnl
    6 Nov 09 … if people made babies before Peapod delivered groceries, I don’t want to even think about it.
    5 Nov 09 … left iPhone in car last night, and dreamt that it was stolen so I could switch to a network that didn’t suck hairy butt.
    13 Oct 09 … “either the baby is sitting on my bladder or my water just broke. not sure which.”
    13 Oct 09 … “where are we going again? no seriously, grab my iPhone. I have no clue where the hospital is.”
    13 Oct 09 … mommy is doing great, and dr says we’re about half way there. looks like baby sparklet wants to parrr-tay tonight.
    11 Oct 09 … well, the good news about the Red Sox is that I now have pleanty of free time for the rest of October.
    10 Oct 09 … new low. left TiVo remote in other room, and just downloaded a TiVo Remote app for the iPhone to avoid having to get up and get it.
    9 Oct 09 … it’s 11:03 pm, and just closed the 4th inning. way to make the MLB playoffs accessable to the masses there Commish.
    6 Oct 09 … we’re deciding between BBQ and Ben’s Chili Bowl for anniversary dinner tonight. did I mention that I love my wife?!?
    4 Oct 09 … you know you are married and pregnant when saturday night excitement is walking to the target to look at baby crap.
    3 Oct 09 … watching William & Mary football in HD, which confirms that there are waaaay too many channels looking for programming these days.
    28 Sep 09 … u2 concert tmrw, with 8 month preggers wife. thinking about pillows and duct tape for makeshift belly “ear muffs.”
    27 Sep 09 … glad I’m not a Redskins fan.

  • photos: stonewall jackson lake state park, west virginia

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    photos: stonewall jackson lake state park, west virginia

  • unhappy electorate

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    there’s a tough primary for Mayor in D.C. today, between an incumbent (Fenty) who seems only interested in the white people of northwest, and the challenger (Gray) who seems more intent on spreading the city-coffers-love around to the other quarter million people who live more east and south.

    it’s like the ultimate in liberal dilemma — do you vote for the person who clearly most benefits you, or the person who will most benefit the people who need the most benefit?

    fortunately for me, i don’t actually have to make a decision between the two evils — because D.C. forgot to send me the absentee ballot i requested, and West Virginia is a long, long way away from the ballot boxes.

    it’s too bad, because this is my one chance to vote this year — with 75% of D.C. voters registered as Democtats, the Repubs aren’t even expected to field a Mayoral candidate for the general.

  • found: seems like good advice considering the alternative

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  • photos: West Virginia Route 55

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    route 55 cuts through the Monongahela National Forest, taking people from Front Royal, Virginia in the east through to central West Virginia, near where my conference is being held.

    the landscapes along the route are exotic — much more like rural Australia and much less like what i’d have expected being only a couple hundred miles from D.C..

    See Slideshow of Photos on Flickr:
    photos: West Virginia Route 55

  • travel: stonewall, west virginia

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    i’m off for a couple of days — work is having an internal marketing conference out in west virginia for a couple of days, which means i won’t be back until Thursday.

    the conference is actually at resort that is part of a west virginia state park, and isn’t too too far from Monongahela National Forest.

    i’ve looked over the conference materials and there is less than three hours built into the schedule for us to actually be out in nature — which is ironic considering who i work for — but i’m taking the “good” camera for the pretty stuff on the drive out and back.

    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    travel: stonewall resort, west virginia

  • found: chris berman

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    Separated at Birth?
    Sparklet and ESPN anchor Chris Berman — you make the call.

  • guestbook: mike, mina and ita

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    guestbook: mike, mina and rita

  • out: turtle park

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    out: turtle park, washington, dc

  • getting-a-toy-from-the-toy-box FAIL

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  • “now, where did i hide my copy of Altas Shrugged?”

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    photo of the week // eleven months

  • video: showing off on the rocking horse

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozYDadpF4Ok

  • gestures

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    i’ve been putting off writing this post, because i’ve been sorta hoping that sparklet would stop. it’s been three months. she hasn’t.

    sparklet likes flicking people off — a lot.

    she does it dozens of times a day, even though we’ve only been called on it a handful of times — comments from strangers like “bet you can’t wait for her to pick a different finger” or “that must make you nervous to walk her east of 14th street.”

    yup, and yup.

  • week forty-seven

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    photo of the week // week forty-seven

  • firsts: walking with a walker

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6_lhPSOQ0E

    while this is technically her second time walking with some kind of mechanical assistance, it’s the first time we’ve gotten video.

    (video from Rose Park, in Georgetown.)

  • out: georgetown waterfront

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  • video: outake

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCQomotAm-A

    up until this weekend, i was about two months behind on stitching together videos — and i’m starting to understand how people end up with stacks and stacks of mini-dv tapes piled up on a shelf, collecting dust.

    but, before you watch any of the rest of the videos, watch the outtake above. laugh-out-loud funny. in hindsight.

    • stairs — sparklet is moving up and down stairs like nobody’s business. of course, we don’t have any, so we have to borrow the stairs at the playground.
    • baby/birds in a bucket — the full session that produced the (hilarious!) outake above.
    • bubble gum — two rules, do something cute and don’t eat the camera. did okay on the first. not so much on the latter.
    • sparklet’s first film — it’s a little avant guarde. or maybe just weird for the sake of being weird. but who am i to judge?

  • guestbook: chris & sean

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    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    guestbook (2009-10)

  • camp: cunningham state park

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    everyone’s favorite groomsmaid is in town this weekend, camping with her family. drove up for the morning, and snuck in a little swimming. hopefully next time we’re in a campground, we’ll actually be spending the night.
    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    cunningham state park, thurmond, maryland

  • “hey, baby … come here often?”

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  • video: stairs

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiNoKIyCGMM

    sparklet is moving up and down stairs like nobody’s business. of course, we don’t have any, so we have to borrow them from the playground.

  • hike: stony man trail, shenandoah national park, virginia

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    trail information:
    Trailhead: 38.589168, -78.374405 (Google Maps); Length: 1.6 total miles; Elevation Gain: 320 feet; Trail Type: Loop; Skill Level: Easy.
    See a Slideshow the Photos on Flickr:
    stony man mountain, shenandoah national park, virginia

  • proud papa

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    the lions at the zoo just had babies — four of them — and not knowing anything about animal husbandry, sparklet and i wandered up to the exhibit to see if they’d be out running around yet.

    no babies, but dad was there.

    which brings up a good point — if the lady sparkler ever comes home with four babies, i’m taking papa lion’s lead by running into the back yard, climbing on top of the highest point, and hoping for the chaos will subside without my active participation.

  • video: road trip

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqc9XgNbjeM

  • accident vs. incompetence

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    soooo, i rear ended someone today in our (somewhat) new (to us) prius. i’m fine, and *certainly* wasn’t at fault, but it reminds me how much i hate driving on the wrong side of the river.

    here are the things that the driver (from Virginia, natch) did wrong (with a photo illustration in case you get confused):

    1. he was coming from alexandria, so in order to be where he was he had to illegally cut across at least one lane of traffic to get there.
    2. he ignored a “circle traffic must stay in the circle during rush hour” sign, and pulled out into the flow of traffic.
    3. he cut across four lanes of traffic — four! — including three lanes with solid white lines.
    4. he cut me off, and then immediately slammed on his breaks for a pedestrian in the crosswalk.

    the only good news is that he stopped, and didn’t hit the pedestrian (who was emerging from behind a big lumbering passenger van).

    that’s when it got fun.

    he blamed the van driver for “letting” the pedestrian use the crosswalk, and then eagerly blew off the damage to his car (you can make out the outline of my license plate on his rear bumper) to get the heck out of dodge.

    i double checked The Prius soon after i started breathing again, and no damage to my car — or me, for that matter. he did give me his information after i took a picture of his license plate, but strangely didn’t seem interested in waiting for mine.

    wonder if he’ll do that little stunt again.

  • found: august

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    camera dump: august

  • “iiii am the ghooost of faaashion paaaast…”

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  • “excuse me, I believe you have my red stapler…”

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    Active Spine and Support
    Arlington, Virginia

  • out: friendship heights spray park

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    sparklet must of walked around this place for 20 minutes today, held up by some kind of fake-lawn-mower-works-like-an-old-dude’s-walker thing. unfortunately, i was alone so all the photos are decidedly top-down.
    See a Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    friendship heights spray park, washington, dc

  • out: national sculpture garden fountain

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    not sure we’ve ever been to the sculpture garden when it wasn’t 20 degrees out, but it’s actually quite lovely. they even let you hang your feet over the edge — or in sparklet’s case, her face.
    See a Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    national sculpture garden, washington, dc

  • take mommy to work day

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  • going downtown

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    our nanny-share has shut down for the week — the nanny’s on vacation — so i’m off this week for some bonding-with-sparklet time.

    nothing in particular planned, but it’s so #$%^#ing hot that whatever we end up doing, it’ll be indoors — first stop, national museum of natural history.

    strange how the weather always seem to suck on my weeks off with sparklet.

  • “rise, my black bean. riiiiise!”

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    commonwealth gastropub, washington, dc

  • out: brunch with the talimo’s

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    brunch with the talimos, our former nanny-share partners and sparklet’s bff. goodness ensued, not limited to jalapeno-cheese scones that were frankly too good for description with the English language.

    More photos at taliandmo.com, but frankly we were too busy eating for much photography ….

  • video: sparklet, the filmographer

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGMrzKEyh8E

    it’s a little avant guarde. or maybe just weird for the sake of being weird. but who am i to judge?

  • week forty-six

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    photo of the week // week forty-six

  • humanity, pt 2

    Favorite bit of coverage from the Glenn Beck-apalooza being held on the National Mall as we speak:

    In a rather curious and confused way, some white people are starting almost to think like a minority, even like a persecuted one.

    What does it take to believe that Christianity is an endangered religion in America or that the name of Jesus is insufficiently spoken or appreciated? Who wakes up believing that there is no appreciation for our veterans and our armed forces and that without a noisy speech from Sarah Palin, their sacrifice would be scorned?

    It’s not unfair to say that such grievances are purely and simply imaginary, which in turn leads one to ask what the real ones can be. The clue, surely, is furnished by the remainder of the speeches, which deny racial feeling so monotonously and vehemently as to draw attention.

    CREDITS: Excerpt from Christopher Hitchens’ White Fright, via Slate; Photo © Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post.

  • dc state fair

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    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    dc state fair, columbia heights, washington, dc

  • sparklet vs. cat

    ECPA20100827_4877 by [ecpark] ECPA20100827_4906 by [ecpark]
    ECPA20100827_4882 by [ecpark] ECPA20100827_4905 by [ecpark]
    ECPA20100827_4897 by [ecpark] ECPA20100827_4907 by [ecpark]
    ECPA20100827_4909 by [ecpark] ECPA20100827_4912 by [ecpark]
    ECPA20100827_4915 by [ecpark] ECPA20100827_4904 by [ecpark]

  • mommy should drink at work more often

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    the lady sparkler’s office had an early happy hour this afternoon, which meant that (a) she got home early, and (b) that she was really “happy” when she got home — and by “happy” i mean swerving the stroller around like it was a roller coaster.

    sparklet was MUCH impressed.

  • “let me in!”

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    things have fundamentally changed now that sparklet’s seen cows in the wild — being on the “wrong” side of the fence is simply no longer acceptable.

  • “we’ve got 800 channels — there’s got to be something on besides this.”

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    sparklet and i just watced the UEFA Champions League qualifier between Tottenham Hotspur (COYS!) and BSC Young Boys of switzerland, a match Tottenham won to put them through to the group stages of potentially the most prestigious competition on the planet.

    if sparklet ever figured out how to actually use that remote, i’m screwed.

  • chorizo and spinach tacos

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    this is based loosely on a breakfast taco that i love to get in texas. only, i’m not such a big fan of the egg — to i left that part out and made them dinner tacos instead. they’re super simple to make, but the result depends almost entirely on the quality of the ingredients.

    more after the jump …

    (more…)

  • guestbook: nancy

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    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    guestbook: nancy

  • hike: piedmont/gap run trails, sky meadows state park, virginia

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    damn, i’m out of shape.

    i haven’t looked it up yet, but the 2 mile trail we just did had enough altitude gain that it might as well been the north face of mount everest, as least as far as my frail body/flabby midsection was concerned.

    and, sparklet was unkind — providing very verbal feedback every 10 feet when her daddy/sherpa stopping to suck wind.

    the big news of the morning came on the way back down, when we ran smack into a herd of cows — animals, i should point out, that didn’t seem to be having a problem with the altitude.

    we ran into them right as we were coming over a blind rise, so by the time sparklet saw them they were maybe 10 feet away, and she was utterly confounded about how a whole pack of her friends from the petting zoo got up here (and how she got on the wrong side of the fence, i’d imagine).

    after about 10 minutes of staring (with a competition between sparklet’s eyes and her mouth for which could be open the widest) we finally said goodbye to the cows and continued on.

    sparklet wailed, until we turned back.

    after 5 more minutes of staring (and waving, and giggling) we once again said goodbye to the cows and continued on.

    sparklet wailed.

    it wasn’t until three more rounds of this that the cows were far enough away that sparklet finally lost interest in her first official “wildlife” sighting.

    and, being the out-of-shape/selfish nit that i am, the whole time i was wondering why we couldn’t have seen the cows on the way UP the mountain, when i could have used the excuse to stop.


    trail information:
    Trailhead: 38.992886,-77.967272 (Google Maps); Length: 2.1 total miles; Elevation Gain: 360 feet; Trail Type: Out-and-back; Skill Level: Moderate.

    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    sky meadows state park, delaplane, virginia

  • francis public pool

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    i’ve got to say that dc public pools are nothing like what i’d imagined — though given the state of some dc public school buildings, what i was expecting was a pretty low bar.

    there were maybe 25 people at the pool at 4pm on a Sunday, mostly parents with children.

    oddly enough, lots of international types who weren’t speaking the English so good — but no hordes of unattended kids whose parents had dumped them at the pool 8 hours earlier.

    the kiddy pool was gi-normous (15′ x 30’ish) and sloped like a beach from inches to about two feet deep.

    don’t get me wrong — the pool wasn’t gleaming (i wouldn’t put sparklet down on the floor of the shower room) but it was certainly no worse than the neighborhood pool where i grew up.

    and, for DC, that’s pretty outstanding.

    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    francis public pool, washington, dc

  • video: baby/birds in a bucket

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KU7-__ZXVnQ

    … and, if you haven’t seen it, watch the outake here.

  • wow, they really *do* make a container for just about everything

    []

  • try as she may, sparklet was unable to prove her hypothesis that you can take a tissue without another popping up in its place

    []

  • hike: fox hollow, shenandoah national park, virginia

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    trail information:
    Trailhead: 38.624113, -78.288574 (Google Maps); Length: 1.2 total miles; Elevation Gain: 310 feet; Trail Type: Loop; Skill Level: Easy.
    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    fox hollow trail, shenandoah national park, virginia

  • “i’m smiling because i’m cuter than you.”

    []

    photo of the week // week forty-five

  • samber market

    []
    sparklet and i were in samber market today — buying our usual array of beer and ice cream — when sparklet started flirting with one of the incredibly nice korean owners of the place.

    the nice lady grabbed a little bear keychain from off the wall, and gave it to us gratis.

    i love mount pleasant.

    p.s. sometime when i’m feeling brave, i’m going to ask the owners about their life story — their english isn’t great, but there is a picture of the husband in full marine dress uniform behind the cash register.

    something tells me there is a great story there.

  • boyfriend, nanny, me

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  • this view really never gets old

    []

  • real “oreo” cookies

    []
    a good friend of mine from my early days at the Conservancy used to take people around on their first day with a plate of brownies, which (i have to admit) puts people in a pretty great state of mind to meet a new colleague.

    i decided this weekend to resurrect the tradition — after tripping on a real “oreo” cookie recipe on foodnetwork.com.

    great cookies. the only thing i’d change is that the two outer cookies (at 1/4 inch each) were waaaay too thick. when i make these again, i’m rolling out the dough to less than half that, so people can actually bite through without squirting out all the cream-filling.

    oh, and turns out our new employee has an problem with gluten, so it was really more of a present for everyone else.

  • video: how i’ll remember fenway

    this video is not mine (my brother took it with his fancy-pants camera phone) but this is exactly how i’ll remember walking into fenway for the first time. family, green monster, stadium. and they even won, too.

  • guestbook: babs

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    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    guestbook: babs

  • week forty-four

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    photo of the week // week forty-four

  • flirting with the boyfriend

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  • video: bubble gum

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jv_7X7mcpc

    two rules, do something cute and don’t eat the camera. did okay on the first. not so much on the latter.

  • james mcmurtry @ the birchmere

    []
    first, i have to say that i have to disclose that i just saw a 60 year old drunk woman jump on her table and start dancing to the music.

    this is one of those times where there just aren’t enough words in the english language.

    second, this is the first concert that i’ve gotten rained on while *in* the building. during the warm up act, a hole opened up in the ceiling directly in front of us and gushed water for 30 seconds.

    thankfully, it coincided with two 6+ feet tall men trying to sit down in those seats and block our view. for some reason, they decided to sit down in another part of the room and the puddle warned people off for the rest of the night.

    we thought he was great when we saw him (and his mom) six years ago in berkeley springs, but this time he seemed maybe two rungs above his usual self.

    when mcmurtry plays a six-string guitar, it sounds like it has 12. when he plays a 12-string guitar, it sounds like it has 50. his ability to rip the lid off songs — while playing solo, on acoustic guitar — is just crazy.

    that, and for once the lady sparkler didn’t have to wait the whole concert to see if she’d hear her favorite song — he played rachel’s song right off the bat.

    and all was right with the world.

    SET LIST: Melinda · Saint Mary of the Woods · Rachel’s Song · Down Across the Delaware · See The Elephant · Hurricane Party · Leonard Cohen Must Die · Choctaw Bingo · Out Here in the Middle · Restless · Safe Side · Ruby and Carlos · Levelland · Peter Pan · No More Buffalo

  • tea time

    []
    my godparents had a tradition where every day at 4:00 pm (“tea time”) they’d sit down together and have a drink — gloria had some kind of sweet, fruity wine; paul a rolling rock.

    i’m proud to say that sparklet and i’ve picked up the tradition …

    … granted, it’s a little later (we don’t get home until 4:45 usually).

    .. granted, instead of rolling rock i’m drinking some kind of fruity beer that would get my man card revoked (lately, lucy from starr hill or purple haze from abita).

    … granted, instead of fruity wine, sparklet is usually enjoying the classic, refined flavor of mommy juice.

    but, it’s the thought that counts. now if we can just get sparklet to start eating dinner, again.

  • three-cheese mushroom and spinach calzone

    []
    made a three-cheese mushroom and spinach calzone from epicurious, and the recipe was just spot-on good. one small change — it says to use parmesan, fontina and ricotta cheeses, but i used romano, fontina and mozzarella instead (as i hate ricotta, and had just run out of parmesan).

    the other thing to point out is the note in the recipe that you can usually stop by your local pizzeria and they will sell you fresh dough — it’s true, it works, and it makes the recipe overflow with awesomeness.

  • guitar hero

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    sparklet was bouncing around today to “when we were young” by the killers, so we decided to really blow her mind — and it worked.

    shattered.

  • firsts: sippy cup

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  • the others

    as shocking as it is to my fragile, miopic worldview — we aren’t the first theparkerfamily.org.

    turns out, according to the internet archive “wayback machine” there was another parker family who had the domain back in 2001.

    i don’t have much on who they were — scott was the dad and wasn’t up for “programmer of the year”, jordan was the daughter and created a fan site for horses (called “thunder horses” no less) and a cheerleading page (featuring nearly impenetrable cheerleading trivia).

    family thunderhorses cheerleading

    unfortunately, 2 minutes of googling didn’t lead to any “where are they now” stories, and that’s just about the sum total of my attention span these days.

    in other news, the new owners of evanandtasha.com — our wedding domain from a few years back — got married, went on a cruise, and if splash pages are to be believed may be thinking about babies.

    more bulletins as warranted.

    From the Wayback Machine:
    the other theparkerfamily.org

  • national zoo

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    you’d think with the number of times we’ve been to the petting zoo that sparklet would have actually pet something by now — but sadly it’s not the case.

    most of the time it’s just me and the sparklet and there are just too many things to lose track of — hands on livestock, hands near eyes, hands in mouth mouth, stroller, camera, sanity, etc.

    but this time i had help. and she had petting (that’s Flash the Miniature Mediterranean Donkey, btw).

    the result? a bit of a yawner, actually.

    sparklet only really identifies things as animals when they move — everything else is just a big carpet. but, if the animals are moving, she can’t pet them. if they’re not moving, then what’s the point?

    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    national zoo

  • discriminating palate

    []
    i’ve got no clue what the heck is going on, but all of a sudden sparklet has developed a discriminating palate. and by “discriminating” i mean she will only eat black beans.

    the lady sparkler has been slowly working more and more real food into her diet, and it must have dawned on her that we’ve been holding out — suddenly, that crappy-old pureed vegetables and fruits wasn’t going to cut it anymore.

    not that there was every a doubt, but it looks like we’ve created a diva.

  • out: walter pierce park

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    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    out: walter pierce park, washington, dc

  • “that’s it, i’m gone…”

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  • firsts: sheet fort

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    photo of the week // week forty-three
    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    firsts: building a sheet fort

  • guestbook: katie

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    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    guestbook: katie

  • the first phase is the deepest

    []
    not that she really needed any more neat tricks, but sparklet is entering a “I’m tired so I’m going to sit up” phase.

    putting her to bed the last couple of nights has been awesome.

    of course, even better will be the “I’m tired so I’m going to stand and wail in the crib” phase, and the “I’m tired so I’m going to destroy this room” phase.

    awesome.

  • “you didn’t tell me there were people back here…”

    []
    sparklet’s first word is officially “hi”.

    she said it once last weekend, and the lady sparkler and i nearly jumped out of our skin. this weekend, however, she said it about half a dozen more times to pretty much anything that moved (and a lot of things that didn’t).

    anyway, it now seems to be less like an verbal accident, and more like an actual word.

    so, there you go.

    (photo from the flight from manchester back to baltimore.)

  • flexday: swimming pool

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    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    flexday: swimming pool

  • week forty-two

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    photo of the week // week forty-two

  • fenway park

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    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    fenway park, boston, ma

  • family reunion

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    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    family reunion, barrington, nh

  • bowling

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    it seemed like a good idea at the time, but we kept sparklet up until 9:30 tonight … bowling. at least she was diggin’ the blacklight, even if she wanted to eat the balls instead of roll them.
    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    candlepin bowling, portsmouth, nh

  • guestbook: barb & bill

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    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    guestbook: barb & bill

  • “you know, eet may be possible to be *too* attractive…no?”

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  • isle of shoals

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    we’re up in new england for a family reunion, and on day one we took a boat out to the isle of shoals — tiny rock islands about 9 miles off the coast of new hampshire and maine.

    not only is it a place we’ve boated to as a family for as long as i can remember, but it turns out that we have ancestors who used to live on the islands back in the 1600s.

    of course, there were only two families desperate enough to live on the isles those days, and they inbred like crazy, but that’s a sign of courage and persistence, right?

    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    isle of shoals

  • sunset in rye beach, nh

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  • “make it go faster, daddy!”

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    photo from the parking shuttle to the baltimore airport, for our flight to manchester, nh.

  • found: july

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    photo of the week // week forty-one
    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    Camera Dump: July

  • the road to delaplane

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    sparklet’s sick, and has been since the day after mommy left for san francisco. little bit of fever, but nothing serious — until she started projectile vomiting on Friday.

    i will say, that there isn’t much sleep going around … and yesterday sparklet didn’t manage a nap over 20 minutes in length.

    the temperature being over 100 degrees for the last three days hasn’t help much either, as going for a walk is traditionally the easiest way to get an unhappy sparklet to take a nap.

    so today, we resorted to driving. for three hours. in no particular direction.

    by the time we ended up in delaplane — out Route 50 in Virginia, towards Shenandoah — sparklet had slept for an hour and she slept for another two on the way back.

    we’re all feeling better already.

    p.s. nine month pediatrician checkup was last friday, and she’s still growing like a weed. 99th percentile on height, 95th on weight, and the doctor is happy with the balance between the two. she’ll be talking by the next appointment, and we’re to start adding meat to the diet. exciting times.

  • alfredo w/ mushrooms, sour cream & dill

    []
    when i was in russia working on my honors thesis — reprinted here in full for those with six hours to kill — i fell in love with exactly one authentic Russian dish.

    and this isn’t it.

    the dish i loved was a side dish, some kind of mushrooms and peppers cooked in sour cream, Parmesan chesse and dill — and i’ve yet to figure out how to cook it properly.

    however, i’ve gotten basically the same taste by adding dill and sour cream to a relatively standard mushroom alfredo sauce.

    full recipe after the jump.

    (more…)

  • oh, ethyl — we hardly knew ye so well

    []
    i love going to the petting zoo, and — according to gowalla, and foursquare before that — we’ve been to the “kid’s farm” roughly two dozen times since early May.we go because i love that sparklet enjoys going to a “farm,” even if it is a fake farm with fru-fru animals like Miniature Mediterranean Donkeys and Anglo-Nubian Goats. that, and it’s only a couple blocks away so we go all the time.

    today, however, we noticed someone was missing — Ethyl, one of two Nigerian Dwarf Goats. (fwiw, the other is named Lucy … in a fit of “I Love Lucy” hilarity.)

    we asked one of the zoo keepers (who was really quite worked up about it) about what happened and she said Ethyl passed away earlier in the week after some time in the Zoo’s hospital.

    now, sparklet’s obviously too young to know any better … but before we lose any more Zoo friends, we decided to do a “guestbook” of those we see the most:

    ECPA20100719_4121 by [ecpark]
    Pat
    Miniature Mediterranean Donkey    		 ECPA20100719_4115 by [ecpark]
    Giuseppe
    Miniature Mediterranean Donkey
    ECPA20100719_4097 by [ecpark]
    George
    Miniature Mediterranean Donkey    		 ECPA20100719_4085 by [ecpark]
    Flash
    Miniature Mediterranean Donkey
    ECPA20100719_4092 by [ecpark]
    Tulip
    Holstein Cow    		 ECPA20100719_4091 by [ecpark]
    Rose
    Polled Hereford Cow
    ECPA20100719_4140 by [ecpark]
    Mortimer
    San Clemente Island Goat    		 ECPA20100719_4102 by [ecpark]
    Iris
    Anglo-Nubian Goat
    ECPA20100719_4104 by [ecpark]
    Lucky
    Anglo-Nubian Goat    		 ECPA20100719_4137 by [ecpark]
    Marla
    San Clemente Island Goat
    ECPA20100719_4138 by [ecpark]
    Lucy
    Nigerian Dwarf Goat    		 ECPA20100719_4150 by [ecpark]
    Cirrus
    Alpaca
    ECPA20100719_4090 by [ecpark]
    Orion
    Alpaca    		 ECPA20100719_4080 by [ecpark]
    Ziggy
    Alpaca
    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    kids farm, national zoo, washington, dc

  • good night, mommy!

    hope you’re reading the blog from san francisco 🙂

  • out: national gallery of art

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  • go speed racer, go!

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    photo of the week // week forty

  • mushroom risotto

    well, i’m cooking again.

    it took a decade for me to finally remember by culinary heritage — my father was a chef for 30-odd years — but i’m starting to have fun in the kitchen again.

    i used to love it.

    my father and i would regularly cook thanksgiving dinner for 400+ and we’d have a ball (a slightly exhausting ball, but a ball none-the-less).

    i have no idea what happened in between, but it’s passed — and the lady sparkler is now too busy with a small child to tell me what i’m doing wrong (bonus!).

    tonight was a risotto with wild mushrooms, a recipe that i picked up from a office-retreat-slash-cooking-class with Chef Susan Holt at CulinAerie (great class, btw — highly recommend it).

    full recipe after the jump.

    (more…)

  • “a little to the right, daddy…”

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  • guestbook: the talimo’s

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    more pictures (and a short video) on taliandmo.com.
    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    guestbook: the talimo’s

  • what’s next … an earthquake?

    well, after a brief return to normalcy, sparklet’s sleeping habits are back to being a royal pain in the rear. she’s fighting us going down, and isn’t usually staying down for long.at one point this week i stopped asking God for world peace, and started asking him to focus on letting me sleep.

    based on last night’s events, he wasn’t amused:

    • 8:20 pm — after 40 minutes of trying, sparklet is finally asleep … but not until a full hour after her bedtime.
    • 8:35 pm — ha, ha! just kidding, we’re awake.
    • 9:52 pm — seriously, sparklet. go to sleep. i walk in and she is sitting upright, but listing deeply to the side because she can’t keep her eyes open.
    • 10:28 pm — the lady sparkler finishes up pumping, and we bunk down for the night.
    • 1:10 am — it’s morning in babyland! the lady sparkler takes the first shift and stuffs a bottle in her face.
    • 1:25 am — the lady sparkler runs out of steam, and the hollering gets me up and out of bed. i take over.
    • 1:38 am — oops, looks like sparklet’s wet through her diaper! and now, after 25 minutes of feeding, she’s wide away and not the least bit interested in taking a bottle and/or going to bed.
    • 2:10 am — after tipping sparklet over for the umpteenth time (i swear she would try to sleep sitting up if we’d let her) she’s out, and i start for bed.
    • 3:01 am — i’m just about asleep when i get a call from a friend who is due to birth a baby girl in a couple of weeks. my heart leaps like a gizelle. turns out she hit the wrong button on her phone. false alarm.
    • 4:14 am — i’m just about asleep when sparklet’s up again, but (haha!) this time she is sound asleep once again by the time i get to the crib. funny.
    • 5:01 am — i’m rattled awake when an earthquake strikes suburban maryland. I’M NOT MAKING THIS UP.
    • 5:30 am — just about asleep (for the first time since 1:10am) i remember to shut off my alarm so that i can squeeze an extra couple of minutes of sleep in the morning.
    • 6:58 am — the lady sparklet wakes me up to tell me that i don’t need to get up. (still figuring that one out.)
    • 7:20 am — i give up and go to work.

    there you go. independent proof that God doesn’t have a sense of humor. at least, not about sleep vs. world peace.

  • video: first waves

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7hsXI0slHw

    after a week of “is that really a wave” questions, we’re willing to call it … it’s a wave. and once she starts, she just won’t stop.

  • “i hear these come in chocolate, too?”

    []

  • mighty, mighty boigs

    i really, honestly can take no credit for this one — but that doesn’t mean i’m not going to try.

    good friends of ours bought a domain (mightymightyboigs.com) to migrate their old blogspot blog, and never made it past the content migration. after 10 minutes of setup, 12 minutes of page migration, and one pre-made wordpress theme (yup, it’s too nice to be mine) and we’re good to go.

    Mighty, Mighty Boigs
    http://mightymightyboigs.com/

  • puttanesca

    made one of the lady sparkler’s favorites tonight, pasta with a puttanesca sauce. she thinks it’s all about the olives, but it’s the capers that hold everything together.

    full recipe after the jump — adapted from a Linguine-with-Puttanesca-Sauce recipe on epicurious.

    (more…)

  • guestbook: sarah

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    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    guestbook: sarah

  • rainstorm

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  • nine months

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    photo of the week // week thirty-nine

  • out: coleen @ cloverhill yarn

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    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    coleen @ cloverhill yarn shop, catonsville, maryland

  • hike: tall poplar trail, patapsco valley state park, maryland

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    trail information:
    Trailhead: 39.357479, -76.887839 (Google Maps); Length: 1.4 total miles; Elevation Gain: 160 feet; Trail Type: Loop; Skill Level: Easy.
    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    hike: patapsco valley state park, ellicot city, maryland

  • stalker

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    sparklet’s never really been one to let us leave the room without her for very long, but the crawling development has brought with it a new twist — she just follows us.

    it’s almost like having a brand new puppy in the house, a point which emily-the-cat has already complained about more than once.

  • mother’s day, mostly

    it’s possible that i am hardwired to be susceptible to guilt trips.

    even if that’s the case, however, nothing in recent history has beaten the one that i got from our beloved m.o.h. (maid of honor) three days after the mother’s day that the rest of the planet had back in May.

    (and by “rest of the planet” i mean “all you crazy people who have enough spare time to keep track of these things.”)

    from the m.o.h., i quote:

    Where was the sweet first Mother’s Day post on your blog?? Didn’t [Sparklet] give her mommy a present? I know [The Lady Sparkler] doesn’t celebrate Mother’s Day, but I was hoping that [Sparklet] would.

    well, funny you should ask, because instead of celebrating mother’s day this year we were in williamsburg, virginia celebrating the wedding of a very good friend.

    (and by “very good friend” i mean “high school girlfriend.”)

    so tonight, a scant 59 days after it occurred, we finally went out and celebrated mother’s day the way mommy sparkler intended — dinner at hank’s oyster bar, drinks at bar rouge and then desert at local 16.

    a couple of things, for the record:

    • [insert sweet first Mother’s Day sentence]
    • m.o.h. is dead on when she says that mommy has no interest in celebrating mother’s day, and she isn’t opposed in the “you better want to celebrate it anyway, bub” sort of way.
    • sparklet’s first gift for mommy was a digital picture frame for mommy’s office, chocked full of mommy-and-sparklet pictures.
    • daddy’s first gift for mommy actually happened last year, but his second gift was 59 days of insistence that we were going to celebrate mother’s day whether mommy wanted to or not.

    but, i digress.

    in all do seriousness, we do love mommy and are VERY lucky to have her. she is the omni-energetic ying to daddy’s thirty-minutes-of-action-tuckers-me-out-for-a-month yang, and a boundless source of love and wonderfulness for both daddy and child.

    there, i said it. (thanks m.o.h.)

  • video: crawling!

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYZYvSoik0s

    over the last couple of weeks, we’ve seen lots of pseudo-crawling/stops and starts … but this is the first honest-to-God, as-seen-on-TV crawling we’ve ever gotten.

  • july 4th

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    it’s sorta cute, the number of people who’ve asked about sparklet’s first 4th of july.

    besides brunch with the mightymightyboigs (the highlight!) we spent the day hiding from the heat, and the night putting sparklet back to sleep after being woken up by late night, unlicensed “community” displays of patriotic exuberance.

    go, team america.

  • not sure about the whole ‘babaganoush’ thing

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    firsts: eating chickpeas and babaganoush at amsterdam falafel, adams-morgan, washington, dc

  • walter pierce playground

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    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    walter pierce playground, washington, dc

  • found: june

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    camera dump: june

  • week thirty-eight

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    photo of the week // week thirty-eight

  • kalorama park

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    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    kalorama park, washington, dc

  • “my hair deserves the best, that’s why i use summer garden vegetables exclusively.”

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  • it’s a boy (but not ours)

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    mightbabyboig and family just had a little boy — which got me to thinking maybe a boy wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world after all (not that i’ve got much choice in the matter). fwiw, the main reason i’m posting is to taunt the lady sparkler, that i got to hold sammy before she did. thbhthbthbthtbhbthbt.

    p.s. dear mightbabyboig — dude. update your blog.

  • babyproofing

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    photo of the week // week thirty-seven
    if friday morning wasn’t enough of a wake up call for babyproofing, sparklet decided to up the ante on sunday and pull herself up on the toy box, the couch (to reach the cat) and one of our arm chairs (again, for the cat).

    so, i spent the rest of the day at home depot.

    shortly after the first burst of pseudo-crawling back in may, i spent a weekend tidying up the electrical cables and generally trying to make some more space for toys and movement.

    with her doing pull-ups, however, we’ve had to start strapping down all the tippy furniture we have and trust me when i say, it’s all tippy.

    a by-product of living in a smaller space is that everything we own is a normal height, but only about half as deep (and we all know that height + depth/2 = tippy).

    to make matters worse, we have no overhead lights in our living room or either bed room, and have to rely on those tall “urn” floor lamps — which give us all the same tipsiness as the furniture, but with the added bonus of lots of shatter-upon-impact glass.

    so, we’ve bought a metric ton of straps designed to prevent furniture from falling over during earthquakes (“quakehold!“) and have been using them to secure pretty much everything to the wall — three lamps, a desk, a television cabinet, the hall table, and the ever important toy box.

    top that off an improvised latch (adjustable bungee cord fastened around the closet door handle) to keep sparklet out of the litter box, and we should be good to go …

    … except she just knocked the bejeezus out of her head on the toy box, so i’m off to the store to buy a swimming pool noodle to pad the box’s front edge.

    who says necessity is the mother of invention?

  • sarah harmer @ the birchmere

    []
    i always get nervous when i see people live for the first time.

    invariably, they look like its either the first time they’ve ever picked up a guitar, or that they started playing about two weeks before their tour started and have pretty much mastered the three chords required to play their “best” song.

    no worries for sarah harmer — she ripped the lid of the birchmere tonight, and looked ridiculously comfortable doing it.

    there wasn’t a bad song from the bunch, with “careless”, “basement apartment“, and finale “lodestar” standing among the best live songs i’ve ever seen.

    this live music thing seems like a good hobby to get into.

    SET LIST: Late Bloomer · Around This Corner · One Match · Careless · Pendulums · Captive · The Thief · Marble in Your Eye · Coffee Stain · Dandelions in Bullet Holes · Silver Road · The Ring · Basement Apartment · New Loneliness · Escarpment Blues · Washington · The City · Came On Lion · Uniform Gray · Loadstar

  • missing the point

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    baby sparklet seems to have primarily mistaken her new handlebar for a foot rest. i’ll chalk that up to a high level of creative innovation. maybe.

  • hike: matildaville trail, great falls national park, va

    []
    sparklet’s first hike. didn’t make it long (45 minutes) or far (definitely short of two miles) but it mostly worked. she hates wearing a hat, tho — that lasted all of about 30 seconds.

    trail information:
    Trailhead: 38.997516,-77.255065 (Google Maps); Length: 1.8 total miles; Elevation Gain: < 100 feet; Trail Type: Loop (Canal Trail, to Matildaville Trail, to Old Carriage Road); Skill Level: Easy.

    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    matildaville trail, great falls national park, va

  • stand up, sit down

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    it’s been quite a 24-hours for little miss sparklet. yesterday she started regularly sitting up by herself (she’s been doing it accidentally or with parental assistance for the last couple of weeks) and then this morning she pulled herself up onto her feet, in order to get into her toy box.

    crazy. next she’ll be asking for keys to the car …

    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    blocks

  • fighting with the paparazzi

    she’s been in her new position for less than two weeks, and the lady sparkler is already having to fight off the paparazzi (at a birthday party for the huffington post, no less).

  • why i’m not as excited about the U.S. as you are

    []
    i’m as happy about the united states making it through as everyone else within a 3,000 mile radius of my door step, and the nation-wide elation that’s come from landon donovan’s extra time goal has been really pretty awesome to behold. but, here’s my problem:

    that was way more exciting than it needed to be.

    unlike most years past, the U.S. men’s national team is legitimately good. the team is easily in the top half of the countries participating in the Cup this year, and they have a class of players that (while not the super-elite) they are certainly regularly competing in the top tier of football/soccer.

    so, while the U.S. advancing to the round of 16 is great … it’s also the bare minimum of what they should do this competition.

    a united states draw against england would normally be a good result, but considering it was (at the time) the worst game england had played in the last two years, a draw just isn’t good enough for the talent that is on the U.S. squad.

    they should have won, and won outright.

    during the next match (against slovakia) they again fought for a draw against likely the 6th worst team in the competition. commentators can say all they want about the (wrongly) disallowed goal that would have give then U.S. the win, but that misses the point — they should never have been in the position to need that winner in the first place.

    the coverage of the final match especially drove me crazy, the now “legendary” 1-0 win over Algeria (the 8th worst team in the competition). commentators referred to it as the U.S. “superbowl” of the Americans’ world cup, and landon donovan’s winner as the “greatest goal in the history of U.S. soccer.”

    rubbish.

    our “superbowl” at a minimum is the upcoming match with Ghana — even though our opponents’ are ranked worse than Algeria, they should have a strong home continent advantage being the last African team in the Cup.

    our “greatest goal in the history of U.S. soccer” will be the goal donovan scores to win a (still hypothetical) next match with Uruguay or South Korea to send the U.S. to the semi-finals.

    one of the things that drives me the most batty about U.S. Soccer, is that we always play down to our competition. we fight, we work hard, we run everybody else to the ground. but, in the end, we don’t think we’re good enough, and everybody else is all too happy to help make that come true.

    don’t get me wrong — it’s good that the boys advanced through the group stage, and even better that they finished at the top of the group. but “top of the group” should have been with two (or even three) wins, and “advancing” is what we knew we should do way back in early June.

    for the U.S., the “real” world cup starts now.

    PHOTO: by g55 (Ginger Gregory), courtesy of a Creative Commons license.

  • baby zoo animals

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    there’s been rash of baby animals being born at the national zoo — gorilla, red panda, kiwi, hornbills, etc — and because we never really make it past the petting zoo, we hadn’t managed to see any of them.

    it’s crazy hot right now, which has mostly kept us inside in the afternoons, but we made a rare exception and drove over to the zoo to run in an see the new baby gorilla in her (mercifully) air conditioned enclosure.

  • tonight, on larry king live …

    i’ve spent the better part of the last six days helping get the Conservancy ready to be one of the featured charities for tonight’s CNN/Larry King Live “Gulf Coast Relief Telethon” at 8 p.m. ET.

    besides the normal online donation stuff my team always does, we’re using the opportunity to launch our first mobile text-to-donate effort.

    viewers will be able to text “COAST” to 50555 to donate $10 to The Nature Conservancy’s Fund for Gulf Coast Restoration. needless to say, i’m fascinated to see how it goes.

    so, tune in tonight … and help me justify my paycheck.

  • waterfountains

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    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    waterfountains

  • Artwork: Father’s Day

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  • firsts: order from a restaurant

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    we’ve been giving sparklet whole bananas and cubed avacados fairly regularly of late, but this morning (at The Heights) the lady sparkler decided to throw the baby girl into big people food with both feet.

    at brunch, sparklet was introduced to both raisins (from the raisin bread) and a plate of scrambled eggs (her very first order ever from a professional kitchen), all while polishing off a jar of baby food pears.

    needless to say, daddy has announced that he won’t be available to help change sparklet’s diaper for the next 48 hours or so.

  • week thirty-six

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    photo of the week // week thirty-six

  • grampa & me

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    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    grampa & me

  • video: figured out “splashing”

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpX1lZNXqjc

  • tift merritt @ the birchmere

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    i hate trying to get to the birchmere on a week day.

    the traffic is awful, it’s a long way away, and if you don’t get there like an hour and a half before the show starts you are virtually guaranteed to be sitting at the back of the venue behind a post.

    today, for some crazy reason, we got there barely 45 minutes before the show, and the parking lot was so abandoned that we thought the show was canceled.

    we sailed through the lobby unmolested — except for the bouncer asking if he could check my “purse” — and sat down about 8 feet off the front of the stage.

    crazy.

    a couple months ago, around the time we were buying tickets to the show, we tripped across a tift merritt album we didn’t own (“another country”) and downloaded it from itunes. we figured we’d be okay at the concert anyway, since we knew her first two albums.

    turns out we were actually TWO albums behind, so knew just three of the 18 songs.

    we *still* did okay, which probably says something about tift and her band … i’m not sure i’ve ever been to a concert where i knew so few of the songs, yet still had such a great time.

    the show was actually stolen by her husband (the drummer) of all people, who during the encore did a solo / ukulele number called “Evel Knievel for My Girl”, which really has to be seen to be fully appreciated.

    SET LIST: The Things That Everybody Does · All The Reasons We Don’t Have To Fight · Engine To Turn · Six More Days Of Rain · Mixtape · I Know What I’m Looking For Now · After Today · Something To Me · Never Talk About It · Stray Paper · Papercut · Broken · Feel Of The World · See You On The Moon · Ain’t Looking Closely · Evel Knievel · Bramble Rose · Danny’s Song · Another Country

  • the beautiful game? hmmm.

    [Group A encounter, Uruguay vs. France at Cape Town Stadium.]
    the most telling social media clip from the world cup so far was a friend’s status update at the end of day one:

    Why is this the ‘beautiful game?’ Two ties. No score in the second. They ran around in circles for 90 minutes. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

    as the dutiful, soccer-educated elite in the relationship, i jumped to the world cup’s defense.

    “they only call it the beautiful game if certain teams are playing it,” I said. “And France is decidedly not on that list.”

    but, then i watched the rest of the weekend, and you know what? she was right. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

    i watched most or all of seven matches this weekend (missed Ghana’s 1-0 win over Serbia) and while there was some great moments, by and large the matches were all ugly babies that only their mothers would love — with the possible exception of Argentina’s 1-0 win over Nigeria, whose scoreline sounded more boring than it actually was.

    the world cup. less than perfect. suddenly, my life was without meaning.

    i played soccer for most of two decades (keeper for all but a couple years in central defense) and have clear recollections of watching the last 6 or 7 world cups.

    if the world cup isn’t the greatest sporting event ever, how could i have invested so much effort learning the game? what am i going to talk about on monday with the rest of my over-educated urban elite friends? how am i going to demonstrate my complete personal superiority over the great unwashed masses in the fly-over-states?

    and so, in a vain attempt to deal with this loss of identity, i’ve come up with a couple theories about (a) why the opening weekend wasn’t the paragon of sport it could/should have been, and (b) why we all will have forgotten this crisis even happened by the time the cup is raised in four weeks time:

    • not every team has played their first match — and the teams who haven’t played yet (spain, brazil, holland, portugal, italy) reliably give us a much better-looking brand of footy than even the best of the teams we’ve already seen (england, usa, france).
    • no one wants to lose their first game — only 8% of world cup teams advance from the group stage after losing their first game, which means teams will do pretty much anything to avoid losing. fwiw, playing not to lose isn’t much fun to watch.
    • a rash of last minute injuries — last minute changes in personnel means lots of teams are shifting players and tactics, and new people (or old people playing out of position) means crappy football until the new ‘plan’ becomes as familiar as the old one once was.
    • top-shelf goal keeping — from what i can tell the goal keeping this far has been outstanding (from the usa and nigeria, in particular) and good goal keeping can turn potentially offense-laden showcases into nasty, defensive stalemates.
    • the new ball — it seems like addidas can’t stop screwing with the ball (this one was called ‘horrible’, ‘rotten’ and ‘erratic’ by starting keepers in the run up) and while players can (and should) adapt, rewriting the rules of physics for the ball is going to take some real world, high pressure game experience to sort out.
    • vuvuzelas — those #$%@ south african fog horns have got to be driving the players nuts, and there are plenty of complaints that the players can’t hear each other on the pitch. and while i never liked talking to *my* teammates, it seems (in hindsight) it might have been a good thing to do occasionally.

    hollow excuses? maybe. complete and total bunk? probably.

    am i going to bury my head in my pillow and pray for better games this week? most definitely.

  • 18?

    []
    in all the once-every-four-year world cup craziness, i’ve been struggling to keep up with the second-final-in-three-years boston celtics, even though admitting this publicly probably gives my father heart palpitations.

    in the interest of full disclosure, while i sucked every last drop of enjoyment out of the celtic’s championship run in 2008, i didn’t give them much chance to win *any* of their playoffs series this year (vs. miami, cleveland and orlando) and am still not sure they’ve got an advantage in the finals (even though they only need to win one of their next two in L.A. to claim their 18th championship banner).

    And so, I’ve tacked on 6 hours of daily world cup coverage to my after hours NBA responsibillities, not to mention I’ve still got tape of the winter olympics left on my tivo from February.

    somebody’s gotta win something, because i need my life back.

  • found: philly phanatic

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  • travel: please touch museum

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    this is quite possibly the greatest museum on the planet.

    they have (in no particular order) the “walking piano” from big, a huge basement devoted to recreating wonderland (as in alice, not val-kilmer-as-porn-star), and an entire wing dedicated to kids versions of big people places (grocery store, kitchen, gas station, etc).

    seriously, this museum alone made philly worth the trip.

    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    slideshow: please touch museum, philadelphia, pa

  • eight months

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    photo of the week // week thirty-five

  • more swimming

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    another slogan to add to the list:

    • philly: our hotels have swimming pools, too!
    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    swimming, courtyard marriott downtown, philadelphia, pa

  • travel: philadelphia, pa

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    with only a couple days before the lady sparkler starts her new gig, we decided to slip out of town for the weekend. (being at a non-profit, my vacation policy is always much more “robust” than hers, it seemed crazy not to take some time off when it wouldn’t count against mommy’s vacation balance.)

    and with that, i bring you my suggestions for philly’s next ad campaign based on our experience:

    • philly: it’s a heck of a lot cheaper than trying to book something in the mountains or the beach on six days’ notice.
    • philly: it’s less hot than both (a) texas, and (b) the face of the sun.
    • philly: it’s not the hell hole you remember from your junior high school field trip.
    • philly: we have margaritas.

    seriously, tho. we’re pretty excited.

    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    travel: philadelphia, pa

  • transitions

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    like the crazy, measures driven parents we are, we’ve been so focused lately on young sparklet’s developmental milestones (almost crawling! she knows her name!) that we’ve totally neglected some of the “other” news in our lives.

    namely, we have a new nanny, a new nanny share family … and the lady sparkler got a new job.

    i’m not drunk enough to publicly explore the reasons behind the nanny transition — if you’d like to contribute to the drinking fund, i’m happy to talk in person — but the important things are that (a) sparklet’s still great, (b) we still love the talimo’s (bff!), and (c) during the transition, the bff’s got an offer of free familial child care that they just couldn’t refuse.

    the new nanny share is working out great. the nanny is über comfortable with a kid on each hip, and the share has been going on for more than a decade (tho, obviously, different families have rotated through).

    the new share baby is a boy, is exactly sparklet’s age (have i mentioned that i strongly support arranged marriages?!?) and lives within walking distance (over by auntie melissa).

    as if that wasn’t enough excitement for sparklet’s first summer, the lady sparkler went and got herself a new job.

    she wasn’t looking (decidedly not, actually) but got contacted by a head hunter and took the interview for reasons somewhere between being polite and making new contacts in the industry. but, four interviews later, the company made the proverbial offer-she-couldn’t-refuse (salary, seniority, benefits) and as of June 14th, the lady sparkler has a new job.

    still doing mostly the same thing, just a couple of blocks farther away — which pretty well sums up the nanny situation, too.

  • i’m watching the world cup, and you can too

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    despite all the salivating about you’ve probably heard from soccer geeks recently about “tables” and “group stages”, watching the world cup over the next four weeks is a pretty simple affair.

    teams start by playing each of three teams, with the two best teams from each group advancing into a simple bracket tourney, not unlike the ncaa’s march madness.

    all you need is a team to follow, and here is a quick primer:

    who to follow

    if you are new to the non-american brand of football, you want to pick one that you can watch deep into the world cup. as much fun as it would be to root for some of these tiny up-start countries (new zealand springs to mind), you’ll be pretty bored once they get eliminated in the second week. so, you probably want to pick from the main contenders.

    Spain — currently the best team in europe, spain balances a beautiful brand of football with some physicality that is missing from other “pretty” teams. this team has a fanatical fan base, and some of the best attacking players in the game. they are also the bookie’s best bet to win the whole enchilada, so (hopefully) you’ll have a team to follow in weeks three and four.

    Argentina — has the best player on the planet (lionel messi), plan on starting three attacking forwards (most teams use two, some only one) and a coach who is desperately trying to translate his own brilliance as a player (see his goal of the century) into brilliance as a coach (and failing pretty miserably). but who knows … they could just as easily flame out in the group stages (they barely qualified) as they could win the whole thing, but either way the fireworks should be pretty spectacular.

    Brazil — normally, you’d never catch me pushing brazil (it’s the equivalent a new immigrant to the U.S. announcing they’re going to root for either the yankees or the patriots) but this team isn’t the same purvayors of “the beautiful game” that’s won the world cup five times. this brazil is much more blue collar, physical, jump-in-the-trenches then their predecessors, while still keeping the incredible individual skill for which they’re known. should be fun to watch.

    honorable mentions — everybody wants an african team to do well this world cup, but all six of them are facing a pretty steep up-hill battle. while hosts south africa will have ridiculously fun, pro-bafana bafana (their team’s nickname) crowds, they are the lowest ranked team ever to host the world cup and aren’t figured to make it out of the first round. côte d’ivoire had a great shot, but lost their star goal-scorer to injury. i have no idea which, if any, of the african nations will advance, but many people (myself included) will be rooting for the whole lot of them.

    teams you may think you want to follow, but really probably don’t

    United States — sure, there are dozens of reason to root for them. civic pride. names that you (might) have heard of. dozens of blogs saying “this is their year.” it’s not. i’m not sure it ever will be. expect one good game out of them, one mediocre game (where the result is closer than it should have been), and one shameful game (where they vomit on themselves). they’ll likely get to the sweet sixteen, but it almost certainly won’t be pretty, and they’ll break your heart eventually … they always do.

    England — see above, “united states”.

    Italy — while a fun, attacking team when they have to be, italy regularly lapses into putting all 11 men behind the ball when they are ahead (“parking a bus in front of goal” as it’s called) which makes them prone to stunningly dull results. that, coupled with the fact that the current coach seems to be infatuated with coupling “old” with “slow” and calling it a day, means italy isn’t a great team for newbies.

    Germany — about as fun to watch as a team of german accountants competing in the actuarial olympics. see also, “holland”.

    France — where to begin. they (a) cheated their way into the world cup with a dirty, dirty goal from a blatant hand ball, without which they would be back home underachieving, (b) the team they cheated out of the tournament was Ireland — who are much more fun to drink with — and (c) because of the way the group stage works out, rooting for france means rooting against south africa. oh, and if that’s not enough, remember that they’re french.

    kickoff on friday

    it all starts tomorrow morning at 9:30 am EST on ESPN. if you want to do some light reading before then, steven goff’s soccer insider blog is surprisingly readable for the lay people, and ESPN is desperately trying to hook the generic american sport fan on the Cup with their coverage at ESPN.com.

    as for me? i’ve followed the england national team for the last couple of decades, and am not going to stop just because that the united states is finally fielding teams that might actually win a game or two. it also doesn’t hurt that my club team (tottenham hotspur) has five players in the england squad, and it’s more fun to root for people you know.

    appalling, i know, but i’m okay with it … i have a feeling my ancestors were on the wrong side of the revolutionary way, anyway.

    PHOTO: Soccer-City-Stadium-outside-view by Shine 2010 – 2010 World Cup good news.

  • guestbook: holly and brandon

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    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    guestbook: holly and brandon

  • guestbook: emily and melissa

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    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    guestbook: emily and melissa

  • week thirty-four

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    photo of the week // week thirty-four

  • firsts: crawling, army-style

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLOVZGtephU

    it’s not scampering around on all fours, but sparklet is now using her arms/torso to drag her healthily-sized bottom around. if emily the cat only knew … her life will never be the same.

  • out: amy & eddie’s bbq

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  • might be time to adjust the crib, again

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  • goodbye, iphone

    Well, it had to happen eventually.

    After 20 long months of AT&T suckage, i have finally taken my iPhone back to that great Daisy Hill Puppy Farm in the sky.

    While the death-throws of our relationship have been well documented, baby sparklet was the two-ton brick that finally broke the camel’s back.

    One afternoon in March, baby momma thought she was playing phone tag with me about some scheduling — she left me two voicemails and three text messages — but AT&T didn’t deliver any of them until it was too late to do any good.

    Turned out it was nothing important, but neither of us particularly wanted to discover what it felt like if it *had* been something more life-or-death.

    i got the HTC incredible — is one of the new-fangled google android phones. it has all the applications i used on the iphone, and has got some crazy social media integration (my address book entries link directly to their corresponding facebook and twitter accounts).

    but the think i love most about my new phone is that it rings when called, and voicemails don’t get lost for days on end. i know it’s crazy, but it’s kind of nice having a phone again.

    goodbye, foursquare

    speaking of saying goodbye, when the iphone died we kicked foursquare to the curb as well (foursquare was the location-based social media application that made her “mayor” of her favorite playground).

    in the end, it was just too darn competitive.

    while we thought it was fun to keep track of where we had been, foursquare is setup to be a game, and the person who checks in the most wins. this was cute and all, but we apparently live within blocks of the #1 foursquare user in D.C. — with an average of 20 check-ins per day — and so our mayorships were under constant threat.

    eventually, when I found myself making decisions on where to go based on where our mayorships were threatened, it struck me as the time to call it quits.

    instead, we’ve swapped over to Gowalla which is waaaaay more low key. there are no mayorships, just rewards for going places and trying new things.

    i’m saving up sparklet’s competitive streak for team sports.

  • video: sparklet’s first swim

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAwTx-ISv_4

  • video: maggie, the swimming dog

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUrv91OSY-k

    sparklet swimming was great and all, but maggie the swimming dog was the sub-plot that stole the show … even for our beloved protagonist.

  • guestbook: sandra and bryan

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    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    guestbook: sandra and bryan

  • the drawbacks of mobility

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    we’ve got “reverse” working just fine now, but still working on “drive” — and unfortunately, that means sparklet keeps gets stuck.

  • petting zoo

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    not saying we go a lot, but i know the names of more petting zoo animals than i know the names of people on who work on my floor.
    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    kid’s farm, national zoo, washington, dc

  • tongue

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  • zoo portraits

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    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    zoo portraits, washington, dc

  • awkward prom date

    i’m embarrassed to say, but i’m a chickfila mobile insider — which basically means i’m addicted enough to the deep fried chicken sandwich that they send me special offers to my mobile phone.

    this week they’re rolling out a new spicy chicken sandwich, and giving it away at special events in food courts across America — each decorated with all the fanfare of an awkward school dance.

    nancyfromwork and i went over during lunch and we were paralyzed by the throwback awkwardness.

    oh, and the sandwich was fine and all but — nothing can top the original.

  • we’re still so darn cheesed that sparklet’s actually got hair

    []
    … but this is the last one, we promise. this week. well, today.

  • flight to national

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    … and, check out those blue eyes while you’re at it.

  • three ways to kill your sparklet

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    not that we were particularly in the running for “parents of the year” so far, but our application was burnished this week when we successfully went the whole weekend without killing our daughter.

    not for lack of trying, mind you.

    the weekend started with sparklet rolling through the lady sparkler’s hands, off the impromptu changing table, and onto the (fortunately well carpeted) floor. daddy took it a step further by tossing sparklet into the air — and directly into a low-hanging door frame.

    not to be out done, baby sparklet taught herself how to open a dresser drawer, and then close it on her hand.

    fortunately, sparklet barely noticed all the varied attempts on her life, and mommy has been formally introduced to the “no blood, no foul” rule.

    or is it “that which does not kill you makes you stronger?”

  • spindlers

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    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    spindlers, houston, texas

  • found: may

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    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    camera dump: may

  • swim hair

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    sparklet has two days of swimming under her rather stylish two-piece bikini (and mostly matching hat) now, and she seems to be getting the basics.

    on day one, when she got tired, she’d put her face down on the carpet … only to find that the carpet was liquid and made it sorta hard to breathe.

    by day two, she was putting her face down on purpose, trying to lick the water. i’m pretty sure this is a step forward, unless we’ve just gotten her addicted to clorine.

    oh, and check out that faux-hawk head of hair. it’s not much, but mom is SUPER excited.

  • cori

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  • asterisk

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    Well, turns out the doctor was right and sparklet hadn’t seen the worst of her virus, yet. (It took four days of vomiting on daddy to get to that point.)

    Things are finally looking up, but sparklet has developed a quirk in the last week that we hope don’t develop into a permanent asterisk at the end of her current title of “best baby ever.”

    Namely, she’s begun to see naps as a parent-sponsored means of torture. We can’t even lay her on he back without screams of bloody murder and looks of abject betrayal.

    To combat this new development, we’ve had to resort to Karl Rove-ian levels of subterfuge … including long, long walks around the neighborhood in the morning and deviously timed car trips in the afternoon.

    Before swimming yesterday, we spent 45 minutes in the parking lot of Sonic, because sparklet finally fell asleep and we we’re paralyzed with fear that twitching a solitary muscle would cause her to wake up.

    Things could be worse, obviously — our child could actually BE karl rove.

  • firsts: swimming pool

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    photo of the week // week thirty-three
    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    First Swim, Houston, Texas

  • kate magoo in houston, too

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    the whole family is together for memorial day …

    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    kate magoo in houston, too

  • flight to houston

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  • “i’ve got 99 problems …”

    []
    this is us waiting for the pediatrician … only there were so many people in line before us that we had to wait outside.

    seriously.

    baby sparklet picked up a bug last week at an impromptu play date, and it all came to a head today. she’s not sleeping and lot of congestion — basically a head cold on steroids.

    we got an appointment with the pediatrician for 4pm, and when i arrived there were 13 (thirteen!) babies and toddlers in line in front of us. i think it’s possible they might have overbooked.

    there was no place to sit — and with 13 sick babies around i wasn’t exactly prepared to drop her in the sick-baby playgroup in the middle of the waiting room.

    it took about an hour and ten minutes to even get into the back (and two hours to get in and out completely) but sparklet eventually got a clean bill of health. doctor thinks it’s just a virus, and that it just needs to work through her system, but that it’ll likely get worse before it gets better.

    meanwhile, i think we’re going to start looking a pediatricians a little farther away from downtown …

  • “mmm, feeeeeet…”

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  • guestbook: nancy

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    guestbook: nancy

  • playtable

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  • new tricks

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    photo of the week // week thirty-two
    she’s only seven months old, and i’m already becoming disoriented how quickly that baby sparklet is growing/developing/plotting-to-take-over-the-world.

    here’s a run-down from the new tricks department:

    • she just got her second tooth, and we’re pretty sure she’s working on two more.
    • we’re about ->||<- much away from calling her eye color -- blue! the lady sparkler and i swear that her eyes have changed ... but we're not sure because they look like they've just gotten deeper and bluer.
    • she’s sitting up, mostly without assistance, on a pretty regular basis.
    • while she’s been rolling-with-purpose for a bit now, she’s just now starting to master going forward (as opposed to side-to-side). she’s not yet doing an army crawl, but more like turn 10 degrees to the right, then 10 degrees to the left, then 10 degrees to the right, etc.
    • she’s gotten crazy good with the hand-eye-coordination thing, which is more than i can say for her mother or father.

    the funny thing, is i hate this sort of blog post … because it reeks of sorry-i-haven’t-posted-in-a-while-here-are-all-the-things-that-have-happened.

    the only problem is all this stuff has come in the last three of four days.

    for the record, i keep trying to sit on her head to make her slow down, but it doesn’t appear to be doing any good.

  • video: goalie training

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiDJehqyz9Y

  • out: columbia heights civic plaza fountains

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    out: civic plaza fountains, columbia heights, washington, dc

  • guestbook: emily

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    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    guestbook

  • bouncy

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  • thank heaven for little girls

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    i was walking around the neighborhood today, trying to get baby sparklet to take a nap, when i passed a stressed out mom dealing with three boys on bicycles.

    one of the boys was babbling about how his bike was a rocketship, and how he was having a really hard time making sure it didn’t explode.

    i smiled, inwardly, thanking heaven for little girls.

    half a block later, i see a 6 year-old girl in a fancy pink fairy dress, pell-melling down the hill at full speed, oblivious to the traffic, screaming:

    i … am … SUPER PINKY!!!!!

    now *that’s* more like it.

  • firsts: swing

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    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    picnic w/ fleishman hillard, washington, dc

  • your seat isn’t bolted to the floor

    []
    well, koons screwed up again … they had told us that our plates and registration would be mailed to us, only to find out that a “new” law (effective 2002) requires us to get the car inspected first.

    their incompetence doesn’t leave us with much time to dilly-dally — our temporary plates expire in two days — so i got to spend an otherwise glorious saturday afternoon at the dmv.

    favorite part: while i was waiting in the dmv office, a woman came in and started screaming at the guy behind the desk.

    woman: “i don’t understand why you won’t inspect my car!”

    manager: “ma’am, your seat isn’t bolted to the floor. whoever gets behind that wheel is going to get hurt as soon as they have to use the brakes. we can’t be liable for that.”

    woman: “brakes? but i don’t drive the car *that* often.”

    all of a sudden, the manager was *very* interested in helping me with my situation.

    turns out that hybrids don’t have most of the usual “stuff” that emits (catalytic converters, gas vapor recovery systems) so there isn’t a need to check to see if it’s working.

    the manager took as much time as he humanly possibly could explaining all this to me, glancing every couple of seconds to see if angry lady had left yet.

    then, he handed me an emissions sticker that doesn’t expire until 2017.

    woman: “2017?!? must be nice to not have to see these @#&%$ for that long.”

    or, you could just bolt your seat to the floor. whichever.

  • firsts: saturday market

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    photo of the week // week thirty-one

  • addiction … it’s a cry for help.

    []

  • video: the need to baby proof

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9RAALySsQw

    i think it’s safe to say that baby sparklet is upwardly mobile now.

  • careful the lessons you teach

    []
    not twenty-four hours after i showed sparklet how to play in a fountain — there was a little spraying water feature in the u.s. botanic garden — baby decided to show daddy that she mastered the concept, and could apply it elsewhere.

    elsewhere, of course, being a not-so-amused-emily-the-cat’s drinking fountain.

  • out: children’s garden @ u.s. botanic garden

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    photo of the week // week thirty

    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.

    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    out: children’s garden @ u.s. botanic garden

  • “hello, i’m with the bakery inspection service and i’m going to need some free samples.”

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  • sarah and kurt’s wedding

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    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    sarah and kurt’s wedding

  • firsts: horsie, highchair

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    []

    a couple of firsts for baby sparklet while we’re down in historic colonial williamsburg for a friend’s wedding:

    • first horse — she seemed amused, but didn’t really get that it was an animal. i think it was just too big, and didn’t move quickly enough. she probably thought it was a hairy sofa.
    • first high chair — part of growing so rediculously fast is that at six months she’s outgrown her infant car seat, but isn’t old enough to sit-up on her own … so we wedged her in there with a sparkly pillow, natch.

    it probably goes without saying, but for what it’s worth the wedding isn’t a “destination” wedding — the colonial equivalent of a disney wedding package or something. the bride and I both had the great fortune to grow up in Williamsburg, surrounded by the odd million of tourists each season.

    although, the notion of people paying extra to get married in knickers and a bonnet is really to delicious to *not* try and make money off of it.

  • circa de mayo

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    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    circa de mayo

  • the zoo

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    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    the zoo

  • diversity at the conservancy

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    … comes down to which color Prius you own.

  • champions league

    dear lord baby jesus.

    tottenham hotspur (click here if you don’t know what that means) just beat somebody. and that somebody (manchester city) spent over $190m on players this season BEFORE THEY EVEN PLAYED THEIR FIRST GAME.

    and now they’ve won the right to compete next year against the top teams in europe, to decide who is the best club of the continent.

    considering that, less than a year ago, i thought they were going to be dropped to the minor leagues — that’s pretty @#%@ing awesome.

    (i’m really sorry if you don’t know what any of that meant.)

  • guestbook: jenny alex

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  • propaganda

    []
    i can’t decide if this looks like an old-school soviet propaganda poster (“defend our babies!”) or the cover photo of sparklet’s latest CD (her take on the joshua tree, maybe).

    either way, i hope sparklet is a benevolent dictator/cult icon.

  • “squirrel!!”

    []

    on the flight back from manchester, with a small nod to “up!“

  • sydney and the citros

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    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    sydney and the citros, worcester, massachusettes

  • rye beach, n.h.

    []

    there are just about 1,000 things that the lady sparkler and i love about new england — family, seafood, what passes up there for a “hot” day — but near the top is the coast.

    we spent many most of our trips up her out on a boat of some kind or other, and even when we were landlocked there was always a trip to petey’s (on the water) for seafood.

    and so, on the way out of town, we stop at petey’s for a little take out seafood … and ate it on the hood of our rental car while baby sparklet slept in the back seat.

    if it gets much better than this, i’m a little nervous to see what that looks like.

  • week twenty-nine

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    photo of the week // week twenty-nine

  • cousins

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    []
    []
    []
    i was raised in a family where both my parents were only children, so we used to joke that we had a family reunion every night for dinner.

    it’s not until i was much older that i realized how deep our family was on paul and gloria’s side, and during this trip sparklet must have met 15 new cousins this weekend. we didn’t even make it to the front door before we “lost” the baby, and sparklet made the rounds for about three solid hours before she made it back to me again (for 20 minutes, before she was gone another two hours).

    in the meantime, we got to see/meet/laugh with some of our new (and old) favorite people in the world — there was a real magic in the air. things went so well, that we already have our first reunion in i-don’t-know-how-many-years planned for this August … which, poetically enough, is when we promised paul and gloria we’d come and see them this year.

    leave it to those two to bring the family together even after they are gone themselves.

    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    new hampshire // may

  • superbaby!

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  • aunt gloria

    []

    three weeks later, and we find ourselves back in new hampshire … mourning the loss of the person who got us through the last funeral.

    it’s poetic for my godmother gloria to move on less than a month after she lost her husband of 65 years — broken heart, of course — and i have to admit, i only thought that sort of thing only happened in the movies.

    but that ignores all the plans that she had made for the coming months, and implies that she was the type to rollover — something we all know is simply not the case.

    for every great thing i could say about paul, there is a parallel for gloria — the open doors, the family, stuffing us with food, always being there whether you asked or not.

    this week, it was much the same story.

    sparklet met a dozen of the most wonderful people that she may not have met otherwise … and was positively beaming the whole trip as she jumped from cousin to cousin to cousin.

    and, i think the thing that mattered most to gloria was family, so it’s fitting that the very last thing she ever did was bring us all together.

  • flight to manchester

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    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    flight to manchester

  • found: april

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    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    camera dump: april

  • almost there

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    our entrance to the zoo (the bridge, by the petting zoo) has been closed for construction since february, which has put quite the crimp on our spring. wondered by today, and its all back to normal. of course, we didn’t have enough time to make it past the sign, but maybe next week.

  • firsts: tooth, unassisted bottle

    []
    two landmark occasions in the sparkler household:

    • the lady sparkler is jumping up and down because she felt a tooth in baby sparklet’s mouth. she offered to help me feel it, but i declined as sparklet having a tooth means i will be *less* likely to put my finger in her mouth, not *more.*
    • i am jumping up and down because sparklet took a bottle all by herself, including putting the bottle back in her mouth when it fell out. i’m sure at some point i will see this as a crushing loss, and the beginning of the end. but right now i’m feeling pretty good about it.

    now, when does she start changing her own diaper?

  • playdate

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    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    playdate with Mighty Baby Boig

  • the stomach sleeper strikes again

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  • firsts: direct mail from the Conservancy

    []
    baby sparklet got her first piece of direct mail from the nature conservancy. not sure if she got it because her uncle/aunt/cousins adopted an acre for her, or if i just used her information as some kind of test.

    either way, i’m feeling a perverse kind of proud right now.

  • koons doesn’t seem to be taking the toyota recall very more seriously (updated!)

    []
    UPDATE: after some legalistic-sounding resistance (saying they were only obligated to fix the pedal, not do anything with the floor mats) they have agreed to get us the correct floor mats, and properly secure them. yay!

    we just bought at used 2008 prius from koons toyota in tysons, and have already had two vaguely disturbing experiences about the on-going “unintended acceleration” recall already.

    first, before we even bought the car, we asked them about the recall … and the salesperson said that, since our car didn’t have all-weather floor mats, it wasn’t subject to the recall.

    unfortunately for that claim, the next day we did a quick “check your VIN” search on the toyota recall site which reported that the car was not only subject to the recall, but that the remedy work hadn’t yet been completed.

    fine, no big deal — especially as the car was missing its floor mats when we test drove the car. no harm, no foul.

    we pushed the issue with koons, and they replied that it was just a misunderstanding, that the accelerator pedal recall on the 2008 Prius was “just issued late last week” and that they would certainly fix the issue before we came back to buy the car the following night.

    (according to Toyota, the 2004-2009 Prius was part of the November 2, 2009 announcement to address floor mat entrapment — but i’m not an expert in the nuances of the recall, so i’ll give them the benefit of the doubt.)

    the next night, we went back, asked if they had done the work. they replied they had.

    we asked for documentation, in case there were questions if we ever tried to resell the car. they said that they couldn’t print it out that night because the service department was closed, but that we could pick it up the following week.

    we asked if they had found the car’s floor mats. they replied they had.

    fine. great. we bought the car, joined the cult of the hypermiling prius, and were happy.

    fast forward to yesterday, when we got around to taking up the paper, temporary, “we respect your car” floor mats up from the floor.

    first, i noticed that the floor mats were the wrong color, and has wear that was entirely impossible for a two year old car (worn all the way through the carpet to the rubber backing) so were obviously from an older model year.

    (koons seemingly grabbed some other floor mats they had lying around, and tossed them into our car. that’s borderline scummy in my book, but not out-of-line for what i’d expect from a used car dealership — even for a car with the “certified pre-owned” label.)

    but then i noticed that the floor mats were unsecured — which is what led to the recall in the first place.

    (did i mention we have a 6 month-old child?)

    now, either of these situations alone — saying our car wasn’t subject to the recall vs. “fixing it” with incorrect, unsecured floor mats — and i’m thinking it’s just a bad day at the car dealership.

    put the two together, and koons doesn’t seem to be taking the toyota recall very seriously.

    now i’m nervous that maybe they didn’t even replace the accelerator pedal — i mean, heck, how the would i know if the work was done or not? — and am more than a little nervous asking for the documentation that the recall work was done.

    so, i’ve sent emails to one of koon’s managers and to our sales consultant — haven’t heard back yet — and we’re going back into koons on monday for some light repairs the agreed to make during our test drive.

    with any luck, they’ll have our floor mats waiting for us. i hope to god that they aren’t going to give us any grief — give us our proper floor mats, and actually secure them this time.

    until then, we’re removed the floor mats and are again using the (now oddly ironic) temporary “we respect your car” paper mats.

    we’ll see what happens — and report back once we hear back from them.

    based on what i’ve seen so far, i’m not particularly optimistic.

    UPDATE: after some legalistic-sounding resistance (saying they were only obligated to fix the pedal, not do anything with the floor mats) they have agreed to get us the correct floor mats, and properly secure them. yay!

  • aunts and cousins

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  • “um, why and i still naked?”

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    photo of the week // week twenty-eight

  • talimo

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  • our new prius overlord

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    it’s no secret that the jetta has been wearing out its welcome, so this past weekend we started doing some old fashioned car shopping.

    part of our thinking in selling the jetta now, is to unload it while it might still have some value … so we trucked up to CarMax, where the jetta was appraised for whopping $1,200 more than any independent car-value-resource would give for the car if it was in *excellent* condition.

    bear in mind why were were selling the car in the first place — transmission, bushings, air conditioner all failing — and that we’ve done ~$8,000 worth of work on the car in the last 24k miles.

    so, armed with a ridiculously overvalued appraisal — and one that’s set to expire in 7 days — we went shopping as quickly as our little legs would carry us.

    while we needed a car that wouldn’t die in the next week and a half, we wanted some more room in the back seat (even if it meant giving up some space in the trunk) and we liked the idea of a hatchback (for ease of access and maximum flexibility).

    once we started looking around, we quickly tossed a ton of models due to fuel economy / street parking concerns (including the mazda5, any SUVs, and all minivans) and then ruled out dozens more with headroom issues (including the hyundai elantra touring which we otherwise loved).

    and then there was the prius.

    we test drove a brand-spaking new 2010 prius on sunday afternoon, but it was a little toooo space-age-y for us, and a *lot* too expensive for the features we wanted.

    we liked the headroom, and all the space in the back seat, and the fact that it was a hatchback. and the fuel economy wasn’t bad either.

    of course, we didn’t much like the seemingly incessant “unintended acceleration” recalls washing over the Toyota product line. or the fact that there is a de facto “prestige” tax, not unlike when you buy anything that everyone else seems to want (ie. something from Apple).

    but, it turns out that prius batteries don’t degrade with age, so there is actually a market for used priuses (priusus? prii?) — who knew?!?

    we found a couple from 2008 that looked more like a car (and less like a spaceship), that had all the right bells and whistles — bluetooth/hands-free phone interface and satellite navigation to eliminate any lingering need for my iphone while driving, and the lady sparkler wanted leather seats that are easy(er) to de-babyify.

    there was still, however, the matter of the recall.

    unfortunately, the dealer denied (at first) that the 2008 priusesus cars-we-were-looking-at were subject to the recall (for accelerator pedals getting stuck on improperly installed floor mats). when we pushed the issue, and pointed to their own website, they “discovered” we were right, and quickly replaced both the floor mats and the accelerator pedal.

    and so, we now welcome our new prius overlord.

    it’s hard not to feel like we’re joining some kind of cult (likely because i think that’s exactly what we’re doing).

    i’ve already been honked at / passed angrily / verbally abused because i was “hypermiling” (maximizing gas mileage by making fuel-conserving adjustments to one’s driving techniques) by pulling out of a stoplight without the level of lunacy Virginians deem proper for the streets of their Commonwealth.

    it almost makes me proud.

  • found: the virgin sparklet

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    photo of the week // week twenty-seven

  • the jetta is dead, long live the jetta

    with us running out of space in the back seat, the volkswagon jetta is running out of time … which means it’s about time to update the automotive c.v. once again:

    • 1978 Oldsmobile Delta Eighty-Eight (burgundy) — a big hunk of classic detroit metal that regularly seated eight for late tuesday night college trips to the beach. mostly totaled when it had an untimely meeting with a 12 point buck on the highway one sunday afternoon. the survived, the car not-so-much.
    • 1994 Dodge Spirit (maroon) — a graduation gift from college from my parents (above, right) the little spirit-that-could survived ridiculously long commutes up and down both sides of I-95. effectively totaled with the transmission, steering and a/c all collapsed at the exact same time, after almost a decade of service.
    • 2000 Mazda 626 (silver) — the first car i ever bought with my own money. sexy. looked like a jaguar from the sides (above, left). my ownership was tragically cut short when i met/married the lady sparkler, and it became ridiculously clear that we only needed one car between us.
    • 2001 Volkswagon Jetta (silver) — the car that killed my beloved mazda. the good: it was newer, had less miles, and was fully paid off. oh, and *fun* to drive. the bad? made soon after VW exported their manufacturing to nafta mexico, and a complete lemon in every sense of the word.

    so, what’s next? a car that works would be nice …

    right now, the jetta’s transmission is failing, the front bushings/suspension is creaking, the air conditioner only works at highway speeds, knobs are falling off the dashboard, both wing mirrors have broken off/are held on by duct tape, the stereo occasionally stops working for days-on-end, one of the fold-out cup-holders doesn’t fold out anymore, and we’ve done ~$8,000 worth of work on the car in the last 24k miles.

    outside of that, the lady sparkler wants a car where i can sit farther from the airbag in the steering wheel (because the seat is jacked forward to make room for the big child seat in the small back seat).

    personally, i’d like something with better gas mileage, so i feel less guilty about driving to work everyday — i stopped bicycle commuting not long after the lady sparkler got preggers — a guilt made worse by working for one of the planet’s largest conservation organizations.

    oh, and we’d both like a car that we don’t have to panic/worry/gnash-our-teeth about over the next, say, 6-8 years.

    the excitement starts tomorrow.

  • the family heat-leech picks a new target

    []

    sparklet always (without fail) sleeps in her own room, but on lazy saturday mornings we’ll see if we can eeek a couple more hours of sleep out of her by bringing her into our bed when she first wakes up.

    it works, more often than not … and it gives someone else (besides me) the responsibility of keeping the lady sparklet warm, if just for a while.

  • upgrade

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    sparklet had her 6 month checkup this afternoon, and is growing like a weed.

    she’s 18 lbs, 6 oz. and over 28 inches long — which puts her at 90th percentile for weight and over 97th percentile for height (which is when they stop counting, apparently).

    this is great and all — healthy baby, blah, blah, blah — but we are now officially running out of room.

    we can’t put her sideways on the couch, she’s outgrowing her chair, it’s getting hard to feed her on our laps, she’s crazy dangerous on her changing table … but worst of all, she’s out grown her car seat.

    which means we’ve out grown our car.

    our little 2001 jetta coupe just wasn’t designed for today’s mammoth government-mandated baby safety seats. we knew we’d be looking for a car eventually … but really didn’t think it’d be quite this soon.

    fortunately, tonight we found *one* model of car seat that fit the jetta — but note the emphasis on the word “one” (it was this car seat, or we put sparklet in the trunk).

    granted, there isn’t a heck of a lot of wiggle room with the new safety seat — and getting her into the seat is a bit like getting a rich man into heaven (“it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle…”) but it will have to do for now.

    … until tomorrow, when start shopping for something bigger.

  • brownies

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    a family friend is running in the boston marathon this weekend. in honor, baby sparklet and i made brownies — from scratch — to bring in for a little sending-off shindig.

    besides making brownies that were ridiculously good — and great looking, too — sparklet’s favorite part was spraying a ziplock bag of sugar around the kitchen.

    so, while the lady sparkler wasn’t involved with the actual baking, she was able to participate over the next twenty-four hours by picking grains of sugar off our kitchen appliances.

    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    firsts: baking brownies

  • firsts: soccer ball

    baby sparklet got her first soccer ball today, even though it was of the foamy, nerfy, squishy kind.

    she also got a toddler-sized D.C. United jersey a couple days ago (for my birthday) and we’ve got a trip to RFK on the books for the first weekend in may … i’m not sure when the next trip to north london will be, sadly.

    anyway, if today is any indication, she’ll be a good keeper — so long as she’s allowed to lick the ball after each save.

    actually, i’m gunning for a solid central defender. she’s 90th percentile on height, so is already built to make opposing strikers ask permission before approaching the goal.

    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    first soccer ball

  • “daddy, i’m not too sure about this swing-thing.”

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    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    walter pierce park and columbia heights plaza, washington, dc

  • take-out picnic w/ aunt melissa

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  • uncle paul, pt. 2

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    we’re back in the district after a trip to new hampshire for my godfather’s funeral — an event that i still haven’t fully figured out how to talk about, which explains all the photo-only posts (sans commentary) last week.

    part of my problem was that everyone had a favorite childhood story to share — and as i’ve mentioned once or twice before, the arrival of baby sparklet has temporarily destroyed any sense of a long-term memory that i might have had.

    over the last week, a bunch of snippets have popped into my head … an inevitable turn at the helm of his boat, riding on the back of his motorcycle (and leaning away from the turn because i was scared we were going to flip), seeing the inside of a movie projection booth for the first time, working his radio or in his workshop, and stopping for ice cream on the way home even though we both knew we we’re supposed to.

    but the thread from those childhood memories — and all those created since — is a quiet feeling that i was at the center of the universe.

    this weekend was also the first time most of my new england family got to meet baby sparklet, so there was a little bubble of “new baby” around the lady sparkler and i that even grief had a hard time pushing through.

    one simply can’t understate the medicinal effects of baby.

    sparklet was a little “emo” on the flight home, but this was to be expected given how crazy her schedule had become while away from home.

    and, after being held by different family members every ten minutes for three days, she was more than a little put-out today that she had only mommy and daddy (and aunt melissa for a bit) to bask in her unflinching glory.

    i have a feeling that all this will add up to our nanny simply *loving* us tomorrow.

    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    picnics, washington, dc

  • six months

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    photo of the week // week twenty-six

  • it’s never too early

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    it’s never too early to cultivate a child’s love for:

    1. new england
    2. coffee
    3. dunkin’ donuts
    4. the red sox

    … and not necessarily in that order.

  • friday / saturday

    []
    []
    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    new hampshire

  • three generations

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    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    nubble light, cape neddick, maine

  • video: the campaign for peas in 2012

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXjcgmmuHwU

    we’re in our first week of “real” food (sweet potatoes, winter squash) and everything has been going well — until sparklet tried peas.

  • thursday night

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  • up!

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  • uncle paul

    (photo courtesy of jenne t.)

  • wednesday night

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    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    new hampshire

  • flight to manchester

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  • william and mary’s new griffin mascot is really a pant-less eagle

    after more than two decades battling with our own consciousnesses, college of william and mary students and alumni have a mascot to call our own … an eagle that has misplaced its pants.

    back in the 1980s, the school realized that the then current moniker (the “indians”) wasn’t going to cut the social mustard anymore, even if one of our original mandates was as a school to educate those who had the alleged misfortune of being born non-european.

    at the time, the school boldly chose to drop the nickname, but curiously insisted on keeping an obvious indian-derivative (the “tribe”) in its place, and then fought tooth-and-nail to keep an indian feather on the school logo (a fight they eventually lost).

    (note to school: that last part about the tribe and the feather might have tarnished some of the nobleness of the re-logoing effort.)

    anyway, a multi-year lack of identity ensued, which included a couple of dark years where we had an asexual amorphous green blob as our mascot.

    but then … the same branding geniuses that sacrificed a beloved president to appease out-of-state christian fundamentalists came up with an *even better* way to market the school:

    instead of coming up with a new mascot that matches the “tribe” nickname (or, you know, changing our nickname to something that matches our new mascot) the college of william and mary now has the very worst of both worlds …

    … we’re a tribe of eagles that have misplaced our pants.

    in due fairness to the administration, the creature is apparently a mythical Griffin, “a mascot that unites strength and intelligence, recalls our royal origins and speaks to our deep roots in American history.”

    unfortunately, that still doesn’t explain to me what happened to the dude’s pants.

  • why daddy isn’t usually allowed to feed the baby

    []

  • happy birthday, daddy!

    []

  • easter morning

    []
    sparklet and i spent easter morning at the zoo, in a noble effort to give mommy another couple of hours worth of sleep.

    as mid-day naps from baby seem to be in short supply, both mommy and daddy are a little strung out.

    of course, that didn’t stop us all (and i mean *all*) from staying up to watch baby momma’s baylor lady bears serve as a speed bump on UConn’s way to the championship game.

    i’m sad to say, but easily the best part of the game was when 6’4″ tall espn reporter rebecca lobo put her shoes back on after towering over uconn’s descended-from-garden-gnomes coach during a halftime interview … even with her shoes off, the camera man couldn’t find a way to keep them both in the same frame.

    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    easter morning

  • good friday

    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.

  • firsts: baby food

    []
    i’m uploading these photos in September, over five months and a week after they were taken.

    why? well, i just found them. apparently, i thought that the event — sparklet eating her first baby food, sweet potatoes — was important enough to use the “big” camera, instead of the crappy point and shoot we usually use.

    unfortunately, it took the lady sparkler absconding with the crappy camera — and sparklet then falling into her toy box — for me to be roused to find the “big” camera again, and discover the long lost photos.

    whoops.

    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    flashback: first baby food

  • video: brbpthbtrbrpth

    httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYrv9zFH4ok

    sparklet’s latest trick … we don’t know exactly what it means (yet) but our leading guesses are that she’s either tired or hungry. unfortunately she makes the noise all the time, so either of those two options could very well be true.

  • texasindc

    httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdfC6RD0iFE

    DISCLAIMER: any sucking up (or alienation) facilitated by this blog post is purely fictitious. any similarities of alumnus or allegiance, to any persons living or dead, is merely coincidental.

  • oi.

    []
    mommy and daddy’s first trip to the store to shop for baby food. yick.

  • cherry blossoms, 2010

    []

    photo of the week // week twenty-five
    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    cherry blossoms, washington, dc

  • found: march

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    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    camera dump: march

  • “i’m through with you people.”

    []

  • “it’s day three of my African expedition, and i’ve already had to trade my clothes for food …”

    []

    photo of the week // week twenty-four

  • guestbook: sarah

    []
    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    guestbook

  • hide and seek

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    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    out: national gallery and the mall, washington, dc

  • baby sparklet: single-handedly crippling office productivity since 2009

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    []
    i honestly believe that i could get a full day worth of child care from my coworkers … just break Sparklet up into 15 minute increments.

  • humanity, pt 1

    there are times where i’ve been sad to be a human being, and watching the uneducated, partisan response to the health care bill is near the top.

    it’s hard to imagine what’s bad/unconstitutional about:

    • New health insurance subsidies would be provided to families of four making up to $88,000 annually, or 400 percent of the federal poverty level.
    • Health insurance exchanges would be created to make it easier for small businesses, the self-employed and the unemployed to pool resources and purchase less expensive coverage.
    • Total out-of-pocket expenses would be limited, and insurance companies would be prevented from denying coverage for pre-existing conditions.
    • Insurers would be barred from canceling coverage for sick people, as well as charging higher premiums based on a person’s gender or medical history.
    • Insurers would be required to provide coverage for non-dependent children up to age 26.
    • The Medicare prescription drug “doughnut hole” would be closed by 2020.
    • A 40 percent tax would be imposed on insurance companies providing “Cadillac” health plans valued at more than $10,200 for individuals and $27,500 for families. The tax would kick in starting in 2018.
    • The Medicare tax would be imposed on investment income for individuals making over $200,000 and couples making over $250,000.
    • The federal government would assist states by picking up 100 percent of the costs of expanded Medicaid coverage between 2014 and 2016, and 90 percent starting in 2020.
    • Individuals would be required to purchase coverage or face a fine of up to $695 or 2.5 percent of income, whichever is greater, starting in 2016. The plan includes a hardship exemption for poorer Americans.
    • Companies with more than 50 employees would be required to pay a fee of $2,000 per worker if the company does not provide coverage and any of that company’s workers receives federal health care subsidies. The first 30 workers would be subtracted from the payment calculation.
    • States could choose whether to ban abortion coverage in plans offered in the health insurance exchanges.
    • Illegal immigrants would not be allowed to buy health insurance in the health insurance exchanges.

    Is it the mandates to have insurance that is so evil? I’m mandated to subsidize people who don’t have insurance now, through higher premiums and higher taxes. Seems like this is something “anti-everything” white people would be crawling all over themselves to support.

    Crazy.

    Source: Bill Summary from CNN; Photos by Matt Dunn, from City Paper.

  • video: rollover (!!!)

    httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFk1f6j7qr4

    ps. it’s better when you can hear the soundtrack. as an aside, i quickly figured out that she would only rollover when i was *not* in the room, so i setup the camera and hid in the hallway until she flipped. worked like a champ. i guess she must have had performance anxiety.

  • pretty sure there are a couple of bad things happening in this photo …

    []
    so, it turns out that sparklet (a) enjoys sleeping on her stomach, and (b) can fit her legs in between the slats in the crib. later in the afternoon, she actually got her leg stuck in the slats, which was vaguely terrifying … but a story for another time.

  • the mayor of walter pierce park

    []

    photo of the week // week twenty-three
    baby sparklet and i have been playing around with foursquare, a gps-powered social media app that lets people “check-in” to locations, and become “mayor” if you check-in at a place more than anybody else.

    well, i’m pleased to announce that sparklet is now the mayor of walter pierce park.

    i wasn’t paying much attention to foursquare until i saw Wired co-founder John Battelle speak on the future of social media while i was in Salt Lake City. he said that once you became mayor of your grocery store (for instance), you’d be darned if you’d let anyone else be there more than you.

    he was right.

    and so, we’ll be back to the park early next week. sparklet’s a benevolent leader, but isn’t going to stand by and let the rest of the tots in the lot move in on her fiefdom.

    (p.s. i you are on foursquare, you can friend sparklet on her profile, here.)

    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    the mayor of walter pierce park, washington, dc

  • “ladylike? i haz dat.”

    []

  • out: alexandria waterfront

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    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    out: waterfront, alexandria, virginia

  • video: Rollover (almost)

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNbqv4k5HhM

    i have it on good authority that baby sparklet has rolled-over half a dozen times or more … but i have yet to experience it for myself, though she’s definitely in the ballpark.

  • out: takeout picnic in dupont

    []
    baby momma got stuck late at work again, so sparklet and i wandered down to give her that last little bit of incentive to get out the door. we grabbed dinner from bgr, and then ate it on the benches that surround dupont’s fountain. i think we’ve found a new model for eating out, that doesn’t rely on cramming a stroller inside a tiny, 25-top restaurant.
    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    out: takeout picnic in dupont circle, washington, dc

  • found: bff’s

    []
    baby sparklet and her nanny share partner, talimo.

  • rollover minutes

    []
    baby sparklet has developed all sorts of new tricks lately.

    she’s got this neat one where she rolls her lower lip, draws her face down impossibly far, and then begins to wail uncontrollably … until you feed her, of course, and then it’s all better.

    up until this morning, her new favorite one was waking up at 4am because she’d rolled half-way over, gotten stuck, and needed mommy or daddy to come flip her back. that ended this morning when she rolled half-way over, got stuck, and then decided “meh?” and went back to sleep.

    keep moving forward, sparklet. keep moving forward.

  • march madness

    UTEP in the sweet 16? BYU in the elite 8? Baylor in the final four? fortune favors the bold … but does it favor the clueless?

    i hate picking brackets because of what my brother and i call the UNC problem … North Carolina is always going to win (tho, not this year!) and it sucks to have to pick them.

    so about five years ago i stopped.

    this year, i’m back in … but taking a new tactic. i’m picking what i WANT to have happen, instead of what i THINK will happen.

    georgetown goes to the elite 8 (civic pride). old dominion makes it out of the first round (loyalty to CAA basketball). pitt loses in the third round (living in DC/maryland, one develops a hatred of all things pittsburgh). villanova spontaneously combusts in the round of 32 (still bitter about the 1985 ncca final). duke doesn’t make the final four (sorry, collin).

    there are limits, however.

    obviously, i WANT kentucky to lose to texas (hook’em horns), but they won’t … and i WANT maryland to win the whole thing (grandfather born in college park, i lived in MD for a decade and never more than 12 miles off campus) but that’s just not going to happen (part of being a maryland fan is expecting them to choke).

    so we’ll see how it goes. hopefully fortune favors the hopeful.

  • how i met your mother: the battle for evermore

    []

    photo of the week // week twenty-two
    dear sparklet,

    this is the eighth in a series of letters from daddy about how i met and married your mother.

    recently, the most important battle in your life-so-far has broken out … the battle for your taste in music.

    for the record, daddy is feeding you a steady diet from indie pop types (the kind who wear witty, ironic t-shirts) or girl rockers … such as Band of Horses, A Fine Frenzy, your partial-namesakes Kate Earl and Kate Nash, Regina Spektor, and The Killers.

    mommy, however, keeps slipping you music from country and christian artists — George Strait and Jars of Clay, to name a few — when she thinks daddy’s not paying attention. even the nanny has gotten involved, though her choices seem to be much more age appropriate (which unfortunately removes her from the pettiness of this conversation).

    but this battle for the scrobbler betrays two sad little facts … your daddy has horrid taste in music, and mommy isn’t much better.

    for my part, I don’t exactly know what happened … the first album I ever owned was Sychronicity by The Police. my second, however, was the early-80s equivalent of Now That’s What I Call Music.

    I suppose some of it is your uncle Popcollin’s fault — he went through a Debbie Gibson/Euro-pop phase during my most impressionable, formative music years — and I obviously never recovered from his influence.

    i have, though, learned how to cover up my horrid taste somewhat. for example, the title of this post, for instance, the is *not* the Led Zepplin allusion a music aficionado would expect … i would have never known “The Battle for Evermore” if it weren’t for the HeartLovemongers’ cover on the (shudder) Singles motion picture soundtrack.

    anyway, all this got me thinking about music from when your mother and i were younger:

    • my earliest memories of mommy is her belting out songs during road trips, without any sort of notion that she was horrifically off-key.
    • road trips only got better when mommy realized that kelly clarkson’s one-octave “range” was just as limited as her own, and was much more suitable for mommy’s irrepressible sing-a-longs.
    • right before we got engaged, mommy announced that her favorite song was “Foundations” by Kate Nash … a song about a woman holding on to an dysfunctional relationship.
    • right before we got *married*, mommy announced that her *new* favorite song was “Still Sweet” by Benjy Davis Project … a song about the joy that follows the end of an empty relationship.
    • and, of course, one of the very first things we did with you (before you were born) was take you to a U2 concert.

    so, even if i’m ultimately proven wrong about what you should be listening to as a toddler (and i am sure i will be) … i’m going to keep feeding you a steady diet of Ida Marie, if only so that i can film you running around when you are three, singing the chorus to “I Like You So Much Better When You’re Naked.”

    you won’t have an older sibling to corrupt your taste in music … so mommy and daddy will have to do the best we can.

    love,
    daddy

  • birthdays

    [Grant Poppa Roberts, Williamsburg, Virginia]
    []
    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    home for the birthdays, williamsburg, va

  • firsts: rice cereal

    []
    baby sparklet took her first shot at rice cereal today, and wasn’t terribly impressed.

    we gave it a go, because she’s been judiciously, scientifically monitoring the lady sparkler and i as we eat — like dog scientists studying the doorknob principle — that it starting to get uncomfortable. we were both ready for her to stand up, walk over, and slap us silly for not sharing.

    more to come …

    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    firsts: rice cereal, williamsburg, virginia

  • firsts: formal dinner party

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    []
    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    dinner party, williamsburg, va

  • “I feel like I’m Han Solo, and you’re Chewie, and she’s Ben Kenobi, and we’re in that [messed] up bar.”

    []

  • guestbook: amy

    []
    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    guestbook

  • out: happy hour @ rio grande

    []
    []
    []

  • “hey … ain’t nobody sleeping if i’m not sleeping.”

  • out: playground @ walter pierce park

    []

  • out: footy @ meridian hill

    []

  • week twenty-one

    []

    photo of the week // week twenty-one

  • video: Playing with Food

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjV1b9OHOs8

  • antelope island and the great salt lake

    []
    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    travel: antelope island and the great salt lake, utah

  • temple square

    [Temple Square, Salt Lake City, Utah]
    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    temple square, salt lake city, utah

  • guestbook (in reverse): daddy

    []
    daddy came (virtually) to visit baby sparklet, tonight. obviously, i wasn’t in d.c. to take pictures, so … while not the usual guestbook entry, this is what it looked like from my end.
    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    guestbook

  • the killers @ the rail

    so, I’m at a web analytics conference, and the product’s parent company rented too-famous-to-play-conferences band “the killers” to entertain the conference’s 2000 assembled web analytics geeks.

    words can not describe how bizzare this evening was.

    when I walked into the venue, they were belting “easy lover” on the pre-concert music loop, which makes me wonder if The Killers would list Phil Collins as one of their influences.

    there were geeks everywhere (not that I fall outside that definition) and the geeky-er the male, the more the women hanging aroud them.

    and somehow the alpha-geeks managed somehow to get The Killers to play? it was like I was in some crazy parallel universe where geeks weren’t the ones who got stuffed in their gym lockers in high school.

    and it was arguably the best concert I’ve ever seen … even factoring in the age-inappropriately dressed 45 year olds, the legions of men in oxford shirts, and the 10:1 male-to-female ratio.

    we were 10 yards from the band. they opened on fire, and kept the pedal down for the full hour and a half, through 15 songs.

    the band was crazy into the show, even though they admitted they “didn’t know what to expect” when they showed up.

    it’s still sinking in that the best concert of my life was a paid appearance at a web analytics conference. really, how bad must the rest have been?

    not sure I can lay claim to having any street cred what-so-ever after this.

    SET LIST: human, somebody told me, for reasons unknown, bones, the world we live in, shadowplay, jenny was a friend of mine, smile like you mean it, spaceman, a dustland fairytale, I can’t help falling in love with you, read my mind, mr. brightside, all these things that i’ve done, when you were young.

  • travel: salt lake olympics

    []
    with my well known obsession for the Olympics, I just couldn’t imagine being so close to an Olympic site and not checking it out.

    (although I have been to Vermont two dozen times and haven’t managed to make it to Lake Placid — a mere two hour drive west.)

    i’ve been to Atlanta’s Centennial Olympic Park, to Melbourne’s Olympic Stadium, and had near misses with Canada Olympic Park in Calgary (drove by, but couldn’t stop) and Sydney Olympic Park (saw it from the air, but only had 18 hours on the ground).

    Utah Olympic Park was home to 14 of the 28 events in the 2002 Olympics, including all the sliding events (bobsled, skeleton, luge) and the jumping events (ski jump, Nordic combined).

    at the park, a multiple-sport Olympian (one of them for ballet skiing, apparently) took us around to the five venues, and Terry Kent (sliding venue announcer for the last three Olympics) talked us through what it was like in Vancouver.

    great experience. stunning views.

    it was mainline-ing the Olympic experience to someone who’s already an Olympic junkie … something tells me it’s only going to make things worse.

    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    travel: salt lake olympics, utah

  • travel: salt lake city, utah

    []
    i’m in salt lake city for a web analytics conference, and the views from this place are just stunning. it’s not very hard to imagine a group of people being moved to center a religion here.

    I’ve got no idea how this week will go … it’s my first week way from sparklet, i dont travel for work much anyway, and hordes of socially awkward web analytics geeks make me nervous,

    I’m going to try and squeeze in two quick things while I’m out here … a trip to Utah Olympic Park (site of the 2002 Winter Games) and the Great Salt Lake (seems like a good thing to see in its eponymous city).

    besides that, I’ll just be missing baby … and trying to process being in a city that make Vermont look like a bastion of genetic diversity.

    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    travel: salt lake city, utah

  • the olympics so far …

    [Vancouver Olympic Centre -- Photo Courtesy Chase N. via Creative Commons]

    while the rest of the world is watching the closing ceremonies, the lady sparkler and i still way back on day 9 (ski-jumping). i have watched every single medal event so far, but that approach has pretty much ruined any chance of finishing up before april.

    here’s my olympics so far:

    alpine skiing — definately my favorite olympic sport, ever since i snuck out of bed as a 9 year-old to watch the mahre brothers during the 1984 olympic games in sarajevo. i’m a little over Lindsay Vonn’s shin, but glad she (and Bode Miller) both picked up a win as nothing is worse than seeing nbc sports commentators blabber after watching their network-picked olympic stars fall flat on their faces.biathlon/cross-country — fire al trautwig. seriously.

    curling — what the bejezus happened to the u.s. olympic curling teams this year? what is the point of having minnesota and wisconsin in the union if they can’t produce decent curlers?

    figure skating — the men’s program was more flamboyant than ever, and i am seriously still trying to wrap my head around the thinking behind Johnny Weir’s pink corset number. i have no idea if he is gay, but if he is, the GLBT community needs to give him a lifetime award for “worst contribution to stereotypes by a gay man.”

    ice dancing — normally, this is my place to slam ice dancing … but you know what? it’s better than pairs ice skating. at least the result wasn’t determined by who fell down the least. i’m all for going out and giving it your best, but if the programs have gotten so hard that only *one* pair can make it through the whole thing intact … maybe it’s time to rethink things.

    freestyle skiing — moguls. i would love to hear the backstory behind the creation of this sport. pound your knees into your jaw a dozen times, pause for a flippy-twisty thing, more pounding, more flippy, more pounding. i’ve got a wide view of sports, but this seems more inline with bush-era interrogation techniques.

    luge — i’m pretty sure this is the first time i’ve ever had the “honor” of watching doubles luge. all i can say is that you’ve got to really, really like your partner.

    short track speedskating — watching this year has made me realize that i have developed an unhealthy dislike south korean athletics. it started back in 2002 with the reaction to their speedskater Kim Dong-Sung getting disqualified for cutting off Apollo Ohno, and made worse during the FIFA World Cup that summer when a goal-scorer (forget which one) celebrated the tie-ing goal by pretending to speedskate.

    actually, it may date back to 1988 when South Korean boxer Park Si-Hun was given the bout over American Roy Jones, Jr., despite Jones out punching Park 86 to 32 … though at least during *that* controversy Park later apologized to Jones for the loss. anyway, the animosity lives on.

    skeleton — i’ve got an idea … luge isn’t dangerous enough, so let’s do it head first.

    ski jumping — every olympics has to have a sport that’s like the equivalent of watching paint dry. what really trips me out is that determining the winner by distance jumped isn’t enough, they have to use some utterly uncomprehesible, esoteric artistic judging to make sure it is completely unwatchable for the average lay person. oh, and if i hear Simon Ammann refered to as the “Harry Potter of ski jumping” one more time … pow! right in the kisser.

    snowboarding / snow-cross — i’ve got to admit, i’m all about the snow-cross thing … any even which sends four people down the same course at the same time (rugby-style) is what i call a sport. i’m not looking forward to 2014 however, because Linsey Jacobelis fell *again*, which means we have to endure another four years of “redemption” coverage.

    snowboarding / half-pipe — i eat this stuff up, and it’s a great addition to the olympics. that said, two small complaints:

    (a) i saw the coverage of shaun white face planting on the pipe edge at least two dozen times, which was about three dozen times more than i needed to.

    (b) the tricks are becoming so ridiculous — the Double McTwist 1260 involves two flips and three and a half spins — that it’s near impossible for the naked eye to figure out what’s going on. either nbc’s got to figure out how to telestrate these things, or we need to go back to the days where a backside 540 was the shiznit.

    between travelling for work next week — not to mention a baby — i’ve got no clue when/how i’m going to get through the rest of the olympics, but i’ve got two years before i need to clear off the tivo for the London olympics.

  • guestbook

    []
    we finally did something with all those guestbook photos we’ve been taking of (browbeating from?) anyone who’s come to visit baby sparklet.

    pinks (testing out a new knickname for sparklet) has been ridiculously interested in looking at pictures of people, and the lady sparkler wanted a photo album she could use to talk her through our friends and family.

    so thanks to all those who have endured their taking … you can rest in peace that they have been finally put to good use.

    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    guestbook

  • found: february

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    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    camera dump: February 2010

  • la palapa, too

    []
    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    la palapa too, columbia, maryland

  • guestbook: laura

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    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    guestbook: laura

  • guestbook: gramma

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    photo of the week // week twenty
    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    guestbook: gramma

  • ipod

    I’ve been without my music for about six weeks now.

    I really only use my iPod during work or commute (and I’ve been on leave) and then something got nosed up in Austin that caused all my music to disappear.

    so, when I finally got things straigtened out last night, it was a bit like the scene from it’s a wonderful life when Jimmy Stewart runs up and down mainstreet:

    Look, it’s the good old Sleater-Kinney! And there’s Kate Nash! Kathleen Edwards! Oh, Liz Phair, perhaps I missed you most of all.

    it’s probably a sign i need therapy … or better taste in music.

  • nanny, nanny

    []
    we have a nanny(-share)!

    back before christmas, we found a great family about six blocks away (still in mount pleasant) and started interviewing candidates earlier this year.

    we had a couple hickups along the way, including one candidate who said (as the wife of a diplomat) we weren’t required to pay taxes on her salary … which was great, until we check with hillary clinton’s state department and found out (less than four hours after we sent the email!) that it was sadly not true.

    for the record, it’s amazing how the gaze a tax-and-spend progressive starts wandering at the notion of (legally!) not paying taxes.

    so, we forged on and finally found our nanny. she’s got a decade of experience — including tons of early-childhood education study — and a real drive to get the kids out of the house. the crazy thing is that she’s also a DC-native-who-still-lives-here, which (baby sparklet excluded) i thought only existed at the hypothetical/mythological level.

    anyway, she starts for us on March 1st … the other family joins in on April 1st (their baby is a bit younger) when the whole nanny-ing operation will switch over to run out of their (much larger) brownstone.

    but the main thing is that we’ve got a nanny we love — which is a good thing, because it’s a little late to get baby sparklet on any daycare waiting lists.

  • week nineteen

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    photo of the week // week nineteen

  • “don’t make me go all ‘sic semper tyrannis’ on you, raggedy ann.”

    []
    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    playtime, washington, dc

  • belated valentine’s, pt 2

    []
    we made it to ben’s for lunch, so we are up to five out of the last seven valentine’s days … though this is (obviously) the first for sparklet.

    we actually tried to go yesterday — a saturday at ~5:00pm — but the place was packed out the door. turns out the trick is to go on sunday morning at 11am. apparently, ben’s is pre-hangover food, not post-hangover food … i guess it makes sense when you think it through.

    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    valentine’s at ben’s chili bowl, washington, dc

  • belated valentine’s, pt 1

    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.

  • fire al trautwig

    it’s winter olympics season at the sparkler household, and that means it’s time to get angry and the god-aweful commentary for olympic sports. here are some of my favorites:

    for some, this morning started with agony and shock.

    someone had fallen off the cross-country track.

    these are biathlon fans. they know when to cheer … when the target is hit!

    piercing insight there, friend.

    spillane looks solid for the gold if he can stand up right here. spillane’s got it … america breaks through!

    actually, spillane did *not* get it. in all the jingo-istic excitement, the commentator seems to have missed that a frenchman came in first.

    in the previous three olympics, this man has left with nothing but the memories.

    … nothing besides a gold medal.

    we have a deep russian team. then, the americans. then, the russians … that’s your trilogy.

    russians, americans, russians. yup, that’s three.

    he’s a bit the germaphobe … always taking purell around with him. he doesn’t drink except for the occasional swig of cognac to cleanse his mouth of germs.

    tmi. not quite to the clintonian/jacksonian/woodsian level, but seriously … he can sleep upside down in a hyperbolic chamber, and it’s none of my/our/your business.

    i wish i could just blame NBC as a whole (and i may later) but each one of these linguistic “gems” was said by the same man … NBC olympic commentator al trautwig.

    if the name sounds familiar, it should.

    he is the same #*&%$ who brought you grotesquely over-wrought commentary for NBC’s gymnastics coverage in Beijing (including his 2008 pièce-de-résistance, lamenting “a catastrophe of epic proportions” when Alicia Sacramone fell on a floor routine).

    seriously, NBC … you’ve paid $3.5 billion for the rights to cover the Olympics since 1999, so maybe it’s about time you read the founding principles of the Games:

    The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.

    i don’t think it’s much of an exaggeration to say that mr. trautwig’s over-wrought hyperboles are undermining the very games he’s covering.

    exiling trautwig from gymnastics to cross-country/biathalon coverage (while quite the statement about his perceived worth) isn’t enough. the problem is, he doesn’t have the commentary skills to cover little league matches in the Parkersburg, West Virginia.

    if he’s under a contract you can’t get out of, let me suggest you transfer him to KXGN in Glendive, Montana. as a parking attendant.

  • dear kate

    []
    dear kate,

    well, it’s the last full day of our paternity leave together.

    we’ve spent the morning at the ice skating rink on the National Mall — where we saw an ice skating Nun, and the four foot tall snow drifts that kept you in Texas for so long — and the afternoon at the Natural History museum.

    of course, after spending the last 10 nights sleeping in a flimsy pack-and-play, you’ve been asleep pretty much non-stop for the last 18 hours, so I’m not banking on you remembering much.

    so, just in case you don’t remember our wonderful talk today, I want to thank you again for the last four weeks. i don’t toss out religious imagery much (I’m what your Mom would call a stuffy-bottomed Episcopalian) but our time together has really been a blessing.

    due to your Daddy’s inability to sit still, we’ve done an exhausting metric ton to keep us busy: a week home sick; trips to American Indian and American Art museums; walks around the Georgetown Waterfront and the National Aquarium; not to mention that “bonus” week we had in Austin.

    however, the parts that I have loved the most are the little things in between … like today sitting together at a cafe, making goofy faces on the Metro, watching your face light up at every kind of light source you can imagine.

    part of what made today extra special was that, after carrying you around for much of the day, you started wailing each time I tried to put you down. i am sure that it was just gas, or maybe a diaper rash … but i’m going to pretend that you knew this time together was coming to an end, and wanted to be held just a little bit longer.

    you are just a good-natured baby, and have been incrediably patient with Mommy and Daddy as we’ve been broken-in as parents.

    people told us from the very beginning how babies put everything in perspective, and while Mommy and I smiled and nodded at the advice at the time, the last four months with you have shown this to us in ways words could never explain.

    with that in mind, let me say that we love you in ways that you may never fully understand, at least not until you have a little sparklet of your very own. (and if that’s the case, that’s fine with us.)

    we both know that things will change over the years — we’re guessing you’ll hate mommy at the onset of puberty, and daddy once you start dating — but our love for you will be as constant as the stars you seem to love so much.

    all the love in the world,
    mommy and daddy

  • exodus

    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.

  • out: ladybird johnson wildflower center

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    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    out: ladybird johnson wildflower center

  • live: opening ceremony for the vancouver winter olympics

    It’s the most wonderful time of the Olympiad, and while I’m not exactly where I thought i would be right now (e.g. marooned in Austin waiting for DC to thaw) I’m still clearing as much of my calendar as i can for the Games. Thank God i had the sense to setup my TiVo before I left for Austin.

    A few thoughts about tonight’s Opening Ceremony:

    5:42 pm Wait, Jim Carrey is Canadian?
    6:13 pm Is Lindsey Voss’ shin the new Dwight Freeney’s ankle?
    6:38 pm Lindsey Jacobellis is never going to live down that awful, showboating mistake from Torino. I hope she gets a gold, just to shut the media up. Seriously, people. She was like 14. People make mistakes.
    6:44 pm Wait, Michael J. Fox is Canadian?
    6:44 pm Wait, Ryan Renolds is Canadian? I’m sensing a theme to my posts so far …
    6:45 pm Wait, Erick McCormack? Kim Cattrall? I feel like the Canadians are an alien species, walking among us … unknown, undetected.
    6:50 pm If I could rip on the new version of “We Are the World” without being a callow, heartless bastard … I would.
    7:02 pm The opening ceremony starts with an video, which (*surprise*) ends with the virtual snowboarder actually *entering* the stadium. Who saw that coming?!?
    7:05 pm This is going to be a long, cheesy night.
    7:07 pm Rocky and Bullwinkle has completely ruined my ability to look at the Royal Canadian Mounted Police with a straight face.
    7:08 pm Wait, Canada has a military?
    7:09 pm “O Canada” as a jazz ballad? Thank God there are no fundamentalist, patriotic Canadaians … else there would be rioting in the streets of the Canadian heartland tonight.
    7:18 pm After the dance-inspired welcomes from the Aboriginal nations of Canada, who else was looking for the English tribes to dance in with tea, and the French tribes to dance in with pea soup?
    7:39 pm It might have been the editing, but Georgia didn’t get quite the standing ovation that i was expecting after that horrific accident (the footage of which NBC has now shown three times in the last two hours).
    8:12 pm The U.S. enters, looking not quite as jingoistic as i was expecting. Is this a reflection of the post-Bush humility?
    8:19 pm Nelly Furtado and Bryan Adams. Insert your own punchline here.
    8:33 pm Giant spirit bear emerges from the floor. Giant spirit bear is hungry. Giant spirit bear will now eat the dancing gnats before it. Mmmmmmm.
    8:37 pm As screwed up as the United States is, at least we don’t count Sarah MacLachlan as one of our national treasures.
    8:53 pm Tap-dancing, neo-punk wearing fiddle-players with sparklers coming out of their shoes. Now there is a stereotype of Canada that I missed somehow.
    9:12 pm Canada has a beat poet. They found him on YouTube. I wish I was making this stuff up.
    9:15 pm Maybe it’s too soon for perspective, but all the memorials for Nodar Kumaritashvili (the aforementioned Georgian slider) seem really forced. I wish they had found one really poignant way to remember him, instead of sprinkling in lots of superficial attempts.
    9:33 pm Wow. k.d. lang. I didn’t know she was Canadian, but I’m really glad to know she’s not American.
    9:39 pm Hey, i just *knew* Anne Murray would get dragged out before too long. Wayne Gretsky’s got to be next.
    9:58 pm Gretsky. Spoke too soon.
    10:00 pm One of the four pillars of the Olympic cauldron didn’t make it out of the floor, so one of the four torch bearers (Steve Nash) get’s screwed. Shouldn’t one of the other three bearers invited him over to “help” light their pillar? So sad.
    10:07 pm Even worse, Wayne Gretzky gets to light *two* cauldrons? Now I feel REALLY bad for Steve Nash.
    10:09 pm Who thought five minutes of Wayne Gretzky carry a torch on the top of a pickup truck was good television?
    10:15 pm It’s over. It wasn’t great, but at least it didn’t feature thirty-six pickup trucks full of cheerleaders roaring around the stadium.

    PHOTO: Courtesy of Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

  • out: umlauf sculpture garden

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    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    out: umlauf sculpture garden

  • out: laguna gloria

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    out: laguna gloria

  • found: working the “ab roller”

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  • out: texas state capital

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    photo of the week // week eighteen
    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    out: texas state capital, austin, texas

  • found: market fresh baby, $2.99/lb.

    []

  • out: barton creek (the mall not the, er, creek)

    []
    if DC wasn’t in the middle of it’s third big snowstorm of the year, i’d be complaining about the weather in austin right now.

    in fact, auntie nadine’s got to be feeling pretty good about her warm, sunny wedding day because the three days before and the five days after have all be 40 degrees and rainy.

    of course, that beats 20 degrees with 24 inches of snow, but i digress …

    sparklet and i are trying to keep up our daily outings, but between the weather and random february closures of tourist attractions (austin museum of art, elizabeth ney museum, zilker botanical garden) we’ve been having have a bit of a tough “go” lately.

    so it was only inevitable that after yet another cultural attraction with redeeming value turned out to be closed, we found ourselves at the last refuge of the american consumer desperation … the mall.

    the big surprise? i was by no means alone. there were quite literally a dozen (or more) adult/stoller pairs, pushing laps around the mall with no discernible interest in spending money.

    the least surprising surprise? sparklet loves the mall.

    it took her about 30 seconds to realize what window displays were, and from that point on she couldn’t rip her eyeballs away … well, not until about 45 minutes later when she had become so over-stimulated as to render her wholly non-functional.

    the only store we actually went in was cryptically called “the longhorn’s shop” and sold a bunch of stuff in burnt orange.

    i went in with every intention of buying sparklet a university of texas onesie, if for no other reason than to alienate the many baylor fans that seem to dominate (my life by way of marriage).

    alas, there was no onesie to be had, so i grabbed myself a sweatshirt ($12!) and called it a day. i’m already working on my defense:

    “hey, if the weather had been nicer…”

  • out: texas state history museum

    []

  • the blanton museum hates babies

    []
    i’m walking into central stairway of the blanton museum today — the art museum attached to the University of Texas at Austin — when a guy jumps out from behind a column and says, peering down the length of his rather long nose:

    “excuse me, but diaper bags are *not* permitted in the museum. please use one of the many lockers we have provided for your convenience.”

    i have a half-dozen retorts in my mind — “if she spits up, can i borrow a 17th century masterwork?” or, “my convenience would be to keep the bag,” or, leaning over to sparklet and saying, “if you have any poo, fling it now” — but i decide to play along.

    as i am walking to said lockers, he calls out after me: “and there is *certainly* no food or beverages allowed in the museum.”

    now, i’m even more confused. i check my palms for frosty cold beer-verage. none. i look for a taco platter from taco cabana. nope.

    when i make eye contact with he-who-shall-be-annoying, he is giving the stink eye to baby sparklet’s bottle of breast milk.

    ah.

    well, it’s a damn good thing that the lady sparkler wasn’t there, because she would have said “fine,” stripped off her shirt, and sparklet would have started breastfeeding right then and there.

    and i would have *loved* to see him try and stop her.

    now, at this point, i’m irritated, but not irate. i just know exactly what is going to happen (and they did, in turn):

    sparklet poo’ed when we were the farthest we could have possibly been from their lockers. instead of ducking into another bathroom, i got to track a rather uncomfortable (and expressive!) baby through twelve galleries to retrieve the diaper bag.

    then, sparklet wanted to eat, and, unlike every other museum we’ve visited, we didn’t have the option of her nursing while she stared intently at the paintings, or even us stopping every once on a bench for a couple ounces.

    instead, she would cry for five minutes while we went back to the locker to feed, she would lose interest (remember, i’m feeding in a locker room here), we’d go back to the exhibit where we had left off, sparklet would remember that she wasn’t eating, and she would scream for five minutes while we went back to the locker.

    rinse, and repeat.

    now, through most of this, i was in a pretty okay mood with the blanton. it’s their collection, if they want to do it this way, then that’s completely their call.

    what irritated the bejeezus out of me, was when i realized that a dozen other people were carrying bags around the museum that were *all* bigger than the diaper bag i was forced to lock up.

    there were big dallas-housewife-sized shoulder bags, there were camera bags, there were satchels and laptop bags. a student even had a backpack stuffed with what looked like four years of science textbooks.

    all of this, however, misses the point.

    i guess it’s possible that i just ran into the one docent with an over-developed sense of enforcement, but if that’s not the case … then i am honestly embarrassed for the blanton.

    this thick-headed, anti-family crap is what i would expect from a hoity-toity gallery in some uptight, old-monied art gallery in the northeast. it’s not what i would expect from texas, much less from austin, much less from UT.

    and, truth be told, the up-tight art gallery in the northeast would just post a sign by the door saying “we ask that you do not bring children younger than five into the exhibit space” which, while also being honest about the gallery’s intent, also allows you to not waste your ticket money.

    (when i asked guy-with-long-nose-to-stare-down about getting a refund on my admission based on my new understanding of his rules, he turned on his heels, lifted his nose, and said “enjoy your visit.”)

    so, i won’t be going to the blanton again with sparklet … and while i wish it was a high-minded boycott, it actually comes down to their collection.

    their masterworks are almost exclusively morose (highlights include two severed-john-the-baptist-heads, one saint agatha with a forced masectomy) and the modern exhibits relied too heavily on items from the looks-like-it-was-painted-by-a-three-year-old school.

    blanton. if you are listening … much “bigger” museums seem to find ways to be family friendly. i hope you’ll figure out something, too.

  • wedding reception

    []
    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    nadine and nadav’s wedding reception, mercury hall, austin, texas

  • video: i only have eyes for you … chandelier

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a70rrABSe10

  • nadine and nadav got married

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    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    nadine and nadav got married

  • portraits

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    photo of the week // week seventeen
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    formal portraits

  • snowpacolypse

    []
    DC is under 18 inches of snow, but the weather for us has been delightful … its 60 degrees and sunny in Austin, and Sparklet and I spent the day wandering around Zilker Botanical Garden and the Lake Austin waterfront.

    of course, it takes “two” airports to “tango” us home … so, we probably won’t make it back to DC before March. our flight for Sunday has already been canceled, and we’re guessing our new flight for Wednesday will be called off in the face of yet another snowstorm facing DC.

    for the record, i can think of MUCH worse places to be “stranded” than Austin, Texas.

  • rehearsal

    []
    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    rehearsal, mercury hall, austin, texas

  • family

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    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    visiting with the family, austin, texas

  • miracle baby

    baby sparklet slept until 10am this morning, which isn’t exactly news …

    … except that at 10am we were taxi-ing down the runway on a flight to Austin, Texas.

    that means she slept through (1) getting dressed at 6am, (2) loading the car and unloading at airport parking, (3) boarding and offloading the airport shuttle, (4) being taken out of her car seat and passing through security, (5) preboarding the aircraft, and (6) the aircraft pushing away from the gate.

    actually, it wasn’t until the safety briefing ($@&#% volume-deaf stewardesses) that she finally decided to open her eyes and wonder what the heck was going on.

    speaking of, I wonder if she is going to develop a complex about sleeping … it seems like each time she wakes she has a reasonable chance of being in completely different place than when she went down (museum, park, airplane, etc).

    back to the miracle … due to her sleeping so well we didn’t have to start her feeding until after “wheels up,” which means we sidestepped the whole ear-pain/pressure thing and we’re halfway through the flight with nothing louder than a gurgle.

    in semi-related news, we’re on the way to aunt nadine’s wedding to soon-to-be uncle nadav.

    I started packing sparklet at about 10am yesterday, and by 2pm we were we were running to Target to buy the biggest suitcase they had in stock.

    even so, we still look like we’re on a month-long trek through Nepal, and without the benefit of a legion of Sherpas.

    we’ve got the new suitcase (packed exactly to the 50 lbs. limit), a roll-y bag complete with bridesmaid dress and approximately 237 diapers, a bag full of enough pumping equipment to empty the panama canal, the diaper bad, a car seat and a stroller.

    next time, I’m getting a C-130 cargo plane to “advance” (pre-stage?) our trip.

    now, normally, I’d bring a laptop to blog/upload photos over the weekend … but my back started weeping at the thought of another 15 lbs bag.

    unfortunately, that means I’ll be blogging/uploading baby pics via the iPhone and its 36-dropped-calls-in-one-day, who-cares-about-3g-if-you-can’t-get-reception network brought to you by AT&T.

    I’m not sure I’d expect another update before hell freezes over, or Luke Wilson gets his self-respect back … which ever comes first.

    UPDATE: we landed, in heavy turbulance. still not a peep. it’s hard to refrain from being cocky … but I persevere, mostly so I don’t jinx us for the return.

    See all the Photos on Flickr:
    baby’s first flight

  • out: national aquarium

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    out: national aquarium

  • found: sous-chef sparklet

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  • week sixteen

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    photo of the week // week sixteen

  • faces

    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    faces

  • out: national building museum

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    out: national building museum

  • guestbook: skye and mom

    []
    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    guestbook

  • guestbook: christy, m.o.h.

    []
    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    guestbook

  • man on the street

    []
    i had a math teacher in middle school who said she hated being fat, because everybody in the supermarket assumed that you were a friendly person who like to be talked to by strangers.

    i think having a baby is the new fat.

    today, in the national american indian museum, a woman alone with five kids (yes, that’s “one-two-three-four-five”) looked at me in exasperation when she noticed sparklet was asleep, and blurted out “well that’s a great way for her to see the museum” while she rolled her eyes.

    yesterday, in the american art museum, two women stopped us in the cafe and asked how sparklet was enjoying the museum. i smiled while i said that she was doing great in the large format landscapes, but seemed to start loosing interest (i.e. fall asleep) once we got into the American portraiture. she scoffed, barked “yeah, right” and then stomped off.

    monday, a random guy on the street — looked like a typical D.C. community activist, business casual, with dreads held up in Jamaican rasta hat — called out to me, saying “great job, father! great job!” while he applauded. fwiw, i was crossing the street … and doing it *exceptionally* well.

    but really, besides the random activist, the only reliably positive people experiences have been security guards and cafeteria workers, especially the ones that are 35+ year old women. they just light up when they see someone alone with a baby, and are elated to have 2 minutes with the sparklet.

    biggest observation so far? don’t talk to white people.

    so far, without exception, white people think your baby is either (a) in direct competition with their kid/grandkid or (b) their question for you is just a thinly-veiled ramp to help them launch into a 10 minute soliloquy about their own.

    either way, from here on out i’m dropping them like their hot.

    P.S. there is an interactive “our universe” exhibit on the fourth floor of the national museum of the american indian, which has a ceiling (see photo above) designed to look like the night sky. it is now officially baby sparklet’s favorite place on the planet.

    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    out: national museum of the american indian, washington, dc

  • out: national cathedral

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    out: national cathedral, washington, dc

  • outings

    []
    it’s day three of the non-sick portion of paternity leave, and sparklet and i are starting to settle into a rhythm … tho, admittedly her front end, back end, and sleep schedule are driving pretty much everything.

    • sleep until 10am, with an occasional interruption from 6am ’til 7am.
    • suck down 7 oz. of breakfast.
    • sleep 11am ’til 12:30pm.
    • suck down 8 oz. of lunch.
    • sleep 2:30pm ’til 5pm.
    • suck down 6 oz. of dinner.
    • sleep 7pm ’til 8pm.
    • suck down 4 oz. of dessert.
    • asleep between 10pm and midnight.

    so her stomach/sleep-cycle doesn’t leave much time for futzing about, but we have about two hours of wakey-wakey time in the noon-ish ’til two-ish period after lunch that we can squeeze something in … but that’s only if we “commute” during her 11am/2pm naps.

    i wish i had some sort of noble intention by helping her “explore the world,” but i’m afraid it’s just my ridiculously short attention span trying to save me from clawing out my eyeballs out from daytime TV (regardless of the awesomeness that is Nash Bridges).

    that said, sparklet is really digging getting out of the house.

    she’s all about paintings in the museums we’ve hit, so long as they are large format (loves those enormous english/american landscapes) or large blocks of color (presumably because most contemporary pieces look like they could have been painted by someone her age).

    sculpture is fine, though white marble holds her interest much better than dark stone/iron. once the pieces dip towards the smaller side, it’s game over … and her attention quickly shifts towards the nearest light source (windows, track lighting, etc).

    speaking of, the big wins so-far have been the stuff that hasn’t been on display … the skylights in the smithsonian american art museum and the national gallery, the tunnel of LEDs in between the gallery’s east and west wings, and pretty much anything with stained glass.

    i’m not sure what’s on-tap next … but for the first time in my life, i am choosing things to do based on whether there are cool things that light up.

    See the Photos on Flickr:
    out: smithsonian american art museum

  • out: national gallery

    []
    Explore the Photo Set:
    out: national gallery

  • week fifteen

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    photo of the week // week fifteen

  • out: georgetown waterfront

    [Eiffel Tower, Paris, France.]
    Explore the Photo Set:
    out: georgetown waterfront, washington, dc

  • video: the end of silence

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snco44ePEZo

    not only is *somebody* talking, but *somebody* won’t stop…

  • miserable, part 2

    []
    ECPA20100122_3214, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    in the least surprising plot twist of the year, baby sparklet is now 98% healthy, and i’m sick as a dog. the lady sparkler actually had to leave work early today to come bail me out, after i had gotten sick enough that i was asking the baby to fix me musinex and orange juice cocktails.

    we’re already embarrassed to talk about how well sparklet has been sleeping, but her being sick has added another couple of hours to the nightly tally. yesterday she had slept in so late that i went into the nursery to check that she was still alive.

    i tip-toed in, leaned my head over the crib, listened to her chest … and she simultaneously kicked and punched me in the head.

    i guess she’s decided she’s lloyd dobbler — doesn’t want a career where she sells anything bought or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, and is looking into kickboxing as the sport of the future.

    (I don’t really know, i can’t figure it all out tonight, sir, so I’m just gonna hang with your daughter.)

  • miserable

    []
    IMG_1351, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    baby sparklet’s gotten her very first illness this weekend, in an obvious salute to the start of my paternity leave. she has mild(ish) case of Respiratory Syncytial Virus, which from all accounts seems to be about as menacing as your average cold even though it sticks around for a bit longer.

    and with that, my idyllic visions of paternity leave — museums in the morning, a pint at the pub in the afternoon — have been put on hold for a bit. turns out that there isn’t any treatment for the mild version of the virus, so it looks like we’re just hanging around for the next five days watching bad TV.

    the silver lining here is that one of the HD channels is running a Nash Bridges marathon (Don Johnson! Cheech Marin! Yasmine Bleeth!). It’s hard to be depressed in the face of such daytime TV excellence (i’m hoping for a “Walker, Texas Ranger” marathon tomorrow).

    for the record, sparklet is taking this all in stride. she seems to be a little annoyed that Don Johnson hasn’t been properly recognized for the dynamic range he displays as the “smart-alecky” police inspector who fights crime on the streets of San Francisco.

    other than that, she’s the happiest sick baby i’ve ever seen.

    UPDATE: Not a full marathon, but i got FOUR whole episodes of “Walker, Texas Ranger” this morning. My life is nearing a state of nirvana-like completion.

  • found: january

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    photo of the week // week fourteen
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    camera dump: january

  • zoo portraits, part 2

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    ECPA20100118_1374, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    this is the three month edition of baby sparklet’s zoo portraits. we found a little bear near the bottom of the zoo, and each time we’ve visited, we stop and take a picture. considering how close we live to the zoo, we should have 200 of these by the time she turns three.
    Explore the Photo Set:
    updated: zoo portraits

  • video: overture

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSkUAVZCRIM

  • “may the force be with you, always…”

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    IMG_1366, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

  • guestbook: kat and ariel

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    IMG_1344, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

  • guestbook: grandparents

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    IMG_1338, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

  • good night, moon

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    ECPA20100116_x016, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

  • paternity

    [The Nature Conservancy's Hellen Creek Hemlock Preserve, Lusby, Maryland.]
    IMG_0522.CR2, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    it’s 4:01 pm, and i’m officially on paternity leave … and will be on full-time sparklet duty between now and February 17th, so the lady sparkler can go back to work.

    being able to take this much time is one of the great benefits of working at a non-profit — and one of the great benefits of having great coworkers — that i can (a) disappear for this long, and (b) not be worried that the world is going to end without me.

    right now, the only burning question in my mind is whether i will now have more time to blog, or less. and i guess that means that life is pretty good.

  • video: yabber

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54p2vl84k4I

  • take mommy to work day

    we’re in the slow countdown to mommy going back to work (first day back is tuesday) so we took a trip downtown to (a) get mommy back in the swing of things, and (b) get baby sparklet her first look at the fastlane of digital public relations.

    she even sat in on her first client conference call, but was clearly less than impressed.

    because we are “those” type parents, we immediately started wondering what she was going to be when she grows up.

    we’ve already ruled out a life in ballet, but with her current obsession for color and light, i’m thinking she’s a future digital graphic designer.

    based on her first conference call, however, we’re pretty sure sparklet won’t be a project manager or account executive. she slept through most of the call, and was pretty ornery when people on the call started asking questions.

    fittingly, those traits seems to mesh nicely with my understanding of being a designer … at least in the online, non-profit setting.

    UPDATE: yes, i know that the image is of the lady sparklet in an Abaya … and no, she doesn’t wear one to work everyday, but last year she spent a week in Saudi Arabia doing client work …. and yes, i think the notion of her being in an Abaya is pretty damn funny, too.

  • video: peekaboo

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYBSDZEq7oo

  • guestbook: kristina, benton and calder

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    ECPA20100110_x002, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    Explore the Photo Set:
    guestbook

  • “itsy-bitsy (internet-savvy) spiiider, went up the water spout…”

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    ECPA20100107_1312, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

  • video: first giggles

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F08wbTPY-gI

    we’ve got the certified “first giggles” of the new baby sparklet administration … people kept telling us that we’d turn to mush the first time she smiled and laughed, and we absolutely blew them off as “yeah, whatever.”

    turn out they were right. also turns out that we are still on the path to be one of “those” people. God, i’m going to hate to hang out with myself at cocktail parties and happy hours, assuming we even make the invite list again …

  • how at&t has made me hate my iphone

    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.

  • sleep

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    ECPA20100106_3138, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    this is a picture of baby sparklet sleeping. last night she went to bed at 10:30 pm. this morning she slept until 5:30 am. by my math — which is admittedly as fuzzy as my brain — that’s seven hours of uninterrupted sleep.

    while we don’t have one, please imagine a picture of the lady sparkler and i doing a samba in celebration. the part that puts us over the moon, however, is that baby sparklet did this all miles away from us (well, 20 feet) in her very own room, in her very own bed.

    words honestly can’t explain what it’s like to get sleep after months without, but i am pretty sure that the lady sparkler will talk your ear off, with joy, trying.

  • video: yapping

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKHvWQrBqUU

  • “dorothy, you’ve had the power to go back all along…”

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    ECPA20100103_1294, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

  • video: star wars? unimpressed.

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viRuLa6kz4c

  • guestbook: aunt joanna

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    ECPA20100102_1286, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    Explore the Photo Set:
    guestbook

  • the parker brothers

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    ECPA20100101_1286, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    Explore the Photo Set:
    the vermont parkers

  • “are you sure we’re related…?”

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    photo of the week // week thirteen

  • ringing in the new year

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    ECPA20091231_1241, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

  • video: hand munching

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iiGubYepy0

    baby gets a new trick: hand munching. tosses the passifier (and/or the bottle) aside and starts going to town on her hand. nom-nom-nom-nom …

  • guestbook: the vermont parkers

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    ECPA20091231_1218, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    []
    ECPA20091231_1213, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    []
    ECPA20091231_1223, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    []
    ECPA20091231_1234, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    Explore the Photo Set:
    guestbook

  • first bar in adams morgan

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

  • zoolights

    []

    photo of the week // week twelve
    well, baby sparklet finally started caring/waking-up for something about christmas … and all it took was a trip to Zoolights.

    the big win for sparklet so far has been the lights on the christmas tree, and each night she stays completely enraptured with them for hours on end. in hindsight, i guess it makes sense that she’d be pretty happy with a place where every free shrub/tree/building is covered in them.

    i wonder if we can potty train her at 12 weeks if we wrap the bathroom with christmas lights?

    Explore the Photo Set:
    zoolights

  • caffeine

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    4223516992, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    when sparklet was born, i cut out the caffeine in a vain attempt to get better sleep. this was brilliant in principle, but utterly unnecessary because sparklet is going to bed late enough (and i’m getting up early enough) that there is precious little room in my life for insomnia.

    so, i’ve fallen back on to the coffee bandwagon. actually, sparklet and i are sucking down liquids at tynan right now — i’m working my way through a café mocha, and she’s working her way through a café mommy.

    we just need to get sparklet to switch to decaf. for the last couple of weeks, she’s been going down later (midnight) and later (1:30 am) each night … so late that i’ve started falling asleep on the couch waiting for her to fall asleep on the couch.

    and the very worst part are her “pre-sleep” naps — the little false starts that get your hopes up, only to be dashed when her eyes open up like saucers the moment you think you are safe to put her down.

    in the good news department, combining ourtwo inconvenient, overnight feedings (2am, 6am) into just one inconvenient, overnight feeding (4am) proved to be a success … which means that the lady sparkler is getting much better sleep and a lot more of it.

    now, we just need to get sparklet to lay off those after-dinner lattes she’s been sneaking.

  • anniversary, revisited

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    IMG_1126, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    we already had what’s becoming a long standing tradition of screwing up our anniversary, so it wasn’t much of a surprise when sparklet popped out three weeks early on the night we were due to celebrate our second anniversary.

    so, when the spindler sisters — who’ve already been saving our bacon all week long — offered to sparklet-sit for us tonight, we grabbed our fancy clothes and flew out the door and had that anniversary dinner we’d been talking about since October and then tacked on a quick trip to the Capitol Christmas tree.

    we were a little preocupied about things to talk about that didn’t involve diapers (and we already have a long-standing prohibition about talking work at social events) but in the end we did okay (we stared at each other without speaking). turns out that we enjoyed it enough to do it again in a couple of weeks.

    Explore the Photo Set:
    anniversary, revisited

  • guestbook: the citros

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    IMG_1102, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    []
    IMG_1101, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    Explore the Photo Set:
    guestbook

  • first metro

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    IMG_1089, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    the spindler sisters took baby sparklet on her first metro adventure (to the national portrait gallery) and while there are better pictures of the spindler women from the trip, this is the only one with the crazy-looking guy on the right.

  • first christmas, part 2

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    IMG_1050, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    truth be told, we knew going into today that sparklet’s first christmas was going to be a little underwhelming for her — we’re still at the stage where the only thing about Christmas that captures her attention are the Christmas tree lights, and the tree’s been up for four weeks now.

    we got her a couple of small things centered around Raymond Briggs’ The Snowman, but this was definitely the calm before the storm … we slept in until 10 am, dawdled around with breakfast until noon, didn’t start unwrapping presents until 2 pm, and took our dear, sweet time. i’m pretty sure that’s the last time we’ll be able to say that.

    if sparklet has a christmas of awe and wonder this year, i’m thinking it’s going to be when we go to see the Christmas lights display at the National Zoo. she’ll stare at our little tree for hours, so i can only imagine what will happen when she sees dozens of displays at two or three times the size.

    Explore the Photo Set:
    first christmas

  • guestbook: aunt nadine

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    IMG_1054, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    Explore the Photo Set:
    guestbook

  • “um, remind me again — why isn’t that bottle (a) full and (b) in my mouth?”

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    IMG_1057, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

  • auntie spindlers

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    photo of the week // week eleven
    Explore the Photo Set:
    guestbook

  • first christmas, part 1

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    IMG_1016, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    Explore the Photo Set:
    first christmas, part 1

  • live: jury duty, pt 2

    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.

  • found: grampa

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    IMG_0998b, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

  • make your own christmas television special, in five easy storylines

    the lady sparkler and i are watching our way through our annual list of christmas specials, and as far as i can tell, there is a grand total of five unique storylines:

    • cute [animal/small child/old person/magician] is [sick/growing up too fast/angry], and [believes/is recently doubting/never believed in] Santa’s existence, and [protagonist] goes on a crazy caper which saves Christmas, and proves Santa is real in the process.
    • [protagonist] is a [cute child/bumbling adult/cartoon character/muppet/angry hermit] who [finds out Santa is sick/finds out Santa is in trouble/accidentally injures Santa/un-does all of Santa’s work] and goes on a crazy caper involving a unique but belittled talent, which saves Christmas.
    • [protagonist] is [home for Christmas/someone who never understood Christmas/haunted by three ghosts/a disgruntled relative of Santa or Rudolph/sent to an alternate world where he had never been born], and is driven by a dysfunctional but ultimately well meaning [self/family member/group of friends/unwitting arch-nemisis] to go on a crazy caper in order to save Christmas, and thereby remembering the meaning of Christmas in the process.
    • [protagonist] is [looking for the perfect gift/concerned someone’s list didn’t make it to Santa], but doesn’t have any money, so he goes on a crazy caper where he [sells his favorite possession to get the money/earns the money through some crazy scheme/steals the present/builds the present from scratch] and even though the [attempt/gift exchange] is ultimately unsuccessful, he remembers the true meaning of Christmas and [Santa/intended gift recipient] saves the day.
    • [protagonist] is disilusioned by the commercialization of Christmas when he [goes on a crazy caper/directs a school pageant, often with repetitive dance moves] and thereby remembers the true meaning of Christmas.

    i’ve run through a list of 54 christmas specials and movies, and each one falls into at least one (if not more) of these five buckets. if i am missing a storyline, i can’t come up with it …

  • found: first snow angel

    [(repost)]

    photo of the week // week ten

  • photos: snowfall in mount pleasant, dc

    [Snow, Mount Pleasant, Washington, DC.]
    IMG_3102, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    holy moses, it’s actually snowing?!?

    it seems like every other year, the D.C. weathermen predict at least one “major” storm that will paralyze the city … although, seeing that three inches of snow is more than enough to bring D.C. to its knees, i guess “major” is a relative term.

    we’re supposedly at 10 inches, which would already puts us in the top five storms of the last twenty years. we got 24 inches of snow my junior year of college, a much smaller storm (maybe a foot?) in high school, and i remember using a yardstick to measure a 20+ incher back when i was seven or eight.

    outside of those, we’ve had way more false alarms than anything of interest … which is a good thing, because in the end D.C. is a southern town, and southerners (a) refuse to walk or use public transit, and (b) only think they know how to drive on snow.

    Explore the Photo Set:
    snowfall in mount pleasant, dc

  • video: whoops

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBw8xkDk3nA

  • sleep?

    []
    two month checkup today, and we got the best news imaginable … we no longer need to wake sparklet up for a 2 am feeding. just the slightest possibility of this actually happening has our whole house in a tizzy.

    at the pediatricians, sparklet clocked in at 11 lbs. 1 oz. (75th percentile), 22.5″ long (again, 75th), with a head circumference of 15″ (shockingly, 75%). this is quite a step up from where she started at birth, which for weight was in the 8-10% range.

    but, besides indicating that we officially have a big baby — the pediatrician called her a “chunky monkey” — this means that the days of being concerned about her size are over, and as such so we can stop the long forced march of sustenance through the night.

    (sparklet also got a cocktail of vaccinations, and a clean bill of health, but we really stopped paying attention after the “don’t wake a sleeping baby” verdict…)

    we are of no illusion that she is miraculously going to start sleeping straight through, effective tonight … but we are really hoping that we she’ll want to combine the two inconvenient feedings (2am, 6am) into just one inconvenient feeding (4am).

    it’s hard to believe that we would consider this an upgrade, but that’s where we are.

    i don’t know who is more excited … baby sparklet? the lady sparkler? myself? my boss/coworkers? the people who live in the apartment below us? our extended friends and family now that they no longer have to endure our sad attempts at being lucid?

    “it’s a whole new worrrrrrrld….”

  • “it’s aliiiiive…”

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    IMG_0962, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

  • video: wiggles

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xkIO9-MZWY

  • found: december

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    photo of the week // week nine
    Explore the Photo Set:
    camera dump: december

  • first bus

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    IMG_0960, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    sparklet took her first official bus ride today (met auntie melissa for lunch in dupont) and besides being cranky about the forced photo op, she handled it with grace and dignity befitting a 10 week old.

  • guestbook: erin and cadie

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    IMG_0941, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    Explore the Photo Set:
    guestbook

  • first pub

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

  • week eight

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    photo of the week // week eight

  • video: weeble-wobble

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7kjuDiVDYM

  • video: getting sleepy

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38AQMAIB4Yc

  • jury duty

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    photo, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

    sitting in a jurors lounge all day, waiting to see if i get seated for a jury, stirred up some flashbacks from my last two windows into the criminal justice world.

    back when I first move up to DC, I was seated in a jury for a possetion case involving two kids pulled over with drugs and a gun, and (maybe) intent to distribute. I don’t remember much, except it all happened right as tv legal dramas were becoming all the rage (season two of law and order) and it created chaos in the deliberation room.

    everybody focused as much on what wasn’t said than what was … there was a gun, but where were the finger print results? there were drugs found on the persons, but did they test whether it matched the bricks in the trunk? why did only one of the two arresting officers show for court, did the other disagree with the prosecution? why wasn’t there dna evidence?

    the jury convicted on the bare minimum (the clear-cut possession stuff) but acquited on anything that smacked of the prosecutor inferring intent, etc.

    if i get seated again this time, i hope some of the Law and Order / CSI type faux sleuthing will have died down. to this day I wonder if there are more aquittals when tv is featuring legal dramas, and more convictions when tv is pushing gritty cop dramas.

    anyway, i spent the next 10 years moving in and out of jurisdictions, so I was never one place long enough to get called for service … two years in Montgomery County, three years in Howard County, two years in DC, two years in Arlington.

    i did, however, get my car stolen. again, i don’t remember the details … but something happened that I had to leave my car in the Greenbelt metro parking lot over Christmas — change of plans, and I was late for a flight from BWI, something like that. either way, the car got stolen the day after Christmas.

    secretly I was excited (I’d been eyeballing a new car for a couple years) but the ever efficient Baltimore City police found the car (it had been involved in a traffic accident) and generously returned it.

    turns out, two kids had lifted it to go joyriding (to their grandmothers house for Christmas supper, I hope) but got in an accident (did about $3k in damage) and were caught fleeing the scene.

    I drove up to Baltimore three time for various court appearances, and twice the trial was postponed for some reason or another. during the third effort, they settled right befor the jury was selected.

    man, i was ticked.

    afterwards, however, the arresting officer came over and introduced himself to me … and I asked him if this (postpone, postpone, settle) happened much. he said that the reason for all the postponements were (essentially) because I had shown up for court.

    apparently, the whole case rested on me testifying that the perps didn’t have permission to borrow my car. by the third scheduled appearance, the defendants’ lawyer decided that I would just keep showing up regardless of the postponements, so they better settle instead of taking it to trial.

    crazy. sometimes it’s true that all you really have to do is show up.

    UPDATE: I’m still batting 1000. I’ve been seated for a jury, and was in the very last group seated … i guess i need to work on my unbalanced, biased, vaguely menacing demeanor to ward off people thinking i’d be a good juror.

  • found: first snow

    []
    IMG_0904, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

  • baby’s first video

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKO6uOkctZE

    in a sign that we have officially become “those” people, the lady sparkler and i got a video camera today.and i feel dirty.

    we are the couple that callously laughed off the idea of a video-grapher for our wedding ceremony, and explicitly banned video cameras at our reception.

    to make things worse, i’ve personally had nothing but bad video experiences … three of which immediately spring to mind:

    • 11th Birthday — I said something about somebody’s present that I shouldn’t have, and I still feel awful. The fun thing is that this is one of my earliest memories and it is preserved on tape somewhere, taunting me from afar.
    • Thriller — my brother did a spoof of the Michael Jackson “Thriller” video for a high school english project, which was perfect with the exception that you could hear me tittering in the background.
    • Yellow Journalism — I got stopped by a local TV news station during the blizzard of 1996, and blew them off by making an off handed remark about the need for global warming, which they of course used on the 6 pm and 11 pm broadcasts.

    so, in the face of all this … what could have possibly made us throw all the caution into the wind and go against our every best notion?

    Baby Sparklet is just so damn cute.

    as such, we bought a little tiny Flip MinoHD with a gift certificate that the super fabulous people at my work gave us, and have started documenting the incredible cuteness of sparklet without rest.

    given my love of film, we’re obviously going to restrict use of this fabulous machine to furthering the forces of good, but the type of video camera we bought has two characteristics which (we hope) will help minimize some of the emotional damage.

    first, the flip is all digital (no tape) so we’ll have to be very judicious about what we decide to keep — meaning “bad” footage won’t be around for long. second, the whole interface (it’s tiny, no bigger than a pack of cards) is really setup to tape 30 second snippets. As such, we’ll be filming small moments of mundane cuteness and not long home documentaries and travelogues.

    of course, my other hope is that the lady sparkler won’t want to learn how to use the camera … because if i’m the one filming, i probably can’t be the one caught on tape embarassing himself.

    watch the video on youtube:
    test video

  • found: november

    []
    camera dump = what’s left on the camera at the end of the month that otherwise hasn’t seen the light of day er, blog.
    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    camera dump: november

  • “bar-keep, i’ll have another … and make this one a double.”

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    ECPA20091129_0913, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

  • christmas tree 2009

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  • guestbook: mike and mina

    []
    ECPA20091129_0865, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    []
    ECPA20091129_0870, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    Explore the Photo Set:
    guestbook

  • guestbook: sarah (& kurt)

    []
    ECPA20091128_0864, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    Explore the Photo Set:
    guestbook

  • week seven

    []

    photo of the week // week seven

  • first christmas tree

    []
    ECPA20091128_2885, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    turns out, we might have been a little too eager to get a christmas tree this year.

    we started thinking through how we were going to fit one in the house back in October, and rearraged the furnature by mid-November. and then, come the first day after Thanksgiving, the lady spakler, baby sparklet and immediately jumped in the car and roared off in search of something tall, skinny and green.

    finding a tree lot in DC is about like finding a gas station … they are around, everybody has their favorite, but you never can seem to find one when you are looking.

    we started off looking in glover park, and the lot over there that we usually use still hadn’t opened for the season. we then drove out connecticut avenue to a stand i had last used in 2005 … only to find that the whole area had been plowed over and turned into a gas station.

    by the time we crossed into maryland, we were feeling pretty good … because soon after we passed an SUV going in the opposite direction with a tree strapped to its roof like road kill.

    and sure enough, after 15 minutes and trying two more “known” lot locations (from when i lived in bethesda, circa 1999) we finally found a lot that was open.

    we bought the lot’s third tree of the season.

    and, given how hard it was to find a christmas tree that was open, i’m guessing we bought the city’s third tree of the season as well. now we just have to dig out the hot chocolate maker, and we’re all set for the winter.

    Explore the Photo Set:
    Christmas Tree 2009

  • photos: thanksgiving 2009

    []
    ECPA20091127_2876, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    Explore the Photo Set:
    photos: thanksgiving 2009, washington, dc

  • guestbook: poppa

    [Grant Poppa Roberts, Williamsburg, Virginia]
    ECPA20091127_2848, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    Explore the Photo Set:
    guestbook: grant “poppa” roberts

  • firsts

    []

    photo of the week // week six
    another string of small celebrations over the weekend:

    • first “take your daughter to work day” — we stopped by the Conservancy on Friday afternoon (i had the day off) and made a quick round. i love the fact that i am the only boy in a department of 29 women for just this type of occasion.
    • first television — i caught little miss kate actually *watching* television this weekend. sunday night, i put her down in front of the tv to get her a new bottle, and when i came back here eyes were transfixed on the screen. of course, it was the tottenham match, and they went on to win 9-1 (which is kind of a lot for a soccer match) so she’s now allowed to watch tottenham whenever she wants.
    • first dress — baby momma has been just itching to get sparklet into a little dress she had picked out, and we had a couple good reasons (guests, work) to break out the nice stuff. monumental, because it’s the first time she’s broken out of the usual onesies/pants routine.

    in other news, we had out latest pediatrician’s appointment on Friday. sparklet clocked in a a whopping 9 pounds, 1 1/2 ounces, which brings her up to about the 25th percentile for weight. if you couple that with 22 inches long (75th percentile) and 14 inches around (25th) she’s either going to be a bean pole, or a supermodel, or both.

    and lastly … i’ve got to find a new time to blog. way back when, i used to blog on my two hour round-trip, public-transit commute, but with the baby i have started driving (i know, i know) which not only takes less time (18 minutes each way) but isn’t a very good environment for multitasking.

    more recently, i’ve been blogging during the downtime between the 6:00 pm feeding and the 10:00 pm feeding. the lady sparkler is asleep, and sparklet *used* to be either (a) asleep or (b) blessedly docile. however, since the onset of the six hour rolling dinner feedings last week, there has been precious little time (or free hands) to write anything down.

    maybe they make thought-to-screen, telepathy-based dictation software for the mac …

    Explore the Photo Set:
    sparklet’s first dress

  • guestbook: skye and cole

    []
    ECPA20091121_0796, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

  • “giraffe, it’s what’s for dinner…”

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    ECPA20091202_0880, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

  • more?

    we used to have a problem getting sparklet up, awake and moving enough to eat. we also used to have a problem with her being so mello, that she never gave much of an indication if she was hungry.

    looking back, those were the golden days.

    sparklet has finally started becoming the little diva/drama queen we’ve been waiting for. she just never stops eating in the evenings — and is not afraid to flex those golden pipes if the feeding pauses for more than a second or two.

    and, unfortunately, the super-amped/aggressive feeding phase is not the normal “witching hour” you hear tell of, because that implies it dies down after an hour or two. our 6:00 pm feeding now starts at 4:45 pm, and lasts until 11:15 pm. it’s like a labor day marathon of very special “witching hour” episodes.

    but, baby momma keeps saying she’s excited, because this “attentive eating” shows that she is an energetic and engaged child. all i can say is never get between my baby and dinner.

  • meridian hill

    []
    ECPA20091115_0742, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    we’re officially one month past birth, which means baby sparklet is officially allowed (by the pediatrician, who was concerned about germs/fevers/black plague) to show her face out in public.

    and no one had to tell us twice.

    last night we went out to dinner (at the heights) for the first time in nearly six weeks, with the mighty baby boigs providing guidance, advice, and cover … which must have worked, because sparklet slept through the whole thing.

    this afternoon, walked down to meridian hill park and played around in the last of the foliage. we keep forcing ourselves outside, thinking “this will be the last good day before spring” … but we’ve been saying that for a month now, and we don’t seem to be any closer to winter.

    not that we are complaining — with a November due date, we honestly didn’t think sparklet would see the light of day until her aunt’s wedding in Austin next February — so, we’ll take whatever we can get.

    Explore the Photo Set:
    photos: meridian hill park, washington, dc

  • guestbook: the boigs!

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    ECPA20091114_0727, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    Explore the Photo Set:
    guestbook: the boigs!

  • week five

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    photo of the week // week five

  • sensible mommy cut

    []
    ECPA20091113_0700, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    last time i cut my hair, the guy gave me a mullet. after a quick repair job, i went the next 22 months without giving anyone the opportunity to do it again.

    lately, i’ve been thinking its about time to let go of my anger … thinking that has speed up the first time that baby sparklet got grabby, and made urgent the other day when i was mistaken for a woman.

    thus, the sensible mommy cut … even though it’s for daddy.

  • quilt

    []
    ECPA20091115_0765, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    we’ve gotten so many incredible gifts over the last couple of months, and today we received yet another … a quilt that my godmother had (unannounced) been hand quilting since August.

    she apologized for not getting it done on time — she thought she had an extra three weeks, as we all did. neither the lady sparkler nor i do anything original, creative, artistic merit and we were both just blown away by the handiwork.

    beautiful.

    Explore the Photo Set:
    quilt (zoom) · other quilt photos

  • “these are not the droids you’re looking for”

    []
    ECPA20091111_0671, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

  • oh, poo.

    []
    ECPA20091111_0658, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    someone just poo’ed in someone else’s hair. i’m not going to name names here, but it wasn’t me.

    here’s the story.

    our heroic protagonist, let’s call her aby-bay arklet-spay, was minding her own business … hanging out on the changing table, wondering what life would look like on the “other” side of yet another diaper.

    our incredibly omniscient narrator was assisting aby-bay with her diaper transition when he discovered that she (aby-bay) wasn’t quite done “negotiating” with the old diaper.

    the third character in our little drama is the (mostly) innocent bystander, let’s call her ady-lay arkler-spay, was wandering around the room, looking to be useful, trying to distract from the fact that the only time aby-bay poops is when the incredibly omniscient narrator is on diaper duty.

    before long, ady-lay arkler-spay bent down at the end of the changing table, rummaging through some bags of diapers on the floor, when … the incredibly omniscient narrator covered up aby-bay’s rear just in time to stop something really, very bad from happening.

    ady-lay arkler-spay then started chatting with the incredibly omniscient narrator, while he stood there, releaved that he had just save her noggin’ from an inexplicably grotesque catastrophe.

    after a few minutes of wanton distraction, the soon-to-be-no-longer-very-omniscient narrator decided aby-bay was finally done, and took his hand off her bum in order to bend over to get a new diaper.

    at this exact moment, two things happened in perfect unison.

    first, ady-lay arkler-spay decided she hadn’t fully rummaged through those bags of diapers on the floor and, second, aby-bay arklet-spay decided she wasn’t quite finished “negotiating” and decided to took advantage of the fact that her old diaper was no longer held in place by the now-not-really-omniscient-at-all narrator’s hand.

    suffice it to say that badness ensued or, more specifically, long distance badness ensued with startling accuracy.

    half an hour later, everyone was in great spirits. aby-bay arklet-spay was done negotiating so that she could happily start another two hour feeding, and ady-lay arkler-spay had just taken a nice, warm, satisfying, if unexpected, shower.

    and the incredibly-omniscient-though-obviously-not-omnipotent narrator? he’s just happy to have a story to tell aby-bay’s first serious boyfriend when the time comes.

  • headshots

    Explore the Photo Set:
    headshots

  • first trip to the zoo

    []

    photo of the week // week four
    we’re in a strange bit of indian summer that is reaching deep into november, but nobody in the sparkler family is arguing.

    we figured when baby sparklet arrived it would be waaay to cold to spend any serious amount of time outside, and frankly i didn’t think that baby mommy would be up for the hike down there and back.

    we didn’t spend much time in the zoo — baby sparklet is just starting to look and focus, mommy still isn’t 100% — but we did find a hidden little statue that we’re going to try and swing by for photos each visit.

    i’m really excited that we’re up and moving around. i feel like i’ve been waiting eight years to take my daughter to zoo …

    Explore the Photo Set:
    photos: first trip to the zoo

  • guestbook: melissa!

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    ECPA20091108_0629, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

  • guestbook: tami!

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    ECPA20091107_0616, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

  • guestbook: jp & ben!

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    ECPA20091107_0613, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    []
    ECPA20091107_0607, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

  • guestbook: mina!

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    ECPA20091106_0596, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

  • dejected sox fan in denial of series result

    []
    ECPA20091108_0625, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    tough week to be a red sox fan. baby sparklet slept through game 6, and then pooped in protest … somewhere, my godmother (and brother, and father) are proud.
    Explore the Photo Set:
    photos: the rest of week four

  • birth weight

    []
    ECPA20091028_0505, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    i think we’ve totally become some of “those” people — the kind of people who do nothing but talk about their kids, and (worse yet) their kids bodily functions.

    i think this puts us right along side senior citizens who only talk about their latest surgeries (which is probably exactly what people like us become in 30 years) or New York Yankee’s fans who only talk about their 26 27 world serieses (decidedly not what we’ll become, unfortunately).

    with this realization, however, comes expectancy — and news about sparklet’s bodily functions.

    we had our fourth pediatrician appointment today, and sparklet has packed on nearly a whole pound (15 ounces) since the last visit two weeks ago. this is a huge relief because she had lost a ton of weight by the time we left the hospital (~8%) and she’s now back above her birth weight finally … albeit by only three ounces.

    the driving force (obviously) is that she is downing milk like it’s going out of style. she’s doing about six one-hour feedings a day (6am, 10am, 2pm, 6pm, 10pm, 2am) and is up to about four ounces at each. this is *ALOT* of milk, and we’re still having to supplement with some formula to cover the massive and sudden jump in sparklet’s intake.

    the (mostly) great side effect of all this is that her energy is through the roof, which means that she is regularly staying up for an hour or two after feedings … and is particularly active after the ones where we want her to go to bed straightaway (eg. the 10pm/2am feedings).

    soooo, the lady sparkler and i have rotated our schedules around a bit to manage. she goes to sleep now at 7pm, i cover the 10pm, we swap places midnight, she covers the 2 am, she grabs whatever sleep she can, we both handle the 6am, after which I go to work, and sparklet/mommy get a couple more hours of sleep before the 10am.

    before this weekend, we had been doing a lot of joint feedings (mommy is the starting pitcher, goes deep in the game, i’m the closer for those last essential outs) but the added “awake” time has forced us to rethink exactly how important it is for us to bond over babies, bottles, and … well, you know.

    i hear all this settles down at month three, or maybe four. of course, i’m pretty sure that’s in 2010 … so, thank god she’s so damn cute.

  • “dancing queeeeen, feeeel the beat from the tambouriiiine…”

    []
    ECPA20091103_0592, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

  • first halloween

    []

    photo of the week // week three
    well, a month ago, we certainly had a different image of halloween.

    we obviously didn’t think that we’d have a sparklet to costume … and we really thought that the lady sparkler could go dressed up as Juno, or maybe a pregnant Mary Magdalene to my Jesus.

    our beloved m.o.h. (maid of honor) actually went out and bought sparklet a pumpkin costume, but it unfortunately didn’t live up to its advertised sizing (it was “one size fits none” not “all”).

    so, yesterday when we were in dupont circle, we ran to the local children’s boutique, and bought the last decent costume off their shelves (giraffe) at 40% discount.

    if anybody from work asks, we picked out the costume as an ideological statement … and she’s dressed up as either (a) the Conservancy’s adopt an acre in africa project, or (b) the number one teething toy in Paris.

    halloween is quite a big deal in mount pleasant, and our neighborhood shuts down streets to make room for all the trick-or-treaters who come in from around the city.

    we wandered around a bit with the baby giraffe-let in her stroller, but it was way too early (5:00pm) and it was raining to boot. even so, we saw tons o’ princesses and vampires, and more than a few ninja outfits from a children’s television show that i couldn’t figure out.

    no candy was purloined (she’s too young for us to keep a straight face) or purchased (our building requires card key access, and has no other kids) but it was a lovely afternoon none-the less.

    oh, and a nice warm up for next year …

    Explore the Photo Set:
    photos: first halloween, washington, dc

  • guestbook: babs!

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    ECPA20091030_0543, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

  • first: dupont circle

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    ECPA20091030_0539, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    i had an inadvertent day off today.

    i’ve been stockpiling vacation days in expectation of sparklet, but apparently did too good of a job. now i’m maxed out on how many vacation days i can save up and HR won’t let me accrue anymore unless i use a vacation day every two weeks.

    don’t get me wrong, it’s a good problem to have … i just wish i figured out I had to take today off before i spent two hours sitting at my desk.

    anyway, the lady sparkler and i are still negotiating with our work to nail down the details of how our maternity / paternity leave is going to look.

    for now, it looks like mommy is going to be off from now through Martin Luther King Day (that mid-january, for anyone in arizona) and i’ll be off the four weeks following (through President’s Day).

    once we figured that out (and shipped the notion off to our respective office places) we took a quick trip down to dupont circle to get some fresh air, and show sparklet her first neighborhood outside mount pleasant.

    and, needless-to-say, mommy was tickled to have an extra set of hands for the day.

    Explore the Photo Set:
    flexday: dupont circle, washington, dc

  • faces

    []
    ECPA20091029_0518, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    week three, and sparklet is starting to wake up.

    we love the fact that we are starting to see more and more eyeballs during the day, and will (temporarily) put up with the fact that we are getting more and more eyeballs at night.

    the big shift, though, is that sparklet is starting to expand her “face” repertoire beyond the standard “winston churchill” look. now we’re getting the “vogue-ing diva,” the “where the wild things are“, and even a preview of her very first smile (not caused by gas).

    I for one welcome our new overlords.

    Explore the Photo Set:
    photos: faces, washington, dc.

  • “Chuck Norris doesn’t get wet, the water gets Chuck Norris-ed.”

    [Chuck Norris doesn't get wet, water gets Chuck Norris-ed.]
    ECPA20091027_0440, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

  • goodbye, grandparents!

    [grandparents]
    ECPA20091026_0414, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    well, the house has cleared out … both sets of grandparents are gone after weeks of dedicated service to the sparklet. the house seems a bit empty now, kind of like we have empty nest syndrome in reverse.

    even emily the cat seems lost for the extra attention.

    but this is by no means the end: the virginia parkers are coming for thanksgiving, the spindler sisters at christmas, we’ll be in texas for a spindler-sister wedding in february, and we might even get the vermont parkers some time in between now and then.

    go, team sparklet!

    Explore the Photo Set:
    photos: grandparents, part 2.

  • photos: baby’s first bath

    [sparklet takes a bath]
    ECPA20091027_0468, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    baby was getting a little stinky, so the lady sparkler and i broke down and gave her a first bath.

    now, i’ve heard legendary stories of babies first interaction with water, and i’m thankful there was no meltdown of epic proportion. truth be told, she just seemed a little confused, like “um, what’s this stuff?”

    well, that was until mommy inadvertently dumped a whole quart of water over her head. that part didn’t go so well … but they both recovered after the initial shock, and in the end they reached a happy place.

    Explore the Photo Set:
    photos: baby’s first bath

  • “curses! i’ll get you yet, raggedy ann!”

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    ECPA20091026_0402, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

  • erikanortemann

    a friend was looking at a couple $30+ a month web providers to feature her photography, and i talked her off that ledge — and promptly ended up tricking out WordPress for her instead, in exchange for free professional baby photos from her forward.

    i think i may have gotten the better end of the deal, so long as sparklet isn’t already going to be the most photographed baby on the planet.

    Erika Nortemann, Documentary Photographer:
    http://erikanortemann.com/

  • normalcy … sort of

    []
    ECPA20091025_0388, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    neither the lady sparkler nor i really have an idea of normal is anymore, but today felt like we were creeping towards there none-the-less.

    mommy tested out her new guitar hero controller (she’s so happy!) in the morning, we walked over to auntie melissa’s in the afternoon, i cooked dinner and then we had a friend from the neighborhood drop by in the evening.

    simple, every-day sorts of events … we just had a very small baby and a very happy set of grandparents along for the ride. so far, the “new” normal looks pretty good.

  • guestbook: ashley!

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    ECPA20091025_0395, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

  • milestone: baby’s first target run

    []
    ECPA20091024_0369, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    few things are as important in one’s life than your first target run. come to think of it, if you are the first born daughter of the lady sparklet, i can’t think of *anything* more important than your first target run.as the texas grandparents stay has progressed, they’ve started getting out of the house more and more. they headed down around the White House today, so the lady spakler and I took the chance to pack up stroller and run a few errands.

    it’s fun walking around Mount Pleasant with a new baby. we saw some friends we hadn’t seen since the birth, a family walked by and pointed from a far (“wow, a newborn!”) … obviously, with said newborn we kept our distance (and kept sparklet out of any flu-laden enclosed spaces) but it was good to get mommy and baby a little fresh aire.

    the good news is that sparklet has been packing away the liquids. at our pediatrician appointment on Friday, she had tacked on a quarter of a pound in just three days … and the early-birth jaundice is completely gone, too.

    mommy and doctor were both elated.

    and while the picture taking has slowed down a bit (which is a good thing, so sparklet won’t go blind from all the flash bulbs) we are still capturing a few here and there as she finds a new way to look so ridiculously cute.

    Explore the Photo Set:
    photos: week two, washington, dc

  • sparklet’s greatest hits

    with Sparklet’s early arrival, one of the preparation projects that fell by the way side was putting together some music for the hospital.

    much like our anniversary dinner, my eye doctor’s appointment, me getting a hair cut, and us packing a “go” bag … we just ran out of time

    the lady sparkler was super excited about Sibley’s iPod plug-ins, and wanted to have something soothing/familiar to distract her through the days’ events.

    so instead, we “threw” together a playlist, with songs that may (or may not) have contributed to the naming conversation to come:

    • Melody, by Kate Earl
    • Forever and Almost Always, by Kate Voegele
    • Your Song, by Kate Walsh
    • Set Free, by Kate Gray
    • Sister Kate, by The Ditty Bops
    • Nowhere Warm, by Kate Havnevik
    • Mouthwash, by Kate Nash
    • Hot N’ Cold, by Katy Perry
    • Wind and the Mountain, by Liz Phair
    • Forms of the Truth, by Beth Waters

    in unrelated news, if her name (and her mom) is any indication, i’m thinking sparklet is going to be *really* good at Guitar Hero.

  • “grrrrrrrrrr!”

    []

    photo of the week // week two

  • how i met your mother: delivery day

    dear sparklet,

    this is the seventh in a series of letters to baby sparklet about how mommy and daddy met and woo-ed each other.

    up til now, these posts have been about how mommy and i met, wooed, and married … but i’m running out of good stories from the early years, and i’ve decided that the run-up to your birth is worth it’s own edition in the series.

    it all started on Sunday.

    your mommy and i had just spent the last couple of weekends getting things squared away for your arrival, and that night we sat down, kicked our feet up and said:

    “You know? I think we are in a really good place. And, tomorrow Sparklet will be 37 weeks into her pregnancy, which means that she can’t be born premature.”

    needless-to-say, that’s when all heck broke loose.

    i had the next day off (it was Columbus Day) and spent the day hiking, but mommy had to pull a full day at work. that night i had a condo meeting where the board joked about how to schedule the next meeting around your delivery … and soon afterwards mommy and i ate a late dinner together and went to bed.

    i was lying in bed writing a blog entry about the day’s hike (i’m *so* far behind in my entries) and mommy was doing her patented “flip-around eight times and squirm for ten minutes” to get settled for bed … when all of a sudden, she shot out of bed, said she “had to pee,” and ran to the bathroom.

    about three minutes later, she came back to bed … and two minutes later, she ran back to the potty.

    by the third time this happened, i was up and at the computer, googling. first came “how do i tell if my water broke” which yeilded all sorts of interesting stories about people who mistook their water breaking for peeing. hmmmmm.

    by mommy’s fourth trip to the bathroom, i started googling “what do i need to pack for the hospital,” because it turns out we weren’t quite as prepared as we thought.

    see, you weren’t supposed to be here for another three weeks, and mommy (especially) didn’t think you were coming for even a few weeks after that. we hadn’t yet packed a thing.

    but by about 12:15 am (on the morning of the day you were born), and after an hour of running around like a chicken-sans-head, we were in our little Volkswagen Jetta, car seat in the back, and puttering off to Sibley Memorial Hospital.

    soon after we arrived, we had a labor and delivery nurse looking at mommy, asking lots of questions. it turns out that only about 15% of moms’ water breaks before contractions begin. and, it turns out that you were one of those lucky 15%.

    the contractions did started over night (they woke mommy up at 3:45am) but by sunrise the doctor decided she needed to help them along a little bit.

    we’ll skip over the uncomfortable stuff, but suffice it to say that the drug used to induce contractions (petosin) fundamentally changes the birthing equation, and makes the notion of an optional epidural to be much less optional.

    mommy was a little bummed about the change in plan — she was born in your grandparent’s kitchen, which is about as “au natural” as it comes — but less than two hours later she was pushing, and thirty minutes past that you were gurgling in mommy’s arms.

    the best part? i got to see the whole thing.

    and, as if one milestone wasn’t enough, that night we “formally” celebrated out 2nd wedding anniversary, with you in our lap.

    we were sick of even the notion of hospital food, so daddy ran out and got mommy’s favorite pizza (goat cheese and bacon) from our favorite pizza place (listriani’s — there was one next door to our first place in Arlington) while mommy visited with Uncle Cole and Aunt Skye.

    to this day, i can’t think of a better way we could have celebrated.

    love,
    daddy (& mommy)

  • first walk

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    ECPA20091021_0322, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    we took our first walk around mount pleasant tonight … well, our first walk that didn’t involve coming back from the hospital or going to the pediatrician’s office.

    fwiw, the lady sparkler is laughing in the picture because she couldn’t figure out why i was (temporarily) refusing to take the picture … until she saw a nubile young twenty-something with a ridiculously obvious thong-line walk out of frame.

    you can’t say i’m not well trained.

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    photos: first walk, mount pleasant, washington, dc

  • #500

    [Hurricane Andrew Relief (circa 1994), Homestead, Florida.]
    ECPA20070918_x021, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    it’s hard to believe, but this blog entry brings me to 500 posts over the last five years. so it’s navel gazing time, although i certainly don’t mean to imply that my previous 499 were directed anywhere other than my midsection.

    i started blogging back in 2004 … i was bored, i was recently single, and i had just survived a near death experience at the hands of a happy young Christian soccer mom driving a hummer.

    when i started blogging, i held absolutely no pretense that anybody was reading. i blogged purely for myself, to give my future self something to look back on and remind me of the things i had seen, the places i had been, and the things that i had done.

    that still (mostly) holds true even today. i have an absolutely horrific memory, so need to write things down or they are lost for good.

    don’t get me wrong, i’m absolutely cheesed that other people are joining in the fun as i chronicle all sorts of embarrassing stories about the lady sparkler, but in the end … i blog because i never want to forget what happened, or the look in her face or what i was thinking at the time.

    with that in mind, i apologize for the banalities that are coming down the pike. with baby sparklet, i have doubled the wonderful women in my life, and will certainly be doubling the silly, stupid things that i want to write down so i don’t forget.

    here’s hoping that the next 500 will be as much fun as the first.

  • bellybutton

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    ECPA20091023_0367, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    we have a bellybutton …! tonight during the 6pm feeding, whatever was left of sparklet’s placenta made a break for it.

    it took about 10 minutes of sparklet and i pawing around the bed, but we finally found it right where mommy would have found it later tonight while trying to fall asleep.

    at least sparklet didn’t try and stuff it down her diaper.

  • birthdays

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    ECPA20091018_0269, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    We got an email a couple of days ago, from Auntie Foster Mom Adventures. It went something like this:

    I know that new parents don’t have time to do research, so I did some important research for you.  Here is the scoop on your daughter’s birthday.  As if I didn’t already think she was cool, her stock went up even more now that I know she shares her birthday with Lady Margaret Thatcher!!!

     
    (Note the three exclamation points after old iron britches…)

    Oddly enough, we already know at least four friends who feature October 13th as a birthday, and it is just one day off what was my maternal grandfather’s birthday (October 14th).

    Anyway, friends not withstanding, here is the list of October 13th luminaries:

    • Ian Thorpe (Australian swimmer, 1982)
    • Summer Sanders (American swimmer, 1972)
    • Billy Bush (E!, 1971)
    • Nancy Kerrigan (American figure skater, 1969)
    • Kate Walsh (Grey’s Anatomy, 1967)
    • Rob Schneider (Saturday Night Live, 1965)
    • Jerry Rice (NFL wide receiver, 1962)
    • Ari Fleischer (White House Press Secretary, 1960)
    • Marie Osmond (singer and actress, 1959)
    • Sammy Hagar (Van Halen, 1947)
    • Jerry Jones (Dallas Cowboys owner, 1942)
    • Paul Simon (singer, 1941)
    • Margaret Thatcher (British Prime Minister, 1925)
    • Molly Pitcher (American Patriot, 1754)

    Frankly, I’m jealous. Any list with Molly Pitcher and Sammy Hagar is company that i’d want to be a part of. The lady sparkler’s (May 25th) is almost as cool:

    • Anne Heche (actress, 1969)
    • Frank Oz (The Muppet Show, 1944)
    • Dixie Carter (Designing Women, 1939)
    • Ian McKellen (actor, 1939)
    • Miles Davis (jazz trumpeter, 1926)
    • Mr. Bojangles (actor, 1878)
    • Ralph Waldo Emerson (essayist, 1803)

    By comparison, my birthday (April 5th) is a little “cerebral”, which is another word for “lame”:

    • Colin Powell (Secretary of State, 1937)
    • Thomas Hobbes (philosopher, 1588)

    Why couldn’t *I* be like Marie Osmond?

  • found: mushmouth

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    ECPA20091018_0257, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

  • photos: the first weekend

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    photo of the week // week one
    Explore the Photo Set:
    photos: the first weekend, washington, dc

  • guestbook: auntie melissa

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    ECPA20091018_0259, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

  • eyeballs

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    ECPA20091017_0235, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    it’s the little moments in child rearing that are so special … it’s realizing that your baby has all four limbs, and all in the right place. it’s the first time that you wipe someone else’s rear. it’s discovering that your baby has not just one eyeball, but two.

    the good news is that sparklet has been sleeping like a brick. she’s slept through feedings, slept through car rides, and even slept through being dropped on her head (kidding!). the bad news is that, up till now, we haven’t had independent confirmation that sparklet has eyeballs.

    but with this morning, sparklet’s eyeballs are out and a blazin’ … looking anywhere and everywhere. of course, that’s only until we try and feed her … which is when she goes back to sleep.

    not that we are complaining. the lady sparkler and i have gotten waaaaay more sleep in the last two days than any new parents would have the right to expect, which is okay by us.

    Explore the Photo Set:
    photos: we’ve got eyeballs, washington, dc

  • guestbook: grandparents

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    Explore the Photo Set:
    photos: grandparents, washington, dc

  • “hook ’em horns!”

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    ECPA20091015_0191, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    three possible scenarios for this picture:

    • first “hook ’em horns” sign, in support of the University of Texas at Austin
    • sparklet indicating she’s ready for her first cell phone
    • gang signs

    the lady sparkler is pretty certain it is the former, but i’m banking on the latter. i hope she picks out a good honduran street gang.

    UPDATE: Texas beat Oklahoma this afternoon, so we (and “Auntie Texas-in-Africa”) are now absolutely sure it was the former.

  • homecoming

    []
    ECPA20091015_0189, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    mercifully very little to report.

    sparklet’s already producing some top shelf imitations — she does a wicked good “goat” sound while she’s sleeping, a mean Gary Coleman face (“what’chu talkin’ ’bout Willis”) when woken up early, and a great “Nazgûl flying over Frodo’s head” sound when she’s hungry.

    (UPDATE: she’s added a great dolphin imitation to her repertoire, too.)

    other than that, we’re just settling into a routine. the family parker is up from virginia to provide cover until the family spindler can drive up from texas. sparklet is sleeping like a brick, and eating well considering the early date and her early birth.

    leaving the hospital, baby spindler (and the lady sparkler) both checked out great … mommy is still moving a little slowly, and because baby sparklet crashed the party earlier than planned we’ll to keep an eye out for jaundice.

    and with that, the lady sparkler and I are going to do a quick feeding, and take another of those 2 1/2 hour naps we’ve grown to love so well…

    Explore the Photo Set:
    photos: homecoming, washington, dc

  • photos: day one

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    ECPA20091014_0163, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    Explore the Photo Set:
    photos: day one, washington, dc

  • kate elisabeth parker

    [Kate Elisabeth Parker, Washington, DC.]

    photo of the week // week zero
    like the little overachiever that we all know she is going to turn out to be, baby sparklet was born this afternoon (4:19 pm) a solid four weeks earlier than the lady sparkler or i had been daring to expect.

    baby sparklet was only day after full term (37 weeks) but the doctors and nurses have been speechless with how big (and healthy) and healthy (and big) the baby was for being three weeks early — measuring in at 7 lbs., 6 oz. and 21 inches. our delivery nurse guestimated that sparklet would have been 9+ pounds if she hadn’t decided to come charging out of the gate early.

    anyway, mommy and sparklet are perfect, and we expect to be discharged tomorrow morning.

    i did “liveblog” the event into my iPhone as they happened, but never had the chance to set it up formally (that whole three weeks early thing) so i’ll post more of a running commentary a little bit later.

    in the meantime, thank you from both of us (or all three, actually) for being so spectacularly supportive and sending us all those thoughts, prayers and encouragements.

    i was actually reading the out at down times during the labor, and the lady sparkler (especially) was incredibly grateful.

    more later, promise 🙂

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    kate elisabeth parker, washington, dc

  • the next chapter

    [Susquehanna State Park, Havre de Grace, Maryland]
    ECPA20091012_2439, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    i had the day off today (some kind of national holiday honoring the beginning of the end of Native American civilization) which conveniently doubled as one of my last chances for a solo hike in the near- to mid-future.

    I’ve often joke with the lady sparkler that boys have it harded than girls getting ready for a baby. girls have a constantly growing reminder that something is about to change. boys just have longer-than-usual home improvement list, and the odd sensation that their wife is putting on a couple extra pounds.

    not to mention, boys aren’t that good at sensing or reflecting anyway.

    but, that’s why i’m at susquehanna state park. located about 30 miles north of baltimore, it has always been my favorite hike, and i’ve been so many times — half a dozen in the last decade — that it’s become a place for me to measure the passage of time, relationships and all sorts of personal milestones.

    as our due date edges close and closer, it’s been dawning on me that somethings are about to change. I’ll no longer have the lady sparkler all to myself. I’ll probably be way more focused on other’s bodily functions than my own.

    that being said, I will soon have a beautiful daughter to share beautiful places and beautiful afternoons just like this one. I’ll also have a dumptruck-sized load of perspective that I’m pretty sure I’ve lacked up til now.

    but the beautiful hike has cleared my head, and even if there are a couple small things left to wrap up before sparklet arrives, I’m ready. I have a wonderful wife, we have a wonderful family, and are surrounded by wonderful friends.

    I can’t think of a better world to bring our little sparklet into.

    Explore the Photo Set:
    Susquehanna State Park, Havre de Grace, Maryland

  • shower

    3960955816_2fdd0d3e07_b
    yeah. about that shower post i promised …

    i was thinking of getting a guest post from the lady sparkler, or texas in africa, or foster mom adventures, but then the thing with the guy in the place happened (“it was our pleasure … i had never been to Belize“).

    anyway, i’m caving … and posting a link to the pictures instead.

    from what i could tell, the food was great, the people were wonderful, and the presents were generous (and creative!) beyond words. that, and i got to drink bloody mary’s for two hours on a Saturday morning.

    that’s what we call a “win, win” in the bizness.

    Explore the Photo Set:
    photos: baby shower, washington, dc

  • manhood

    ECPA20070918_x011
    i had a startling relevation today — we’re having a girl. more importantly, i’m adding yet another female in my life, which is tipping my already precarious manhood wildly out of control.

    at home, I have a wife (female). I have a cat (female). at work, I have three people I report up to (female, female, female) and two people who report to me (female, female) and a total of 29 people in my department (all female).

    my friend-landscape isn’t much better … I have male friends, but four of them live more than a thousand miles away, three of them are gay, and even my token manly-man friend (eg. he shoots things for a living) is married (female) with two young children (female, female).

    of course, at this point I’ve probably lost any whatever ability i’d developed to interact with men … so having a girl is probably best for all involved.

  • how i met your mother: date shirt (special 2nd anniversary edition)

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    dear sparklet,

    this is the sixth in a series of letters to baby sparklet about how mommy and daddy met and woo-ed each other.

    today is mommy and daddy’s second wedding anniversary, but (as you you’ve probably noticed by the time you are old enough to read) we’re not very good at celebrating these things.

    on our very first anniversary, we were supposed to go camping in Delaware, but bailed at the last minute and instead had dinner at a roadside mexican restaurant somewhere out route 50.

    this year, we were going to go to our favorite restaurant (Acadiana) but it turns out the whole place was rented out for some kind of event. so instead, tonight i put on my “date shirt,” took mommy out for BBQ at the site of one of our earliest dates, and we’ll save Acadiana for next week.

    (which is kinda funny, because that’s exactly what happened to mommy and daddy last year, too.)

    which reminds me …

    a long, long time ago, your mommy and daddy were just two nervous people who were trying to figure out how to talk to each other. which, i’m sure, must seem *really* strange to you by now.

    before we were dating, your mommy asked me to come over to a dinner party she was having at the house she shared with Auntie Melissa.

    it turns out that one of her previously invited friends couldn’t make it (thank you, Gannon!) and since mommy was looking for an excuse to ask daddy out, it seemed like a good idea at the time to invite me in his place.

    unfortunately, i looked like a mess. i hadn’t cut my hair in about two years (so i guess i didn’t look all that different then i do now) and hadn’t bought any “impress a girl” clothes in in that time either.

    naturally, i did what any boy in my situation would do — i turned to a female friend to bail me out.

    Emmy and i setup a time to get my hair cut (by about 9 inches) and she even tagged along for moral support. in fact, your mommy ended up coming, too … i think mainly because mommy wanted to make sure that daddy and Emmy didn’t develop a “thing” before she could have her dinner party.

    the following weekend, right before the party, Emmy and I took an emergency trip to Friendship Heights (the Gap) and she helped me find something that looked nice, but not *too* nice.

    the shirt we bought? it’s daddy’s “date shirt” (which you can see in the photo above).

    dinner was great. Uncle Cole and Aunt Skye were there, and the four of us talked for hours, and then I stayed behind to help mommy with the dishes.

    By the time we were done eating, talking, cleaning and talking, it was 6 am the next morning. Not wanting to end the the “evening” quite yet, we walked down to the Alexandria waterfront, and then had breakfast at Table Talk (which is still one of our favorite’s).

    At that point, I knew your mommy was something special … and had a feeling that your mommy and i had a nice future ahead of us. i didn’t know quite how long it would take, but I knew she would be worth the wait.

    love,
    daddy (& mommy)

    UPDATE: no Acadiana for us quite yet…! the restaurant called to confirm our reservation as we were sitting in the labor and delivery room, waiting for you to be born.

    so, instead, we “formally” celebrated our anniversary with you in our laps, eating mommy’s favorite pizza (goat cheese and bacon) from our long-time favorite pizza place (Listrani’s).

    and while it certainly wasn’t what we were expecting, it was a perfect way to celebrate none-the-less.

  • loose ends

    livingroom
    the lady sparkler and I have been crossing things off our list, dilligently trying to get everything resolved so we can relax with some peace and quite before sparklet arrives…

    and then we realized neither of us really has an interest in relaxing.

    case and point: things were winding down this weekend (I finished off the kitchen, and found places for those “last few items” without a place to live — she washed two and a half tons of baby clothes) when we spontaneously decided to rearrange the living room.

    nominally, the problem was nominally getting rid of a DVD cabinet that we forgot had (non-safety) glass doors, but the lack of quality television programming (I actually watched a William & Mary football game I was so bored) might have had something to do with it.

    so, we moved things around, and made space for a new chair that we are waiting to be delivered. the sofa now looks into the kitchen (which is a little weird) but the new setup is a much more economical use of space.

    the real “win” however is that I added something else to the todo list, because taking down the cabinet pulled up some of the wall paint, which will need to be patched and repaired.

    whew.

  • baby size me

    photo
    so, it turns out that baby sparklet’s still growing, and growing, and growing. and while I was under the impression that she’d run out of space eventually, that seems not to be the case.

    the week started off with a baby center email comparing her to the size of a cantelope, which marked a sharpe departure from salad vegetables (peppers, onions) into the “melon” arena.

    even tho we knew the melons were coming eventually, it unfortunately served as another reminder of my grotesque weight at birth (10 lbs, 8 oz) (10 lbs, 10 oz … sorry Mom) which I am sure the lady sparkler has been tying hard to push out of her consiousness.

    there was some good “size” news at the end of the week, during the lady sparkler’s cnow-weekly checkup. for the first time ever, the doctor described sparklet as “normal” sized, instead of the usual (and vaguely menacing sounding) “above average.”

    the doctor also seemed pretty cheesed about how the baby was oriented — head down, booty at 10 o’clock, and feets jammed nicely into the opposing rib cage.

    no word yet if baby momma is equally cheesed, especially about the “feet in the ribs” part.

  • U2 @ FedEx Field

    photo-1
    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

  • the end is near

    [Kitchen, Washington, DC]
    ECPA20090927_0128, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    i hesitate to say anything — because i don’t want to jinx things — but it looks like end is near as far as home construction goes.while the lady sparklet was preoccupied with baby-shower weekend, i (pretty much) finished off the kitchen … which needed to be repainted after the great fuse box / kitchen cabinet catastrophe of 2009.

    so, if we run down the list of major baby to-dos: we’ve fixed our fuse box, prepped the nursery, redid the hall closet, and got a roof rack for the car. last up is hanging the replacement cabinet in the kitchen … which i already test fitted to make sure that i could actually write this post.

    you know, it’s crazy … but it looks like we need to pick out a name, and run through that last list stuff we need to purchase post-baby shower.

    speaking of the shower, it sounds like everyone had a blast. i’ll see if i can liberate some pictures/details from those who were there (i spent the afternoon slamming bloody marys with a friend who was similarly displaced).

    (UPDATE: i just posted pictures of the shower…)

    crazy.

    Explore the Photo Set:
    repainted kitchen, washington, dc

  • crib in 30 seconds

    Crib arrived. The box was bigger than the car, meaning yet again the new roof rack saved our bacon … though we looked a bit like the proverbial ant carrying off the proverbial watermelon. Watch a thirty second time-lapse of the assembly, and there’s a (static) photo on Flickr.

    In unrelated news, i’m suddenly feeling like this all is really happening …

  • jojo / einstein

    [Jojo / Einstein, Washington, DC]
    ECPA20090922_0120, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

  • fun with letters

    [Fun with Letters, Nursery, Washington, DC]
    ECPA20090921_0114, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    in a vain attempt to move the baby name conversation forward, the lady sparkler and i are moving from the academic to the visual.

    we’d already been planning on the stereotypical “put the baby’s name on the wall in big letters” thing, but without a name picked out … we bought enough letters to do all three.

    … and have been playing with the letters ever since.

    you’d be amazed the words that you can make out of the nine letters we bought: ikea, kale, kill, kilt, leak, l33t, like, tail, etc. and that doesn’t even include the actual names.

    oh, and i didn’t get a picture of sparkler’s favorite so far: “eek.”

  • photos: national zoo

    [National Zoo, Washington, DC]
    ECPA20090919_0087, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    quick trip through the zoo. the last time we went, i got *really* great pictures, and then proceeded to have my camera stolen at the bar afterwards. no where near as good pictures this time, but at least we all came home in one piece.
    Explore the Photo Set:
    photos: national zoo, washington, dc

  • the name game

    ECPA20070918_x006
    after months and months, the lady sparkler and i have finally narrowed down the potential names to just three, and we’ve started to “crowdsource” them — mostly to check for any negative pop-culture allusions that we might have missed, but also to make sure we aren’t ignoring one of our own rules for baby names.

    it’s technically possible that we’ll come up with something thats not on the list, but that’s unlikely … it’s been 8 weeks since we added anything new, and we certainly won’t be adding anything once labor starts. if it’s not on the list before, we aren’t sure being sleep-deprived/overly-hormonal will help avoid naming mistakes that will haunt baby sparklet for decades.

    we don’t have a leading candidate (which is actually a bit maddening) and both seem to have a new favorite each week. but, here they are, listed in the order that we thought of them (the oldest one’s first).

    feel free to share your thoughts.

    Kate Elizabeth Parker

    this one is the very first name that went on the list, maybe a month into the process. we aren’t a huge fan of the longer name (katherine) so it’s really just kate. for a long time, it was the prototypical name (ie. “we need a strong name, like ‘kate’”) before we added it formally.

    popularity — ranked 243rd (1978), 139th (2008). origins — Greek, meaning “pure” (Kate, Katherine); Hebrew, meaning “consecrated to God” (Elizabeth).

    pros — Title character from Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew; Evangeline Lilly’s character on “Lost”; actress Kate Beckinsdale (Underworld, Serendipity). added gravitas — Katherine the Great; designer Kate Spade; three of Henry VIII’s six wives. curiosity — Kate Winslet (of Titanic fame) is actually Kate Elizabeth Winslet by birth.

    cons — “Jon and Kate plus Eight”; Kate Moss; Kate Hudson.

    literary — Kate Chopin. music — Kate Nash; Kate Bush; Katy Perry; Kate Earl; Kate “Songbird of the South” Smith.

    googling “Kate Parker” — 41,200 hits, including a wedding planner, a couple photographers, a florist, and lots of 18th century geneology references.

    in short — fun-loving rock/movie diva.

    Elizabeth Anne Parker (“Ellie”)

    we came at this name sorta backwards. we loved the nickname “Ellie” but didn’t like any of the names it’s usually attached to (Eleanor, Elena) so we hemmed, hawed and came up with Elizabeth instead. which is also convenient, because we aren’t a real big fan of Elizabeth’s “actual” nicknames either, such as Liz, Lizzy, Beth, Betsy, etc.

    popularity — ranked 14th (1978), 9th (2008). origins — Hebrew, meaning “consecrated to God” (Elizabeth); Hebrew, meaning “gift of God’s favour” (Anne).

    pros — The wife in Pixar’s Up is named “Ellie”; Jodie Foster’s character from Contact; there’s a 2005 movie called Ellie Parker, with the title character played by Naomi Watts. added gravitas — Queen Elizabeth (I & II); Elizabeth Ann Seton (the first canonized American saint); Empress Elizabeth of Russia; the mother of John the Baptist. curiosity — “Elizabeth Anne” is the name of the girl that Tommy Lee Jones left behind in Men in Black; also, “Ellie” was the asteroid’s nickname in Deep Impact.

    cons — The large, flakey wooly mammoth in Ice Age 2 (voiced by Queen Latifa) is called “Ellie”; “Elly” was the name of the dumb blonde from “The Beverly Hillbillies.”

    literary — Elizabeth is the protagonist of Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice; Elizabeth Barret Browning (poet). music — “Goodnight, Elisabeth” by Counting Crows; Folk musician Elizabeth Cotten; Ellie Greenwich of the 60’s “girl groups” the Ronettes, the Shangri-Las.

    googling “Elizabeth Parker” — 125,000 hits, including an artist, poet, composer, jeweler, and lots of facebook entries.

    in short — holier-than-thou, daddy’s little angel.

    Allison Grace Parker (“Allie”)

    we aren’t really sure where Allison came from, but *everybody* seems to love the middle name Grace. seriously, no one really seams to bite when we say “Allison Parker” but say “Allison Grace” or just “Allie” and suddenly it’s the best name ever.

    popularity — ranked 75th (1978), 32nd (2008). origins — Germanic, meaning “of noble birth” (Allison); Latin, meaning “a blessing” (Grace).

    pros — Jane Curtin’s character from TV’s “Kate and Allie”; Rachel McAdams character from The Notebook; Jessica Biel’s character in I’ll Be Home for Christmas; Allison Janney (“West Wing”). added gravitas — Not much, though Allison Taylor was the fictional President of the USA in the television series “24.”

    cons — A character on “Melrose Place,” played by Courtney Thorne-Smith, appears to have been an alcoholic; Tropical Storm Allison struck Houston in 2001, killing 41; our child will be the farthest thing from “grace”-ful; nickname (“Allie”) confusion with dirty city sidestreets (“Alley”).

    literary — None. music — “Allison” is a song by the Pixies from their 1990 album Bossanova; Alison Krauss; Allison Crowe; Alison Goldfrapp (of rock duo Goldfrapp).

    googling “Allison Parker” — 66,100 hits. mostly personal social media profiles, results from sports competitions, and a “famous” Australian endurance motorcycle rider.

    in short — everywoman, or the smart/pretty girl next door.

  • archive: the year in tweets, 2008-2009

    I started tweeting a year ago, today — so i’m archiving them for posterity, on the off chance that Twitter goes belly up and takes their historical archive with them. Not bloody likely, but I’m neurotic like that.

    2 Sep 09 … was just run off road by a car with “What Would Jesus Do?” sticker, but at least now I know the answer.
    29 Aug 09 … is it too late to get a dog instead?
    24 Aug 09 … office space moment. woman w/ walker moving faster on foot than I am driving. need gangsta rap.
    13 Aug 09 … wondering how many goats I could get by agreeing to an arranged marriage for baby sparklet.
    11 Aug 09 … covering up coral pink paint with a sunshine yellow makes ones room look like the Easter bunny vomited all over the walls.
    9 Aug 09 … flopping: 2, cristiano ronaldo 0.
    30 Jul 09 … i’m so very tired of being tired of being tired of being tired.
    25 Jul 09 … “our kids should summer camp in Texas. they’d learn to ride horses and shoot guns — important knowledge for kids living in DC.”
    24 Jul 09 … surrounded by 70,000 people in Chelsea / AC Milan soccer jerseys. is this the bizarro world the GOP warned me of if Obama was elected?
    19 Jul 09 … freaking hell, I’m in the ‘burbs again. reproducing = worst idea ever.
    15 Jul 09 … Obama singled out the Nats as sucky during an All-Star Game interview, but it’s not a faux pax if everyone in DC agrees (and we do).
    11 Jul 09 … mini-golf, then dairy queen. maybe the ‘burbs are okay every once in a while.
    6 Jul 09 … baby sparklet is now (apparently) the size of a large mango, which seems uncomfortably large to me. http://tinyurl.com/mxdsgf
    5 Jul 09 … every trip to the ‘burbs (specifically Bailey’s Crossroads) reminds me why I live in the city.
    2 Jul 09 … my iPhone knows to autocorrect “jager” to “jäger” which begs the question: who exactly programmed this thing?!?
    28 Jun 09 … baby sparklet is kicking while watching the USA vs Brazil match, which is a good sign for future soccer-filled Saturday mornings.
    28 Jun 09 … overheard from Tasha: “I agree that [in sports] all kids should get a ribbon, but I just think that should end at age 6.”
    26 Jun 09 … if the FAA can’t keep planes on time during a recession (when no one is flying) what’s going to happen once the economy recovers?
    22 Jun 09 … spent first father’s day helping my father rebuild my grandfather’s deck. seems strangely appropriate.
    19 Jun 09 … we’re pregnant, and it’s a girl! http://theparkerfamily.org/musings/posts/2454
    18 Jun 09 … spent all day tring to convince people that going to the ballet is manly (50 half-naked women jumping around) to no avail.
    17 Jun 09 … just realized we have tickets to the ballet tmrw. how #@^%ing cool is that? like finding money in your pocket on laundry day.
    12 Jun 09 … I’m pretty sure I just woke up from a dream in which I dreamt I got a bad night’s sleep.
    26 May 09 … espn: spelling bee, followed by soccer. some where an Amer’can good ol’ boy is weeping.
    24 Apr 09 … most beautiful words in English language: “British Airways flight 216 to London’s Heathrow Airport, now boarding.”
    5 Apr 09 … made it thru my 34th birthday without experiencing any “unfortunate side-effects” of looking like Jesus.
    1 Apr 09 … go Baylor Bears! grrrrrrrrrrrr.
    31 Mar 09 … calling 311 actually works in DC. took maybe 30 seconds to report a disabled vehicle. I’m kinda proud of my disfunctional city.
    28 Mar 09 … officially the first day in shorts of the new year, even tho it’s 48 degrees and rainy.
    25 Mar 09 … never play video games with a recently unemployed sibling. *somebody* has been honing their guitar hero skills, me thinks.
    22 Mar 09 … currently the only man at a lesbian bar in Rehobeth, and the band just broke into Melissa Ethridge.
    21 Mar 09 … thirty-six hours in rehobeth. from here on out, I’m picking my friends based on their older sister’s beach house.
    19 Mar 09 … fight, fight, fight for maryland! push up the score, keep on fighting for more, for maaaaryyyland — GO TERPS!
    13 Mar 09 … really people, how many times do I have to say it? no white pantsuits before labor day. maybe ever.
    10 Mar 09 … seeing docu-drama “ballerina” at landmark. pretty sure I’m the only boy who dragged his girl along and not the other way around.
    7 Mar 09 … at the brand-spanking new Capitol visitors center. no wonder it was so expensive: it’s massive, and very shine-y.
    6 Mar 09 … @ntenhross, is there an NTEN dc regional conference this year? a friend was asking, and i can’t find a thing.
    2 Mar 09 … I have an embarassing love of snow that utterly conflicts with my curmudgeonly exterior.
    1 Mar 09 … day o’ epic sports failure continues. just watched (in person) the Washington Capitols lose 6-2 at home.
    1 Mar 09 … day o’ sports continues at my first capitals hockey game in nigh on 10 years.
    1 Mar 09 … my beloved Tottenham is facing Manchester United in the League Cup final. nil-nil so far, tho not sure how long that’ll last.
    1 Mar 09 … oi, nil-nil means extra time for tottenham. the 90 minute rolling heart attack continues.
    1 Mar 09 … over 120 minutes, and not a goal to be found. penalties. come on you Spurs!
    1 Mar 09 … sigh.
    26 Feb 09 … at a mobile marketing conference, sitting next to Playboy’s mobile expert. I can’t even imagine what his day is like.
    26 Feb 09 … New York is some of the most beautifully flowing chaos on the planet.
    25 Feb 09 … #%^*+! I’m pretty sure I just saw the Jonas Brothers at the union square Virgin Megastore. my eyes, my eyes!
    25 Feb 09 … on the bolt by to NYC. it’s filled with urban sophistocate bohemians, and I am the eldest by +/- a decade.
    25 Feb 09 … the whole city of New York smells like pizza.
    31 Jan 09 … crazy lines at the new American History museum. in January. can’t imagine July.
    21 Jan 09 … $&@%! Tasha just flirted with john cusack (photos coming). I’m so screwed.
    21 Jan 09 … google ball = prom for 30 somethings.
    21 Jan 09 … on the way to dinner, and then the Google/LCCR ball.
    21 Jan 09 … Tasha just met ben affleck. pictures to follow.
    20 Jan 09 … in place for #inaug09, ready to count down the last three hours and twenty four minutes of the Bush administration.
    19 Jan 09 … can’t wait for tuesday. if there were *this* many people at the concert, can’t wait to see how many people are at the main event.
    19 Jan 09 … we got TICKETS!!!
    19 Jan 09 … you wouldn’t believe the lines to pick up #inaug09 tickets on the Hill. probably a dozen lines, each with several hundred people.
    18 Jan 09 … it’s nuts down here on the mall. two hours ’til showtime, and the place is packed.
    18 Jan 09 … on the 42, heading to #inaug09 concert on mall and it’s standing room only after two stops.
    17 Jan 09 … the vet is concerned that my cat freaked when her belly was shaved for an ultrasound. I’d be worried if she hadn’t.
    13 Jan 09 … when did “dress jeans” become appropriate attire for the theatre?
    12 Jan 09 … there is nothing sadder than a pile of dead Christmas trees on a city street corner.
    5 Jan 09 … love the new 43 bus. just like the 42, but no Dupont Circle. publik tranzit rulez!
    4 Jan 09 … isn’t it a tad early for valentine’s merchandise displays?!?
    2 Jan 09 … learned how to knit, thereby annihilating my last remaining shred of masculinity.
    31 Dec 08 … at the beach, and it’s snowing.
    27 Dec 08 … at the brightest Christmas house in Virginia — photo: http://bkite.com/03fnX
    25 Dec 08 … happy christmas, twitterbody — http://twitpic.com/we6z
    24 Dec 08 … now obsessed with “Fairytale of New York” by The Pogues, as potentially the best Christmas song ever.
    22 Dec 08 … oi! NORAD is going to twitter santa’s progress @noradsanta (thx @davidconnell for the tip).
    19 Dec 08 … karaoake at the office holiday party. dear lord deliver me.
    18 Dec 08 … guy next to me on bus is rockin’ out to his third consecutive replay of “You Can Call Me Al” by Paul Simon. disturbing.
    17 Dec 08 … surprise (free) tickets to Aimee Mann Holiday Show @ the Birchmere — http://bkite.com/0320K
    16 Dec 08 … need a healthy dose of inspiration.
    15 Dec 08 … resting after a *spectacular* Christmas cartoon extravaganza.
    14 Dec 08 … my wife is bonding with someone re: their hatred of squash — http://bkite.com/02YfQ
    12 Dec 08 … is it the holidays that are making me blog/tweet/post less, or am i just spectacularly lazy?
    10 Dec 08 … planning our 4th annual Christmas cartoon extravaganza this Sunday. who’s in?!?
    9 Dec 08 … what is it about Illinois gov’t that makes “sleazy” okay?
    9 Dec 08 … wondering how much of my life has been taken up by Proactiv acne solution commercials.
    7 Dec 08 … ugh. first head cold of the season.
    6 Dec 08 … if you are marching in a Scottish parade, Burberry plaid doesn’t count.
    5 Dec 08 … it’s cold enough that even ear-flaps aren’t going to be enough.
    2 Dec 08 … why DC is unlike any city in the world: the hostess at New Heights just corrected us on the status of the Minnesota senate race.
    30 Nov 08 … getting through PDX without an ID is surprising non-traumatic. and maybe even a tiny bit pleasant.
    30 Nov 08 … lost wallet. left in rental car. car rerented. at airport w/o ID. wish me luck proving I’m not a hippie/terrorist.
    29 Nov 08 … food, friends, dirty girl scout martinis, wii. — photo: http://bkite.com/02FSE
    29 Nov 08 … how is it possible that the best tex-mex from our Austin trip is in Seattle?!? — http://bkite.com/02Gny
    28 Nov 08 … movies are the new football games, and bacon-wrapped scallops the new turkey. all that is new is old again, or something-or-other.
    28 Nov 08 … perhaps I’ll miss you, Stumptown, most of all. — http://bkite.com/02EQK
    27 Nov 08 … used to think hats w/ earflaps looked ridiculous. after hiking around mt. hood, I now deem them the very height of fashion.
    23 Nov 08 … CTSG reunion! I love these guys. — http://bkite.com/02ypI
    22 Nov 08 … ah, Portland. just as cold and rainy as I remember. — http://bkite.com/02wYv
    22 Nov 08 … realizing my life is defined by what I eat. — http://bkite.com/02x1c
    21 Nov 08 … final day in Austin begins with cheese stuffed queso omlet. now, I can never leave. @ http://bkite.com/02wdQ
    20 Nov 08 … am I the only one bummed to see gas prices plummet? besides the Saudis and Al Gore, I mean.
    20 Nov 08 … eating half a pound of heaven. @ Coopers Barbeque http://loopt.us/W0S4Zw
    19 Nov 08 … austin meal distribution: 60% tex-mex (with 1/3rd queso kicker), 30% bbq, and 10% other. need late surge in the queso metric.
    18 Nov 08 … embracing my inner geek. i’ve missed him.
    18 Nov 08 … just admitted to reading shakespeare for fun. expecting my friend count to drop precipitously.
    16 Nov 08 … I [heart] queso for breakfast.
    15 Nov 08 … goodbye, Washington DC. the next time I see you, it will be time to start watching those bad christmas cartoon specials I love so much.
    15 Nov 08 … it’s 15 degrees *COLDER* in Austin than DC. dude, wtf?!?
    14 Nov 08 … deciding if loopt is cool, or creepy. in Washington, DC http://loopt.us/TanGmw
    11 Nov 08 … street parking in the city is all well and good, until you realize you have misplaced your car.
    8 Nov 08 … fall colors at the National Zoo, now with fifty percent less tourists!
    7 Nov 08 … just paid 300% markup for a copy of the “Obama Makes History” WashPost. I’m a marketer’s dream.
    6 Nov 08 … radio: “president-elect barack obama.” don’t think hearing that will ever get old.
    5 Nov 08 … it’s a beautiful day.
    5 Nov 08 … tired, sleep deprived, but live blogging the election returns anyway @ http://ping.fm/KZvTc
    4 Nov 08 … line to vote two blocks long. last year at this time, I was one of twelve.
    4 Nov 08 … tearing up (like a little girl) every time i see a 90-year old say “i never thought i would see this in my lifetime.”
    4 Nov 08 … unbelievable. the candidade was fantastic. the crowd incredible. if they say 80,000 attended, I’d believe.
    3 Nov 08 … driving my DC-plated, hybrid, car-sharing ZipCar to Manassas to see Obama!
    3 Nov 08 … plotting furiously to go to the Obama rally in Manassas tonight.
    1 Nov 08 … just pumped gas in my Jesus costume. hilarity ensued.
    31 Oct 08 … realizing that some party is going to eat it’s young after this election. here’s hoping it won’t be mine.
    29 Oct 08 … just thought about Shel Silverstein’s “Lafcadio, The Lion Who Shot Back” for 1st time in 20 years. now i want a marshmallow palace.
    29 Oct 08 … screw the World Series, the Boston Celtics just raised championship banner #17.
    28 Oct 08 … say it ain’t so, ted: http://ping.fm/59puK
    28 Oct 08 … was just told that i would be “Gonzo” if my office was casted for a Muppet Movie. words can’t describe how happy that made me.
    27 Oct 08 … first two coke day in, well, forever. not a good sign.
    27 Oct 08 … open letter to idiot: don’t run on Wilson blvd, after dark, in the rain, wearing black, even if ur in the bike lane. just sayin’.
    25 Oct 08 … fifty-nine percent of registered voters believe McCain will favor the wealthy. just 11% believe he will favor the middle class.
    25 Oct 08 … settling in for the last 20 hours of the (TiVo-ed) Summer Olympics. who’s with me?
    23 Oct 08 … at 3:30 am, 10 lbs of cat on your stomach feels more like fifty.
    23 Oct 08 … feeling fat and happy.
    22 Oct 08 … wishing anyone could differentiate between “normal race tightening,” “yet another comeback,” and “dead cat bounce.”
    20 Oct 08 … back home after the *beautiful* Hutchins/Kazi wedding. (photos @ http://ping.fm/kr1Gn)
    18 Oct 08 … my wife got her hands henna-ed, and I’m too tired to come up with a worthy punchline.
    17 Oct 08 … in a rental car without power locks or windows. truley, this is the third world.
    17 Oct 08 … Texas, it’s like a whole ‘nuther planet.
    16 Oct 08 … going back to Texas for yet another wedding of the century. (see #1 @ http://ping.fm/Pabqp)
    16 Oct 08 … thanking the dear sweet Lord that I am live blogging the *last* presidential debate @ http://ping.fm/CKMYK
    15 Oct 08 … &$@%# red sox.
    14 Oct 08 … short work week, and no one is in the office. must. stay. focused.
    10 Oct 08 … @holdie1: was that the volkswagon i almost bought? i loved that car. *snif.*
    10 Oct 08 … loving my new furnace that doesn’t sound like i’m on the deck of an aircraft carrier @ http://ping.fm/jdoDJ
    10 Oct 08 … wondering how long it will take the neo-cons to argue that the meltdown happened because we didn’t deregulate *enough.*
    9 Oct 08 … @pixelslave “Doooo naaaaht seeek the treaaaasurre.”
    9 Oct 08 … love me some “oh brother, where art thou?” not much nutritional value, but you just can’t stop. like cinematic potato chips.
    8 Oct 08 … awed that 86 percent of fox news viewers said mccain won the debate. when was the last time 86% of any group agreed on anything?
    8 Oct 08 … not happy to be live blogging yet another debate @ http://tinyurl.com/4o4dcc
    7 Oct 08 … red sox, rays, dodgers and phillies. never would have picked that in a million years.
    6 Oct 08 … if an anniversary falls over in the forest, but both participants are sick, does it make a sound?
    3 Oct 08 … glad to be getting out of the center of the political universe this weekend, even if it is to Joe Biden’s Delaware.
    3 Oct 08 … live blogging the pending veep apocalypse @ http://ping.fm/CKMYK
    2 Oct 08 … still recovering from Sox game (late) last night. all teams in the pacific time zone should be booted to the Japanese majors.
    1 Oct 08 … contemplating my one-night return to bachelorhood tonight. considering (*gasp*) leaving my dishes in the sink, unwashed, overnight.
    29 Sep 08 … caught a little off guard that our first anniversary is nary a week away.
    27 Sep 08 … live blogging the debate @ http://ping.fm/35UnX
    26 Sep 08 … more flipped out about the grotesque politics around the bailout than i am about the state of the financial system.
    25 Sep 08 … wondering if anyone thinks that dubya actually understands the script he is reading.
    25 Sep 08 … wondering if people on the street below just saw me perform "i feel pretty" from West Side Story, complete with choreography. also …
    24 Sep 08 … Tasha just said our (hypothetical) child’s first words should be "Yankee’s suck." I LOVE her.
    22 Sep 08 … facing down five whole work hours without a meeting. paralyzed with fear and indecision.
    21 Sep 08 … someone needs to remind me that it’s not a vacation if you don’t go home afterwards.
    20 Sep 08 … lazy Saturday afternoon in Vermont. There’s nothing more relaxing on God’s green Earth.
    19 Sep 08 … how do people visit Vermont and *not* end up moving here?
    18 Sep 08 … @&$£%#ng red sox.
    18 Sep 08 … loves me some Zoë Keating. most innovative musician in a long, long time. http://ping.fm/RPWJg
    16 Sep 08 … i’d be at a demolition derby if my car hadn’t broken down. is that ironic, or vaguely creepy?
    15 Sep 08 … pretty sure it’s bad when you have played four, won none, and are dead last.
    15 Sep 08 … wondering why take-out food cashiers ask for your name when they are holding your credit card.
    29 Aug 08 … *still* live blogging the Convention: http://hellotxt.com/l/oZnv
    28 Aug 08 … Live blogging the Convention — http://hellotxt.com/l/R90o

  • nursery

    [Baby Sparklet's Nursery, Washington, DC.]

    Well, forgive the crazy distorted pictures (wide-angle lens), but the nursery is pretty much done. We need two major things: the crib (which will be delivered later this month) and a name (so that we can put that on the wall above the white cube-looking changing-table thing).

    All in all, we are super excited. There is still one major construction project left (framing in the new monstrosity in the kitchen) but we are about as set as we can be in the no-longer-spare bedroom.

    Explore the Photo Set:
    Baby Sparklet’s Nursery, Washington, DC

  • strange things

    IMG_0060
    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.

  • foundation center: *basic* quick and dirty case studies on social media

    another presentation on social media today, this one at the Foundation Center in downtown D.C. this group was looking for a more basic information about social media, so we talked much more about what people (especially small orgs) should be doing in the social media space.

    the panel was setup by Dahna Goldstein of PhilanTech, who had a bio that would rival most noble laureates, and again featured Jocelyn Harmon (of Marketing for Non-Profits fame).

    no fire alarm this time, which was a good thing, because (with questions) we went a full hour over our allotted time. a lot of fascinating discussions, especially from a portion of the non-profit community (the smaller part) that might not have the same bandwidth and resources to devote to the topic.

  • wall photos: sparklet’s room

  • best. guitar hero. ever.

    ECPA20090901_0051

  • nursery preview

    ECPA20090826_0039
    just a quick peak for now …

    the crown molding is up, the walls are painted, and we lucked into a rug that managed to tie the walls, the bedding, and even the blue dresser (from bridesmaid Mel) together. I love it when a happy accident makes you look like a design genius.

    fwiw, the lady sparkler thought I was being all arty with the partially closed door photograph … I didn’t have the heart to tell her that there was 50 lbs of chaos and a power mitre saw behind that door.

    I’m not skilled, I’m just lazy. no, wait … I’m skilled at being lazy. does that count?

  • test driving chairs, and means of getting out of them

    photo
    the lady sparkler recently decided that she wanted a chair in the nursery. i thought that was a little hoity-toity, because we already had a perfectly good milk crate we could use, but she persisted …

    so, we went to the ‘burbs — again.

    somewhere along the way, my beloved got stuck in a chair that she couldn’t get out of. and before anyone thinks that i am a monster for taking a picture of my beloved instead of helping her out … ha! yeah, well, nevermind.

    guilty as charged.

    p.s. note to bridesmaids — seriously, she was laughing the whole time. really. you can ask her. yes, i am a bad person. yes, i helped her up eventually. yes, she DID make a Sigourney Weaver/”Aliens” reference the other day. no, we aren’t having eight children and getting our own reality TV show.

  • tottenham hotspur, the most recent sign that the apocolypse is upon us

    tottenhamIn a most bizarre stroke of luck, the English football team that I follow (Tottenham Houtspur) has won their first three matches and is sitting in first place.

    this is the same team that took nine attempts to win their first match last season, and that we saw in London earlier this year.

    I honestly don’t know if I should run out and buy a lottery ticket, or bend over and wait for Armageddon … though currently my money is on the latter.

    I should point out that the lady sparkler’s team (Everton) have lost their first two matches by a total of six goals, so it looks like my bad karma hasn’t gone away … it’s just been redistributed.     

    but don’t worry, this is never going to last. 

    in fact, the only reason I mention is so that when this streak turns out to be yet another false dawn of Spurs supremacy, I can look back on these few weeks as the glory days of my Tottenham romance.

    until then, i am going to keep rooting like … um, the happy, well-adjusted fans of any of the normal, not-incredibly-inconsistent clubs in the league.

  • crown molding

    ECPA20090826_0041
    when we moved into mount pleasant, the lady sparkler and I quickly noticed that there was one room in the house that didn’t have crown molding.

    we didn’t really care (because we were planning to redo the room anyway, once we got pregnant) and just chalked it up to the previous owner having a short attention span. 

    but, I’ve recently discovered that none of our walls are flat.  and our ceilings sag.  and the corners of our walls aren’t actually square.

    and now I’m starting to think the previous owners might have known what they were doing (er, not doing) by loosing inerest in molding before all the rooms were done.

    I’m not exactly a slouch with wood-working, from a father who raised me with power tools in the garage, to 15 years of theatrical design, and a groomsman generously let me borrow a power mitre saw to do the heavy lifting…

    but nothing really prepared me for putting up straight boards around a room with nary a straight line in sight.

    it took two weeks to put up forty feet of molding. it took two and a half tubs of wood putty to fill in the gaps between the molding and the ceiling.  it took four sanding blocks to get the joints in the molding to look like someone this side of a three year-old did the carpentry.

    in the end, it looks pretty okay … and thank the good sweet lord that I decided against covering the bottom half of the room in wainscotting.  

    (I would have been %#$&ing about how hard that was until baby sparklet turned at LEAST 16.)

    everything is finally starting to come together.

  • i do elevators, too

    ECPA20090820_0036
    I’ve spent the better part of the last two weeks on crown molding in thhe nursery, and just as it’s winding down … I find out have to recarpet the elevator.

    yes, the elevator.  

    shortly after we moved into our building in mount pleasant, I was elected to our unit-owner association’s board.  i wish it had been some Capra-esque moment, but I was the only one at the annual meeting who wasn’t already a board member.

    long story short, our management company misplaced $30,000 in funds … money which we had already spent to replace our 30-year old elevator.  now we are short on funds, don’t have a functioning elevator, and even the hippies in the building are starting to riot.

    last night I discovered that the only thing separating me from a functioning (though still not entirely paid for) elevator was a 55 by 80 inch fire-resistant carpet, required in order for us to pass inspection.  

    not sure why it fell to me (the rest of the board lives two flights of stairs farther up than I) but I decided I couldn’t risk going into november without a functioning elevator.

    the lady sparkler pitched in and called five different carpet vendors, one of which had something suitable that fell off the back of his truck, and would be waiting for me after hours at their family’s Afghan-Pakistani restaraunt in northern Virginia.

    I picked up the rug and a pound of baklava (the lady sparkler dropped ~27 hints about how good the desserts’ reviews were) and settled in for a long evening of carpet installation.

    turns out my carpeting skills gives my talent for breakdancing a real run for their money, but it went down with two tubes of construction adhesive (replaced duct tape as my universal repair tool of choice) which got our elevator inspected, and back in service.

    in the meantime, i’m glad that my life is going to settle down this winter, and become moderately less bizarre.

  • yellow

    [Nursery Paint Color, Washington, DC]

    “Look at the staaaaaars, look how they shiiiine for youuuuu … And everything youuuuu do, and they were allllll yell-o.”

    so … the insanity? it’s setting in. in two more weeks i will be running around with a tie wrapped around my forehead, talking to “Wilson.” yeah.

    so, like … i, well, decided to paiiiiint. and that was cooool. buuut, the color we picked out???? it was like, chickadee. and, i painted the walls with it. which was cool, and all. but it sucked. and was, like, totally pale. and lame.

    and soooo, i, like, painted the walls a different color??? and this one was totally bolder. like *REALLY* yellow. but it was called, like, acorn squash. and the lady sparkler hates squash. but i didn’t want to paint the walls again, so i, like, didn’t tell her. so please don’t tell my wiiife.

    and nowwwwww? i decided to put up, uh, crown molding? and that’s really going to be great. on 80 year old walls. that are not flat at all. or straight. or flush. and i’m pretty sure that this will totally solve my “going mental” thing.

    did i mention i’ve never done it before???? yeahhh. it’s going to be greeeeaaat.

  • emily likes the bedding, too

    ECPA20090813_0025

  • poppies

    [Baby Bedding, Washington, DC]
    whatever I said about the crib being the hardest decision to make, I lied. it was just the hardest, most *expensive* decision.crib bedding sucks.

    we’ve been all over the map. we looked at cute (insects, butterflies) and bold (letters, primary colors) and girly (toile, nursery rhymes) and natural (rainforests, coral reefs).

    and the worst part? we would decided on each one in turn, only to rollback the decision the following morning. and then, after we had ruled out everything else, we decided on just a solid color … moments before we figured out that solids don’t hide stains very well.

    after about a month, we finally found carousel designs baby bedding which seemed to have a lot of “normal” looking baby bedding. and you could buy whatever they had piece by piece, so no paying $100 for a baby bumper that you didn’t want.

    (speaking of … wow. didn’t realize the crazy wacko emotions that baby bumper use triggers. i will bring up women’s reproductive health at a party before bringing up whether baby bumpers are safe and / or effective.)

    in the end it was a coin flip between two sets we saw from carousel — one with pink paisley and another with red poppies.

    eventually, we chose the latter … mainly because the pink would have seriously driven everything in the room into a level of “pretty, pretty princess” that neither of us were sure we wanted to go. if baby sparklet decides to go down the princess path herself, that’s more than fine … but the paisley option seemed like a shove down the path to big hair and pageant sashes that she might not otherwise take.

    the next controversy is paint color, and i am (obviously) excited to have yet another decision of seemingly little significance suck up a month of our lives.

    when do we get to the part where we don’t have any decisions to make because our child won’t listen to anything we say? i’m so there.

  • and the winners are …

    ECPA20090805_0762
    today, the lady sparkler and I started spending the $340,552 it’s going to take to raise baby sparklet until she graduates college.

    I feel strangely proud.

    we’ve been futzing around for *months* on the three “big” purchases — the crib, the stroller and the car seat — going baaaack, and forth, and baaaaack, and forth. but today, after nearly two months of researching, six weeks of trips to the suburbs, and three weeks of dithering, we finally pulled the trigger. on something. eventually.

    and the winners are …

    bonavita_peyton_07116_2bonavita peyton classic crib — a lot of decisions about baby sparklet have terrorized us, but none quite like this one. we’re in a small, small space in the city, so wanted to avoid all of the giii-normous “lifestyle” cribs on the showroom floors.

    unfortunately, all anybody sells are giii-normous “lifestyle” cribs.

    occasionally, you would see a couple of normal looking cribs in a store. in the back corner. under a sign that says “you hate your baby if you get one of these.”

    living in the city, the tween edition of baby sparklet is going to need a loft bed, or is going to have about 2 square feet of floor on which to play. getting a lifestyle crib that converts into a twin bed is of no use to us.

    eventually, we found a crib we liked (bonavita peyton) that had a version (classic, not lifestyle) that was just a crib. not a burr grinder. or a lifeboat. just a crib. it seemed very sturdy in the one showroom (out of six) which featured the model that did *not* convert into a dishwasher.

    the issue that sealed the peyton classic for us was that it was made from good, hard wood … where most of the competition had soft finishes, and were seriously scuffed up from people window shopping. (really, if a crib can’t survive life in a showroom, what’s it going to look like after a couple of years of teething?!?)

    41LiILMKDBL._SL500_AA280_city mini stroller — got a super recommendation from a friend on this one (mightybabyboig) as the stroller they wished they had bought back at the very beginning. it’s light, folds up ridiculously small (important for the bus) and has one of the narrower wheelbases (important for navigating the drunks passed out on District sidewalks).

    another crib, the uppababy vista, went deep into our decision making process when it got a strong plug from the baby bargains book (the guardian of my sanity for the last two months) as the best stroller for “hip urban dwellers.” the vista *was* pretty freakin’ cool as a full strollerpalooza system (included with bassinet, raincover, blender, etc.) but was much wider (2″+) than the mini and no where near as compact folded (might need to be strapped to the roof on a city bus).

    so, i’m not sure how the city mini didn’t get the top pick for my demographic (maybe its just a definition thing — i’m pretty sure we aren’t hip) but i guess it’s a little much asking one little book to make EVERY decision for me.

    of course, none of the stroller models we looked at had either (a) air bags or (b) a star wars missile defense shield, so I’m sure we are recklessly sacrificing baby sparklet’s safety every time we think we even think about leaving the house.

    ECPA20090817_0033graco snugride infant car seat — ah, yes. the Honda civic of car seats. the snugride was at the top of every ranking, and the only thing we really did was shop for the color.

    the lady sparkler hinted that having a car seat that matched the stroller would be a good thing, because apparently the two can plug together into some sort of voltron-like super-combo-robot-stroller.

    speaking of … i wonder if they sell flaming sword attachments? if they did, i’m thinking it would capture the “early-pubescent teen daddy” market that seems to be blooming lately. just a thought.

    on the more boring side, the snugride we got appears to have side impact protection … which is great, because I am pretty sure our car (which cost 200x more) does not.

    i take this fact as yet another sign that I hate my unborn child, as we haven’t dropped everything and bought a tan Volvo station wagon … yet.

    but, then again, tan wouldn’t match.

  • nice rack

    photo
    the lady sparkler and I had a very early realization once we got pregnant — that our poor little Jetta was going to have problems coping.

    first, we have the smallest trunk in the free world (or so it seems…) as when we put two small roller bag in the trunk, there isn’t room for much more. and by “much”, i mean “anything bigger than my self-esteem.”

    next, we have a sick cat whose meds require that she travel with us every time we leave for more than a day. that means a procession of (at minimum) a cat carrier, a cooler for meds, a litter box, a water fountain, replacement litter, not to mention the vaguely mental cat at the head of the entourage (who i am beginning to think has a future in pop music).

    now, we are facing a new baby, the very thought of which fills our back seat and trunk with crap: strollers, clothes, books, bags, diapers, not to mention whatever mommy and daddy needs to not be naked and insane.

    suddenly, getting an SUV doesn’t seem quite so crazy.

    we love our little (fully paid off) Jetta, and specifically how easy it is to street park in DC (and how fully paid off it is). so, instead of downgrading our beloved to a big suburban monstrosity, we decided to experiment with a roof rack for some added storage.

    to date, we just have the a “base” unit that you’d find at REI — a couple of poles running across the roof which other stuff is lashed down to — but we have a low-profile basket (which we can remove and store in the trunk) shipping to us in the next couple weeks.

    the system (it’s a Yakima) is admittedly a little pricey, but we figure we have a long way to go before we spend the cost of a new monthly car payment, so it’s worth a shot.

    here’s hoping.

  • release the $&@#%s list already

    manny_papi
    I hate blogging about sports, but nothing is frustrating me more than steroids in the baseball right now. and that includes my complete inability to sleep, AND all the trips to the suburbs baby sparklet’s pending arrival is requiring.

    once upon a time, there was no steroid testing in baseball … but in 2003, the league and the players agreed to do a pilot testing program to discover if there was really a steroids problem.

    turns out there was. (“Shocked! I am shocked to find gambling going on in this casino!”)

    over a hundred players failed the supposedly confidential 2003 tests, and now two more names have been leaked from the list (bringing the tally to seven). and yet, the sanctimonious morons who cover this sport in the press are saying it is our duty to protect the rest.

    it’s not our duty to protect idiots or cheaters. that’s their lawyer’s problem, not ours.

    you see … in 2003, everybody in baseball knew the “random-in-name-only” tests were coming, and knew that the whole testing regimen would die an unceremonious death if there weren’t enough positive tests to justify further testing. so, it was in the dirty bums best interests to clean up just this once to pass their tests, and yet they still couldn’t stay off the juice long enough to protect their own long-term interests.

    on the other hand, let’s think through this from the point of view of someone on this list: in the last six months, seven names have been leaked at a slow trickle, giving each perp the limelight-of-shame all to themselves for the few weeks that followed. given the choice between this spotlight, or being “outed” at the same time as 96 other players, I’m taking the latter … and banking that there is at least one person more famous on the list than I to distract the press and public.

    we as a country, as a sport, and as a civilization have spent enough time being concerned about protecting the rights of the guilty in baseball. this is a sport, we’re not negotiating world peace.

    how about we *out* these schmucks, and finally remove the cloud of suspicion from those innocent players who have done nothing except play clean ball next to a bunch of dirty teammates.

    keeping the rest of these cheats anonymous isn’t helping them, it’s ruining everyone else.

  • sexy australian: the dual flush toilet

    IMG_0018
    i forgot the most exciting part of the last week: we got a new toilet.

    ever since we first stepped foot in australia, we’ve been fascinated by aussie plumbing … and not in a grossed-out-because-it’s-only-a-hole-in-the-floor sort of way.

    apparently, australia has been in a drought for much of the decade (actually, for most of their existence) so the aussies have developed some smack-yourself-on-the-head brilliant toilet technology.

    the best is a toilet with two “levels” of flush: one flush is what one would expect in any bathroom in America, and the other is a half-flush for waste of a liquid persuasion.

    anyway, our building is replacing our old, out-of-date toilets with more efficient models (we’re trying to drive down our shared $16,000 annual water bill) and we opted to pay a little extra for the sexy aussie model.

    needless-to-say, we (a) are both really excited, and (b) both really need to get out more.

  • bambi on skates

    ever since I started really following English football (neé soccer) four years ago, I’ve been infatuated with a striker fans affectionately refer to as “Bambi on Skates” (or “Bambi on Ice”, for much the same reasoning).

    Peter Crouch (as I am assuming his parents call him, tho them calling him Bambi or Skates would be fantastic…) is 6 feet 8 inches tall, and his nickname is a spot on description of how he looks when he plays the game … there are legs flying every where.

    and now, Skates has landed with my team, Tottenham Hotspur … and I am completely cheesed.

    I wish I could say more about his recent playing days … but we just sprung him from a couple of years in purgatory (otherwise known as Porstmouth) so I really have little clue what sort of form he’s in.

    that being said, he does a fab “robot” dance after scoring (see 0:31 above for a sample). let’s hope he’s got plenty of celebratory dances opportunities left for the coming seasons.

  • found: portrait of baby sparklet

    []
    ECPA20090724_0002, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

  • sibley memorial baby-birthing resort

    ECPA20090726_0753
    i learned two very important things today: our delivery hospital (sibley memorial hospital in D.C.) has valet parking, and the lady sparkler isn’t anywhere near the craziest baby momma in the District right now.

    we went out to sibley for an official hospital tour this afternoon. it’s not any closer than it was before, but wasn’t any farther away either (funny, that buildings don’t move around much). it took about fifteen calm, serene, scenic minutes to make the trip, which i am sill having difficulty reconciling with the unbridled anarchy i know is just 15 weeks away.

    during the tour, we saw first hand sibley’s range of post-partum recovery rooms, and some of the private rooms (including the delivery rooms) are just ridiculously nice. one wing has deep hardwood floors, flat screen televisions, mp3 player hookups, arm-chairs that fully recline into beds for tired partners, baby blanket warmers, etc.

    they may have mentioned something about medical facilities, it was only an afterthought … and i think i must have been distracted when it finally came up. did i mention they have valet parking?!?

  • family’s reunion

    ECPA20090725_0752
    quick trip to williamsburg, today. brother and best man Pop Culture Examiner was down for his 239th high school reunion, brought to you by “facebook” and the “national association of lafayette high school alumni who have been gone long enough to have forgotten why they left.”

    we came down because we haven’t seen him (nor wife, niece and nephew extraordinaire) since the lady sparkler got us pregnant. needless to say, we wanted to see them — the little ones especially — to better transition into that little bundle of joy they are going to be expected to coo about over the holidays.

    that night, grandma, grandpa, the wee ones, and the sparklers did a very special dinner at Sonic (lady sparkler’s fast food crush) while the reunion festivities raged over at “the hospitality house.” the niece and i got into a pig-tail measuring contest (she won) and super-nephew tried to get in on the action as well.

    which makes me wonder … have my classes had reunions? i haven’t heard of one, but then again … if i was throwing a reunion, i probably wouldn’t invite me either.

  • bridge 2009: Quick and Dirty Case Studies for Social Media Fundraising and Engagement

    I presented at Bridge this afternoon, a conference for non-profit fundraisers and marketers.

    Our session (with Jocelyn Harmon of Marketing for Non-Profits fame) was a nice little road map for non-profits deciding if they should be in the social media space, and how to best go about getting there. I was brought in for case studies, and focused on Facebook Causes, Flickr, the new my.nature.org, and online donation based social media.

    We actually had a third presenter, Roz Lemieux from Fission Strategy, but the fire alarm went off 30 minutes out from the end and she never made it podium. It was the last day of the conference, during the last session — why do i keep getting the graveyard shifts? — and nobody seemed interested in going back to the conference room after the all clear was given.

    Now, if we had offered to finish it up at the hotel bar … who knows what sort of attendance we would have had.

    Speaking of, the conference was at the Gaylord / National Harbor way out in suburban Maryland. The compound certainly was impressive, but in a fake, Disneyland sorta way. Everything was shiny and massive, but rang (more than) a little hollow. Not to mention, the Gaylord are the people who stole “The Awakening” from DC’s Hains Point, so I am already rooting for their speedy demise.

    On the flip side, at least I have another reason to hate the ‘burbs … with all the baby shopping at suburban big box stores, I was obviously starting to run out.

  • found: midnight visit from emily the cat

    []
    ECPA20090726_0719, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

  • the ‘burbs and the baby

    photo
    for the uninitiated, i really can’t explain the horror that is Babies ‘R Us.

    our m.o.h., foster mom, is in town this weekend, and we’re taking advantage of her unbridled enthusiasm to travel across the vast wastelands of the D.C. suburbs looking for baby crap.

    the store seems to have been organized via the detonation of a low-yield nuclear weapon, and then ravaged by whatever rampaging, post-apocalyptic hordes survived. there is no sign of intelligent life to explain to you what you really need, just clerks saying what will happen if you don’t buy the most expensive device they have in stock. to make matters worse, only the most overpriced items are readily available, and all the “reasonably priced” merchandise is either out-of-stock, or hidden in some dark ghetto corner-of-shame in the store.

    admittedly, i might not be qualified to judge fairly — i hate the ‘burbs, i hate driving in the ‘burbs, i hate big box stores, i hate backward “R”s, and i get claustrophobic when surrounded by lots of 200 lb pregnant women using strollers as cow-catchers.

    none of this affords me an unbiased platform from which to judge.

    that being said, there is at least one good thing about these monuments to baby-spending-excess: you can touch the items. before you put them back down. and buy the same thing online. for 20% less.

    fortunately, friend and co-worker Papa Bradstein (unwittingly) gave us sage advice about a book called Baby Bargains, which is a kind of Consumer Reports for baby stuff.

    (actually, Baby Bargains is better, because while CR rates baby products, they don’t give much insight into why they rated one product better than another.)

    the book has been great, and i’ve been reading it non-stop … taking away solid info on not only which particular product is best for us (ie. one car seat vs another) but what types of mass-marketing bunk we can avoid entirely (diaper-stackers) without it triggering a child endangerment persecution or (worse yet) nasty looks from our parenting peers.

    luckily, as we slog through the baby shopping, the lady sparkler and i are on the same page about this breed of baby consumerism and she is every bit as exasperated/angry as i am.

    the only difference? i know more about breast pumps than any human possibly can with out getting his man-card forcibly revoked.

  • found: concert at the zoo

    []
    ECPA20090726_0724, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

  • the summer of sparklet

    IMG_0702
    well, i’m pretty sure that the lady sparkler is pregnant. like, really *really* pregnant. like, duck-out-of-the-way-when-she-turns-around pregnant.

    she’s a total trooper, but is just now starting to slow down a bit and get some of those typical symptoms of pregnancy (well, symptoms other than me saying “duuuuuuude, you’re HUUUUUGEE” daily). she’s getting a little tired, little sore (back, ribs) and is a little more dedicated to her naps and early bedtimes.

    oh, but thank god for the el niño moderated summer temperatures this summer in the District. we’ve had a total of one day over 90 degrees since we got back from vacay this spring, and i think that is way better than we had any reason to expect.

    turns out that while my beloved is incubating, she isn’t so interested in being incubated herself.

  • karma: chinese zodiac

    chinese_ox
    the lady sparkler and i did our second consecutive date-night tonight … a movie (“up”), then dinner in Chinatown at one of the few real Chinese restaurants left in the city (“full kee”).

    the food was great, but the best part was the chinese zodiac place mats, which gives little personality sketches based on the year of birth. obviously, this got us thinking about Baby Sparklet’s personality, which
    (apparently) will be guided by the chinese sign of the Ox.

    Bright, patient and inspiring to others. You can be happily by yourself, yet make an outstanding parent.

    feeling like we were on a roll, when i got home i found a couple of sites that walk through the signs a little more. that’s when things got interesting:

    Ox people are hard-working and persistent, they can stick at a task longer and go at it harder than anybody. They believe in themselves and tend to classify almost everything into two basic categories, bad and good. They hold up their high standards as a model and severely judge those who don’t aspire to maintain these same ideals.

    Although appears to be tranquil, in fact, Oxens are ponderous but impulsive when angry. They are capable of fearsome rages, therefore, it is better not to cross an Oxen. Ox people are observant, they have remarkable memories and are good at reporting on absolutely everything they observe.

    that’s one heck of a way to start the description, but the rest gets a little better (“kind, caring souls, logical, positive, filled with common sense”) … right up until the end where it says that the Ox’s “childhood and youth will generally be without incident.”

    note the use of the word “generally.”

    for the record, it turns out that I am a Rabbit (“quick, clever and ambitious”) and, while my money was on the lady sparkler being an Ox — just like our baby girl! — she ends up being a Snake (“not to be ignored”).

    and while their “compatibility” estimates are really designed for life partners, it turns out that an Ox, a Rabbit, and a Snake can live pretty happily under one roof … so long as the Rabbit (me) and Snake (the lady sparkler) aren’t romantically involved.

    can’t wait to see how that all pans out.

  • date night / mini golf

    [Mini-Golf, Jefferson Park, Falls Church, Virginia]
    we constantly complain about the lack of mini-golf courses in DC, but it turns out that we’ve just been looking in the wrong place. around here, they seem to be in municipal parks for some reason, not in tourist traps surrounded by chain restaurants.

    for the record, the lady sparkler was able to swing the club around her growing belly … well enough that she shot her best round ever. she said something about pregnancy limiting her option for freaking out and doing crazy things with the putter.

    Explore the Photo Set:
    Mini-Golf, Jefferson Park, Falls Church, Virginia

  • rooftop fireworks

    [Fireworks, Washington, DC.]
    ECPA20090705_2131, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    it’s a bit of a tradition in D.C. to clamor up to your rooftop (if you have one) to watch the fireworks on the Fourth. the lady sparkler and i had never been, but decided to give it a go this year … thinking that it was probably our last year to do something illegal (before baby sparklet arrives).

    i always assumed that the best show was from the mall, but i think the rest of the fireworks (they come from all around us, including Columbia Heights, Crestwood, Silver Spring and over by the National Cathedral) were even more fun.

    Explore the Photo Set:
    Rooftop Fireworks, Washington, DC

  • snacks

    I walked into the kitchen this morning, and the lady sparkler was rummaging through the refridgerator with three or four ziplock bags filled with food on the counter.

    “oh, you’re packing a lunch?” I ask surprised, because I’ve never known her to do such a thing.

    she stares back with pout-y face.

    “no,” she says sheepishly.  “these are just my snacks.”

    “your snacks?” I say, before I can engage my brain enough to tell my mouth to shut the heck up.  “all of that?!?”

    “well, the bread is for toast for breakfast.  I’ll have the carrots as a snack around 10:30.  i’ll get a sandwich for lunch, and then the blueberries are for after … maybe around 2:30,” she says.

    “I get hungry.”

    so, I back my way out of the conversation by saying how great it is that she has a plan, and how cute her little array of baggies are … when she let’s it rip:

    “oh, and shut up.  if it’s not this, then it’s sugar … and then there will be a whole lot more of me to love.”

  • sleep

    funny thing happened last night:  I rolled over and went back to sleep.

    as i have been whining about for months, ever since baby sparklet became a twinkle in the lady sparkler’s eyes, I’ve been sleeping like crap.  

    And while she is the one getting up to pee every three hours, i’m the light sleeper who is awake for 45 minutes after she crawls back in bed (the last 35 of those minutes listening to my beloved snore contentedly.)

    so, last night at 2am when emily the cat emitted a huge shreak, I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter, and prepared to be up … forever.

    when I made it to the hallway, there was a rather startled (perturbed?) cat who had fallen asleep in front of the air conditioner intake.  the system obviously came on during the middle of her sleep cycle, and she was less than pleased at the disturbance.

    however, emily-the-cat-going-senile is not news … me patting her on the head for ten minutes while she calmed down, and then going *immediatley* back to sleep is the real story.

    four months ago, something as benign as movement would have (or more specifically, *did* have) me up for 45 minutes.  trauma (with the associated adreline rush) would have me up for two hours, minimum.

    but this time?  trauma.  10 minutes of head patting. back to sleep before my head hit the pillow.  

    I’m finally ready to be a father.

  • the five rules of baby names

    []
    photo.jpg, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    there has been a lot of talk about baby names, now that we know the gender of baby sparklet.  

    we have our favorites, but are very much in the “exploratory” stage of the naming process … and we are still adding as many names to the list as we are removing.

    before last week, we had only discussed one rule of baby naming: 

    • the “last name” test —  each first name has a last name, and it’s got to match.  with a last name like “Parker,” that means the first name needs be something from the same Anglo school … and while “Mariella” is a beautiful name, “Mariella Parker” is just crazy.

    originally, the lady sparkler and i thought that one rule would guide us home, but now that we have spent some serious time talking about names, we have a couple new rules to add to the collection:

    • the “CEO” test — sure we want the baby to have a cute name worthy of babydom, but will it look rediculous on business cards in twenty years?  for some reason “Kaylee” comes to mind.
    • the “elementary school” test — will the child be able to spell her name by the start of school?  will the teacher be able to call her name without a phoenetic guidebook?  I think “Nevaeh” manages to fail both at once, as I can’t spell or say without serious assistance.
    • the “gift shop magnet” test — while personally i hate those personalized rainbow magnets you find in gift shops, I fervently believe sparklet should have the ability to find her name if she’s looking.  this means no bizzaro names (“Estrella”, “Willow”) and no bizzaro spellings (“Nataly”, “Madisyn”).
    • the “place in the family” test — if history (or the lady sparkler) is any indication, baby sparklet will be a force of nature … and likely the alpha dog of the household.  as a result, we can’t use any flowery names (“Lily”, “Emma”, “Ashley”) that are ultimately better suited for a second baby sparklet.

    I think those are all the rules, though there are one or two corollaries we are also keeping in mind:  

    • there has got to be a workable nickname (all I ever wanted in life was a nickname);
    • have to watch those initials (“Isabella Constance Parker” would have the initials “I See Pee”);
    • there will be no gender ambiguity (“Chris”, “Taylor”);
    • and no stealing names from nieces/cousins (which is a shame, because I *love* the name “Natalie”);
    • our M.O.H. won’t let us name the baby after the cat (which is also a shame, because “Emily” is my favorite name ever).

    aside from that, it’s open season.  let me know what you come up with … 

    Explore the Photo Set:
    Album: the lady sparkler, Sue and Jeremy (facebook)

  • found photo: boston red sox, washington, dc

    []
    photo.jpg, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

  • found photo: retreat, lake accotink, virginia

    []
    photo.jpg, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

  • ultrasound 2: the revenge of baby sparklet

    ECPA20090619_0002_lgnaturally, we didn’t find out that baby sparklet is a girl until yesterday morning during the ultrasound, but the dirty little secret of blogging is that i actually wrote the “it’s a girl” announcement post the night before the doctor’s appointment.

    (otherwise, it never would have been posted by 10:15 am … it takes me hours to write, and rewrite, and rewrite, and rewrite each post, so i would have had to skip work entirely on Friday and it still wouldn’t have been done until, you know, July.)

    instead, i just wrote two posts. one if it was a boy, and one if it was a girl. considering that, as parents, we won’t pick out both a boy’s name and a girl’s name, maybe the first way to embarass baby sparklet is to share what the post would have been had she been a he.

    my name would have been shannon, for the record.

    so while yesterday’s post was first, i just made it look like it address the actually appointment. sadly, that was not the case, and fwiw i feel horrible about my deception.

    my employers, however, feel much better about blogging during the work day … especially because they know how long it takes me to write anything.

    so, sparklet was awake and lively through the whole sonogram, though not overwhelmingly cooperative. we got to hear the heartbeat again, and this time we got a much better recording.

    about two minutes in, the sonogramologist (i make up words as i go along) asked if there was a bet about the gender. there wasn’t (we share the same checking account, so what’s the point) but before the doc could settle said non-existent bet, baby sparklet got shy and folded (her) legs right up.

    the waiting, and the poking and the prodding seemed to go on forever — probably even more so for both mother and baby.

    at one point, the doc called our beautiful-perfect-and-wonderfully-uncooperative baby “stubborn” to which i replied that she was obviously female, to which the lady sparkler replied that she was obviously our child.

    true ‘dat.

    so, while the doc kept it as suspenseful as she could, she let slip the female pronoun ten or twelve times before she finally managed to “motivate” baby sparklet into spreading them legs.

    the rest, as they say, is history. the world is saved from baby Aesclaypius (although i did promise that Aesclaypiana would be on our short list).

    now we just need to paint everything pink (kidding!) and come up with a wonderful, but anglo-friendly name.

  • it’s (going to be) a girl!

    photo
    well, 142 days into this thing, and we finally know the gender of our baby sparklet … she’s a girl.  and frankly, after 20 weeks of discussions, i am just glad she’s a something.the lady sparkler announced about six weeks into the pregnancy that the baby was going to be a girl.  (she never said how she knew it was a girl, but she just knew.)

    i assumed she was just playing the odds based off her ancestry … the lady sparkler is the eldest of three daughters, her mother is the eldest of three daughters, and both her grandmother and great-grandmother were the eldest of three daughters.

    that 13 girls in 5 generations.  her maternal line is obviously hostile environment for boy sperm.

    anyway, things became unbearable after i let slip that an old-wives-tale predicted that baby-mamas with girls in the pouch craved fruit, while those with boys craved meat. within two days she had “developed” a craving for anything strawberry that she could get her hands on, and it’s still going strong.

    of course, i “knew” that — in her fervency — she was dead wrong.  she was so certain it would be a girl, that i knew God would rise up and smite her … if for no other reason than the comedic value.

    in fact, she was so certain it would be a girl, that she promised lightingchickknits that if the baby turned out to be a boy, we would name him Aesculapius.

    for what it’s worth, i’m guessing that why she’s a girl, because while God likes a bit of Karma … he knew the ramifications of a male heir were truly severe.

    but, besides narrowly avoiding destroying the life of our child through name selection, today is a landmark for another reason — it is the launch of our pregnancy’s facebook and twitter strategies.

    it seems rediculous, but we actually spent a decent amount of time trying to figure out when it was “appropriate” to social market our little baby sparklet, and few issues sparked as much controversy with our friends to boot.

    I’m the end, we decided that it’s been 20 weeks now … which means that we are over halfway to having a real live baby sparklet to mortifyingly embarass.  so why not practice?

    with that in mind, here is the pregnancy so far:

    • the clothes don’t make the (wo)man — the lady sparkler, and her battles with the maternity-clothing-industrial-complex.
    • into the closet, pt 2 — the first true battle with our home renovation / nesting instincts.
    • ultrasound — baby sparklet looks great, sounds great, and is already over achieving … and we’ve got proof.
    • the longest twelve weeks — i realized early on that i had the potential do a lot of damage in the twelve weeks where i was supposed to avoid talking about the pregnancy.
    • yup, we’re pregnant — and yes, we are going to find out the gender, and yes, we are going to pick a boring, anglo-friendly name.
    • how i met your mother — the latest in a whole series of posts about how i met and married mama de baby sparklet … preserved for posterity, and mutual embarrassment each major holiday.

    and now that we have a gender, i am going to head down to the pub and lift a pint to the fact that there will be no baby Aesculapius asking me what kind of drugs we were on when we picked names.

  • the bolshoi’s “le corsaire” @ the kennedy center

    as a Russian studies major — which included spending the summer of ’92 bouncing around the moscow and saint petersberg theater districts — i try and see the Russian ballet troupes whenever their quasi-permanent touring companies pass through D.C.

    this week, it’s the Bolshoi Ballet’s turn.

    i won’t bother reviewing the show (there is no need, as Robert Greskovic of the wall street journal saw the exact same show) but it was both outstanding, and thoroughly un-Russian.

    just as glasnost melted Soviet politics, it also melted the soul-crushing need for Russian conformity. in ballet, that means everything is a step less precise — likely because the off-stepping member of the corps is no longer shot on sight.

    don’t get me wrong, the production was beautiful — awash in color, with incredible individualistic performances, filled with old world emotion — and nearly perfect by today’s standards.

    it’s just not the mechanical, stunningly in-unison, and bombastic production that i grew to love back in the day.

    … which puts me in a small circle of people (along with the military industrial complex) secretly wishing another cold war would breakout.

    PHOTO: Le Corsaire, photo courtesy of Bolshoi Ballet.

  • found photo: mount pleasant, dc

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    ECPA20090613_0631, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

  • flexday: biking the c&o canal, part 2 (edward’s ferry)

    [Edward's Ferry, Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park, Maryland.]
    ECPA20090612_0622, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    i did the washington, d.c. part of the c&o canal last year, and liked it enough that i decided to go back for more. the next section, between great falls and edward’s ferry, started off exactly the same … until lock 23 (mile 22) where the trail turns into one long mud pit.

    needless to say, my happy little three hour ride turned into a six hour extravaganza … one from which my thighs (and butt) may never fully recover.

    Explore the Photo Set:
    Edward’s Ferry, Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park, Maryland

  • wall photos: europe

    [Views of Old Town, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.]
    [Eiffel Tower, Paris, France.]

  • found photo: emily the cat, washington, dc

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    ECPA20090608_0604, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

  • how I met your mother: engagement, part 2

    (continued from part 1)

    this is the fifth in a series of letters to baby sparklet about how mommy and daddy met and woo-ed each other.

    immediately after the lady sparkler’s crazy Texas friends started haranguing her into haranguing me into marrying her, I thought to myself “you know, I do love her, and want to spend the rest of my life with her…”

    and so i decided to get a ring. that was December. I had the ring two weeks later.

    we were already talking about going to new York for my birthday (April) and it seemed like (at the time) my beloved’s marital haranguing might actually die down by then, at least long enough for me to propose uninterrupted.

    not so much.

    by February, i was sufficiently badgered to explain to her (in no uncertain terms) that from now on, each time she brought up engagement, i would move the “hypothetical” proposal back another month.

    by April, she had managed to add *fourteen* months to the engagement time line. so, while i hadn’t succeeded in her stifling the running of her mouth, i at least knew that a proposal was the farthest thing from her mind when we pulled into NYC’s Penn Station the second week of April.

    the same, however, couldn’t be said for me…

    I was a wreck, and constantly obsessed about the ring — where it was, and whether it had fallen out of the triple-bagged cocoon in which it was placed. to make matters worse, on the day i was going to propose (april 14th) it rained, and rained, and rained, and rained.

    i had already decided I couldn’t propose to the lady sparkler inside some silly, human-built structure because whatever we were inside could be torn down, or worse, turned into a starbucks.

    so, i decided i would do the deed in Central Park, which (obviously) wasn’t particularly rain-friendly, which meant that april 14th became april 15th, and engagement day became tax day.

    that afternoon, i marched my beloved around central park for over an hour, mostly because i couldn’t find a place to propose. i know it’s crazy, but there are a *lot* of people in new york — who knew? — and every single one of them seemed to be lounging around central park.

    before we left DC, i had asked my best friend from college (and future bridesmaid) if she had any suggestions about the whole engagement process. it turns out that her husband was such a mess when he proposed, that she was convinced (right up until she saw the ring) that he was dumping her.

    her solution? pull the ring out first.

    and, when we finally found a secluded spot, i did just that. the lady sparkler was resting for a moment on a mostly horizontal tree, when i pulled out the ring, and sat down beside her.

    she didn’t hear a single thing that i said. she was like the crow from the secret of n.i.m.h., when he sees mrs. frisbee’s medallion and says: “ooooooooooo, SPARKLY!”

    interestingly enough, to this day, she has no idea what *she* said either. (for the record, it was: “oh. my. god. are you, like, serious?”)

    i have what i said written down somewhere, but it was exactly what you would expect: “love, blah, blah, blah, so happy, blah, blah, life together, blah blah.” she replied, “yes, yes. oh my god, yes.” which — i would surmise — is just about as good of a response as you can get.

    speaking of which, on our way out of central park we ran into the back of another boy proposing to another girl, and it looked like he had arranged for a photographer and her parents to join in the festivities.

    unfortunately, she looked abjectly horrified. yeeeesh. at least *we* lived happily ever after.

    PHOTO: tulips, new york, new york.

  • how I met your mother: engagement, Texas-style

    dear sparklet,

    this is the fourth in a series of letters to baby sparklet about how mommy and daddy met and woo-ed each other.

    there are some stories that get better with age … and then there are stories that start out really $&#% funny, and stay really $&@#% funny.

    I hope this is the latter.

    a few years into the relationship, we made the honest mistake of going to Texas. sure, the lady sparkler’s parents were great, and her sisters were awesome … but her friends? lunatics.

    apparently, something in the water down there causes people to think that 18 months of dating is the maximum allowable before some kind of engagement is necessary, beit of the voluntary or shotgun variety.

    the sparklers, being a bit past that “threshold” had apparently tripped some kind of Texas state-wide alert system, where friends hold waves of rolling interventions to make sure “everything’s alright” and that the boy doesn’t have any “problems” that needed to be addressed (likely by overwhelming displays of machismo, or belt buckles, or both).

    by the end of the year, after a couple of months of interventions, the lady sparkler was in a tizzy … and her occasional, badly disguised, open-ended questions about an engagement timeline started getting more and more pointed (and more and more badly disguised).

    each time she would tizzy, we would talk … and each time we’d agree that *we* needed to have a timeline that worked for *us,* even if it was at odds with the posse was forming along the Rio Grande.

    I should pause.

    sure, Texans are ten-gallon-hat-sized-crazy for thinking 18 months of dating is suitable for long-term mate selection (which leads to all sorts of redneck/missing teeth/social Darwinist jokes which I will forgo due to likely readership demographics) …

    … but it is possible that my people (from the opposite side of the “war of northern aggression”) just might fall off the other end of the commitment scale. I have friends that dated for 8 years before the topic of marriage even came up, or (worse yet) were engaged for 5+ years before deciding whether they should actually tie the knot.

    so, from my worldview, i thought that I was being carefree to the point of reckless abandonment by thinking of proposing to a woman I had been dating for *only* two years. yet, all the while, the great state of Texas was negotiating with Chuck Norris to come shift my worldview for me.

    I digress …

    by February, my beloved had become as subtle as a three year old in the aisle of a toy store … and I was started to dig in, solely as a matter on principle. by the 27th time the issue was raised in those three months, I sat my beloved down, and we talked. it went something like this:

    me: “you know i love you. and i want you to know that you can propose to me anytime you like …”

    the lady sparkler: “ummmm.”

    me: “no, seriously. I know how much you want to get engaged… so you are welcome to go ring shopping, pick out something nice for me, and then get down on one knee and propose. I promise I’ll wear the ring everyday.”

    her: “uhhhhhh.”

    me: “what’s wrong, sweetie?”

    her: “I think I’d prefer if you proposed to me.”

    me: “interesting. okay, here’s the deal. let’s say we have a date for the hypothetical engagement, let’s call it X.”

    her: “is X soon?”

    me: “well, interesting that you mentioned that … each time you ask when it is, or suggest that X should be coming sooner, the hypothtical engagement date becomes X + 1 month.”

    her: “so, when is X then?”

    me: “i’m not sure, but it’s now TWO months later than it was three minutes ago.”

    of course, I didn’t have the heart to tell her that I had bought an engagement ring two months earlier and was just waiting for her to shut her yap about it, so it could be a surprise.

    continued …

    PHOTO: Statue, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York.

  • the clothes don’t make the (wo)man

    photo
    well, another weekend, another closet redone. this time mine (I hate being left out) and on the cheap (spent $39 on wood, saw-ed and installed myself).

    i have this pathological need to be doing stuff now, which i understand is probably a flavor of nesting … only coming from the more-militant-yet-somehow-less-productive wing.

    but the real news comes from the lady sparkler, who is showing enough (understatement!) to start considering actual maternity clothes instead of continuing to accessorize her regular jeans with rubber-band-as-belt-buckle.

    unfortunately, part of said awakening is finding out how much of a pain it is to shop for her new situation. truth be told, she hated shopping for regular clothes, so I guess no one was expecting her to suddenly hit a clothes-buying stride now that she is, er, buying for two.

    honestly, she’s a clotheshorse in her new found state, and looks great in everything she’s brought home. however, she’s begun complaining that certain clothes that lack definition (mommy mumu’s as it were) make her feel like she’s smuggling a watermelon out of the produce aisle.

    I’m sure I don’t know what that means, but I’m equally sure that she is sticking to a-lines and tailored-style clothes from here on out. (personally, I’m guessing that the maternity industry keeps some mumu’s on hand just to make sure the more expensive, tailored clothes fly off the shelves faster.)

    all that said, other than clothes and me pretending to be useful, we’re really just biding time until we know the gender.

    next sonogram is june 19th, and baby sparklet be well past the point where we can stare uncomfortably at his/her/its lower regions and make some sort of guess … provided, of course, that sparklet isn’t being bashful.

    16 days.

    PHOTO: recovery dinner from the weekend that was @ the heights, columbia heights, washington, dc.

  • how i met your mother: the first dates

    []
    dear sparklet,

    this is the third in a series of letters to baby sparklet about how mommy and daddy met and woo-ed each other.

    it’s pretty difficult to pick out one event that would qualify as a first date.

    the first thing we did together outside of work was go to Ben’s Chili Bowl. however, it was for lunch, and bridesmaid Mel was nice enough to chaperon that little event.  i am pretty sure those two things disqualify Ben’s from the “first date” competition.

    (that was also my first hot dog is several years, and i can still remember how my stomach ached after that was all over…)

    several weeks later, the lady sparkler and i went for a hike in Shenandoah national park … and barely survived. we made the mistake of hiking down (to some waterfalls on hazel mountain) instead of up.

    hiking downhill seemed like a good idea for the first six miles, and proved to be easy enough that we kept going farther than we had planned. we were having a great time talking, laughing, and poking t.l.s. with a stick (well, that last part was mostly me…)

    unfortunately, the six miles back uphill to the car sucked most of the will to live out of our poor, frail, out-of-shape, trying-to-impress-each-other-with-our-outdoorsyness bodies.

    we stayed on the trail two hours longer than we had planned, which meant what had been planned as a day event now required dinner, which was a first for us.

    and so, our first dinner date (however accidental) was at a ruby tuesday’s in warrenton on the way back to DC. to this very day, the sonora chicken pasta i had that night is just about my favorite comfort food on the planet.

    now, i was mostly a vegetarian when i met the lady sparkler … i did eat some meat (almost all of it was chicken), i never cooked any dead animals at home, and never ate meat more than once or twice a month (i guess you could say that i was a social carnivore.)

    so it was much to my surprise that after our hike, i found us talking about barbecue — which is not something I talk about much, so i’m guessing the lady sparkler must have brought up.

    to keep up with the conversation, i found myself telling her that she should come up to Glover Park to try the ribs at Rockland’s, regardless of the fact that i had no earthly idea what they tasted like and would probably faint watching someone eat them.

    she thought it sounded great.

    so, while i had successfully arranged our first “alone” date back in DC, i had also managed to create a rather awkward situation. whatever meat i was eating at the time, i can assure you that it wasn’t anything that looked like it was once alive, much less slaughtered, cooked over an open flame, and hacked into little strips.

    that next weekend, we met at Rocklands, and ordered at the counter.  me: a cute little array of sides (coleslaw, mac and cheese, potato salad).  my future wife: a huge slab of meat.

    and so, i watched my wife-to-be pack away half a rack of ribs.

    when finished, she proceeded to suck the marrow from the bones, and then lick her fingers clean. i kissed goodbye whatever vegetarian tendencies i had, right then and there.

    and the rest, as they say, is history.

  • new theme (launch, v11)

    well, while i was rebuilding the site anyway i figured it was about time to ditch the old three column format. it’s not my design, but that may actually be the point — i find i like designs longer when i have nothing to do with them.

    it’s the 11th design i’ve had since my first site in may of 2002, and i can’t think of one that lasted longer than 18 months.

  • the end of baseball in washington

    []
    photo.jpg, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    i might be about done with the washington nationals.

    the austin spaklers are in town for the lady sparkler’s birthday, and to get some some quality time with her belly. it’d been a year since we saw a nats game, so we tossed in one of those for good measure.

    it turned out that we had three sets of friends there, and we had a great time all around. the food — ben’s chili bowl, again — was fantastic. the stadium is beautiful.

    but the game was awful.

    of course, part of that might be because the nationals are awful. luckily, they were facing the orioles … who are equally awful.

    the two teams are averaging 6 runs allowed per game. together, they allow more people on base than any other teams in the league. washington leads the league in errors, and baltimore is close behind. both are in last place in their division.

    all that futility should mean a scorcher of a game. but alas, did i mention it was awful?

    i swear, there was 20 minutes between each inning. it took until the 5th inning for washington to score its first run (which would also be the last). the game was over in two hours and 31 minutes, but i would have guessed it was twice that.

    in fact, when nat’s shortstop Cristian Guzman homered in the 5th i was excited … until i realized that it tied the game, vastly increasing the chance it would go into extra innings.

    (not to worry, tho, as baltimore “stormed” back to win 2-1.)

    but worst of all, we had to watch all the happy O’s fans … who have to win the award for most socially awkward fan base in the country.

    i know that baseball is a game of stats (which is probably a polite way of saying math geeks) but O’s fans makes red sox and yankees fans look normal by comparison … preppy or thuggy, as the case may be, but without that certain “a/v club” veneer.

    but, at least the O’s have fans.

    honestly, the nats would have better success if they built a giant bar, with great food, a huge HD television, and a $25 cover charge. that way DCers could come and socialize, without feeling guilty about paying attention a baseball game.

    (wait, that’s actually what they did …)

    in the end, the two-plus hours where i didn’t watch the game was great, but the 20 minutes of the game i watched during pauses in the social agenda felt like an afternoon at the dmv.

    it took forever, and no one was particularly happy with how it turned out.

  • Shamu Snubs the Conservancy

    Well, not really 🙂

    Sea World / Busch Gardens and their “Animal Ambassadors” stopped by the Conservancy this morning … and a couple hundred of us gathered in the garden out back to see a Red-necked Wallaby, some type of lizard, an American Alligator and Magellan Penguin. Shamu (the killer whale) did not attend, nor was he expected (can you imagine *that* kennel carrier?)

    I have to say that (a) the southern tip of Argentina is back at the top of my travel list, and (b) everyday would be better with penguins.

    Photo: Penguin (detail) © Amy Hawthorne.

  • photos: the best of europe

    [Eiffel Tower, Paris, France.]
    ECPA20090504_1496, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    not everybody has the patience to sort through 800+ photos from a family vacation, so i have distilled out about 70 of my favorites from scotland, london and paris. there is more commentary on the trip to come (UPDATED: it’s here now) but wanted to get the pictures up quicker than my weary brain can draft real blog posts.
    Explore the Photo Set:
    Photos: The Best of Europe (Slideshow)

  • website: hackers, and my blog, and stuff

    i feel so violated.

    early this week, i was making a quick change to the blog, when i discovered hundreds of files filled with all sorts of obvious porn keywords (khandi-alexander-nude-pics.html) and some more with not so obvious porn keywords (blue-lotus-tea-recipe.html).

    now, i would have been fine if was making porn-star money for hosting the files … but no one appeared to be sending me my cut of the proceeds.

    for three days, i tried everything from deleting the files to figuring out where the security hole was that needed to be plugged. i had the latest version of the operating system, the latest version of WordPress, i deleted “extra” logins to the system, and i changed to a new WordPress theme (hense the new design) to make sure one of my “upgrades” wasn’t at fault.

    but each night at 12:04 am, the porn files mysteriously reappeared. out of desperation, i finally contacted my web host — i did that last because i knew they were going to be useless — and sure enough all they could manage was “sorry we can’t help you, but try resetting your passwords.”

    oops. hadn’t thought of that …

    sure enough, i reset all the passwords, and the site hasn’t been hacked since. hard to believe it was something so simple (and stupid, and obvious).

    i think there is some sort of life lesson in here somewhere, if i only knew where to look.

  • into the closet, pt 2

    ecpa20090525_2077
    this whole baby thing is going to have a profound impact on the lady sparkler’s life, but in no way more than the loss of the second bedroom as her own private boudoir.in a vain attempt to soften the blow, baby mama’s birthday present this year is a container store / elfa makeover for her closet … because she now has to make room in there for baby sparklet (a conversation which we’ve already had with her spleen and bladder).

    the purchase was easy enough. i sketched something out beforehand — with Google Sketchup because i am a dork — and the store turned it into a “parts” list. someone in the back readied the order and put it into our car, while the sales clerk walked us through how to assemble the new system.

    my personal life-goal now shifted to not having to paint the closet.

    first, i unloaded all of the crap from the closet … and tried to ignore that the closet needed to be painted. then i took down the existing shelves … and tried to ignore that the closet needed to be painted.

    then i repaired the 30+ holes from the use of railroad spikes to hold up said shelves … and tried to ignore that the closet needed to be painted. then i went to bed … and tried to ignore that the closet needed to be painted.

    and then i woke up, and painted the closet.

    in the end, the closet went together fine and the baby now has about three-eighths of the closet (two hanging bars, two shelves and three drawers). it’s not quite the space savings i was hoping for, but it will do for now.

    i sure hope baby sparklet is small, and doesn’t grow much.

  • how I met your mother: the first kiss

    [Evan and Tasha]
    dear sparklet,

    this is the second in a series of letters to baby sparklet about how mommy and daddy met and woo-ed each other.

    if be lying if I said that I wasn’t interested in the woman who would become the lady sparkler soon after we met, after two years of being telephone-only business chums…

    but, I was coming out of a bit of a rough patch as far as the fairer sex was concerned. point of fact, I had sworn off women all together after the excruciating demise of two (and a half) relationships in an 18 month perod.

    but, to be frank, swearing off women wasn’t quite what the lady sparkler had had in mind.

    those days we spent a little bit of time out of the office together … but completely plutonic, in the “hands off like plutonium” sort of way. I didn’t want to have anything to do (romantically) with women, and she didn’t want anything to do (romantically) with anyone who had such a luminous recent history of spectacularly-demising relationships.

    but all of a sudden, something changed. after, say, four months of plutonic nirvana, she came up to my place in Glover Park on a Friday night for an early dinner, before I was to drive to Williamsburg (and the family) later that night.

    as I was packing, she sat on my bed — it was a studio apartment so there was no couch, you perverts — going ON and ON about how she was happy we were just friends, and that while she could see some thing happening romantically, it was waaaaaay off in the future, and that we should take things slowly, and that I needed time, and that she needed time, and how special male friends were, and how she had a lot of them, and how people often misconstrued that, but she was glad that I didn’t misconstrue that, blah, blah, blah-blah, blah-blah-blah.

    she was preaching to the choir (nay, the clergy) as far as i was concerned … so i said “you are exactly right” for twenty minutes, packed quickly, went with her for a quick bite of Indian, decided her Native American name translated to “she who insists on stating the obvious, over and *over* again,” and drove to Williamsburg.

    She suggested that I stop by on my way back after my trip, which i did, and we ended up going for a walk, I’m guessing to give her roommate a break from the Evan-induced insanity.

    not twenty minutes into the walk, she asked if she could hold my hand. not twenty-one minutes into the walk, she asked if she could kiss me.

    we did, on the corner of Buchanan and Boyle streets, in Alexandria, Virginia.

    to this day, I have no idea what happened between Friday at 8pm and Sunday at 4pm. but, whatever it was, I would like to officially take credit for it here and now.

    all along, it was *obviously* my masterplan to drive her to do this switch-er-roo, and she was just powerless in the face of my onslaught of charm.

    I promise to only use my powers for good from here on out.

  • how I met your mother: the beginning

    []
    dear sparklet,

    this is the first in a series of letters to baby sparklet about how mommy and daddy met and woo-ed each other.

    one of the lady sparkler’s favorite shows these days is “how I met your mother,” whose premise includes a dad explaining to his kids (through flashbacks to modern day) all the zany hijinks that led to him meeting (and marrying) their mother.

    you’ve seen it if you have been on an airplane in the last five years, or have a thing for doogie howser/ buffy the vampire slayer alumni.

    anyway, the premise got me thinking I have a certain moral obligation to document all the embarassing stories I have about the lady sparkler, to make sure you (dear sparklet) have a full understanding of your antecedants.

    so, I’m not sure how many people know this, but I knew my future beloved for about two years before we ever met. she was the head of communications for a small progressive non-profit, and I handled a web consulting contract they had with CTSG way back when.

    it’s reasonable to say that I had a “client crush” on her — hard to explain, but that’s a commonish term that consultants have for clients that they don’t try to avoid at all costs. it happens a more often than you’d think, especially when your “relationship” is limited to whitty banter on the phone.

    the funny part is that I assumed — for two years, up until the day that she started working for at CTSG — that she was 45 years old, married, with two or three kids.

    whoops.

    one day I hear “new girl” is coming by for some social event because she was going to be starting with us in a few weeks, and two hours layer I realize it is (a) her, (b) that I have talked to her for years but never met, (c) she is decidedly not 45, and (d) had cornered me in the office kitchen in such a way that I was fairly certain I had best cooperate with her and whatever her vision of the world might be.

    the part of the story that doesn’t get told all that often is that I inadvertently seduced her under completely false pretences … namely in a suit and tie.

    the day she came to visit just happened to be the only day in four years of political consulting that I had a meeting with a member of congress (nick lampson, fwiw) so had dressed up for work in black tie, black suit and black overcoat.

    (she said I looked dashing … I think I probably looked like John Cusack from Grosse Pointe Blank.)

    regardless, it was one of maybe four times I got that dressed up in the last six years (poor thing).

    looking back, she says it was love at first sight … I’m not sure I was so eloquent, but absolutely thought she was hot, had potential, and was going to kick my #%$& if I didn’t comply with her every demand.

    mmmm, young love 🙂

  • the pregnancy so far

    400
    yup, we’re pregnant. and to avoid any confusion, by “we” i mean the lady sparkler is pregnant. i’m just along for the ride … and the barefoot-kitchen jokes.

    we had put a moratorium on even talking about making babies for the first year after our October wedding, and when we did end up talking in August of last year — you didn’t think she’d make it all 12 months, did you? — we decided we’d start trying in the New Year.

    sure enough, we were pregnant by February. and everything is going swimmingly … no morning sickness for the lady sparkler, our little sparklet looks great, and is already over-achieving.

    needless to say, a lot’s happened in the last fifteen weeks … and while it looks like i gave up blogging, they’ve just been going into the queue until the can’t-talk-about-it-for-the-first-trimester period was over.

    to catch you up, here is the pregnancy so far:

    • well, here we go — we weren’t even sure t.l.s. was pregnant, and i already screwed up. and expect to screw up over and over again.
    • yup, we’re pregnant — and yes, we are going to find out the gender, and yes, we are going to pick a boring, anglo-friendly name.
    • ballerina — and no, chances are baby sparklet won’t grow up to be a classically trained russian ballerina, if here genes have anything to do with it.
    • obama boom — turns out we aren’t the only lefties that are pregnant, and (like everything else) it’s all obama’s fault.
    • there and back again — we found a hospital … five miles, twelve stoplights, three stop signs, one traffic circle, and 200 churches later.
    • the longest twelve weeks — i realized early on that i had the potential do a lot of damage in the twelve weeks where i was supposed to avoid talking about the pregnancy.
    • provisioning for two — the nine month shopping spree has officially begun. our only hope is that it all stays this cheap.
    • pregnant passover — went to a passover seder, where we were just about the only people who weren’t pregnant … sortof.
    • nesting — ever the planners, we’ve assembled a very healthy list of to-dos before baby sparklet arrives, and are starting to check them off.
    • ultrasound — baby sparklet, looks great, sounds great, and is already over achieving … and we’ve got proof.

  • last photo in europe

    [Hotel Caron de Beaumarchais?, Paris, France.]

  • Rue de Rivoli

    [Rue de Rivoli, Paris, France.]
    Paris has turned out to be the big surprise for me on the trip — i thought i was going to hate it, and was only doing it to buy off my wife for spending seven days in a car running around a nation she’d already seen.

    And i have to say, i was partially right. Paris is an ugly, ugly city during the day — there seems to be no sanitation in the traditional sense, the people on the sidewalks aren’t terribly nice, and it was painfully obvious that I just wasn’t in Kansas anymore Toto.

    But Paris at night, is just stunning.

    I have a feeling we’ll be back — we didn’t get to see even half the things on our list, but when we do come i think we’re going to do another long weekend and not even going to try adapt to the time change.

    We’ll just get up at noon, and stay awake until 2am, and do Paris the way that God intended — at night.

    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    Rue de Rivoli, Paris, France

  • Notre Dame

    [Notre Dame, Paris, France.]
    [Notre Dame, Paris, France.]
    friends of ours came to Paris of their honeymoon. they basically rented an apartment for two weeks, and packed a bunch of books, and just lived a normal Parisian life for two weeks (sans blackberry, i hope).

    i thought they were crazy — turns out they weren’t.

    we ran around like tourists for the first 18 hours we were here, before we started dawdling longer and longer in the cafes around the tourist attractions than in the attractions themselves.

    the cafe at Notre Dame is a great example. it’s a horrible tourist trap, and it was horribly overpriced, but sitting there drinking liquid chocolate for two hours is one of the top memories i’m taking home with me.

    See Slideshow the Photos on Flickr:
    Notre Dame, Paris, France

  • Avenue de Champs-Elysees

    [Avenue de Champs-Elysees, Paris, France.]
    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    Avenue de Champs-Elysees, Paris, France

  • Place de la Concorde

    [Place de la Concorde, Paris, France.]
    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    Place de la Concorde, Paris, France

  • Jardin du Luxembourg

    [Jardin du Luxembourg, Paris, France.]
    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    Jardin du Luxembourg, Paris, France

  • Eiffel Tower

    [Eiffel Tower, Paris, France.]
    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    Eiffel Tower

  • Metro

    [Metro, Paris, France.]
    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    Metro, Paris, France

  • The Louvre

    [Venus di Milo, The Louvre, Paris, France.]
    [The Louvre, Paris, France.]
    It’s nearly impossible to overstate the impact that tourists have on The Louvre. They’re everywhere, and they’re crazy. The Lady Sparker and I spent a grand total of two hours in the museum (including 45 minutes at their cafe) and ticked off most of the top 10 things you “have” to see — and then got the heck out of dodge. Beautiful museum, it just needs about 2.3 million less people in it at any one time.
    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    The Louvre, Paris, France

  • Tuileries Gardens

    [Tuileries Gardens, Paris, France.]
    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    Tuileries Gardens, Paris, France

  • Ile de la Cite / Pont Neuf

    [Pont Neuf Bridge, Paris, France.]
    [Institut de France, Paris, France.]
    i had such an incredible sense of déjà vu standing on Pont Neuf, a bridge from Paris’ left bank to one of the islands in the river Siene. After a second, i figured it out — the bridge is featured in the first Jason Bourne movie:

    Enough. 5:30 p.m. Paris. Today. Pont Neuf. You come alone, you walk to the middle of that bridge. You take off your jacket. Face east. I’ll redial this number.

    I’m sure I’ve once again offended a couple centuries of cultured peoples by having this association, but (again) you can take the American out of America, but you can’t …

    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    Ile de la Cite / Pont Neuf, Paris, France

  • train from london to paris

    [Train from London's St. Pancreas to Paris' Nord, London, England, UK.]

  • british beer

    [John Smith's Extra Smooth, London, England, UK.]
    on the flight over here from the U.S., i gave my father two goals for his tenure in Britain — either he was going to learn to drink scotch or he was going to learn to drink beer.

    he chose the latter.

    my father really hasn’t done much with alcohol at least since i’ve been around — there is a childhood story about mixing day old empties together which still gives me the heebs — but each meal i’d pick out something for myself that i thought he’d like, give him a sample and then he’d either order it or something he had earlier in the trip.

    i have to say he’s built himself a respectable palette for the darker stuff — mostly brown ales and stouts. the effort was made a bit easier by English beer’s milder taste than it’s American microbrew cousins, but a beer is a beer and now he’s fully prepped up to tie one down at work functions and the like.

    i’m so proud 🙂

  • Kensington Palace

    [Kensington Palace, London, England, UK.]
    [King's Gallery, Kensington Palace, London, England, UK.]
    [Kensington Gardens, London, England, UK.]
    Between Kensington Palace and the Tower of London, i think it’s safe to say that I’m a complete monarchist. Granted they are capricious, and constantly cutting off peoples (and more specifically, wives) heads — but God, the palaces, the histories, and the intrigue. It’s like crack. Or more importantly, it’s like the 17th century equivalent of reality TV.

    In fact, i’m working on my elevator pitch for a Real Housewives of Buckingham Palace as we speak.

    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    Kensington Gardens, London, England

  • mayfair

    [Shepard's Market, Mayfair, London, England, UK.]
    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    Mayfair, London, England

  • found: wait, mary was hot?!?

    [Mary II (as in College of William & Mary), Kensington Palace, London, England, UK.]
    I went to the College of William and Mary, and grew up in Williamsburg before that — and in all my time, i never saw a portrait of Mary II where she looked female, much less attractive.

    I’m suddenly feeling much more supportive of my alma mater.

  • white hart lane

    [Tottenham Hotspur vs. West Bromwich Albion, White Hart Lane, Tottenham, London, England, UK.]
    [Tottenham Hotspur vs. West Bromwich Albion, White Hart Lane, Tottenham, London, England, UK.]
    [White Hart Lane, Tottenham, London, England, UK.]
    i love my wife.

    she’s barely 14 weeks pregnant, just spent seven days gallivanting around scotland with my family, and wraps it all up by going with me (split seats mind you) to see tottenham hotspur at white hart lane.

    i’ve been following tottenham since i’ve been following the premier league — and the thought of seeing them in their 110 year old stadium has been clattering around my head ever since we bought the ridiculously overpriced tickets six weeks ago.

    it’s crescendo-ed to the point that this morning i was certifiably out of my mind — giddy enough that i managed to lose my wallet touring st. paul’s cathedral, but barely even noticing the rather large problem as my tickets to the lane were locked away elsewhere.

    we had planned on taking the tube to Seven Sisters, and making a twenty minute hike up hill to the stadium — but there was some variation on london’s perennial track work, so we detoured to another line and cabbed over.

    (speaking of, when the lady sparkler and i were buying tube tickets, our cashier was an aresnal fan — tottenham’s arch nemesis — and she was utterly unable to say either “tottenham” or “white hart lane” outloud without cringing.)

    (seriously, she kept starting to say something … catching herself … stopping … and saying “your destination” instead.)

    when we got to the lane, we walked a couple of laps — soaking it all in. by the time we actually entered the stadium it was already time for player introductions.

    i walked through the tunnel to the orchestral magesty of John Williams “Dual of the Fates.” it was glorious.

    it’s been a day, and i honestly don’t remember much about the match itself.

    i remember being in the front row, with a bunch of 20-something men. i remember screaming my head off. i remember being told to sit down by the extraordinarily polite stewards, a dozen times or more.

    and, i remember tottenham winning off of a curling 25-yard effort from Jermain Jenas.

    but, most of all i remember the chants, and the whole stadium — 35,000 strong — singing “oh when the spurs go marching in” in unision. i can still hear the glory glory ringing around in my ears.

    glorious.

    See a Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    tottenham vs. west brom, white hart lane, london

  • tottenham v. west brom

    my thoughts on the match are on another thread, but here are some professional photos from the match (so i don’t lose them) and the complete match report from eurosport (so i remember what the heck happened).

    tottenham won off of a curling 25-yard effort from midfielder Jermain Jenas, with just 2 minutes remaining in the first half.

    0,,12306~5845916,00

    0,,12306~5845918,00

    6_gomes

    7_king

    2_assou_ekotto

    0,,12306~5845924,00

    3_corluka

    4_jenas

    1_lennon

    0,,12306~5845926,00

    5_celebrate

    8_modric

    TOTTENHAM: Gomes; Corluka, Woodgate, King, Assou-Ekotto; Lennon, Palacios, Jenas, Modric; Pavlyuchenko (Dafoe 64), Keane; Unused Subs: Hutton, Bentley, Bale, Zokora, Cudicini, Huddlestone.

    WEST BROM: Carson; Zuiverloon, Martis, Olsson, Robinson (Simpson 58); Koren, Valero (Teixeira 77), Greening, Brunt; Mulumbu, Fortune; Unused Subs: Donk, Kiely, Bednar, Menseguez, Kim.

  • buckingham palace

    [Buckingham Palace, London, England, UK.]
    i have to give props to my now three month pregnant wife — we walked down to buckingham palace late tonight, and it’s the first thing in the entire trip that she’s opted out of for want of sleep. she’s a trooper.
    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    Buckingham Palace, London, England

  • Westminster

    [Westminster, London, England, UK.]
    [Family, Westminster, London, England, UK.]
    we’re nearing the end of the trip — just one full day left tomorrow, and then my parents fly out the following afternoon. i can already hear my parents talking over the next hundred family gatherings about how perfect the trip was (and it really did go off without a hitch) and i’m really glad to have ticked something off my things-to-do-before-i-die list and picked up some great family memories to boot.
    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    Westminster, London, England

  • london eye

    [The London Eye, London, Engand, UK.]
    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    The London Eye, London, Engand

  • Tower of London

    [Tower of London, London, England, UK.]
    [Tower of London, London, England, UK.]
    [Tower of London, London, England, UK.]
    [Tower of London, London, England, UK.]
    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    Tower of London, London, England

  • train from Edinburgh to London

    [Train from Edinburgh's Waverly Station to London's Kings Cross Station, Scotland, UK.]
    see slideshow of the photos on flickr:
    trains

  • Inverlochy Castle

    [Family, Inverlochy Castle, Fort William, Scotland, UK.]
    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    Inverlochy Castle, Fort William, Scotland

  • Hogwarts — er, Glenfinnan

    [Harry Potter locale (Hogwarts), Glenfinnan, Scotland, UK.]
    [Harry Potter locale (Hogwarts Express), Glenfinnan, Scotland, UK.]
    Glenfinnan is a significant blah blah blah because it’s where Bonnie Prince Charlie blah blah blah during the Jacobite uprising of blah blah blah. More importantly, it’s also the landscape on which Hogwarts Castle (and the Hogwarts Express) is digitally superimposed for the Harry Potter movies.

    You can take the American out of America, but you can’t …

    See Slideshows of the Photos on Flickr:
    Glenfinnan, Scotland

  • Silver Sands of Morar

    [Family, Silver Sands of Morar, Scotland, UK.]
    Morar is well known for it’s sanded beaches — which are a bit of a rarity up here — but also because it’s the home to Morag, Scotland’s second favorite Loch moster after Nessie. Sighting of her are a bit less welcome by the locals, however, as legend says that a member of the local clan dies each time. I’m glad Nessie is so much more benevolent.
    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    Silver Sands of Morar, Scotland

  • Ardvasar-Mallaig Ferry

    [Ardvasar-Mallaig Ferry, Scotland, UK.]
    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    Ardvasar-Mallaig Ferry, Scotland

  • Armandale Castle

    [Armandale Castle, Sleat, Isle of Skye, Scotland, UK.]
    [Armandale Castle, Sleat, Isle of Skye, Scotland, UK.]
    Given how the Donald clan is one of Scotland’s four largest, you’d think there would be a bit of an industry of places for expat MacDonalds to visit but — not so much.

    The one big exception is Armandale Castle on Isle of Skye, where there is a Clad Donald museum and the ruins of very late (and questionably significant) family castle.

    That aside, now that we are on the Isle, it’s hard to argue with beauty of the land that surrounds us.

    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    Armandale Castle, Isle of Skye, Scotland

  • Sleat, Isle of Skye

    [Road to Elgol, Isle of Skye, Scotland, UK.]
    [The Cuillins, from Elgol, Isle of Skye, Scotland, UK.]
    [Knock Castle, Sleat, Isle of Skye, Scotland, UK.]
    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    Sleat, Isle of Skye, Isle of Skye, Scotland

  • Lochalsh

    [Five Sisters, Lochalsh, Scotland, UK.]
    [Eileen Donan, Lochalsh, Scotland, UK.]
    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    Lochalsh, Scotland

  • Inverness

    [Family, Old High Church, Inverness, Scotland, UK.]
    [Old High Church, Inverness, Scotland, UK.]
    Inverness was the one part of the trip that we just couldn’t really work into the plan. My mother’s Grandfather was born there, but it was so far north, not much to see, and not exactly the most scenic city of the lot.

    Turns out we were wrong on the first part — once we got to where we were staying in Drumnadrochit, the innkeeper listed some places in Inverness as good dinner options, and said it was just under 30 minutes away.

    So we drove in for a bit — nominally to find the Old High Church, which would have almost certainly been by Great Grandfather’s Church during his lifetime. We found it eventually (after a small detour to an unmarked neighboring church) and found some MacDonalds in the cemetary.

    It’s nice going off the plan every once in a while.

    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    Inverness, Scotland

  • Loch Ness and Castle Urquhart

    [Loch Ness, Castle Urquhart, Drumnadrochit, Scotland, UK.]
    [Loch Ness, Castle Urquhart, Drumnadrochit, Scotland, UK.]
    [Family, Loch Ness, Drumnadrochit, Scotland, UK.]
    My father had a grand total of one request on this trip — to see Loch Ness, something i was more than happy to do based solely on my favorite roller coaster ride of all time (the Loch Ness Monster at Busch Gardens Williamsburg).

    Love it. Especially the part when we were sitting in Castle Urquhart’s orientation film and five minutes was dedicated to how the hated MacDonalds laid siege (like viking mercenaries!) to the beloved castle on the Loch, several times over the centuries.

    I don’t remember hearing about that from my Grandmother.

    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    Loch Ness, Castle Urquhart, Drumnadrochit, Scotland

  • The Trip North

    [Loch Lochy, Scotland, UK.]
    [Ben Nevis, Scotland, UK.]
    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    The Road to Loch Ness, Scotland

  • Glen Coe

    [Glen Coe, Scotland, UK.]
    [Glen Coe, Scotland, UK.]
    [Glen Coe, Scotland, UK.]
    [Glen Coe, Scotland, UK.]
    the mountains around Glen Coe are officially on my list of most beautiful places on the planet. there is an strange quiet and sadness that permeates the landscape, which might be why it’s (erroneously) translated as the Valley of Weeping.

    for those playing along at home, Glencoe is where several dozen of MacDonalds (ancestors on my maternal grandmother’s side) were killed in their own home by the guests who had accepted their hospitality, because the MacDonalds had not yet pledged their allegience to new monarchs William and Mary.

    (yes, THAT William and Mary.)

    it really is stunning here — so stunning, we’re going to stop again on our way back from the Isle of Skye, too.

    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    Glen Coe, Scotland

  • so, a funny thing happened

    [Castle Stalker, near Port Appin, Scotland, UK.]
    so, a funny thing happened at the car dealership.

    i rented a car from whatever the nationwide/generic car rental place was, and the only thing i asked for was for it to be an automatic. i’ve done the wrong side of the road thing before, but had little interest in doing it on hills with a clutch.

    turns out that the only automatic that they had on the lot was a Mercedes E-Class Wagon, which the guy described as being worth more than his annual paycheck (it costs $49,250 in the States).

    he gave it to us for the rate we already agreed to for what we thought was going to be a crappy Scandinavian four-door, and tossed in a GPS to boot. the lady sparkler said to decline the insurance to use our own, and i drove the really expensive car off the lot like a scared little boy.

    when we got back to the apartment (we’re in a two-bedroom for our stay in Edinburgh) i made my wife call our insurance, just to be sure we were okay. it went something like this:

    We just rented a Mercedes wagon, and want to make sure it’s covered under our insurance.

    What do you mean when you say that you don’t cover “certain” luxury vehicles — like what, Ferrari’s and Lambroghinis?

    So, I started walking back to the rental place — and told him either to give us insurance or to walk over and pick the car back up himself.

    Long story short, we got insurance — and my parents just got upgraded from riding around in the back of a Ford Mondeo for a week.

  • Lochabre

    [Laird's Woods, Lochaber, Scotland, UK.]
    friends of my father’s gave him deed to a piece of land in Scotland for his birthday. granted, it’s only one square food but apparently that’s enough to give him the title of “Laird” within the Scottish aristocracy. it turned out to be right on our road to the Isle of Skye, so we swung by and saw his plot.
    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    Lochabre, Scotland

  • Castle Stalker and the Trossachs

    [Castle Stalker, near Port Appin, Scotland, UK.]
    [Loch Linnhe, Scotland, UK.]
    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    Castle Stalker and the Trossachs, Scotland

  • Dunstaffnage Castle

    [Dunstaffnage Castle, near Oban, Scotland, UK.]
    [Dunstaffnage Castle, near Oban, Scotland, UK.]
    [Dunstaffnage Castle, near Oban, Scotland, UK.]
    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    Dunstaffnage Castle, near Oban, Scotland

  • St. Conan’s Kirk

    [Robert the Bruce, St. Conan's Kirk, Scotland, UK.]
    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    St. Conan’s Kirk, Lochawe, Scotland

  • Stirling Castle

    [Stirling Castle, Stirling, Scotland, UK.]
    [Family, Stirling Castle, Stirling, Scotland, UK.]
    [Monument to Wiliam Wallace, Stirling, Scotland, UK.]
    we’re on our way out west. we had one little hiccup when we hit the highway — couldn’t decide if the speed limits were in kilometers/hr or miles/hr, which makes a big difference — but at least driving on the wrong side of the road is old hat after three weeks in australia.
    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    Stirling Castle, Stirling, Scotland

  • Holyrood

    [Holyrood Palace, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.]
    [Holyrood Abbey, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.]
    [Holyrood Palace, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.]
    Holyrood is both Edinburgh’s Central Park and the home of the monarchy in Scotland. Besides the natural aspect, Holyrood made the list because Queen Elizabeth spends a little over a week here each summer. I’m starting to realize that i’m a bit of a Royal Watcher.
    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    Holyrood, Edinburgh, Scotland

  • Edinburgh Castle

    [Edinburgh Castle, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.]
    [Edinburgh Castle, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.]
    [Edinburgh Castle, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.]
    [Royal Mile, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.]
    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    Edinburgh Castle, Scotland

  • Old Edinburgh

    [Sir Walter Scott Monument, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.]
    [Canongate Kirk, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.]
    [Views of Old Town, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.]
    [Old Town, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.]
    we’ve landed, taken the train up to Scotland, and have made a couple of forays into Edinburgh. my father has already struck up a rapport with the locals (well, the locals involved in the restaurant industry) and Scotland is just a beautiful as described. all is well with the world.
    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    Old Edinburgh, Scotland

  • travel: scotland, uk

    [Holyrood Palace, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.]
    ECPA20090426_8378, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    so, ended up not blogging the trip to Scotland the same way I’ve done trips in the past.

    this was partly because the schedule was a little too packed for much writing time, partly because I’d just fallen out of the habit of blogging daily due to the baby-talking-embargo, but mostly because the whole not-sleeping-through-the-night thing means I now spend all my sparetime asleep.

    as a result, instead of my witty commentary, you are just stuck looking at the pretty pictures. suffice to say, the trip was beautiful, spectacular, and perfect in every way.

    UPDATE: this turned out to not exactly be true — i’ve finally gone back and jotted down most of my thoughts about the trip, and uploaded them (along with the pictures) to the site. I’m sure i’ve missed some things, but i’ll update them as the come up in family “do you remember when” conversations.

  • preview: tottenham hotspur @ white hart lane

    white_hart_laneit’s hard to explain what it means to follow Tottenham Hotspur Football Club … but i should start at the beginning.

    before 2005, it doesn’t matter how much of a soccer fan you were, because it was pretty hard to follow the English Premier League from the States. media coverage was absolutely non-existent, and the matches themselves relegated to premium channel (Fox Sports World) that practically zero cable systems carried.

    but by 2005, i had moved to a more benevolent cable monopoly, was able to start following the Premier League, and set about finding a team to follow.

    there were ground-rules in my search:

    • character — good team, but not too good. great players. storied history. good stadium. great fans. (a low bar, i know.)
    • no “big” teams — the are four teams in the league that even the uninitiated have heard of (manchester united, arsenal, chelsea, liverpool) because they win everything that isn’t strapped down. you can’t pick one of them, because everybody hates someone who jumps on to a winner.
    • team that you can watch — following a team means being able to see them, both this season and those to come. if the team is too crappy, they won’t make it onto the telly. Worse yet, each year the bottom three teams get kicked out of the league … so a really crappy team won’t even be around to be followed.

    … and said ground-rules led to Tottenham.

    at the time, they were good (finish in the top 10 more often than not), but not too good (no major championships since 1991). they have great players (at the time, more members of the England national squad than any other), a storied history (first team to win two championships in one year, and first Brit team to win Europe), great fans (loyal through decades of mediocrity), etc.

    fortunately they are still good (won a league championship in 2008 while we were in Australia) but not too good (were in deep, deep danger of relegation as late as February this year) and my healthy interest in Spurs has grown into an obsession.

    and, of course, at the center of this obsession is Tottenham Hotspur’s 109 year-old stadium: White Hart Lane.

    … and we got tickets.

    ever since we found out we were going to Scotland (or more importantly, London) the one place at the top of my list has been White Hart Lane. unfortunately, it’s a bit out of the way … and seats a ridiculously small 36,000 fans each match day.

    the weekend we are in London (may 2nd) there is a home match against West Bromich Albion, but it sold out even before tickets made it to general sale. turns out West Brom sucks, and everybody wants to see Tottenham beat up on the sucky team.

    as for me, i’d love to see them play a sucky team, but i really needed to see them play in the next year, because they are getting ready to rip beautiful, historic white hart lane and replace it with a new, oval monstrosity that we can only hope will have more character than Fed Ex Field.

    so, it took about two weeks and more than a dozen visits to Spurs ticket site, but a couple seats finally came open on their ticket exchange (from people selling tickets they bought but can’t use).

    of course, the two seat aren’t together, so i gave the lady sparkler the option to drop out — and spend the day at the spa — but she’s become sufficiently fascinated by Spurs (including steamy Robbie Keane and young/virile Gareth Bale) that she wanted to see what all the fuss was about in person.

    such a good wife.

    she did mention that she didn’t want to be seated with a bunch of drunk hooligan Brits, so I am giving her the fancy pants ticket, in the new (west) stand with completely unobstructed views, and its cucumber sandwich crowd.

    i, however, will be in the east stand … with it’s obstructed views (two large posts hold up the roof over the stand) and it’s (hopefully) drunk, merry and singing Tottenham fans. apparently, it’s the east and south stands that have all the “character” and my wife is married to enough of a character to not seek out more in the English capital.

    so, if you happen to subscribe to a channel that carries it, look for us. we will be in section 30, row 1, seat 189 and section 10, row 9, seat 37. i have no idea where they are, but sure am (incredibly) excited to be there.

    UPDATE: and here’s what happened.

  • ultrasound

    11_weeksthe lady sparkler had her first real check up yesterday, where they did all the things that make a boy blush (even during the recounting, after the fact) but in the end they gave her (and sparklet) a clean bill of health.the one thing they were funny about was they wanted to get sparkler under the ultrasound as soon as possible, and its a good thing because we are apparently a little farther along that we thought.

    we went into yesterday thinking we were at about seven or eight weeks, but we were counting since ovulation … and they count from the date of the end of the last cycle before you get preggers. seven quickly became ten.

    … which they adjusted up to eleven weeks when they saw the size of little sparkler on film.

    they kept using the term “really well developed” and “advanced” when they we poking at sparklet with their little sono-wand, and I know they were talking about *timeline* and not *intellect* but still, it’s hard not to be proud.

    the whole sonogram took 10 minutes tops, but it was fabulous. we had heard from half a dozen sources that sparklet would be an odd looking kidney bean with a heartbeat, so we were pretty amazed when we got the first images back.

    sparklet started the process standing on her head (I’m thinking the lady sparkler laid down too fast…) but soon settled into the chill, reclined position you see above. she waved through the first half of the show (obviously showing off at this point, like the headstands weren’t enough…) but started wiggling around by the time we tried to listen in on the heartbeat.

    I got a brief snippet of the heartbeat which we’ve posted, but la madre de la sparklet had to pee, wouldn’t stop giggling, and the little one was obviously growing weary of performing. as a result, what we got isn’t quite Grammy-worthy.

    but the biggest news (by far!) is the revised timeline. due date has been bumped up to November 2nd, we will be in the second trimester by the time we get to Scotland, and we are just six days from being able to officially tell people.

    healthy mama and sparklet is one thing, but not needing to panic every moment that I’m going to accidentally rocket the cat out of the bag (yet again) will be the best feeling in the world.

  • nesting, pt 1: into the closet

    img_7955pregnancy 101 says that the lady sparkler and i are supposed to start nesting pretty soon … although apparently we are to hold off as long as possible, so that we have something to do in the last couple of months when we are both going to be mentally insane.we’ve already identified some of the things we “need” to do:

    • fix our fuse box — during the buying process, our home inspector begged us to replace the fuse box, pointing out that it had a bad habit of bursting into flame as opposed to tripping the breaker. seems like now might be a good time.
    • do something about the (until recently) spare bedroom — we’ll want to paint, we need to do something with the closet (currently t.l.s. dressing chamber with no room for baby stuff), and we need to kill a 12 year old ikea wardrobe that is an accident waiting to happen.
    • do something about the hall closet — it is a complete waste of space, and we need to move a bunch of crap in there from what used to be the “spare” bedroom.
    • think about the car — we love our jetta, but it has a tiny trunk that is already too small when we travel. we’re thinking maybe a $200 roof-top rack would allow us to not buy a new $12,000 car.
    • water filter — for some crazy reason, t.l.s. wants to get a water filter. (for those not in the know, D.C.’s tap water was once so bad it qualified as hazardous waste, and has a history of both lead and chlorine contamination.)
    • baby proofing — funny, but we are already most of the way here due to our anti-clutter lifestyle … but there are some basics like anchoring some bookcases to the wall, wrapping up electric plugs, boxes and cables, etc.

    but, good news … this past weekend, we ticked one item off the list, and managed to not add any new ones.

    we got a couple of shelving units (one set of industrial strength wire shelve procured by my father, and a hanging wall unit from the Container Store) and all of a sudden, we can fit (quite literally) four times as much stuff in there.

    i could get used to this “nesting” thing.

  • The Tiffany Trophy Cup

    ecpa20090411_0559
    The potential for proper European football is still a couple of weeks away, so it was a little shocking when I heard that Spanish legends Real Madrid were taking on English stalwart Blackburn Rovers this weekend. In Arlinton, Virginia. On artificial turf, at a high school.

    Turns out it was their academy squads over for a tourney hosted in association with D.C. United, but that didn’t deter the lady sparkler and I (and at least 12 other curious bystanders) from looking on as the two squads threw themselves up and down the pitch.

    There wasn’t a scoreboard, but near as we can figure “Los Merengues” were up three at the break … and Blackburn would have been farther down the whole if it wasn’t for a dozen standout saves by the Rover’s keeper.

    Real won handily, but both sides showed real class. It was hard to believe they were all under the age of 17, and yet still had skills that could have embarrassed a lot of professional squads in the States.

  • Good Friday in Columbia Heights

    We were walking back from the Target tonight, when we got caught up in a Good Friday procession in front of the big Catholic Church on the corner of Park and 16th Streets NW. It was amazingly intricate, with floats on flat beds, a pick-up truck with a generator and loud speakers, and what must have been a couple of thousand people. Shut down the neighborhood for blocks in all directions.

  • pregnant passover

    ordernow_30mslgbookfunny story … the lady sparkler and I went to a Passover seder tonight thrown by Mighty Baby Boig, and sat at the foot of the table with three pregnant women and their husbands.

    best of all, no one there knew we were pregnant … we hadn’t been able to tell the hosts (and figured that major religious gatherings weren’t the best time to bring it up) but the lady sparkler’s avoidance of alcohol is probably giving her away to anyone silly enough to pay attention.

    if women are really serious about this not-blabbing-for-12-weeks thing, they need to sink some investment capital into a way to look like they are consuming alcohol without actually doing it.

    maybe a fake stomach with a second, external esophagus … or some kind of secret additive that turn alcohol into sugar, while still in the glass. where is a pregnant venture capitalist when you need one?

  • my.nature.org

    things are always a little nuts in march, but this we used earth day to launch a brand new engagement site.

    we are using my.nature.org to serves relevant, personalized content to the Conservancy’s online supporter communities, as well as to post a ton of user-generated content we collect from our flickr efforts, the message of hope campaign, and our everyday environmental tips.

    UPDATE: In the 18 months since the campaign’s launch, my.nature.org has garnered nearly 800,000 visits and 1.5 million page views. The site’s user generated content campaigns have become fixtures on the Conservancy’s social media presences, including Facebook, Flickr and Twitter. i’ll take it.

  • found photo: ballston common, arlington, va

    [Ballston Common, Arlington, Virginia.]
    IMG_0546, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

  • provisioning for two

    picture-1well, I’m sitting in a Rehobeth old navy, while the lady sparkler and a good friend (lightingchickknits) run around buying “loose-fitting” summer dresses.

    there was a sale, and size-too-large dresses from old navy are bound to me better than full price maternity-wear.

    I haven’t had much to do with the whole pregnancy thing. the vast majority of nesting is going to fall on my lap, but that’s okay because the absolute majority of incubation is no where near my lap.

    and, it seams like preganancy isn’t slowing baby-mama down. the other night, she was barefoot, in the kitchen, cooking dinner, and when she was done she sewed on two buttons on our coats … it was very nineteenth century of us.

    (I should have been slaving away in the fields, but sadly I was just working 11 hour days on a computer.)

    and I realized, life is pretty okay. sure, both of us are going to turn into stark-raving lunatics at somepoint in the next 229 days, but … it’ll be good.

    p.s. we got 6+ dresses, all of which have plenty of space in the middle area (a-line, princess, empire, etc).

    p.p.s. I got three pairs of boxers. I didn’t want to be left out.

  • The State of the Birds

    [Photo]Over the last two weeks, we’ve been going nuts at the office as we run up towards Earth Day 2009. However, in the process, we managed to launch a nifty little site talking about the importance of bird conservation.

    We recently participated in a sweeping study that looks at the health of bird populations around the country and what this means for the future of our birds. With that in mind, and in full recognition of how incrediably strong our birding community is, we launched a mini-site where people can learn about the threats to birds in the U.S., share their best places to bird, and submit their favorite bird photos.

    We also threw in a sweet little desktop screensaver of bird images from our Flickr community.

  • the longest twelve weeks

    this is going to be the longest 12 weeks of my life. it’s barely been four weeks, and I have already screwed up the whole “keeping it underwraps” thing thrice.

    of course, it started with the inadvertant google reader posting…

    and last week I told you about the Obama boom, but what I left out was that I became so flustered during that conversation because I knew something I otherwise shouldn’t have known that I ended up outing us when challanged.

    (note: never point out to an expectant father that while often you can tell the sex by 16 weeks, it’s a little shakey until 20.)

    a common thread here is that i’ve been exhausted since February. i’ve been working crazy hours, but pregnancy has shrunk the size of a walnut … which means she is getting up every night at 11, 1, 3 and 5. interestingly enough, she goes right back to sleep … but i’m awake for half an hour, staring at the ceiling.

    so, disaster was in the cards yesterday at the chiropractor … I was exhausted, and the doctor asked if my back was keeping me up. I said no, my wife has been getting in and out of bed a lot … to which she replied “Congratulations! When are you due?!?”

    @#%*$!

    fifty-five days left until 12 weeks, and it can’t come soon enough.

    I’m sure I’ll be singing a different tune after 2 months of the exact same conversation — what’s the preggers equivalent of “so, how’s married life treating you?” — but right now the whole honesty thing is looking pretty good.

  • there and back again

    gi_overviewthe lady sparkler’s had a busy week of interviews. la madre de la sparklet has been shopping for a new baby doctor ever since he/she/it announced, “oh, by the way … I don’t deliver babies anymore.”

    mental note: add that to the list of things you could have mentioned three months ago …

    it’s a little early to be doing dry runs to the hospital, but all the practices that baby mama interviewed were out of sibley memorial hospital here in DC and we had only the faintest idea as to where that was.

    and, knowing that i was going to be the one driving her raging hormones around in case of emergency, i convinced her that we might want to discover whether we can actually get to this uncharted hospital in a hurry or not.

    what can I say … I’m a planner.

    it turns out that “we” have picked the farthest-away hospital in the District (at least that doesn’t involve crossing a river, thank god).

    to be more specific, there are six hospitals that are closer — though admittedly two of them you could go in pregnant and come out missing a kidney.

    I digress…

    so, we took a little drive to sibley. I offered to strap a watermellon to her waist and dump a gallon of water on her lap … you know, for authenticity.

    she declined — unless I let her wail hysterically, dig her fingernails into my arm while I drove, and leave at three in the morning … you know, for authenticity.

    I declined.

    so we hopped into our little jetta, and meandered our way west through the city: Cleveland park, van ness, tenleytown, American university, spring valley. (we passed like 200 churches, which I think is a good sign.)

    five miles, twelve stoplights, three stop signs and a traffic circle later, we arrived at sibley.

    the lady sparkler announced that the trip went “pretty good.” I announced that she better be planning to be induced at a time of our choosing.

    it only took 12 minutes, but it felt like thirty … and that was without sparklet trying to bring an abrupt end to his/her claustrophobia.

    oy.

  • obama boom

    obama_change_posterI’m hearing rumors of an Obama baby boom … at least anecdotally.

    I had lunch today with a friend who is expecting the first week of august (which minus 9 months = election day), and he rattled off three different friends (not including us) who were making babies between the election and the inauguration.

    imagine the ramifications … the senior class president for the class of 2028 will be decidedly liberal. they will have to put yet another trailer behind each of DC’s public high schools. it’s possible that in the 2032 presidential election, the District will pull 98% dem, instead of the usual 95%.

    “cats and dogs, living together … mass hysteria!”

  • ballerina

    l5885028630_8698we saw “ballerina” tonight, a documentary by bertrand normand which uses five russian ballerinas at different stages of there careers to examine the life of a ballet dancer.

    i am pretty sure i was the only man there who dragged his wife along, and not the other way around.

    I fell on love with ballet in Russia, when I first saw a production at the Marinski — the theatre featured in the documentary — when I was in high school. in college, I was the resident light designer for the dance department for my last two years.

    and no, I’m not gay … thankyouverymuch.

    the film was beautiful, with stunning shots of st. petersburg mixed in with great behind the scenes footage of the dancers rehearsing and performing. I was in heaven.

    one of the opening scenes showed a class of first years at the prestigious Vaganova Academy, with their tiny builds and their incredibly petite features … which made me think:

    first, this could never have been filmed in the united states, because our seven year-old look like NFL linebackers by comparison.

    second, if baby sparklet is a girl, she has no future in ballet unless, well, she isn’t actually related to either the lady sparkler or myself. neither of us have any discernible coordination, nor could we be mistaken as petite, I’m the least flexible person on the planet, and my wife would have punched the artistic director in the nose after his first note on her performance.

    little sparklet can be pretty much anything she/he wants to be when when [it] grows up …

    … but not a ballet dancer.

    … and it kills me.

  • yup, we’re pregnant

    well, looks like we *are* pregnant … the lady sparkler went in for a blood test early this week, and it came back a big ol’ thumbs up!

    we’ve already told the future grandparents, but have managed to track down any of the aunts and uncles quite yet. it’s hard to get peoples attention without ruining the surprise.

    the Virginia parkers were in town this weekend (for my father’s birthday) so we got to tell them in person. the Houston spindlers got a phone call, but it turns out they already knew she was pregnant by the time they picked up.

    so, now begins the long wait … we’ve got 64 days until we reach the 12 week threshold where it becomes safe to blab about sparklet (temporary nickname for currently genderless future sparkler) publically.

    speaking of which, yes, we are going to find out the gender before hand, though TLS “feels” like it will be a girl. (and, no, I don’t know what that means either…)

    speaking of which, we just found out that the lady sparkler’s ob-gyn no longer delivers babies, so we have to come up with an artful way of getting our friends to recommend someone without letting on that we have an eminent need to act on their suggestion.

    two other things of note: we’ve started compiling a list of “must do’s” before the baby pops out… including redoing the closet in the second bedroom (which TLS has annexed as her own) and replace the death trap of an electric curcuit-breaker box our home inspector warned us about.

    we’ll probably be fine on furnature to start (sans crib, natch) and we are going to try and avoid getting a bigger car (though may need to invest in some kind of luggage rack considering we max out the trunk when travelling already).

    oh, and the lady sparkler keeps talking about painting, so that’s probably coming, too.

    second item of note: we’ve agreed on the fact that a last name like “Parker” needs to have a fairly conventional anglo first name to “match.” (for instance, Andrew Parker works … Enrique Parker does not.)

    with that already established, I’m thinking the name thing will actually be bearable, and maybe a little fun.

    last thought … we are legitimately super-excited about raising sparklet in the city. everythin within walking distance, the zoo, the limited space that win let us over-accumulate baby crap … everything.

    these are exciting times!

  • bad facebook meme week, part three: iphone psychologist

    in part three of “bad facebook meme” week, I’m supposed to shuffle my iPhone and use the first twenty song titles to answer the questions below:

    what do your friends think of you?
    imaginary (evanescense)

    what if someone says you’re okay?
    under the weather (kt tunstall)

    how would you describe yourself?
    buffalo (kathleen edwards)

    what do you like in a [wife]?
    stay (dave matthews band)

    how do you feel today?
    it’s the end of the world (REM)

    what is your life’s purpose?
    the mercy of the fallen (dar williams)

    what is your motto?
    lazy dreamer (liz phair)

    what do you think about often?
    city of blinding lights (U2)

    what is 2 + 2?
    chloe dancer (mother love bone)

    what do you think of your best friend?
    fuck and run (liz phair)

    what do you think of your love interest?
    who’s to say (vanessa carlton)

    what describes your life story?
    wish you were here (rasputina)

    what do you want to be when you grow up?
    crazy in love (beyonce)

    what [did] you dance to at your wedding?
    love me two times (the doors)

    what will they play at your funeral?
    hey, jupiter (tori amos)

    what is your hobby?
    hurt (johnny cash)

    what is your biggest fear?
    grey street (dave matthews band)

    what is your biggest secret?
    freakshow (muffy nixon)

    what do you think of your friends?
    pumpkin soup (kate nash)

    what will you post this as?
    in my head (anna nalick)

    some of these are disturbingly telling …

  • plant a billion lights

    timesq
    I’ve never seen my name in lights, but maybe this is the next best thing … this week, someone donated space on the billboards that surround times square to the plant a billion trees campaign.

    (that’s the nature conservancy’s tree planting effort in the brazillian rain forest that I raised money for last earth day — and helped launch as part of my day job.)

    I haven’t heard anything about who the donor was, or how they chose us, but it’s fantastic to see such an important cause get the recognition (imho) it so richly deserves.

  • bad facebook meme week, part two: firsts

    in part two of “bad facebook meme” week, a list of firsts … which should be interesting considering i basically don’t remember anything before seventh grade:

    Who was your FIRST prom date?
    Sarah Bierenbaum, and saw her in NYC last week.

    Do you still talk to your FIRST love?
    Christine Holt, and the last time I saw here was ~15 years ago in an outlet mall in Williamsburg.

    What was your FIRST alcoholic drink?
    Frozen Mudslide, at some bar in Richmond with Maya Larson.

    What was your FIRST job?
    Nick’s Pancake House, or Williamsburg Country Club … depends on what you count.

    What was your FIRST car?
    1978 Oldsmobile Delta 88. It was my grandmother’s car, and it was awesome.

    Who was the FIRST person to text you today?
    (Damn, i’m old.)

    Who is the FIRST person you thought of this morning?
    Tasha Spindler.

    Who was your FIRST grade teacher?
    Pretty sure it was Mrs. Sidebottom (don’t laugh) at Rawls Byrd Elementary School.

    Where did you go on your FIRST airplane ride?
    No clue. The first one I remember was to the Middle East, but there was certainly something before that.

    Who was your FIRST best friend?
    Tie between Mark Drew and Tim Bilbo.

    Where was your FIRST sleep over?
    First I remember was a church lock-in, but that was in High School. Did i mention i have a horrid memory?

    Whose wedding were you in the FIRST time?
    My brother’s … I was Best Man.

    What was the FIRST thing you did this morning?
    Wii Fit.

    What was the FIRST concert you ever went to?
    I hope to God it wasn’t New Kids on the Block, but I am pretty sure it was. The things one does to try and impress a girl … especially one that didn’t look at me the whole night.

    What was your FIRST foreign country you’ve been to?
    Bahamas (but have no real recollection). First I remember was a summer scholarship to Jordan and Syria.

    What was your FIRST movie you remember seeing?
    Black Cauldron. Damn scary movie when you are eight.

    When was your FIRST detention?
    Never had one, but it should have been when I slugged Justin Timpane in 8th grade.

    What was the FIRST state you lived in?
    Virginia. Then Maryland. Then DC, and that’s it. I’m not much for variety.

    Who was your FIRST roommate?
    I’ve blanked on the name (Josh?) but he dropped out after a 0.0 semester, and last I heard he was working at a deli in Williamsburg.

  • photos: snowfall in mount pleasant, d.c.

    Explore the Photo Set:
    photos: snowfall, washington, dc

  • bad facebook meme week, part one: twenty-five random things

    it’s bad facebook meme week here, so i’ll be posting not one, not two, but three of the worst facebook memes i could come up with. try not to read with any sharp objects lying around.

    I started writing this about a month ago, back when “25 Random Things” was still a meme on Facebook. Unfortunately, I’m no where near as interesting as I had originally thought, so it took forever to come up with a list that wasn’t tortuously dull to read through.

    1. I refuse on principle to have any regrets … you make the best decision you can with the information you have, and move on.
    2. When I wear a watch, I wear it on my “wrong” hand because that’s how my brother (left-handed) did/does it.
    3. In 5th grade, I won an award from Optimist International.
    4. I don’t remember anything that happened before seventh grade that isn’t a picture in a photo album.
    5. The first album I ever owned was The Police’s Synchronicity.
    6. I have the world’s worst taste in music (chick rock/chick pop) and place the blame squarely on my debbie gibson/shania twain-loving brother.
    7. I’ve been hit on by so many men that I’ve stopped counting, but I knew I was very, very straight ever since the first time I kissed Christine Holt in 9th grade (felt it in my knees).
    8. I named my future kids (three of them, all girls) back in high school and believe I still have a realistic shot of using the names.
    9. My 10th grade English teacher was awesome, and I often wonder what she’s up to.
    10. I can’t think of a single funny one-liner that I have said in the last two decades that wasn’t stolen from a movie.
    11. I was two classes away from being a Theatre major, but refused to take acting 101 and 102 on principle. I was a theatrical designer — did 35 light designs at nine different theaters before I graduated — and acting was “beneath” me.
    12. I’ve studied three different languages (Spanish, Arabic, Russian) for a total of twelve semesters, but sucked at all of them.
    13. If I could do College over again, I’d study Sociology.
    14. I occasionally worry that I will never reconcile my spirituality with the mess that is organized religion.
    15. I’m quite possibly the only person in the world to be turned on by women in colonial garb.
    16. I keep a list of every book I’ve read since 1997.
    17. I have incredible hair envy whenever I see a black man with short dreads (specifically Lenny Kravitz.)
    18. Up until five years ago, I had never been farther west than central Ohio.
    19. The most regularly trafficked part of my website exhibits paintings of Mary Magdalene through art history
    20. Even though i do it for a living, I hate technology, and refuse to buy the first generations of pretty much anything.
    21. I’m permanently concerned about being awkward in social situations, which (not surprisingly) usually makes me awkward in social situations.
    22. I’d give up every skill I have in my generalist (wide, not deep) skill set to be a virtuoso at any one thing, and it doesn’t matter a lick to me what that one thing would be.
    23. When I retire, I want to be a taxi cab driver in Washington, D.C.
    24. I don’t believe that Big Bird qualifies as a Muppet, and get angry when people make that argument … even though they are right.
    25. I have never been happier in my life than I am right now, and just about all of that is my wife’s fault.

  • well, here we go — a.k.a. the lady sparkler thinks she might be pregnant

    l5885028630_8698so, the lady sparkler thinks she might be pregnant. and while those words strike terror into my heart, it’s not for the reason you think.

    the last time she thought she was pregnant, I decided it would be a good idea to draft up some blog entries, with be idea that they’d be embargoed (ie. not published) until after the 12 week don’t-tell-a-soul period has passed.

    unfortunately, as I was jotting down my thoughts, I came to realize that something was wrong with our blog which cause unpublished drafts to be, well, published.

    and so, in the first week of January, maybe 50+ people who read the blog via RSS feeds (like, through google reader) got this message:

    “tasha thinks she might be pregnant …”

    so, when T.L.S. delivered the news today, after the obvious “yay!” response one would expect from me (closely followed by “let’s wait a few days to be sure”) my next thought was “how can I make sure I don’t embarrass myself again with another premature post.”

    the answer? low tech. I’m drafting this in notepad, and won’t upload anything ’til I’m ready for them to be published. I don’t that even I could screw that up.

    as an aside, thank you to all of you who either (a) didn’t make a big deal of my obvious mistake and pulled me aside quietly, or (b) just ignored the mistake because you knew I was just being a complete idiot. bless you all.

    so, if you are reading this, I guess that means sparklet’s due date is Nov 8th, based off Feb 2nd as the start of T.L.S.’ last period.

    (btw, sparklet is the insider name for the baby — it’s all we’ve got until there is at least a gender to work with.)

    oi! i just looked at the calendar saw a vision of the future: one day in junior high health class, sparklet will count back 38 weeks from his/her birthday and pick Feb14th as the likely conception day.

    even worse, sparklet will be totally grossed out, thinking mom and dad got tanked on Valentine’s Day and couldn’t control themselves … even though it’s been well documented that the only elixer of love we had on that day was ben’s chili bowl.

    btw, remind me to delete this post before sparklet can read … okay? I probably can’t afford the therapy bills this post would cause.

  • theatre: this beautiful city @ the vineyard

    l5885028630_8698a musical about evangelical Christians … and I loved it.

    at the offer of a very good friend (who’s taste in theater I trust without question) I saw this beautiful city at NYC’s the Vineyard.

    the show is a product of two outstanding city institutions, the vineyard (who brought you avenue q) and the civilians (known for investigative, collaborative theater), the musical is an even-handed look at the conflicts and interactions between believers and non-believers in and around the evangelical hotbed of Colorado Springs.

    why this show

    the first thing that popped to mind as i settled into my seat, was “i wonder what pitch meeting could possibly have lead them to this show…”

    seriously, we are in the middle of a partisanship-amplifying recession, which means people are buying fewer tickets, which means theaters tend to push commodities that they know will put butts in seats — decidedly not (a) brand new (b) fair-minded (c) musicals about (d) evangelical Christians, especially not in (e) left-leaning NYC.

    but, thank God they did (pun not-necessarily intended) because what came out of said pitch meeting is exactly what we as a civil society need to be seeing in times like these.

    production notes

    the foundation of a Civilians production is the way it is put together … the company sends the actors and production staff/directors out to a location, and they interview hundreds of people, on all sides of an issue.

    in this case, each word and every character in the show is a direct result of interviews with the people of Colorado Springs, which gives the production a view point and a legitimacy that just wouldn’t be possible otherwise.

    through the first act, the plot is based largely around the interviews themselves, with the characters explaining to unseen questioners what the migration of evangelicals to the small mountain town was like for all involved.

    everything you’d expect is here, from Christians seeking a homeland, to locals looking to retain the identity of their town, to outrage (on both sides) about lack of tolerance of from outside their parts of the community.

    the haggert controversy

    these real issues gave the company quite a plot to work with throughout, but the show got a heaping dose of drama when the head of Colorado Springs’ largest mega church (Ted Haggert of New Life Church) got himself embroiled in a sex and drugs scandal during the course of the interviews.

    such a dramatic change in the story arch could have over-amped the production, but it actually gave the second act a new prism through which to see the more general debate highlighted by the migration stories.

    even more surprisingly, the controversy added a level of depth and nuance to the evangelical characters (as the community affected) that could have been lost otherwise (as the people who tried to shift the balance of the city through migration).

    tolerance through exposure

    in the end, all the characters are real people with real issues. it’s often said that exposure (over the long term) breeds understanding, and the exposure I had from this beautiful city gave me a window into a world that is all too easily dismissed by hippie-progs on the right coast.

    maybe the most stunning experience for me in this vein was the song “take me there,” which is a spot on show of an evangelical youth service, in all its swirling-lighted, acoustic-guitar-playing, headset-microphone-yielding, rock-concert glory … I almost walked out born again myself.

    but, the more poignant exposure came from the characters relating their experiences, including one conversion experience that was a direct result of a drug-fueled lifestyle brought upon by a dysfunctional family. it’s easy to disregard someone’s politics, but harder to disregard their stories.

    I will forever remain intolerant of intolerance, but knowing some of the back stories involved makes it easier to embrace the person … a lesson that is core to this very production.

  • travel: new york, new york

    the jonas brothers, a musical about evangelical Christians, and an inter-city bus trip … oh, where to begin?

    well, work sent me up to new york city for a mobile marketing conference and, while i was only a day-long seminar, i had to go up the day before because the sessions started so early.

    needless-to-say, i don’t do 4 1/2 hour trips before arriving at 8am … so, i decided to get up there Wednesday, take the afternoon off to take in some somethings, and be fresh and ready for the next day.

    getting there

    now, funding is a little tight at the office … so i decided to be creative and take one of those fancy-pants DC/NYC buses i keep hearing about. you can only book online (which limits the demographic), there are electrical outlets at every seat, and most lines offer free wi-fi as well.

    i took the bolt bus (so can’t speak for the rest) but the whole experience was actually exactly as advertised. the bus was full, but not uncomfortable, filled with young urban metro-sexuals bouncing between the cities. i was easily the oldest (and least cool) person on the bus.

    and it cost $18. i can totally handle ignoring the “cool-lier than thou” crowd for an $18 ride to nyc.

    dead people who took pictures

    once i got settled into the hotel (on 44th, near times square) i realized that i was about three blocks away from the international center of photography which is *the* only museum i try to visit each time i’m in the city.

    the museum had a suite of exhibitions around fashion photography, including an entire floor dedicated to the work of 1920s and 30s Vanity Fair photo Edward Steichen, including many of his photos of America’s first star model (and a personal favorite) Marion Morehouse.

    there was also a small wing that featured some of Louisiana-native (and a personal favorite) Clarence John Laughlin, whose black and white work depicting the American south is stunning.

    so, that’s two bites at the “lucky” apple (three, if you count the museum being so close to my hotel) … it was a pretty good afternoon.

    my name is jonas

    after fawning all-over Ms. Morehouse and Mr. Laughlin, i headed towards union square to meet up with a great friend of mine for dinner, a musical about evangelical Christians, and drinks to follow.

    the show (this beautiful city) is worth its own blog post, but in between dinner and the show i had to kill an hour while i waited for the house to open. that’s when the Disney magic happened.

    i wandered out of the theater (the vineyard, on 15th) and around union square when i passed by the Virgin Megastore. there was a line out the door and around the block, which is a little odd for a Wednesday.

    i looked through the window and thought i saw three shaggy-haired, Jonas-brother looking kids. and then i looked at the line of twenty something girls. and then Jonasus. and the line, which (again) lacked anybody under the age 21. and then the Jonasi. and then a guy squirming in line who looked like a bouncer at an irish bar. and one squirrelly guy who looked like bobcat goldthwait from Scrooged.

    and then i was confused. these people were way too old to like the (disney channel product) jonas brothers. there were no elementary school kids. there were no 40-somethings who got dragged along by their children.

    they were all normal, even though there was probably more visual diversity in salt lake city than in that particular line …

    An hour later (as I was walking back from the strand, NYC’s best bookstore) everyone was gone and three NFL linebackers were blocking the entrance, but they were “kind” enough to leave the doors open to share their brand of saccharine-rock with the rest of the rest of the city.

    to be continued…

    seriously, though … this is turning into the world’s longest post, and I don’t want the musical about evangelical Christian to get short shrift.

    theater: this beautiful life @ the vineyard

  • valentine’s day @ ben’s chili bowl

    it’s valentines day, which means another celebration of our love by dining at … ben’s chili bowl.

    nothing sounds more romantic than chili, mustard and onions, but it turns out that the first thing the lady sparkler and i ever did together (outside of work) was go to ben’s for a half smoke.

    bridesmaid Mel was there too, and we went on (what we thought) was a random weekend back in February 2004. now, we actually weren’t dating them (that didn’t happen for another three months) and it was shear coincidence that we picked February 14th, but we’ve now it’s become a tradition …

    we’ve made it to ben’s four out of the last six Valentine’s Days. only missing 2005 because we didn’t realize the significance, and 2007 because the lady sparkler was stuck in Saudi Arabia.

    love blooms in the heart of D.C.

  • preview: scotland

    trip
    i don’t even know where to begin …

    ever since we got back from our honeymoon, the lady sparkler has been planning her next trip. then australia fell into our laps, and (once she got back) she began planning her next trip.

    to be fair, she was actually more monitoring the currency markets than planning, per say. screw civil liberties, what really got my beloved’s blood boiling was when bush pushed the dollar sink into the commode.

    so, when the bottom fell out of the european currencies last summer, the joy on her face was palpable. london. paris. wherever.

    now, conveniently, my parents have always wanted to go to scotland (my grandmother was a clan donald lass) and with their 45th anniversary coming up this year and the exchange rate going our way for once, it’s was looking like this could be the year.

    never one to pass up a chance to leverage synergies, the lady sparkler suggested that the two should become one. (never argue with a wife who *wants* to travel with her in-laws…)

    and so it will be, the last week of this coming April.

    we’ll start out with a couple days in Edinburgh (The Castle, Holyrood Park) before renting a car — more wrong side of the road driving! — and heading into the hills. we’ll do a driving tour of Glen Coe (where the noble Donalds were massacred by the dastardly Campbells while they slept).

    we’ll take a drive west passing by Loch Ness (Expedition Center, Urquhart Castle) which has fascinated my father and I ever since our first trip to Busch Gardens Europe. finally, we’ll swing through the Isle of Sky — including Armadale Castle, the ancestral home of Clan Donald — before heading back in London for the trip home.

    now, London is where things get interesting. we have just about 48 hours to do the whole city, including St Paul’s Cathedral, Tower of London, London Bridge, Kensington Palace, Hyde Park, Buckingham Gates, the Sherlock Holmes Museum and Parliment. and a partridge in a Pear tree.

    oh, and I want to see White Hart Lane (home of Tottenham Hotspur) before the 100+ year old stadium gets torn down next year, and replaced by a 60,000-seat monstrosity.

    so, my mother gets the isle of sky, my father gets loch ness, i get london, and my beloved gets … Paris?

    as if the british isles weren’t enough, my beloved and I “gave each other” two days in Paris for Christmas this past year (and then gave it to ourselves again for Valentine’s Day once we realized how much it cost).

    so, besides the *VERY* palpable guilt of traveling in such horrid economic climates, life is feeling pretty good.

  • dear mr. alex rodriguez, sir …

    arodpursei have to confess, that up until this moment, i’ve hated you. i’ve hated you as long as i can remember. heck, before i knew you … i hated the idea of you.

    a bloated contract from the yankees that signifies everything wrong with modern baseball. a personality uniquely unsuited to (and unappreciative of) the public spotlight. a track record of behavior on (and off) the feild that is awkward at best, or painfully embarrassing at worst.

    but, with this week’s revelations about your steroids use you have a chance to turn a new leaf, and the respect of an entire nation of baseball fans.

    in short, it’s up to you to save baseball.

    baseball needs *you* to come out of this latest round of steroid rumors better than you went in. the public can’t handle ten years of continual reminders of the steroids era as you bat your way towards the top of the home run list.

    we need you to hit this one out of the park for us. the key? a good, thoughtful, honest response from you.

    first off, let’s see what you don’t do … let’s look at how everyone else took their turn at the steroids plate. barry bonds lied (that didn’t work out so well). roger clemens denied (and is still digging his grave). mark mcgwire refused to talk (good luck with your next 10 years in new york if you choose that path). rafael palmeiro’s “i didn’t know what i was being injected with” defense has proven to be less then effective as well.

    so, let’s try something different … like, being honest.

    yes, you used steroids, but it was only one season (right?) way back in 2003. since then, you’ve been the most tested athlete on the planet, so people will be reasonably receptive to the notion that you aren’t still using.

    so, let’s get a head of this thing and say:

    • i did it. i was stupid. i used in 2003, but realized that using is a betrayal of the game and an offense to my fans. i saw all the big boys using around the league, and gave into the excuse that i needed to keep up … i have wanted to be the best for as long as i remember, but steroids just aren’t the way to do it.
    • with a steroid test on my record, i know that i have a lot to prove to get into the hall of fame, but i am committed to working everyday for the next ten years to earn my way back in.
    • i believe that my record can stand without the 2003 season, which is why i am voluntarily returning back to the league the (now tainted) awards i got that season, including the MVP trophy, and the award for being the best hitter in baseball. those awards are not a reflection on who i am, so i don’t want them a part of my resume, or sitting on my mantle.
    • yes, the tests that “outed” me were supposed to be confidential, and yes i am the only one out of the 104 who has been identified, but there is absolutely no reason to breach that confidentiality by releasing the rest of the names. two wrongs do not make a right, and i will take this round on my shoulders.

    • players and owners need to rededicate themselves to testing. our fans are rightly skeptical each time they hear another steroid denial, and we need to test early and often, to prove everyday that we deserve their respect.

    i know that’s a lot to say, but you have the chance to quite literally shift the landscape of baseball with just one press conference.

    please, mr. rodriguez … as the biggest figure in baseball, and the idol of everybody this side of boston, so you are uniquely positioned to save baseball from the steroids era.

    and, who knows, if you do this right … you may just earn your way back into the hall of fame at the same time.

    sincerely,
    baseball nation

  • photos: national arboretum, washington, dc

    [Photo]
    ECPA20090208_7740, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    Explore the Photo Set:
    National Arboretum, Washington, DC

  • more signs my wife could well be a boy …

    i don’t know exactly what happened, but in the space of about 45 minutes, the lady sparkler became a guitar hero aficionado.

    and i’m pretty sure it’s fostermom adventure’s fault.

    our beloved M.O.H. (maid of honor) was in town this weekend, and apparently has a bit of a guitar hero addiction. (the last time she was here, she was reportedly up into the wee hours of the morning playing…)

    so we broke out the game for a fun, family activity … when all of a sudden, sparkler stopped sucking.

    literally, up until this very second, my beloved was content to play one song (hit me with your best shot) and do her little butt-waggle in front of the telly, ignoring her single digit scores, and then pronouncing she was “done” with our silly little game.

    now, she greats me in the morning with statement’s like “can we play guitar hero tonight?”

    what happened? seriously, no clue. one minute she sucked, the next she is breathing down my neck, looking for signs of weakness.

    damn, i’m a lucky man. i think.

  • dma 2009: revolution or evolution

    Presentation today with the fine people at Planit, an agency out of Baltimore. All my slides are mixed into the main presentation, but they are the case studies around registration form testing, landing page to donation form conversion, social media (flickr, facebook widgets) and lifecycle emails.

  • the darker side of the inauguration

    we had a lot of time to think about the inauguration on our way out of the mall … it took us over an hour to go two blocks, and then another couple to get back to civilization (or lunch, at least).

    ironically, the thing that stuck with me — more than the speech, the people, the hope — was the complete lack of respect the people on the mall had for the President until around 12:03 pm.

    living in my own little world, I’d never really thought it through … sure, he had bad approval numbers, sure my hippie-prog friends had little respect for his policies on, well, anything.

    but he was still President, right? i have always firmly believe that you have to respect the office, even if you believe the occupant doesn’t respect the office himself.

    there is a basic level of civility that is needed to maintain ourselves as a nation, and violating that civility doesn’t no good in our efforts to establish a new tone of mutual respect in the nation’s Capitol.

    now, don’t get me wrong … i didn’t hear anything that wasn’t shouted at Clinton eight years ago, but that’s not the point.

    it’s very difficult to take the high road on an inclusive society, when we are exclusive ourselves. in the same way, we can’t fight intolerance with intolerance, regardless of how intolerant we feel the last eight years have been.

    i already have conservative friends predicting assassinations, preaching the apocalypse, and plotting out their future lives in foreign countries — which is ironic because the best place for conservatives right now is probably France.

    by being intolerant ourselves, we not only excuse this type of behavior, we encourage it. now, i’m about as opposed to neo-cons as anyone, but even I was able to give Bush the benefit of the doubt for his first two years in office.

    if we really are going to bring change in Washington, it can’t just trickle down from the top. this started as a grassroots movement, and that’s the only way real change is going to succeed.

  • ben affleck likes having his picture taken, and other life lessons

    we scored some tickets to the “google ball” through the lady sparkler’s work — she actually asked *whether* i wanted to go (crazy lady!).

    it wasn’t a ball as such (no obamas, so no dead swan dress) but was instead billing itself as a sort of pre-/post-ball party for the other (more official) balls.

    the space was gorgeous. big enough to be spectacular, but small enough to be (surprisingly) intimate. and, to be fair, i didn’t even know the space existed (it’s in the old IRS building at the corner of 15th and Constitution).

    we heard rumors that fancy-pants people would be there, but assumed they would be all roped off in some back room. it was great enough to have an excuse to dress up, but … i mean, JOHN PODESTA was there. and *WOLF BLITZER*!!!

    anyway, the conversations were progressing along nicely, when the lady sparkler suggested our little group take a lap around the place. in a back room, the lady sparkler spotted ben affleck, and then it was all over …

    i felt safe in my relationship, because i knew that she was only talking to him to get matt damon’s phone number … but it turned out that she wanted a picture, too.

    she negotiated her way up to him, and tugged on his shoulder. i have no idea who he was talking to (someone later told me it was his brother Casey) but he barely broke (conversation) stride as he turned around, looked dashing for the picture, and went back about his business … not at all disturbed to be accosted by my wife.

    john cusack, on the other hand, turned out to be a bit of an #$%. my beloved slid in for the kill, and he started negotiating with her about whether he would take the picture or not … i finally just took it, and think the expression is, well, perfect.

    we actually ran into good friends shortly afterwards who gave us their tickets to a real, official ball (dead swann dress included). we headed over not too much later, but it turns out that the obama’s were gone even before we had the tickets in our hands.

    still, one heck of an evening … especially riding home on the metro in our prom attire, with not a single raised eyebrow.

    damn, i love DC.

  • live: the obama inauguration

    [Photo]
    ECPA20090120_1727, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

    again, i tried to live blog, but there was little chance with the telecom issues down on the mall. we’ve got an inaugural ball tonight (not one that he’s going to) so more thoughts later. here we go:

    5:12 am we’re up: go, go, go, go!
    5:35 am people are so … happy. I am sleep deprived, but “people” are awake, sunny and happy.
    5:44 am green line, Columbia heights station to l’ephant. trains are crowded, but not slammed.
    6:15 am tons of people backed up getting out of l’efant. saw man with “bush is a punk assed chump” bumper sticker on his back. nice.
    6:22 am in silver ticket screening line. line “starts” at third and independance. we’re on independance, a little before sixth.
    6:43 am 20 ft closer.
    7:10 am another surge. now we are *halfway* to fifth.
    7:24 am cops need to chill with the sirens. we’ve heard it before. hundreds of times. all this morning.
    7:32 am saw James carville, walking *away* from the Capitol. he did NOT look amused.
    7:41 am it’s getting markedly colder… just dipped below 20 degrees.
    8:12 am through the gates! onto the mall! storm the reflecting pool!
    8:33 am so, we went up to the front section, but all the spotsleft were obstructed views. picked a spot a little farther back, but with good view of the Capitol/jumbotron.
    9:12 am people have started singing (good) but first up is “if I had a hammer” … (bad)
    9:18 am “this little light of mine…”
    9:35 am “American Pie…” dear god.
    9:48 am people are booing Gingrich. we’re with a nasty, petty bunch.
    10:08 am Muhammad Ali just walked in … “Ali! Ali! Ali!”
    10:24 am john cusack? john cusack!
    10:41 am biggest ovation so far for ted Kennedy, tho ho-ho dean wasn’t too far behind.
    10:48 am huge jeers for liberman (youch!, but a great, warm reception for colin Powell. I guess the US took his side in that whole Bush/Powell divorce thing.
    10:51 am hova! hova! encore, do you want more …
    10:59 am well michelle’s dress makes up for that election night shag rug disaster.
    11:01 am bush is smiling so much he looks vaguely unbalanced.
    11:12 am bush one ain’t looking too good. didn’t realize he was hobbling so much. he needs to get health tips from jimbo carter, who looks like he could build a house, today, single-handedly.
    11:15 am can’t wait to see how hilary is announced. mrs. clinton? secstate elect? oh right, senator… (oops!)
    11:20 am catcalls for the bush twins. easy boys, this one’s taken!
    11:29 am try as I may, I can never get my hair to look like Lynn Chaney’s.
    11:35 am dick Chaney looks even meaner in a wheelchair. looks like old man potter from “it’s a wonderful life”
    11:42 am di-fi not looking so good, either. she’s hobbling more than bush one.
    11:52 am ick. not enchanted by that convocation. gene Robinson’s at the concert was 10 times better, and way more appropriate. too Jesus-ified doran official state event.
    11:55 am sing it areatha! first time Obama has smiled was at the end there.
    12:00 pm that whole “you may now be seated” thing is getting old for the odd million or so of us stuck back here in the fields.
    12:02 pm damn, yoyo and yitzak’s fingers look *cold*.
    12:07 pm I think I like Obama *more* for flubbing the oath.
    12:28 pm  great speech. hit all the right notes. little bummed his first words were “I’m humbled by the task ahead” as opposed to being humbled by the moment, his surroundings, the warm reception, his colleagues, etc. more thoughts later.
    12:34 pm it’s begun to snow 🙂
    12:43 pm me and my two million closest friends have decided to leave, starting riiiight about … now.
    1:14 pm we made it one whole block!
    1:28 pm there is something creepy/apocalyptic about “evacuating” the mall through an interstate highway tunnel. don’t get me wrong, it was a brilliant idea … but still creepy.
    2:18 pm well, we walked up the 395 tunnel (goes under the mall, following what would be third street) up to N street, and across to Scott Circle … where I just ordered a beer and a hamburger. god bless America.
    Explore the Photo Set:
    The Obama Inauguration, Washinton, DC

  • inauguration tickets

    n5409143_32670501_3448i’ve got a nice pair of inauguration tickets in my hand, courtesy of the immortal jojo, who will *easily* go down as the very best middle sister in the history of the sparkler family.

    we headed over to Capitol Hill today, a little after lunch, to pick up said tickets from jojo’s member (who is super cool himself, and someone i worked with a lot back in the days of comrade bernie sanders).

    we got there a little after 2pm, thinking it would be an easy in-and-out before they shut down around three … but instead, we walked straight into the fourth circle of hell.

    the metro platform was backed up, with an easy hundred people waiting to just get *out* of the turnstiles.

    it only got worse when we got topside.

    there are probably three entrances to each of the three house buildings, so a total of nine different paths to get to your tickets. when we arrived, each of the lines had hundreds (if not thousands) already lined up.

    i was surprised, but then i started doing the math … 435 members of the house (times) two-hundred tickets per member (equals) approximately 87,000 tickets.

    factor in that (a) everybody had to be present to pick up the tickets, (b) they only allowed one day to pick up the tickets, and (c) there was only six hours in which to distribute them …

    a little more math reveals that the powers that be thought *each* door/security queue/metal detector could move just about 2,000 people *every* hour.

    i’m sad to say they were wildly, and stoopidly optimistic.

    now, there is a happy ending … because we lucked out. i worked in said house office building for four years and i knew it had a back door … and thought to check to see if there was a line there.

    we also lucked out, because the throngs were so bad at the front (it went up and down the length of the building twice) that they decided to open the back door (where we were looking) at the exact moment we arrived.

    we were (maybe) fifty or sixty people back from the door when it opened.

    after that, it was all gravy.

    we just had to find our room, the lady sparkler had to pretend she was her sister (we had an old passport for ID that it turned out we didn’t have to use) and i had to smile, nod, and say “duude” a lot (trying to pass myself off as a left coaster).

    it wasn’t until we walked out the front that we realized how incredibly fortunate we were. there was an easy two thousand people waiting to get in just that *one* entrance.

    i would love to know how late those offices had to stay open tonight. my guess was that there was a line well past dark.

    first the bus yesterday, now the tickets today. let’s see if the luck holds through tomorrow …

  • live: obama inaugural concert

    [Photo]
    Obama Inaugural Conc, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

    Live blogging the Inaugural Concert on the mall today. Actually, not live blogging — because AT&T can’t maintain a #$%& signal on the mall — but kept blogging into my iPhone and uploaded it after the fact. Here you go:

    11:01 am on the 42 to the inaug concert on the mall. there is standing room only two stops in.
    11:42 am made it through security. no where near as nuts as I thought. no bags … except purses, shoulder bags, backpacks, bodybags …. *sigh.*
    12:10 pm lots of jumbotrons. early tweeters said there was only one. were they trying to drive down attendance?
    12:18 pm pre-flight entertainment has started. wonder if they will use the same 20 songs from the manassas rally.
    12:35 pm why does my blanket always end up as a prime cut through for people wandering the venue?
    12:38 pm elmo leading a chant of “we are one.” sweet Jesus, take me now.
    12:53 pm it’s nuts down here on the mall. two hours ’til showtime, and the place is packed.
    1:10 pm amy Hawthorne!
    1:25 pm The Lady Sparkler flipping out that people are stepping on her blanket. gonna be a long hour-twenty.
    1:52 pm Yup. same soundtrack.
    2:10 pm just noticed snipers on top of the Lincoln. btwn that and the low planes coming in to national, I’ve become temporarily distracted by mundane safetly concerns.
    2:20 pm convocation.
    2:31 pm nice reception for the first couples.
    2:36 pm denzel actually got more screams than Obama did in our little section. ear drums bleeding from pre-teens behind.
    2:44 pm Bruce Springsteen and a 100 person gospel choir. Sparkler’s happy. I think we can leave now. Oh, wait. Not until U2.
    2:49 pm mlk3 just mentioned the peace corps and half the crowd holla’d. think there are hippies around?
    2:52 pm jamie foxx doing an Obama impression is creapy good.
    2:56 pm clapping with gloves on makes people sound stupid.
    3:00 pm some just screamed “run forest run” when tom hanks took the stage.
    3:06 pm is it too much to ask for ATT to keep a functioning network for 2m people in then mall?!?
    3:11 pm I’m in such a good mood today, that I don’t even hate James Taylor … well, not *as* much.
    3:19 pm at the climax of mellencamp’s “pink houses” we had a dramatic fly-over by a perfect formation of 20 very confused looking Canadian geese.
    3:22 pm wow, the Daughters of the American Revolution just got thrown under the bus for denying African American singer Marian Anderson the right to perform at Constitution hall … in 1939. ouch.
    3:25 pm someone just asked if josh groban was an American idol winner. ouch.
    3:28 pm Is that the guy from “Harold and Kumar escape from Guantanamo bay”? what do you have to do to not deserve to appear at this thing?
    3:32 pm tiger woods? hmm.
    3:41 pm Garth Brooks singing American pie? this is the atlanta-olympics-memorial-36-white-pickups-stuffed-with-cheerleaders moment of the afternoon.
    3:43 pm nope. garth brooks just medley-ed into “shout.” *this* is the stuffed-with-cheerleaders moment. I guess “pie” was just the white-pickups part.
    3:47 pm celebrity #239 and #240 just spoke. can you imagine how big the greenroom must be?
    4:01 pm not one, but TWO songs by U2? Sparkler has left her mind. I repeat. Sparkler has left her mind.
    4:07 pm how do you follow that? two tethered eagles? ick.
    4:10 pm or, maybe, Obama?
    4:18 pm great speach. well written. made up for the awkward eagles thing.
    4:24 pm sing-a-long. I get the feeling I am in kindergarten, and beyonce is my teacher (WOHOO!)
    4:35 pm walking out.
    4:38 pm there is a boy on a leash rolling around on the ground like a dog. interesting lesson in socialized behavior.
    4:46 pm no way we are getting on public transportation. no way.
    5:10 pm wow! made it on a bus. a metro manager stopped a south bound S2 and turned it around in the middle of L street. it has these fuzzy seats, as if it were a charter. strange.
    5:16 pm Being interviewed by the Washington post. can’t wait to see how that story pans out. (pdf)
    5:21 pm final thought: if this many people showed for the concert, the inauguration is going to crazy. CRAZY!

  • west side story @ the national theatre

    l24159207410_3395west side story is a bit of a sacred cow for me, having seen it performed (quite literally) over a hundred times in at least half a dozen different venues.

    but, someone is giving it a go and sending it back to broadway. it’s hard to revive a classic … each of us has waaay to many preconceived notions about how the production should go.

    as with the original staging 40+ years ago, the out of town previews are here at the national threatre before the show heads to broadway in the spring.

    first the good things:

    they obviously cast the show based on the singing and the dancing, and both were top shelf through out. the orchestra was great, the sets and lights were good enough to move the story along but not so much to upstage the story.

    did I mention the music and dancing were superb? the dance hall scene was perfection on a stick. (everything good is even better on a stick.)

    but best of all, they didn’t screw with the show. the play wasnt set somewhere crazy like last year’s super bowl (the jets weren’t the giants, the sharks weren’t the patriots, and Eli manning wasn’t tom Brady’s star crossed lover.)

    they also had an interesting language twist, in that much of the puerto ricans dialogue was spoken in Spanish and (more importantly) many of their songs were rewritten for the mother tongue as well, including show tune standard “Sesiento Hermosa” (“I Feel Pretty”).

    fwiw, the linguistic face lift largely worked, boosting the show’s authenticity. i was skeptical, and i will say it felt forced in spots — mostly when there were too many Spanish words to smush into the English-paced music — but that could just be because I am white … and know every last syllable of the original production.

    now time for the bad stuff:

    they cast the show for singers and dancers. which means that precious few (past the very solid principles) could act their way out of a wet paper bag. there was at least one kid on the jets who i am sure started acting last Tuesday.

    To make matters worse, there were a few scattered portions of the production that seemed to have no direction at all, which is disturbing considering it was directed by Arthur Laurents who crafted the original book.

    two examples: the ode to officer krupke was basically sung at the audience, almost in a concert staging. there was none of the great repartee that i came to expect from the last 100+ productions.

    then, in the quartet scene, anita sang her part (usually done in a négligée from her boudoir) from a highway overpass instead. she was still acting like she was in her bedroom, but the skimpy costume on an overpass shifts the meaning of “anita’s going to get her kicks tonight” to someplace I wasn’t prepared to go.

    anyway, there were definitely a couple of places where i was biting my lip, but overall it was a solid production. maybe not a Broadway production (more on that later) but certainly a respectable regional production.

    unfortunately, the two 40-something suburban house cows sitting behind us probably wouldn’t agree with such a rosy assessment … which was fine until they laughed their way through the whole death scene.

    and by laughed, I mean cackled.

    the started roaring with laughter when tony got shot. when maria was halfway through her soliloquy — the hardest scene in musical theater if you ask me — they were still kvetching. towards the end, I had finally had enough …

    s.h.c. #1: “get your stuff ready. we’re going as soon as he kicks it for good.”

    s.h.c. #2: “it can’t possible come fast enough!” more cackling.

    me: turning around. “could you just leave now? leave. please.”

    tony “kicks it” as it were. the cows get up to leave…

    s.h.c. #1: to me … “next time, pick on someone your own size, you @$&#%.”

    (oddly enough, she was my size, and then some.)

    anyway, it was that kind of a night… which that makes me a *little* nervous about the show’s chances on broadway.

    I know out of town previews are always dicey — and things will tighten up — but I’m worried about whether the show can make it with the type of cynical, over-stimulated audiences my house cow friends represent to me.

    the staging wasn’t elaborate or expensive, and the show couldn’t have taken that anyway. there isn’t a big gimmick or hook. the book hasn’t been rewritten to tell the hidden story of chino’s childhood abuse by maria’s illegitimate father. enrique iglesias isn’t playing bernardo, and there is certainly no heart-wrenching robin Williams cameo as the lovable, but befuddled “doc.”

    personally, these are all pluses in my book, but it’s not exactly following the new prototype of how to succeed in this brave new world of the great white way.

    well, we shall see. for the show’s sake, i hope the cows won’t come home to roost.

  • anarchy and chaos in mount pleasant

    img_1696_smanarchy and chaos has broken out in our quiet little corner of mount pleasant.

    our building is replacing each of our 35 year-old (single-paned, leaks like a sieve) windows, and workers are up and moving (and banging, and crow-barring) at 6:45 each morning.

    as if that wasn’t enough excitement, D.C. has decided to rebuild Park Road between us and Columbia Heights as part of a streetscape project. We’ve got new storm drains going in, new (shiny!) marble curbs, and sidewalks are being widened for better pedestrian flow.

    of course, that’s another cacophony of sound each morning (7:00ish) as the jack-hammers, earth movers and angry commuters all battle for auditory supremacy.

    obviously, the lady sparkler and i are adult enough to see the benefits coming after the passing trauma, but the big loser in all this is Emily the Cat.

    the poor thing thinks she has been shipped off to a war zone.

    we took her to the vet today, and no kitty prozac for now … but she has a follow up appointment this weekend, so she may still get the good stuff if keeps at it.

  • found photo: mount pleasant, dc

    [Mount Pleasant, Washington, DC.]
    IMG_0449, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

  • knitting and snowing

    100_0074two signs of the coming apocalypse: it’s snowing at the beach, and i’ve learned how to knit.

    the weather down this way has been crazy. in the last month, we’ve had just as many days above 60 as we had below freezing. it’s rained, it’s typhooned, it’s snowed, it’s blizzard-ed.

    i wouldn’t be surprised to see dennis quaid snowshoe by, murmuring about having to save Jake Gyllenhaal (tho, to be frank, i would toss Jake back and focus my attention on saving Emmy Rossum).

    i digress.

    the lady sparkler and i are spending the long weekend on the coast of Delaware with Lighting Chick Knits, whose sister happens to have a house out here with a spectacular view of the sound (pictures of the view on facebook).

    much as her blog would suggest, Lighting Chick Knits, well, knits. and, being the Renaissance man that i am, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to add another tick to my “wide, not deep” resume of skills, probably best symbolized by my musical skills (guitar, bass, piano, violin, and harmonica) or my interest in foreign languages (russian, arabic, spanish) — all of which i can “do,” just none particularly well.

    and so it is with knitting … i am neither exceptionally good or exceptionally bad. knitting fits nicely into my need for immediate gratification, but my skills are no where near the point they’d need to overcome my internal demand for perfection.

    we’ll see. so far, i’ve made it through 20 rows of a scarf, which is just enough to make smallishly-sized bookmark … which seems like a just reward for annihilating the last remaining shred of my masculinity.

  • happy new year

    wishing you a joyous season of love and peace

    so, it’s officially January now, and the lady sparker and i have yet to send out our (mostly) annual holiday card.

    it’s funny. thanksgiving snuck up on us this year, as did christmas and now new year’s. i guess it’s only fitting that sending out the card snuck up on us as well.

    so, it’s going out this weekend, but just in case yours gets caught up in some super aggressive spam filter, you can view the card online right now.

    as for timing, we’ll do better next year … i *promise.*

  • found photo: National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

    [National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.]
    IMG_0428, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

  • Photos: Christmas in Williamsburg, Virginia

    [Photo]
    IMG_7528, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    Explore the Photo Set:
    Christmas in Williamsburg, Virginia

  • Photos: Christmas in Washington, DC

    [Photo]
    ECPA20081221_7242, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    Explore the Photo Set:
    Photos: Christmas in Washington, DC

  • found photo: Union Station, Washington, DC

    [Union Station, Washington, DC.]
    IMG_0392, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

  • aimee mann’s christmas show @ the birchmere

    funny show, bad pictures, no set list 🙁

  • a (mostly) friendly Christmas competition

    working in online fundraising, the fact that the end of the year is coinciding with the complete and utter collapse of our economy is casting a bit of a pall on what would otherwise be a festive time of the year.

    this minor set back (alone) could have be taken in stride … but, when our philanthropy department neighboors started getting all up in our grill about how they were going to out “festive” us for the holidays, it was game on.

    i mean, we can handle trying to compensate for the decline of western civilization, but to be called out for decorating supremacy was just a bridge to far.

    we responded to this tyranny with resolve. we raided our collective attics, mobilizing all sorts of lights, ornaments, bows and garlands towards the decorating war effort (photos of the mobilization above).

    but, in the end, it was over before it really even began … and philanthropy surrendered before we had the chance to get much past the “shock and awe” stage:

    ok ok, you guys win this one. you really went above and beyond. I apologize for the trash talk and concede the title to you guys.

    i’m a tiny bit sad they caved so quickly, because we had one more salvo of decorations we could have deployed had we needed the reserves to secure our merriment objectives.

    i love the smell of trash talk in the morning.

  • found photo: alexandria christmas parade

    [Alexandria Christmas Parade, Alexandria, Virginia.]
    IMG_0359, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

  • the most wonderful time of the year

    ar119721134727536well, the season has officially begun … the season of Christmas programming.

    we actually kicked it off over thanksgiving when special host jojo-pumpkin helped the lady sparkler and i toss out the ceremonial first “charlie brown christmas.”

    we go into each year with a list of 60+ movies, cartoons and holiday specials to watch, and we are usually pretty happy if we make it through a third of them. this year sorta snuck up on us, so i’m thinking i’ll be happy if we get through even a quarter.

    anyone up for a little, healthy christmas special-watching competition?

    tv specials

    A Charlie Brown Christmas
    A Chipmunk Christmas
    A Special Sesame Street Christmas
    Emmett Otter’s Jug Band Christmas
    Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends (“Christmas Special”)
    Frosty Returns
    Frosty the Snowman
    Frosty’s Winter Wonderland
    A Garfield Christmas Special
    Grandma Got Runover By a Reindeer
    Holidaze: The Christmas That Almost Didn’t Happen
    How the Grinch Stole Christmas
    It’s Christmas Time Again, Charlie Brown
    John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together
    Little Drummer Boy
    M*A*S*H (“Death Takes a Holiday”)
    Mickey’s Christmas Carol
    Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey
    Olive, the Other Reindeer
    Pee-wee’s Playhouse (“Christmas Special”)
    Pinocchio’s Christmas
    Robbie the Reindeer
    Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
    Rudolph’s Shiny New Year
    Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town
    The Story of the First Christmas Snow
    Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (“The Christmas Show”)
    ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas
    The Life And Adventures Of Santa Claus
    The West Wing (“In Excelsis Deo”)
    The West Wing (“Noël”)
    The West Wing (“Holy Night”)
    Winnie the Pooh, and Christmas Too!
    The Year Without a Santa Claus

    movies

    About a Boy
    Bad Santa
    A Christmas Carol
    A Christmas Story
    Christmas in Connecticut
    Christmas Vacation (National Lampoon’s)
    Christmas with the Kranks
    Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
    Die Hard
    Die Hard 2: Die Harder
    Elf
    Ernest Saves Christmas
    Harry Potter and the Sorcerer Stone
    Holiday Inn
    Home Alone
    It’s a Wonderful Life
    Love Actually
    Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
    Miracle on 34th Street (1994)
    The Muppet Christmas Carol
    The Nightmare Before Christmas
    The Polar Express
    Prancer
    The Ref
    Santa Claus Conquers the Martians
    The Santa Clause
    The Santa Clause 2
    Santa vs. Snowman
    Saturday Night Live Christmas
    Scrooge
    Scrooged
    Serendipty
    Trapped in Paradise
    White Christmas

     

  • lost license: airport security without an ID


    airport security, originally uploaded by d5o3

    so, a funny thing happened on the way to the airport …

    we had a rental car for the first half of thanksgiving week, so that we could drive down to eugene, and so that i could spend a day hiking around central oregon.

    unfortunately, at one of those trailheads, i stuffed my wallet in the glove compartment … and then never bothered to pull it back out again. and then i returned the car. and then Enterprise re-rented the car.

    obviously, much madness ensued — calls with Enterprise, arrangements with the sparklers-in-law to forward a photocopy of my passport, and discussions with TSA and United.

    long story short: i got to go through security at the airport without a government-issued ID.

    we weren’t able to get much out of TSA or United before we got to the airport, but pretty much everybody said to get there early. our flight was at 7:45 am, so we got to the airport when it opened at 5:30.

    the aforementioned photocopy of my passport was more than enough to convince United to give me a boarding pass … though, in retrospect, I could have side-stepped their ID check completely had i thought to check-in online.

    the TSA-manned security checkpoint weren’t quite so ready to accept copied documents that (admittedly) had no security value what-so-ever.

    after meekly presenting by situation to the ID checker, i was waived out of line (expected), but the lady sparkler was sent on without me (not so much).

    now, i would have thought that TSA would want to use her (or at least her ID) as some sort of corroborating identification, but they were just as uninterested in her as they were in the photocopies i had of my passport, social security card and birth certificate.

    i was let off to a secure, undisclosed location.

    now, when i get nervous, i get chatty … so i started talking up the nice young lady who was escorting me. turns out, people try and fly all the time without identification … and most don’t even have a good excuse.

    she guessed that she sees 15 or so people try and go through security each day without an ID, and only one or two of them have had their identification lost or stolen. most just left it at home, and didn’t have the time or inclination to go back and get it.

    we arrived on the admin floor of the terminal building, and i was ushered into the one small room that functioned as TSA headquarters for the airport.

    It had a faux-command center feel: plasma screen televisions were showing security cameras and CNN, and a military-style bank of clocks allowed them to monitor the passage of time in such disparate locales as Tokyo, Portland, Washington, London and Riyadh.

    I sat down with two very nice TSA security ladies, who absolutely had the “Cagney and Lacy” flavour of retired police officers. After introductions, they dialed up Homeland Security central for a teleconference, and asked me an quick series of questions.

    Three minutes later — and one amusing retelling of my rental car experience — I was on my way.

    Back at the metal detectors, I was taken to my very own security line where I got to go through a puffer and my baggage got hand searched and sniffed for explosives before they sent me through.

    couple of thoughts if you decide to lose your wallet, too:

    Get there early — the first thing the TSA officer said to me was “what time is your flight” and “good, you’ll still make your plane.” they had no doubt i was getting through, so long as i had enough time.

    Ace the interview — TSA didn’t (seem to) care about anything except the interview. They didn’t care that I was on a round trip fare (so I obviously made it through security once), they ignored my wife (who had ID, and shared my last name, and my home address), and wasn’t interested in any cooroberating evidence that I was me (I had a bank statement addressed to me, and photocopies of my passport, social security card, and birth certificate).

    Be friendly — I took every moment I could to chat up those escorting me and interviewing me, and it was a surpisingly posative experience. They seemed very interested in getting me on my plane, so I was very interested in not being an @$%&.

    The whole event took less than 20 minutes, on the busiest travel day of the season. I’m not sure I could have expected a better ending.

    UPDATE: I got my wallet back. Enterprise (who was great through this all) tracked down the people who had the car, while the new renters were unable/unwilling to find the wallet … it was there in the glove compartment when they returned the car.

  • travel: seattle, washington

    [Underground Seattle Tour, Seattle, Washington]
    [Underground Seattle Tour, Seattle, Washington]
    oddity. after a 19th century fire destroyed some 25 blocks of old seattle downtown, the city took the opportunity to (literally) raise the city out of the puget sound by passing an ordinance mandating the streets raised eight feet (or higher) during the reconstruction.

    unfortunately, it seems like certain business owners downtown didn’t take the law too seriously. they opted to rebuilt at the old (lower) street level only to have the city come through in the next couple of years and turn their first floors into basements.

    oops.

    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    underground tour, seattle, washington state

  • found photo: space needle, seattle, washington state

    [Space Needle, Seattle, Washington.]
    IMG_0346, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

  • hike: mirror lake, oregon

    [Photo]
    IMG_7035, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    Explore the Photo Set:
    hike: mirror lake, oregon

  • travel: crooked river national grasslands, oregon

    [Photo]
    IMG_6877, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    Explore the Photo Set:
    travel: crooked river national grasslands, oregon

  • found photo: killer hand dryer, eugene, oregon

    [Killer Hand Dryer, Eugene, Oregon.]
    IMG_0341, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

  • wall photos: oregon

    [Sunset over Henningson Lane, Jefferson, Oregon]

  • hike: enchanted rock state park, texas

    [Photo]
    IMG_6080, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    after three days in austin for a non-profit technology conference, i headed for the hills today for a hike around enchanted rock state park near oxford, texas. it’s a giant monolith in the middle of the texas hill country, and completely unlike anything else around.

    of course, when you are on a rock with no identifiable markings (you know, like a trail or something) one tends to get lost. but fortunately, one also tends to have a brand-spanking new iphone with gps integrated google maps to bail oneself out. again.

    but i still added about two hours to my hike by unexpectedly coming down the backside of the mountain, but the sky was blue and the weather was freexzing cold (by texas standards) so no harm, no foul.

    Explore the Photo Set:
    Hike: Enchanted Rock State Park, Texas

  • happy beginnings

    [Photo]
    IMG_5705, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    some of you may have been following the saga of foster mom adventures, an absolutely courageos friend (and m.o.h.) of ours who ignored her own sanity and has given over her life for two children in need of sanctuary.

    we were their neck of the woods this weekend, and got to spend some time quality with our maid-of-honor-emeritus and her charges. and by “quality time” i mean “lots of piggy back rides.”

    it’s really a beautiful thing how a person can give over her life to children in need, and even more beautiful to see how resilient and wonderful children can be in even the most adverse of circumstances.

    it sounds like it’s going to be a long week for the girls, so keep the whole fostermom clan in your thoughts and prayers.

    update: turns out there is a happy ending (er, beginning?) to the whole situation. if you haven’t been following, now is the time to start.

    Explore the Photo Set (Flickr, friends only):
    foster mom’s adventures

  • the furnace man only knocks twice

    so, the lady sparkler went away on tuesday … and all of a sudden, i start having problem sleeping.

    is it because i miss her loving presence? because i can’t sleep without someone kicking me the bejeesus out of me throughout the night? or maybe because the moment she left the furnace started knocking like a nuclear powered jiffy pop machine?

    we had been getting some light pinging from the new family furnace ever since it was installed last month, but nothing particularly noticable. being a slacker, i was giving it a couple of weeks to see if it fixed itself … because inanimate objects often do that sort of thing.

    then, all of a sudden, yesterday the noise became loud enough to wake the dead — seriously, if sparkler would have been here, even *she* would have woken up.

    the very nice people from the local furnace conglomerate came by this morning, tweaked a few screws, and — poof! — didn’t make another sound. until five minutes after he left when it started shaking it’s milkshake again.

    turns out it was something in the exhaust pipe. the very nice people came back again, replaced the whoe thing, and now it is as silent as the lambs … and not just the ones with the fava beans. now, sparkler can come home and continue to sleep through absolutely any noise — hurricanes, tornadoes, motley crue concerts — uninterupted.

    all is well with the world.

  • three reasons why it sucks to be a Republican right now

    for me, this election cycle has highlighted three glaring reasons why the Republican party should be more than a little worried about 2012:

    first problem: party unity

    the party illuminati are already deconstructing the election, and half the party is saying they lost because they pushed away minorities and the intellectuals by pandering to the conservative base. of course, the other half says they lost when they left the party’s traditional base and moved towards the center (where the minorities and intellectuals seem to be hanging out).

    this argument is going to resonate well beyond 2012, but the next nomination cycle is going to be an ugly battle for the Repubs … between a candidate who energizes the party’s base, and a candidate who energizes the party’s intellectual / policy / more progressive center.

    that bruiser of a process is going to disenfranchise half the party, and make it very hard the nominee to win out. for those who weren’t paying attention, sarah palin brought about party discord, not party unity. her presence in 2012 is only going to make the situation worse.

    second problem: policy not security

    we are starting to see the signs that simply changing the subject isn’t going to work anymore. Republican candidates are going to have to retrench to a time when they had holistic policies (contract with america, anyone?) and didn’t just rely on national security to win the day.

    sure, it’s great to have two wars going on, and to be under attack by the terrorists, but eventually the repubs are going to have to get comfortable on a new set of issues and not just keep changing the subject to national security.

    (oh, and taxes… dems are starting to figure out how govern without raising taxes, so the “all dems raise taxes” line ain’t going to work forever.)

    third problem: the “other” conservatives

    the republican party seems to be defining itself only through religious and social conservatives. under Reagan, there was room for every flavor of conservative under the big tent (fiscal, pragmatic, progressive, military, intellectual).

    today, people who don’t meet the strict social/religious litmus-test are either tossed out of the party (for not being “right” enough) or are forced to assimilate in order to stay. the world is becoming way to diverse (ethnic, religious, cultural) for the Repubs to rely on owning the white, conservative, and evangelical votes.

    here is the problem: 89% of mccain votes were from white voters, but they represent only 74% of the electorate. 58% of mccain votes were from conservatives, but they are only 34% of the electorate. 42% of mccain votes were evangelicals, but they are only 26% of the electorate.

    this isn’t a knock on any of the above demographics, just a recognition that winning these demographics isn’t likely to be enough moving torward. it’s also a classic sign of “engaging the base,” and not competing on the field of ideas and policies.

    well, good luck, my republican friends — it’s going to be an interesting time in the wilderness for you. may you come back in less time (and maybe a little more progressive?) than the dems last time around.

  • live: the presidential election returns


    Final Obama Campaign Rally, Prince William Country Fairgrounds, Manassas, Virginia

    i’m posting out of order, but the lady sparkler and i went out to Manassas last night for barack obama’s final campaign rally, at the Prince William County Fairgrounds. (see the pictures on facebook, or check out the panorama above.)

    i’ll have more thoughts later (ie. tomorrow) but the rally was spectacular. they estimated the crowd at 90,000 and i’d absolutely believe it. he’s every bit as charismatic as clinton (mr, not mrs, who i met in early 1992) but hopefully without the, er, prominent character flaws. the lady sparkler and i went to the rally on a complete whim, but it felt great to be there for (hopefully) a little bit of history.

    we didn’t get back until just about 2am, so i am way too tired for coherent thought, much less coherent election night coverage … but we’ll see what happens as we get through the night.

    7:00 PM i love numbers! just like crack, only they are a little more addictive … and have a little less nutritional value.
    7:03 PM vermont is the first to go blue! as a former cog in the rep. bernie sanders (i-vt) machine, i am proud (i say) proud of this development … and can feel the entire city of Rutland (viva, rut-vegas!) having a conniption fit.
    7:18 PM cnn is using faux-hologram technology to project a chicago-based reported into the atlanta situation room. help me obi wan, you are my only hope. @#$%ng ridiculous.
    7:31 PM cnn has mccain up 8 to 3 … if that ratio holds, it’s going to be a landslide.
    7:40 PM What we should be watching … Early tells: Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina. Must McWins: Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Ohio, Missouri. Late flags: Montana, Colorado.
    8:02 PM on a bus, away from CNN and it’s killing me. I trust nothing important is happening?
    8:11 PM CNN mobile says electoral college is 77 to 34 in favor of Barack, but only KY and VT have been called. That’s a Palin sized WTF?!?
    8:27 PM oh, the northeast happened. and Maryland. and Illinois.
    8:34 PM Obama won granite staters who “never attend church” and “make less than 25k” … not sure that’s a good thing.
    9:02 PM dole goes down… burn, dole, burn! you godless heeeethan.
    9:10 PM 51 senators and Michigan. it’s early. why do the people on fox look so sad?!?
    9:13 PM it’s silly, but I was really hoping for Georgia. sad.
    9:20 PM fox calls Ohio for obama. stick a fork inmac, he’s gone!
    9:34 PM I [heart] the CNN magic state/county map. it may be my new celebrity exception. mmmmmmmmm.
    9:37 PM malvo (CNN) went a little heavy on the orange bronzer.
    10:13 PM giddy. just giddy.
    10:15 PM breaking news! CNN announces that a source in the McCain count says that he may have lost!
    10:20 PM Jessica Simpson appears to be providing election coverage on fox news, and seems to have just high-fives Brett Hume.
    10:28 PM Steve Forbes is on comedy central, and BET seems to have a “magic map” made from refrigerator magnets.
    10:35 PM William bennett looks like he wants to blink out of existance.
    10:42 PM Jon King just touched Joe Lieberman’s blue tile and it turned blue! Will someone please, please call something.
    10:55 PM wow, this has been a slow, slow 10-minutes…
    10:59 PM you heard it here first, BET just called virginia for Obama.
    11:00 PM that’s it kids!
    11:06 PM wow, Jesus. wow.
    11:09 PM ten minutes ago, this had nothing to do with race. now, it’s hard to see anything but …
    11:17 PM is saying “our long national nightmare is over” too strong?
    11:19 PM no, boos, repubs. no boos.
    11:24 PM McCain: Dude, if you gave this tone of a speech six months ago, you would have won. Who wrote this? Why now? Legitimately beautiful.
    11:27 PM This is the pre-2000 McCain … the one I could have been content as president way back when.
    11:29 PM well, lots of repub boos, but atleast no “drill, baby, drill!”
    11:41 PM Am I the only one who honestly doesn’t believe that this has happened?
    11:51 PM Florida, Nevada? Montana would be the end zone spike.
    11:56 PM CNN: “people are celebrating in front of the white house.” that’s not celebrating, bob. that’s taunting…
    12:00 AM Michelle Obama’s dress made me think nice things about Cindy McCain. Damn her!
    12:10 AM God, he makes a lot of sense.
    12:16 AM how long has he been writing this in his head?
    12:17 AM this is really happening, huh?
    12:25 AM seeing Jesse Jackson cry makes me hate him just a little less…
    12:45 AM the steers are a wall of noise. horns honking everywhere. trucks, cars. it’s beautiful.
    12:49 AM people are litterally shouting and clapping on each street corner. And I just face planted because i should have been walking instead of typing.
    12:56 AM if park road is half as noisy as Connecticut Ave, I won’t be sleeping tonight.
    1:05 AM I’ve seen a hundred people since the returns, maybe two… but not one hasn’t been happy, laughing, smiling, honking or shouting. even the one repub I’ve seen was happy.
    1:33 AM 18th and Columbia is a parking lot of people high-fiveing, strangers making eye contact and grinning, people shouting “yes, we did.” it’s like DC melted away, and became Portland, Oregon for a couple hours.
    1:34 AM screw people who say that DC isn’t a sports town. our sport is politics, it’s just that we don’t win often enough …
    2:20 AM watched CNN’s replay of obama’s acceptance speech. it’s even better the second time around.
    2:20 AM g’night.

  • some assembly (not) required

    well, i’m officially old now. interestingly enough, this realization didn’t come from a mortgage, or a life insurance that gives the lady sparkler financial incentive for my death, or from friends having wedding after wedding after wedding, or from going to a party and being the only one there without kids.

    it came, instead, from pottery barn.

    last week, we went anniversary present shopping and settled on a 33%-off console table to replace a piece of crap we bought at Ikea five years ago. it wasn’t in stock, but they had extras at the big, bad warehouse in the sky, and promised to ship one over to a store-near-us as soon as they could.

    well, we got the call yesterday, crossed the bridge into rural Arlington to go pick it up. when we pulled up front, a very nice boy wheeled the box out to our car … and that’s when all hell broke loose.

    the box was enormous. like really big. like “size of a piece of furniture” big.

    there are apparently places in the world where you can buy furniture that doesn’t require assembly. more importantly, there are apparently places in the world where you can buy furniture which requires something bigger that a Volkswagen Jetta.

    now, don’t get me wrong … i had heard rumors of such extravagance, but bushed them aide as if tales of the fortress of Atlantis, or a land filled with Unicorns, or a country of people who’d reelect some one from the Bush family. i mean, really … would would have thought such a place existed?!?

    after getting a grip on our new found alternate reality, “very nice boy pottery barn boy” led us to the conclusion that the Jetta just wasn’t going to cut it (and we galloped off to rent a pick up truck from ZipCar).

    but, let this serve as a cautionary tale for the youth of america. there comes a time when you will be allowed to vote, sent to war, drink, and afford to buy furniture that comes assembled — assuming that you catch a really good sale.

    so, excercise your rights (responsibilities?) with caution …

  • i love hope solo, and harry redknapp, and not necessarily in that order…

    after a lovely Saturday of belated anniversary present shopping (we settled on a one-third off console table from pottery barn) the lady sparkler and I settled in for a long evening at home … watching two-month stale coverage of the Beijing Summer Olympics.

    a couple things, looking back two months:

    • it’s been at least a week since I had heard any one say “michael phelps,” which made me wonder if he had fired his agent considering his best post-Olympic gig has been for Rosetta Stone.
    • It seems like (back then) John McCain actually ran ads that weren’t entirely focused on trashing Barack Obama. heck, August was so long ago that I didn’t even know that MILF had a political context.
    • I once again contemplated changing my celebrity exception clause to be U.S. Olympic indoor volleyball team silver medalist Logan Tom, but quickly realized I am already married to some one who can kick my @$& so what would the point be?
    • Whichever Olympic scheduler put synchronized swimming, canoeing, water polo, and rhythmic gymnastics in the same four hour block should be fired … or shot.

    • I got to thinking about politics, the economy and my 401k, and actually got nostalgic for a minute, thinking “wow. that was a simpler time, wasn’t it?!?”. yeah, way back in august.

    so, back to the present. much of our weekend was spent on the couch watching soccer.

    the taped USA vs. Brazil woman’s gold medal match was one of the best this year. goalie hope solo (I heard she is Han Solo’s niece) pitched a shut out over 120 minutes, making her world cup benching last year — and USA’s subsequent 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Brazil — that much more inexplicable.

    but perhaps the best news of the weekend came from the English premier league, where my team (Tottenham Hotspur) finally won their first game after nine attempts (that, and the midnight firing of the entire management structure.) while the win wasn’t enough to get them out of last place, they are now just one win away from a once unthinkably-good 15th place. (weeee!)

    to be fair, Tottenham could have actually been the second best news of the weekend … the best may have been the news that the Anchorage Daily News endorsed *Obama,* saying something about “putting her one … heartbeat from the leadership of the free world is just too risky at this time.”

    in the words of conservative blogger Andrew Sullivan, the Anchorage Daily News editorial board is obviously filled with “goddamn East Coast elitist hippies.”

  • jesus [heart]’s wonder woman

    photo

  • greenwebdc

    mmmmmm, beeer.

    hung out with a great group of greens tonight, drinking beer and otherwise promoting “good will” among eco-tweeting hippies (jcolman, starfocus, KSuzJ, and salsus … with special appearances by beautifulthangs and holdie1).

    all of this camaraderie should have amped me up to go to work tomorrow morning (and it did), but it mostly reminded me that i need to polish-up a presentation on engagement for the d.m.a. conference the first week of november.

    got pleeeeeanty of material, just need the time to put it all together … and work on my jokes. (“if you’re like me, and i am ….”)

  • wedding of the century: international edition

    we spent the weekend in Dallas for a dutch-indo-pakistani-mexican-middle eastern-american wedding … oh, where to begin.

    the weekend began with a traditional ceremony where the families exchange gifts, the groom is forced to pay-off the brides cousins (they hypothetically hold the groom down and demand money in small unmarked bills, though in this case the pressure seemed to be more mental than physical) and the ladies get henna tattoos applied (the lady sparkler included).

    saturday saw two events, the “big one” early in the afternoon and then a formal dinner later that night. the bride had two spectacular dresses (see below), the first reception had a Mariachi band (which rocked the hiz-house), and the rest of the day saw us hanging out with one of the most spectacularly great groups of people ever assembled.

    i always forget that good friends typically have good friends, but this was a special bunch.

    explore the photoset:
    hutchins/kazi wedding, dallas, texas

  • found photo: cotton bowl, dallas, texas

    [Longhorn, Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Texas.]
    IMG_0219, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

  • live: the final night of presidential madness

    i’m desperately trying to come up with something else to liveblog tonight, mainly because i am struggling to come up with anything original that i could possibly say during another ninety minutes of political discourse.

    sure, mccain could come out with some kind of plan, and sure, obama could suddenly start spouting in arabic about the downfall of the great satan … but i am thinking the odds of this are a little low.

    I will say that there has been a lot of ink floating around lately which seems to be setting up nicely for an Obama win. The most interesting are from (admittedly moderate) Conservatives such as David Brooks:

    He’s phenomenally good at surrounding himself with a team,” Brooks said. “I disagree with them on most issues, but I am given a lot of comfort by the fact that the people he’s chosen are exactly the people I think most of us would want to choose if we were in his shoes.

    … and Andrew Sullivan:

    … McCain would have to concede that he didn’t vet her, made his decision impulsively based on no real knowledge of her, and that his first serious judgment as a presidential candidate was so monumentally irresponsible that it doesn’t just disqualify her for the vice-presidency. It disqualifies him for the presidency.

    This story line is the most interesting to me, as someone who was on the hill during the later part of Gingrich’s Republican revolution. I can say, the prevailing wisdom was that we had seen the death-knell of modern American liberalism, and that people we’re hoping that the Conservative lock on the halls of power would only be a couple of decades long.

    Sure, I’d take an Obama presidency in it’s own right, but just the possibility that we haven’t become a country of one permanent majority party is what’s making me feel warm and fuzzy right now.

    8:54 PM just heard five minutes on CNN where I couldn’t make out one pundit making one discernable point. it’s going to be a long, long night.
    8:58 PM tired of hearing deal people talking about real problems. can we have some fake voters talking about some artificial problems?
    8:59 PM john king: “john McCain is George bush’s older brother.” ouch!
    9:03 PM the candidates almost hugged. what are they up to?
    9:06 PM mccain has now started two-thirds of the debates with a hospital update about a prominent political figure. some one needs to explain to him that the demographic he should be targeting isn’t exactly on hospital watch.
    9:10 PM schaeffer: “senator mccain, would you like to ask a question?” mccain: “um, no.”
    9:11 PM obama: “senator mccain has obviously been listening to his own ads … now, let me tell you what I’m *actually* going to do.”
    9:12 PM eating 53-week old wedding cake. third slice. it’s *that* good …
    9:13 PM this is much more socially awkward that usual, and i honestly didn’t think that was possible.
    9:18 PM McCain shouldn’t talk about the Depression era like he was there. Oh, wait. He *was* there.
    9:20 PM I wonder if there is a “debate moderators” support group, where they go through therapy as a result of the candidates refusing to answer their questions.
    9:21 PM Ooo, McCain is getting feisty. “I’m not President Bush. If you wanted to run against him, you should have run four years ago.”
    9:22 PM … and he just tanked the rest of his response. a promising attack, snuffed out in its youth.
    9:27 PM multi-tasking. just posted pictures of a weekend of hiking in sky meadows state park, virginia.
    9:29 PM wow. jesus. finally. mccain brought his “a” game to this debate. him looking so hurt about the john lewis thing kinda made him look like a wuss, though.
    9:31 PM it seems like a slippery slope for either of them saying that the other one is going too “negative.”
    9:32 PM i’ve decided … these two need marital counseling.
    9:36 PM mccain pressing how he has been treated by the obama campaign is a bold gambit. i wonder if it pays off … or makes him look completely unfocused on the issues.
    9:40 PM obama: “I think that your focus on [Ayers and Acorn] shows more about your campaign, than it does about my campaign.”
    9:41 PM okay kids. that was fun. can we get back to the issues the rest of us care about now?
    9:48 PM i wish i had more to live blog, but nothing terribly original is happening … other than the rising levels of condescension.
    9:50 PM i wish the campaigns would watch the stupid little audience response graph on cnn. talk about issues? graph goes up. talk about each other? graph goes down. how hard is this to understand?
    9:52 PM the lady sparkler and texas in africa said within minutes of each other that this debate is waaaay too inside baseball.
    9:53 PM tee-hee! i’m going to start playing the “drink everytime McCain slips an attack in on Obama” game. think i will make it through the next 3 minutes?
    9:55 PM you know, we were *just* talking about how much better a model that Peruvian free trade pact was over the Columbian one. like, last night over dinner. this is the best debate ever!
    9:57 PM the lady sparkler just broke out the vodka. i was going to avoid telling you that it’s lemon vodka, but that tidbit was just too tasty.
    9:58 PM obama: “i was just talking to a couple of women who had to be in their mid-50s…” i hope they don’t turn out to be 40, because he may have just lost their votes. thank god he didn’t guess their weight.
    10:02 PM if mccains smile becomes any more forced, people are going to think he died.
    10:05 PM why does Joe the Plumber get all the love??? how about Evan the Fundraiser, or HGM the Freelancer, or Texas the Professor? oh, that’s why. we’re the white intellectual elites. damn.
    10:07 PM HEY! mccain is a self professed federalist. dig out those papers, kids!
    10:09 PM john, saying justices must strictly adhere to the consitution *is* a litmus test.
    10:11 PM I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of televisions cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.
    10:12 PM we have to change the culture of america, john? i thought america was the most perfect country around. you can’t change it! that’s un-american …
    10:16 PM that stupid little audience response graph just went through the roof when obama started talking about education, and working to reduce the demand for abortions.
    10:16 PM last question! oh, thank god …
    10:21 PM i love soldiers too, but making them all teachers without requiring certification? i’m not sure that is such a great idea.
    10:25 PM the CNN pundits’ scorecard is currently 46% mccain, 54% obama.
    10:25 PM YES, SARAH PALIN KNOWS ABOUT AUTISM. YES. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
    10:29 PM john mccain’s closing statement was perfect. it’s a damn shame (for him) that the rest of his campaign hasn’t carried out that theme …
    10:31 PM go vote now, it will make you feel big and strong …
    10:32 PM cindy needs to adjust her vertical hold, or her white balance, or something … i mean, daaaaaaaamn girl.

    final thoughts

    the pundits are saying that mccain was great out of the gates (agree) that it was mccain’s best debate (agree) and it wasn’t obama’s best (agree) and that obama was on the defensive for the first third of the debate (agree).

    but they are also saying that mccain let obama back in the debate by dwelling / looking emotionally disturbed by the ayers / john lewis thing (agree a hundred times over). mccain looked angry. obama looked like an academic. wonder how all this translated into the masses …

    after the last debate, there was a lot of conversation about how mccain’s window was closing, and that this closing window means he would have to take larger risks (attacking obama) and those risks would have a greater chance of backfiring.

    i certainly think that mccain has either slowed or stopped the hemorrhaging, but did he fundamentally change the course of the debate? dunno, but my guess is no. and i am certainly not going to loose any sleep about it.

    speaking of which, good night. god bless. i’ll most likely kill you in the morning.

  • i’ve been working on this post for 12 days…

    i normally draft blog posts by revision. each post that goes up has probably two hours of typing through a dozen or two versions. i write like a talk, and i have to talk a *lot* before it sounds very good.

    the focus of the effort? trying to codify why mccain’s selection of palin has shoved me over the ideological edge.

    i fervently believe that the once great republican party has been hijacked by a small group of people who are squandering it’s reagan-era “big tent” appeal in order to further their own shallow, limited political motivations. a lot of people are turned off by palin for a lot of reasons, but this anti-intellectual chauvinism (from the party that brought you lincoln, no less) is the big one for me.

    so, i completed 20+ drafts, but i could never get the tone right … i could never scrub my progressive perspective from the piece, and there is such a fine line between constructive and destructive criticism anyway.

    then, after all that work, i read this piece by david brooks, a conservative commentator for the new york times … and in 800 words said what i had been trying to say for the last 12 days.

    it kills me to compliment a conservative, but this one is worth it … *sheesh.*

  • year-old wedding cake

    it’s amazing, but eating year old wedding cake really isn’t that bad … granted, the lady sparkler spent twenty minutes, a box of aluminum foil and a box of saran wrap getting the cake ready for the freezer, but when it came out it was all yummy goodness.

  • hike: sky meadows state park, virginia

    [Photo]
    ECPA20081011_5591, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    Explore the Photo Set:
    Hike: Sky Meadows State Park, Virginia

  • home installation: cropp-metcalfe vs. the aircraft carrier furnace

    so, i’ve been fibbing about how idyllic our life in dc’s mount pleasant is …

    sure the neighborhood is great, and the food authentic, and everything is walkable. our space is big, with lots of windows and beautiful hard wood floors. sure, we’ve decorated and painted just about every square inch of our abode.

    but, our ac/furnace sounds like you are living on the deck of an aircraft carrier.

    … right at the base of the aircraft catapult.

    … during the first 24 hours of the Operation Desert Storm.

    so, i did what any reasonable home owner would do, which is coincidentally what the lady sparkler did when she wanted a new coffee pot: i bribed our cat to destroy the heat exchanger with an acetylene torch so that it “had” to be replaced by a quieter model.

    (and, by “bribing our cat” i mean “it was at the end of its lifecycle” and, by “destroy the heat exchanger” i mean “it apparently kept catching itself on fire.”)

    being the expert and savvy city-dweller that my wife is, we quickly came to the conclusion that uncontrolled fire in our home was a bad thing, and that we should (indeed) replace our beast with a model whose white noise wouldn’t encourage me to kill the Beatles.

    so, we solicited ourselves some bids (by “we” i mean “she”), selected a vendor who ridiculously underbid the job for the equipment they were giving us, and i stayed home from work today to see it through (by “see it through” i mean “sat here and stayed out of the way.”)

    cropp-metcalfe was great. our home inspector couldn’t believe their price, and we had a friendly install team comprised of a 60-year old west african who couldn’t really speak any english and a 20-year old latin american who couldn’t really speak any english.

    the language barrier was funny enough during the installtion — they seemed to have fundamental differences of understanding on the words “up” vs. “down” and “back” vs. “forward” — but the situation became farcical when it came time to explain to me the many features of our brand spanking new (and shiny!) Carrier Infinity Series 2-stage, variable speed high efficiency furnace (58CVA).

    but, it’s up and running, works like a champ, and the whole unit makes just a whisper of a hum, compared to our old unit’s voice of God which passeth all understanding and causes our frail human melons to explode.

    if i sound giddy … it’s because i am. it’s like christmas, only in october. it’s like that independence day movie when the fireworks going off after the alien ship blew up, only better. or like when hellen keller learned to sign the word “water,” only more poignent.

    so, i’m going to celebrate tonight by (a) sleeping through the night, (b) watching TV with the sound about 20 decibels lower, and (c) going out with my wife to celebrate our anniversary.

    good night, and god bless you, and god bless the United States of America.

  • debate, part 2: the revenge of mccain (live)

    crap. there is a debate tonight, isn’t there. ugh.

    8:07 PM who am i. why am i here? no, really. why *am* i here?
    8:59 PM blah, blah, red states. blah, blah, undecided voters. blah, blah, obama, blah, blah, ohio, blah. blah, blah, debates don’t matter. blah, blah.
    9:01 PM if tom brokaw is approving the questions, why doesn’t he just ask them? i hate the townhall format. does that make me an elitist?
    9:02 PM i think we need to reevaluate making me a despot. i promise to be benevolent.
    9:08 PM mccain looks like a compassionate human being. what is he up to?
    9:14 PM oh, man! naked gun 2 1/2 is on. what am i doing with my life?!?
    9:16 PM obama isn’t looking good pointing so many fingers. just ignore mccain, and talk about a PLAN.
    9:18 PM NO ONE OUTSIDE OF THE BELTWAY THINKS THAT WRITING A LETTER IS DOING ANYTHING AT ALL. DROP IT.
    9:23 PM i hate this format. now instead of not answering the media’s questions (which we all agree is perfectly acceptable) they are now ignoring the questions of the general public. how is this good thing?
    9:25 PM mccain is going to cut entitlements and build a bunch of nuclear plants. i’m guessing he isn’t trying to turn dems to his cause …
    9:26 PM good for Obama knowing the price of gas in Nashville. nice touch.
    9:30 PM mccain is really spending a LOT of time talking about his record. are there that many who are unsure about it? if the are unsure about it, are they going to take his word at face value? i’m guessing not.
    9:30 PM “we’re not rifle shots here.” what exactly does this mean?
    9:38 PM CNN: the little audience response graph at the bottom of the screen *flatlined* on mccains crack that keeping track of obama’s tax plans are like nailing jello to the wall.
    9:42 PM social security reform isn’t tough, why hasn’t it been done yet, John?
    9:45 PM i’m thinking john’s record on climate change is a little suspect if his veep isn’t even sure global warming is caused by human beings. speaking of, i wonder if she falls into the “caused by cow flatulence” camp.
    9:49 PM don’t do it, obama. don’t go negative on mccain. we expect it from him, not from you.
    9:51 PM i have to look up that “politicians haven’t done anything in 30 years about energy, and mccain has been there for 26 of them” comment. if you *have* to go negative, that’s the way to go. let people draw their own conclusions. lead the horses to water, and most of us will drink.
    9:58 PM health care as a right for every american. god bless that man. god bless him.
    10:02 PM john mccain’s response to when to use military might is the best he has ever given … right up until that patronizing part at the very end.
    10:03 PM either i’m drunk or these things are getting easier to sit through. wait a second, i am drunk. nevermind.
    10:07 PM CNN has these analyst score cards … and i added up all six results for both candidates — Obama, 60. McCain, 11. Youch.
    10:09 PM I’m so tired of McCain’s hero-worship of Petraeus and Reagan. Why does he feel he needs to do it, and what would the analogy be for Obama. Clinton? Kennedy? LBJ?
    10:12 PM Hey, McCain’s got a new hero!!! It’s Teddy Roosevelt, now. Maybe he will shut up about Petraeus. (Or maybe not…)
    10:19 PM McCain’s negative comments flatlining on the audience response graph reminds the missus of McCain’s heart flatlining, which reminds her that he’s old, which makes her sad.
    10:21 PM gawd, he really is old.
    10:22 PM crap, Obama forgot his lines about Russia. slow and steady, my friend. noun first, then try a verb, then maybe an object … nice and slow.
    10:27 PM i am soooo tired of the “pre-conditions before talking to iran” issue. even if you are right, it’s not a campaign issue. NEXT SLIDE, please.
    10:29 PM stupid question! iran will not attack israel, and (if they did) china and russia would never oppose a response. the entire question is non-sensical. not to mention, isreal would beat the bejeeebus out of iran, so there would be no need to respond by the time we could muster the troops.
    10:31 PM question from new hampshire: “what don’t you know and how will you learn it?” damn hippies. wiskey-tango-foxtrot?
    10:32 PM wrap it up kids, i’m done.
    10:34 PM there is such a generational gap between the two candidates, and it shows in every single word, look and response.
    10:35 PM Final score from CNN — McCain, 29. Obama, 69.
    10:37 PM the disdain between the two candidates is actually pretty sad, especially considering they have both run a (relatively) clean campaign … at least when compared to the last two elections.
    10:56 PM three debates down, one to go. i hope i’m out of town for that one. maybe i should start planning a trip …

    final thoughts

    The generational gap was more apparent tonight that it ever was before … and i’m guessing it was due to the absence of the podiums. McCain looked old, and the more he looks old, i think the more the rank and file Americans (who aren’t beguiled by Palin’s neocon-ly charms) bail on his campaign.

    I’m glad the onslaught of personal attacks didn’t come … i think slinging mud would hurt both sides more than they’d help, because it causes the middle to stay home. We’ve had enough elections in recent memory that were about mobilizing the base, and that doesn’t help the national discourse by any means.

    Yet again, I don’t there was anything here to change the conversation, and status quo favors the guy in the lead. My main concern is as it was after the very first one … Obama needs to start building up a lead, because once the white people are in the voting booth alone, all polls and predictions become bogus.

    update: i just heard cnn’s republican and democratic analysts hand the election to obama (pending major implosion, etc). basically, the argument was that the things that mccain would need to do to take the lead are either too late (policy shift, separation from bush) or have too high a potential to backfire (personal attacks).

    other interesting tidbit … in the initial poll, 50%+ thought that obama won (not news) but mccain’s unfavorable ratings are at 46%, while barack’s fell to 34% after the debate. if mccain is really 12% behind in unfavorables, there is no way he wins … you just can’t overcome a gap like that.

  • confessions of a (late blooming) red sox fan

    the red sox pulled another rabbit out of a hat, last night, and their improbably run through the playoffs continues.

    i hate to say it, but i didn’t think they’d make it out of the first round this year … with Manny almost single-handedly destroying the team and the team bogged down with so many injuries.

    So, when new kid Jed Lowrie slapped in new kid Jason Bay last night at the bottom of the ninth, the moment was that much more magical. and, all this excitement …

    … just made me feel guilty.

    earlier in the day, i had (yet another) water cooler conversation about playoff baseball.

    one was a brewers fan, who was (mostly) content with Milwaukee’s valiant run to the playoffs, which would have been the envy of every small market team in baseball if the Tampa Rays weren’t still in the thick of things.

    the other was an orioles fan was reminiscing about the last time they had young, promising talent good enough to win the rookie of the year award (answer: never) and bemoaning the groundswell of “fans” jumping on the red sox band wagon since ending their 86 year championship drought in 2004.

    that’s when i felt the guilt … i was an orioles fan (*gasp!*) as recently as 2002.

    it all started in earnest when i moved to a place about eight miles from Camden Yards. growing up, i had been raised to root for the home team: my Vermont brother (red sox), my Maine father (Boston braves, and then red sox) and my new york grandfather (Yankees) all supported the local teams. I’d argue that it’s your civic duty.

    but then 2003 happened. i moved to dc (who was desperately trying to get their own team, one which i root for in the National League) which relieved the Orioles of their position as the team next door. I also came to the realization that Peter Angelos, owner of the Orioles, was actually the anti-Christ based on his sad attempts to keep a team out of DC (a rant already rant-ed at length).

    so, without a team to cheer for (the Nats hadn’t arrived yet, and i had blacklisted the O’s) i started shopping around.

    basically, everyone in my family who follows baseball, follows the red sox … so there was some attraction there. also, i had already built up a healthy, low-boiling hatred of the Yankees (sorry, grand-pa) based lightly on those annoying 25 championships, but mostly on their thuggish jersey-based fans who streamed into Baltimore for the games each year. (if there is one thing the red sox and orioles share, it’s an un-abiding hatred of the Yankees.)

    so, after spending most of 2003 without a team to cheer for, the post-season saw me rooting *against* the Yankees yet again, which based on their ALCS match up with Boston, meant i would need to root *for* the Red Sox.

    i watched all seven games of the series that year, and got (what turned out to be) my only true flavor of the misery that being a Red Sox fan is associated with: series tied at 3 a piece, game tied 5-5, Yankees at bat to begin the bottom half of the 11th inning … first pitch is knocked out of the park by Aaron Boone. Yankees win the game. Boston loses the series.

    (ironically enough, Aaron Boon is now with the Washington Nationals, and is the one player i can’t bring myself to cheer for.)

    i barely knew what a baseball was during the last major Sox tragedy (Bill Buckner and the ball between the legs in ’86) but if it sucked anything like this did, I’m glad i was too young.

    and, from that point on, i was hooked. i even converted the lady sparkler into enough of a fan that she believes “@$%#$” is J.D. Drew’s middle name, knows that Big Papi needs to get his act together and start bringing in some runs, and thinks Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia are cute (I’ll take my in’s how ever i can get them).

    so, there you go. red sox nation member since October 2003. five years and two championships later, life on the bandwagon is great. i just want you new punks to know that i was hear first, even if it wasn’t by much.

  • hike: cape henlopen, delaware

    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    cape henlopen state park, delaware

  • first attempt at anniversary fails, couple reshedules for friday

    it’s our anniversary, and the lady sparkler and I packed up Saturday for some light camping along the Delaware shore (cape helopen, near rehobeth).

    the first problem is that she’s been fighting a cold, and it seemed to take up residence as the weekend went on. second problem was that the beach town was packed with old white people and their funny accents (the origin of which we never did figure out).

    but besides side-stepping octagenarians, we had a good lunch (authentic, takeout fish and chips) at the beach before heading bailing for the quiet serenity of the nearby state park.

    turns out that the economy really is in the toilet, because while every motel had bountiful vacancies, the campsite was quite literally packed with miserable looking middle-class white people. we checked in, and found our allotted 8 foot square patch of sand surrounded on all sides by kids, dogs and cars.

    our site seemed to have the special designation of being the dog run for the neighbooring sites, which would have been about 2 feet from our tent once pitched. i am pretty certain that I have never seen such a small “campsite” before, and (we decided) hope to never again.

    so, given the illness, the kids, the dogs, and the funny accents, we decided to take a long walk around the cape, eat some cheesy-so-bad-it’s-good Mexican food (Chevy’s) along the highway home and call it a day.

    in full disclosure, the day was by no means a wash … we had gorgeous weather, a beautiful hike, and a wonderful day trip. we’re going to celebrate our anniversary on Friday instead, with a meal at our favorite-est fancy restaurant in the world — Acadiana — like good affluent, married white-people should.

    hopefully we’ll have less sickness, and we’ll definitely have less funny accents.

  • live: the veep debate

    I’ve been looking to avoid this evening since I heard the veep nominations…

    The expectations for Palin are so low, that if she strings two coherent sentences together she wins. If Biden crushes her, she wins. If the moderator asks her hard questions, she wins. If she shows up with a star-spangled swimsuit and poses with a gun, she wins.

    To quote the pimply faced boy from the Simpsons: this is only going to end in tears.

    7:33 PM To get warmed up, some favorite veep-debate quotes:
    7:33 PM “Who am I? Why am I here? I’m not a politician…”
    — Admiral James Stockdale
    7:34 PM “I will never have another Jimmy Carter grain embargo, Jimmy, Jimmy Carter, Jimmy Carter grain embargo, Jimmy Carter grain embargo.”
    — Senator Dan Quayle
    7:36 PM “George Bush taking credit for the Berlin Wall coming down is like the rooster taking credit for the sunrise.”
    — Sen. Al Gore
    9:01 PM Ahhh … back on PBS, but I am already missing that little audience response graph on CNN.
    9:02 PM If you flip between CNN and PBS, CNN is on a 5 second tape delay. Are they expecting a wardrobe malfunction?
    9:04 PM How come Joe in a black suit looks professional, but Sarah in a black suit looks like she is going to a funeral?
    9:07 PM Well practiced responses from both candidates. Palin stumbled right out of the gate, but settled down quick.
    9:12 PM Wow. I mean, like wow. Satan prepped this woman. She is on point, on message, and (like all good pols interacting with journalists) completely ignoring the question.
    9:15 PM Joe’s gotta watch it … he’s going to come across as a inside-the-beltway wonk, and she is going to become the guardian of the people.
    9:18 PM Satan, i tell you, Satan. Ham-fisted (barking at Gwen where there is nothing to bark about) but is going to do great for the anti-PBS vote.
    9:20 PM She’s stumbling just enough to increase her foloksy cred, but not enough to embarass herself.
    9:22 PM Flip over to CNN. Human’s are perverts. I can understand the audience response for men jumping when she speaks, but the audience response for women jumping when *he* speaks?
    9:26 PM Oh. Need something to distract me.
    9:28 PM How is she being allowed to successfully stake out their ticket as the one of change? Joe’s got to step up his game …
    9:33 PM Am i the only one who is a little disappointed that she didn’t say that Climate Change is just God hugging us closer?
    9:39 PM Oh, my. She just used tolerance as a reason to be intolerant. Artful.
    9:44 PM She just paused about 5 seconds before responding to a question about Iraq, and you could actually see her sifting through the mental file folders / media training looking for the appropriate canned response…
    9:45 PM When, exactly, is she going to start drooling again?
    9:49 PM I think she wants to sleep with Petraeus, too. What is the deal?!?
    9:55 PM Joe Biden shouldn’t talk about Joe Biden in the third person …
    9:57 PM Is anybody buying Sarah Palin as the harbinger of change? The Dems are “spending too much time pointing backwards” to convince Palin that they are going to move us forward. Ouch.
    10:00 PM I want to live in the parallel universe that she’s living in.
    10:06 PM I never thought in a million years that Palin would be the one who would need to watch coming off as being condescending.
    10:07 PM SOMEONE BRING ME A DRINK!
    10:09 PM “a team of mavericks.”
    10:15 PM This folksy thing is at the point where it’s just making me mad … literally, and certifiably, angry. You, betcha!
    10:17 PM Does Cheney have a doctrine now? And is she actually supporting it? How in God’s name does she think that a more active role for the veep will get her ticket elected.
    10:22 PM Sarah Palin: the candidate of change and tolerance. Doublethink. Blackwhite. She must be a closet fan of Orwell.
    10:35 PM thank god that’s over.
    10:36 PM observation number one: this answers the question about whether she can be properly media trained, not about whether she can be a chief executive.
    10:37 PM observation number two: mark shields called her “relentlessly colloquial” and i think that hits the nail on the head. the open question is whether or not the people want that right now, after 8 years of someone who couldn’t pronounce “nuclear.”
    10:41 PM observation number three: she threw the bush administration under the bus. i know that it won’t be remembered in 50 years, but if bush is expecting a positive legacy … oiff.
    10:52 PM that’s it. i’m done. good night, kids …

    a couple more thoughts after the debate … it’s fascinating the sea change we have seen in regards to women and their roll in society. i’m sincerely happy that a woman can go into a veep debate with a folksy, soccer mom schtick and hold her own against opposition in a power suit.

    let’s be honest, if geraldine ferraro went for this approach 24 years ago, she would have been run off the ticket on a rail.

    to me, this election was all fun and games until tonight. honestly, i suspect i could live under a McCain administration … even if i would prefer pre-2001 as opposed to this particular incarnation. but, imho, the country just can’t survive even two years of a Palin administration.

    the way she looks down on intellect, forces herself to be colloquial, follows her politico-driven script, her obviously ultra-conservative credentials … that’s just a continuation of the bush approach which has proven bankrupt.

    that’s it for me. i’m (right now) going to go donate a lot of money to the Obama campaign, and go to bed to get the nightmares over with.

  • hiking in rock creek park (why we love dc #9)

    it turns out that rock creek park (of Chandra Levy fame) has a network of trails … *actual* trails with switchbacks, elevation gain, wildlife, streams, and mud. not just the paved rec paths or glorified sidewalks you would imagine in a city park.

    it amazes me that residents of Mt. Pleasant won’t shut up about the glory that is the National Zoo — though it is pretty awesome — and yet they neglect to mention the National Park-grade liking trails less than three blocks away.

    even more stupefying is that we had the trails to our selves. sans a couple or dog owners and a pair of septuagenarians warning us about the perils of poison ivy (they had just been interviewed by News Channel 8 on the topic) there was nary a human in sight on a stunningly beautiful Sunday afternoon.

    there are two main trails around the park … the western ridge trail and the valley trail. we looped through the bottom third of both in about two hours. the trails go from the Zoo all the way up to Maryland, but we weren’t that brave (and, frankly, should have been in better shoes).

    we did get lost (yes, in rock creek park) and used my fancy-pants new iPhone’s GPS locator-thingy to save our bacon. I’d like to think that the coolness of the iPhone balances embarrassment of actually using it in the “wilderness” … but, sadly, it’s still just humiliating.

    speaking of maps, those provided by the Park Service show the trails as one unintelligible smudge, which makes navigation (without an iPhone) that much more exciting. there are larger, more printer friendly rock creek trail maps here:

    Map: Hiking Trails in Rock Creek Park (South)
    Map: Hiking Trails in Rock Creek Park (North)

    Explore the Photoset:
    Hiking in Rock Creek Park, Washington, DC

  • live: the first presidential debate

    Guess who live blogged the debate tonight? Tonight’s coverage came from waaaay out in suburban Maryland — home of the very mighty baby boig. Also, in case you missed it, I live blogged that joint appearance by Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton on Saturday night two weeks back.

    thoughts from the debate

    8:05 AM I honestly can’t imagine a better prologue for the debate than McCain calling for it to be canceled, and Obama educating John that a President needs to be able to walk *and* chew gum at the same time.
    12:08 PM debate is looking like it’s a go. washingtonpost.com reporting that mccain has agreed to participate, citing “significant progress” on the bailout.
    12:14 PM in case you hadn’t heard, mccain has already won the debate … and this “happened” while he was still trying to kill it.
    5:10 PM i’m more than a little nervous about rolling out new technology (posting from iPhone) in a live broadcast event … even if it there are just three of you watching/reading.
    8:18 PM at the party … negotiations have commenced as to which network coverage to watch. it doesn’t look good for PBS.
    8:55 PM So we have the option of watching RoboCop or the debate. Dunno, I do like Peter Weller.
    9:01 PM Here we go, in the land of the stars and bars. On CNN. *Sigh*
    9:03 PM I [heart] Jim Lehrer.
    9:05 PM Interesting how McCain entered from the *right* of the stage … hmmm.
    9:05 PM Barack = too much makeup.
    9:07 PM McCain trots out Kennedy’s illness? Nice try, but poor form … especially for what was deemed a “mild seizure.”
    9:08 PM At least McCain practiced his response to the financial bailout question. Barack should have had that speech polished. You’ve *got* to map out your first fifteen offensive plays if you want to coach in this league, kiddo.
    9:10 PM It’s going to be a long night if they don’t start answering Jim’s questions…
    9:11 PM How is the financial crisis like the landings at Normandy? I got WAY confused on that one…
    9:13 PM Point to John McCain for making a joke … proof that he’s actually alive. Especially important as he (a) isn’t moving much, and (b) his makeup makes him look like a corpse.
    9:16 PM That lighting makes McCain look like he has a comb-over … or maybe that’s just reality doing that.
    9:20 PM “I didn’t win Miss Congeniality in the US Senate..” NICE!
    9:27 PM Barack is looking great … and I don’t think McCain is winning many points being *so* focused on pork barrel spending. It’s a bullet point, John. It’s not the whole speech.
    9:31 PM Is McCain running for President or Accountant-In-Chief? Next slide, John-boy.
    9:35 PM Barack is much more nimble at jumping from issue to issue … John-boy isn’t flustered, but isn’t exactly fleet of feet here.
    9:44 PM I hope Petraeus doesn’t retire … who is McCain going gush over when he’s gone.
    9:48 PM Watching on CNN, I am fascinated by the little graph on the bottom of the screen measuring audience response, one line each for dems, indies and repubs … I know it prolly has no substance what-so-ever but I can’t tear my eyes away
    9:51 PM Barack is calling McCain out for “misrepresentation” a lot. People here are standing saying “Hallelujah,” but I wonder how the confrontation is looking to the undecideds.
    9:52 PM I feel like McCain keeps fighting the last argument.
    9:56 PM Is McCain sleeping with General Petraeus? I know about this “don’t ask, don’t tell” thing, but maybe John-boy should do a little more “don’t tell…”
    9:58 PM John-boy supports extinction for North Korea and jokes about bombing Iran? Two good lines to Obama. I’m thinking he was well prepped.
    10:00 PM McCain’s jowells are twitching … I think he’s getting ready to combust.
    10:01 PM Oy. A verbal battle of soldier’s mother’s bracelets … unseemly. You can see that Obama is wearing the bracelet, John. Why bring it up?
    10:05 PM McCain just called Iran an “existential” threat. Was that “existential” as in “existentialism,” as in Albert Camus and Friedrich Nietzsche … as in “I create my own reality?” Heck, I’d agree that John-boy creates his own reality …
    10:07 PM I know that I’m partial, but I’m pretty sure Obama is doing waaaay better keeping McCain honest than vice versa.
    10:09 PM “Punishing countries by not talking to them does not work…” *great* line from Obama, putting McCain square in the Bush camp.
    10:12 PM So, this reminds me of a funny joke I heard: Raul Castro, Hugo Chavez, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and President Obama walk into a bar — stop me if you have heard this one …
    10:18 PM I can’t hear the word “Russia” without thinking about Tina Fey saying: “I can see Russia from my back yard.”
    10:20 PM You know at least a hundred people outside Atlanta just called the Georgia state police to report that the Russians have invaded.
    10:24 PM That smirk on McCain’s face is positively Bush-ian. Do you think the general public finds it as pompous (and vaguely unstable) as I do?
    10:26 PM Does anyone know what Nunn-Lugar is? Two of you? Great. Are you an undecided living in middle America? No, not so much …
    10:28 PM If the U.S. is safer now than after 9/11, can we get step down from that “Code Orange” thing that’s messing up all the airports?
    10:30 PM I know Obama isn’t going to say it, but could the biggest threat to our security be to remain in Iraq? Or, for us to not fix our standing in the world?
    10:31 PM Spoke too soon. Obama just said “we must restore our standing in the world” and that statement shoved that audience reaction graph through the roof. Dems and Indies are way up. Even the repubs are up, up, up. Who knew America cared? Or, who knew a focus group in Atlanta cared?
    10:33 PM McCain just said “blood and treasure.” Which brings up an important point … does middle America celebrate International Talk Like a Pirate Day, and do they know it was actually last week?
    10:36 PM McCain just said Bush and Obama shared foreign policy stubbornness. Sharpest knock on the president so far, though (imho) it seemed a bit forced.
    10:37 PM John is tiring out, Barack. Just smile and nod… and say you love America, a lot. And babies.
    10:38 PM It’s over, enter the Stepford Wife!
    10:45 PM Well, that’s done … not sure anyone really won or loss, but I’m drooling over the next round of polling.
    10:46 PM How far up does Obama have to be to overcome people swapping teams in the voting booth due to the latent racism of Americans? Someone here at the party said 15%, though I’d guess Palin may have moderated that a bit (target for latent sexism).
    10:47 PM Okay, gotta drive home. More thoughts later …
    10:51 PM Not leaving quite yet. Was there any moment of this debate that we will remember in 20 years? I am thinking not. And it seemed to me that debating with McCain sullies Obama. I don’t like seeing such a gifted orator have to deal with a bean-counter like that.
    10:55 PM Lotta people talking (in person, on the telly) about Obama saying “John is right” so much, and that being a sign of weakness … I’m not so sure. A sign of bipartisanship, yes. Weakness? Maybe not.
    10:56 PM Okay, now I really am leaving…

    a couple thoughts from the drive home

    first, i liked how approachable obama seemed … he had a “kitchen table” schtick about him, and it think that will serve him well. it’s not him at his most eloquent, but i think everybody is expecting a good state of the union already. it’s still a question of if you want to drink beer with him, and the debate was a personal win for him here.

    second, that stupid audience reaction graph seemed to map indies and dems very closely together, with repubs more often swinging the opposite way. if that graph has value, which is a bold assumption, then this correlation is a very, very good sign for Obama. actually, anecdotally, i’d say that the three lines were more “together” when barack was speaking, and a little more separated when mccain was speaking. that could be good, too.

    finally, a Conservative commentator (not sure who) mentioned that foreign policy and national security are the bread and butter issues for McCain, and that if he doesn’t score in this debate, he probably isn’t going to score at any debate. Now, call the debate how you will, but i don’t think anyone is saying that McCain did any better than “holding his own” … so, that could be good, too.

    well, good night! god bless you … and god bless the united states of america.

    p.s. i want you to know i did this whole thing from a couch using my iPhone. come on in, my friends … drink the kool-aid. the water is *mighty* fine.

  • iPhone makes wife love you

    on the way back from the airport last night, i had my first “come to Jesus” moment with my new, beloved iPhone …

    it was late(ish) and we needed to get some food. there is nothing around the airport (bwi, yick…) and the lady sparkler said she wanted something that wasn’t fast food … like maybe baja fresh or panera, and then proceeded to start chatting up her cell phone.

    so, ever looking for reasons to play with “my precious,” i brought up the fancy GPS/map thing, and typed in baja fresh. it immediately brought up my location, the location of the closest baja fresh (8.2 miles towards D.C.), plotted directions for me, and then proceeded to blink a blue dot to guide me in.

    this, in itself, should have been enough to make me babble about the technology revolution all through dinner.

    however, it turns out that when we made the blinking blue dot (us) match up with the steady red dot (them) there was no restaurant — but (!), when i clicked on the red dot to get more information about the restaurant, there was a phone number listed (which i clicked), and the phone dialed it automatically (!).

    a nice boy told me we needed to go two blocks farther down the street. wifey ate, i didn’t go 20 miles out of the way, and evvvverybody was happy.

    i’ve totally drunk the iPhone kool-aid. nothing will come between me and my precious … <ominous> noothiing </omninous>.

  • return from the northern kingdom

    it’s the beginning of fall travel season, and we kicked it off with a trip to visit the Vermont Parkers, outside Burlington.

    I’m certain we did stuff — we have pictures as proof — but mostly we kicked around and relaxed. I remember something about mini-golf (tho we didn’t keep score) and food / deck / backyard, but mostly I remember relaxing.

    my iPhone is the personification (electronic-device-ification?) of *awesomeness.* I can’t believe I didn’t get one of these sooner (oh, wait. AT&T … that’s why.)

    next up is Dallas for our second consecutive “wedding of the century.” it’ll be an Anglo-Dutch-Indo-Pakistani-Mexican-Middle Eastern affair, so should be fascinating.

    Explore the Photo Set:
    Facebook: Long Weekend in Burlington, Vermont
    Flickr: Long Weekend in Burlington, Vermont

  • kids on campus

    It’s that time of year again … when drunken freshman boys roam the streets, parkour-ing off downtown curbs to impress non-existent girls.

    When young women move in packs of eight or more, with anorexic blonds leading the way (pressing the less-than-skinny into service as “rear guard”).

    When you see athletically mismatched couples running together, the result of conversations that must have gone something like this:

      Buff Girl: I love running. Do you run? (Please say yes, please say yes…)

      Flabby Boy: Um. Yeah. Of course! I, uh, run all the time. (Shoes. Did I bring anything other than flip-flops?)

      Buff Girl: Great! How about Saturday night? (That’ll get me off the hall, and if it’s dark people won’t be able to tell he’s a dork …)

      Flabby Boy: Sure, that’d be great. (I hope she puts out quick. I haven’t run since that presidential skills test in 7th grade, when I puked on the second-to-last lap.)

      Buff Girl: 9 o’clock? (Oh, I’ve got the perfect outfit. I hope his cute roommate sees me.)

      Flabby Boy: Great! (Dude, I *love* college! It’s exactly like I saw in that movie…)

    When on Thursday night, girls in impossibly impractical shoes — and with nary enough clothes between them for one good outfit — block up metro escalators by standing to the left.

    When on weekends, shell shocked parents lead miserable looking children around Target buying those last minute essentials, like toilet paper and granola bars.

    *sniff*

    Boy, I miss college.

  • one down, one to go …

    well, we (finally) polished off that hallway-painting-project that we started way back on labor day weekend.

    actually, we finished up most of it last week, but still had a couple of touch-ups left for today … a switch plate here, an empty picture frame there, that sort or thing. we’ve got a couple more things left in the bathroom, however, so we won’t be able to slay that beast until next week.

    never thought such simple projects could take so long. they say that, for home improvement projects, you should take your original estimate and double it … but, i think we are somewhere around 16x.

    well, at least it looks purdy.

  • Karma

    I’m writing this from my brand new iPhone … from the side of the road next to our broken-down car.

    Ain’t karma a #%*£?

    It’s hard not to think that something is up. Hurricane Gustav came after the Louisiana Spindlers. Hannah tried to get the Virginia Parkers (but failed) and took a swipe at us (the DC Parkers?) but we had fled south.

    And, just today, the Texas Spindlers took Hurricane Ike on the chin, though by all accounts they weathered the storm. But, in the immortal words of The Lady Sparkler, “if I were [the Oregon Spindler], I’d be on typhoon watch…”

    So, considering every one is happy and healthy (and I have an iPhone), I guess a temperamental radiator isn’t such a big deal … thank the good sweet Lord.

  • washington, dc at night (again)

    [Photo]
    ECPA20080829_5346, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    Explore the Photo Set:
    The National Mall at Night, Washington, DC

  • choose your superpowers

    I’m reading a fun (read: trashy) little book called Who Can Save Us Now?: Brand-New Superheroes and Their Amazing (Short) Stories, and while I don’t normally do fiction, this one is pretty good.

    so, each hero in each story has a strange new power to meet a modern threat (to become a meerkat, to mind-control televangelists, to never forget a name) which got the lady sparkler and i to thinking about what powers we would take if given the choice …

    mine was easy. ever since i was a child, i wanted (a) to have bionic eyes which would zoom, see infrared, take pictures, etc. and (b) the power to be invisible. i’d totally be the little monkey boy who’d come back with the intel and then let the main characters go off and do the dirty work.

    she floundered a bit, but soon settled on the ability to fly (“that’s be so cool! zooming in and out of the clouds…”) and to time travel, which — i’ll have you know — includes *both* going backwards and forwards in time, *and* stopping it all together. she also wants a costume that kicks major heiney, too (first draft is above, right).

    I thought my desired superpowers say a lot about my personality, but her’s seem an even better match. i’m curious, tho … are we the only ones who have thought this through?

  • live (not really): McCain + Palin = The Coming Apocalypse

    so, i not going to watch the whole Repub convention (a man can only take so much), so it’s just Wednesday and Thursday this time around. To be fair, i wasn’t going to watch any of it … but i have to say that I think the nomination of Palin for Veep (or Trophy Veep, or VPILF, depending) is a masterwork. the dems are in real trouble on this one, and i hope she’s not the harbinger of the apocalypse for their ticket.

    Also, in full disclosure, I must confess that I am not live-blogging this, but instead “tivo-blogging” this … on wednesday night, the lady sparkler and I had to decide between going to RFK to watch D.C. United win its 12th major championship, or stay home and bear witness to the coming apocalypse. it didn’t turn out to be as hard of a decision as i’d have thought.

    UPDATE: I was going to try and tivo-blog both nights right now… but my weak psyche just can’t take another three hours on top of what i’ve already endured. You’re on your own until the weekend when i’ll plow through the final night.

    UPDATE #2: It’s two weeks later, and the last night of the convention is still untouched on my Tivo. I’m beginning to question my dedication to this effort …

    UPDATE #3: It took three-odd weeks to gain the courage to finish the repub convention. Boy, the things that I do for my loyal readers … all three of you.

    Random thoughts below.

    thursday night

    8:07 PM “Sometimes the best sermons aren’t preached, they are lived.” Pithy, but I don’t actually know who this guy is.
    8:08 PM eighth incancation of “John McCain put our country first.” at least those wacky repubs got that call and response thing down … drill, baby, drill!!!
    8:11 PM Now he’s extolling the virtues of “Sam’s Club republicans.” Big, empty, ugly, destroys family businesses, filled with crap you don’t need in quantities you can’t use. Interesting analogy.
    8:12 PM Who is he again? Oh, Governor of Minnesota … the state that brought you Jesse Ventura. Of course, I say this from the city that brought you Marion Barry.
    8:15 PM Bill Frist is talking about HIV/AIDS? That seems like an odd play for the Trade Federation. What’s he up to…?
    8:16 PM Interesting to see Frist explaining the genocide in Rwanda to the Convention … wonder if he is going to need a map. He might want to explain what “Africa” is first, and move on from there.
    8:17 PM Frist ended with “God bless the children of the world.” Is he some sort of Commie? Who ends a speach with something other than “God Bless the United States of America.” I mean, really?!?
    8:24 PM Nothing’s better than a white man in a $800 suit saying “Are you ready to rock, America?”
    8:25 PM Brownback is highlighting McCain’s historic vice presidential nomination. Has he forgotten about Geraldine Ferraro, or is he just highlighting that the RNC is historically 20 years behind the DNC on social issues?
    8:27 PM Great talking point for the repubs: “Last week in Denver, the other party was encouraging us to ‘believe.’ They told America over and over, ‘Yes we can.’ But when you look at the past two years with Democrats controlling the House and Senate, all we’ve seen is, ‘NO we can’t.’ They said we can’t reach energy independence by finding new sources of oil and gas in our own country. We can’t cut spending. We can’t have a health care system run by doctors and patients instead of a federal bureaucracy. They say we can’t win the war in Iraq. While the other side may say ‘yes we can’ and then votes ‘no you won’t’ — John McCain says ‘yes we will.’”
    8:28 PM okay, okay, okay, okay, okay … call and response. i get it. you guys are *just* like baptist preachers. i get it. please stop.
    8:34 PM Now Mary Fallin (R-OK) is digging up the OKC bombing? They really are the party of the past … how about we focus on health care, education, foriegn policy or the economy? Heck, I think talkin’ babies, guns, gays and jesus would be more useful for the party.
    8:37 PM Candidate for most forced soundbite of the evening: “We need a president who knows you can’t negotiate with Evil.”
    8:39 PM Oh, God. A video about 9/11. This can’t possibly be good news for either party.
    8:39 PM “The first attack came in Iran.” Wow. Subtle. I wonder who we should invade next.
    8:40 PM “And kill us they did.”
    8:41 PM “We remember buildings burning, bodies falling.”
    8:42 PM Video closes with: “We will never allow that to happen again.” Wonder if that statement comes with a life-time guaruntee. I can just imagine: “We voted for McCain, and then it happened again. Can we sue for false advertising?”
    9:01 PM Sen. Lindsey Graham is discussing the “surge” in Iraq, with a picture of military headstones (Arlington National Cemetary?) in the background. Now, *that’s* an unfortunate image …
    9:02 PM Newsflash: According to Lindsey Graham, John McCain is presponsible for the Surge! If we pair his surge up with Al Gore’s internet, I wonder what crazy things we could make …
    9:04 PM Oifff: “Ladies and Gentlemen … thank God for Joe Lieberman.”
    9:06 PM Graham just downgraded “Mission Accomplished” to “We are winning.” Maybe “we are doing pretty okay” is next?
    9:06 PM There are some *really* awkward pauses in Graham’s speach, while he waits on applause lines. Is the convention just waiting for big names, or does Lindsey have the speaking presence of a turnip?
    9:10 PM Video on Palin. Starts with: “Mother, Moosehunter, Maverick.” I don’t think they were kidding …
    9:11 PM Palin’s daughters make me … uncomfortable. How much of the under-25, Middle-American-male vote do you think they bring in for McCain?
    9:13 PM “Alaskan Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.” What noun exactly does “Conservation” modify in that sentance, “Alaska” or “Oil and Gas”?
    9:14 PM So, this whole “candidate as sex-symbol” thing the video is pushing … Sarah Palin creeps be out in one direction, and Hillary Clinton goes the other way. Isn’t there a happy median somewhere?
    9:18 PM Tom Ridge is great and all, but couldn’t they find a better setup man? And where is Cindy. I thought she was speaking today.
    9:20 PM Again, the applause from the audience is really weak. Where did they get these delegates? Shouldn’t they be making a ruckus?
    9:22 PM Not being glib (this time) but I honestly don’t understand this line: “For the consideration before us is not about who can take a 3 a.m. call. It’s about who has answered the call throughout his life.” Is it a reference to something I missed?
    9:25 PM Oh, no. I sense another “call-and-response” thing coming on. Do repub operatives read my blog? I’m honored and all, but i think you took my advice a little toooo literally.
    9:31 PM Hey, hey. Here she comes. Cindy McCain video: Why don’t they recognize his first wife, and those three kids? Strange, from the part of family values.
    9:35 PM Yup. I’m sold. Cindy McCain is just like me. I have a $300,000 dress, too.
    9:36 PM No podeum? Shut up and get on the stage, woman. No speaking for you!
    9:37 PM Speaking without a podeum?!? Interesting. Veeeeeerrry interesting.
    9:38 PM Nope, strike that. Without a podeum, she looks like a talk show host … only less Whoopi Goldberg.
    9:39 PM No, wait! An NFL sideline reporter … only more awkward.
    9:40 PM No, wait … Sally Struthers! Yes, I want to give money to the Christian Childrens Fund! Yes, yes, yes!
    9:41 PM Must. Resist. Fast forwarding.
    9:42 PM “From the beginning of time, no matter how accomplished in other fields, women have always sought a husband with an eye to what kind of father that man would be. Well, I hit a home run with John McCain!”
    9:45 PM No more! Where is the #@$%@ tivo remote?!?
    9:46 PM We get it. No animal is safe so long as Sarah Palin has a gun. Next slide, please.
    9:50 PM This speach goes … ever ever on, over rock and under tree, by caves where never sun has shone, by streams that never find the sea.
    9:52 PM Rwanda again. Crazy. It’s like there are at now atleast 10 or 12 other countries in the world.
    9:55 PM “STAAAAND BYY YEEEERRR, MAAAAANNN! ‘CAUSE AFTER ALLLLLL, HE’S JUST A MANNNN.”
    10:05 PM McCain video: John’s father ordered the place he was being held to be carpet bombed?!? Did I just hear that right? — "Gee, thanks Dad!"
    10:08 PM Okay, I admit … his Viet Nam story is great. I would have gone insane by day two. Okay, okay … hour two.
    10:10 PM Ooooooo. They just name-dropped “Mother Theresa.” They are goooooooood.
    10:13 PM Now, *there* is the audience applause that the GOP handlers have been waiting for. Thank god they showed up before the coverage shifted to the networks.
    10:15 PM How did we get here? He was written off more times than I can count …
    10:17 PM Listen to that applause for good ‘ol Dubya.
    10:17 PM “Finally, a word to Senator Obama and his supporters. We’ll go at it over the next two months. That’s the nature of these contests, and there are big differences between us. But you have my respect and admiration. Despite our differences, much more unites us than divides us. We are fellow Americans, an association that means more to me than any other. We’re dedicated to the proposition that all people are created equal and endowed by our Creator with inalienable rights. No country ever had a greater cause than that. And I wouldn’t be an American worthy of the name if I didn’t honor Senator Obama and his supporters for their achievement.
    10:23 PM What just happened? They showed three people tussling, one of them holding a flag.
    10:29 PM Fascinating. THe protester was holding a flag that said, “You can’t win an occupation” on one side, and “McCain votes against vets” on the other. Unfortunately, it appears to be the work of Code Pink, which almost completely de-legitimizes the whole thing.
    10:31 PM It’s a bad sign that I am paying more attention to researching the protest than I am the speach. Come on, McCain … earn your nomination.
    10:32 PM Hmm, didn’t realize CodePink disrupted Palin’s speach, too.
    10:33 PM McCain’s an environmentalist! He keeps recycling his lines … “I’d rather lose an election than see my country lose a war.”
    10:33 PM Good decision to bring regular people to shout out during speach. Very presidential. Very “state of the union,” actually.
    10:34 PM Senator Obama passed a corporate welfare bill for oil companies? That doesn’t even sound possible. Wonder if it was another republican rider to an appropriation bill.
    10:38 PM This is a sharp change in tone from the rest of the convention so far. I know you send your pitbulls to do the attacking, but it’s almost like a completely different convention …
    10:38 PM This is a sharp change in tone from the rest of the convention so far. I know you send your pitbulls to do the attacking, but it’s almost like a completely different convention …
    10:39 PM First time I have heard a call and response that consisted of “boo-ing.” Did the Dems do this? Doesn’t seem like a way to bring in undecideds and moderates.
    10:40 PM He’s doing a much better job that I’d have thought. Very mellow. Not snippy. Almost seems compassionate, which is something his public persona could use a little more of.
    10:40 PM Good line: “My opponent promises to bring back old jobs by wishing away the global economy. We’re going to help workers who’ve lost a job that won’t come back, find a new one that won’t go away.”
    10:40 PM Another good one: “Senator Obama wants our schools to answer to unions and entrenched bureaucracies. I want schools to answer to parents and students. And when I’m President, they will.”
    10:43 PM Speaking of … it’s amazing how intrenched charter schools are now in our culture. Not sure I saw that coming. Maybe it’s just because i’m in DC …
    10:46 PM So glad that America got to hear chants of “Drill, baby, drill!” in prime time.
    10:48 PM Georgia (the country, not the state) must be so happy to have gotten invaded at such an opportune moment. The republican party couldn’t even find it on a map two weeks ago.
    10:53 PM John has been practicing the “earnest” vibe. Wonder if he has been watching old tape of Ronald Reagan. The repubs only wish he had the same level of charisma.
    10:57 PM It all comes back to a prison cell in Hanoi. I wonder if that is going to be enough to get him elected…
    10:58 PM This whole “choosing” to stay another four years … if the Viet Cong really wanted to send him back, why would they be bound by the wishes of a prisoner? It seems a little non-sensical.
    10:59 PM He’s starting to get warmed up: “I’m not running for president because I think I’m blessed with such personal greatness that history has anointed me to save our country in its hour of need. My country saved me. My country saved me, and I cannot forget it. And I will fight for her for as long as I draw breath, so help me God.”
    10:59 PM Yup, definately going for the Reagan-esque grand finish: “Fight for what’s right for our country. Fight for the ideals and character of a free people. Fight for our children’s future. Fight for justice and opportunity for all. Stand up to defend our country from its enemies. Stand up for each other; for beautiful, blessed, bountiful America. Stand up, stand up, stand up and fight. Nothing is inevitable here. We’re Americans, and we never give up. We never quit. We never hide from history. We make history.”
    11:04 PM Well, time will tell. McCain definately came across as more of the 2000-01 McCain that moderates fell in love with, but he didn’t seem to make an overarching statement. There was a lot of traditional conservatism, and I’m guessing once Palin went right, McCain felt better about moving to secure the center. In my humble opinion, I don’t think this speach was a win for McCain … but it certainly wasn’t a loss either. One thing is for sure: Palin has oppened him up to whole new strategy in the last two months … and I think only time will tell if it’s going to pay off the way he hopes it will.

    wednesday night

    8:17 pm parade of female ceo’s (meg whitman, carly fiorina) testifying.
    8:26 pm michael steele is no baptist preacher, but holding his own. “we need someone who won’t play to the public applause.”
    8:28 pm beautifully framed argument against affirmative action: “the ideal of a color blind society is worth fighting for … because each man, woman, and child is an individual, and not the member of a hyphenated class or group.”
    8:29 pm good god, did steele really say “drill, baby, drill. and drill now.”
    8:30 pm omg. the crowd is now chanting “drill, baby, drill.” i’m not kidding. i swear, they are actually doing it. oh, god .. and there are signs, signs that say “drill now.”
    8:31 pm btw, the republicans get the call and response thing. steele’s use of “do you want to put your country first” was exactly how it should be done.
    8:34 pm damn. if i was african-american, i would have some poignant things to say about mr. steele’s position visa vis our shared ethnic background.
    8:35 pm “the only label that counts isn’t partisan, but ‘American.’”
    8:36 pm romney is up. oh, my.
    8:37 pm “For decades, the Washington sun has been rising in the east – Washington has been looking to the eastern elites, to the editorial pages of the Times and the Post, and to the broadcasters from the coast. If America really wants change, it’s time to look for the sun in the west, cause it’s about to rise and shine from Arizona and Alaska! “
    8:40 pm Oh, my. He’s not kidding when he says … “Is a Supreme Court liberal or conservative that awards Guantanamo terrorists with constitution rights? It’s liberal!”
    8:41 pm “Liberals would replace opportunity with dependency on government largesse. They grow government and raise taxes to put more people on Medicaid, to take work requirements out of welfare, and to grow the ranks of those who pay no taxes at all. Dependency is death to initiative, risk-taking and opportunity … It’s time for the party of big ideas, not the party of Big Brother!”
    8:43 pm I hate to be naive, but could we at least kind of not lie about your opponent’s positions? “Democrats want to use the slowdown as an excuse to do what their special interests are always begging for: higher taxes, bigger government and less trade with other nations.”
    8:44 pm Ouch: “And I have one more recommendation for energy conservation – let’s keep Al Gore’s private jet on the ground!”
    8:45 pm Well, good news if we elect McCain … “radical violent Islam is evil, and he will defeat it!” I was so worried … can we sue for false advertising if it turns out he can’t do it?
    8:46 pm Ooooff: “There’s never been a day where i haven’t been proud to be an American.”
    8:48 pm That speech was amazing. Who abducted Mitt Romney and replaced his brain with Newt Gingrich’s? I think he just staked out the Conservative right for 2012.
    8:52 pm I’m starting to get nervous. Sick to my stomach, but nervous.
    8:57 pm mike huckabee. he just called McCain his “second” choice for the nomination (behind himself, of course).
    8:58 pm Just thanked the “elite media” for unifying the republican party behind McCain and Palin.
    9:01 pm First props to Obama for being the “person of color” nominee.
    9:04 pm Good message point. “Barack Obama’s excellent adventure to Europe took his campaign for change to hundreds of thousands of people who don’t even vote or pay taxes here.”
    9:08 pm Biggest applause line of the night: “I’m not a Republican because I grew up rich, but because I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life poor, waiting for the government to rescue me.” It’s going to take a long time for Dems to shake this image in middle America.
    9:14 pm Good line from Gov. Linda Lingle of Hawaii about the authenticity of Palin: “She will not be trying to reinvent herself during this campaign! She is who she is.” They are just daring the opposition to take her head on … sheesh.
    9:18 pm This is going to be tough … i the Dems don’t take Palin on, she gets a free pass. If the Dems do, then they are beating up on a girl. We are so screwed.
    9:22 pm Oh, God. Someone get Mrs. McCain a gay man. I didn’t know they *made* dresses in that color of florescent green. That being said, it’s the only thing that could have topped her gold dress that looked like it was made out of my grandmother’s drapes.
    9:32 pm Rudolpho Giuliani. Can you imagine his career if it weren’t for September 11th? I’m pretty sure, he wouldn’t be speaking at the Convention, that’s fer dern shure.
    9:34 pm He’s started off being quite conciliatory, but I can just feel the wheels getting ready to fall off the rationality bus.
    9:36 pm Another refrain the party is obviously pushing: “America comes first.” Fascinating in the number of nuances you can read into that.
    9:37 pm Sure Giuliani can rip on Obama’s Harvard education, but he’s ripping on him for being a community organizer?!?
    9:38 pm Did Obama really vote present at 100+ State Leg votes? “For president of the United States, it’s not good enough to be present.”
    9:39 pm Giuliani doesn’t know how good of a speech he has. He keeps looking surprised at each of the reactions he gets.
    9:41 pm Giuliani is such a good old boy. Audience is eating up all the condescension. Is the key to Conservatism about the promise that one day you might get the chance to be a good old boy?
    9:43 pm Best line yet (despite the poor delivery): “They would have you believe that this election is about change versus more of the same, but that’s really a false choice, because there’s good change and bad change. Because change is not a destination, just as hope is not a strategy.”
    9:44 pm “Drill, baby, drill” again. Is this a NIMBY thing? Repubs live in middle america, so they don’t care about drilling so long as it’s off the coasts of the Blue states?
    9:47 pm “For four days in Denver, the Democrats were afraid to use the words ‘Islamic terrorism.’ I think they believe it will insult someone. Please tell me, who are they insulting if they say ‘Islamic terrorism’? They are insulting terrorists.”
    9:50 pm “And I believe, ladies and gentlemen, when they gave up on Iraq, they had given up on America.”
    9:52 pm Israelies and Palestinians aren’t “morally equivalent” and some United Nations bashing. [Insert punchline here.]
    9:53 pm At least they recognize the problem: “Like Ronald Reagan, John McCain will enlarge our party, open it up to lots of new people.” [emphasis added mine.]
    9:55 pm Oiiff, that hurts: “She’s already had more executive experience than the entire Democratic ticket combined.”
    9:57 pm “One final point. And how — how dare they question whether Sarah Palin has enough time to spend with her children and be vice president. How dare they do that.” Who did this? Someone tell me the name of the Democrat who did this?!? Speeches should require footnotes.
    10:00 pm  More awful delivery, but good lines: “We’re the party that has expanded freedom from the very beginning, from ending slavery to making certain that people have freedom here and abroad … And we’re the party — and we’re the party that unapologetically believes in America’s success, a shining city on a hill, a beacon of freedom that inspires the world. That’s what our party is dedicated to.”
    10:02 pm Here come Palin, and she’s a’ wearin’ pink. Or is that a light taupe? Or is that lavender? Why the h-e-double-hockey-sticks did they put her in something that is even allowing me to think about this …
    10:05 pm Palin’s son (who’s service is being trotted out again) is deploying, to Iraq, on September 11th. There is no way we can win an election against these people.
    10:06 pm I’m going to hell, but i am not sure i can support a woman for elected office who named her children Track, Bristol, Willow, Piper, and Trig.
    10:08 pm At least her flaunting of her special needs baby was a *little* less crass.
    10:13 pm More community organizer bashing, “I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities.” I just don’t get it …
    10:18 pm This little gem is the byte I woke up to this morning on NPR (and my day never recovered): “Here’s a little newsflash for those reporters and commentators: I’m not going to Washington to seek their good opinion. I’m going to Washington to serve the people of this great country.”
    10:23 pm Much better response to drilling (and certainly more subtle) than I had expected: “Our opponents say again and again that drilling will not solve all of America’s energy problems, as if we didn’t know that already. But the fact that drilling, though, won’t solve every problem is no excuse to do nothing at all.”
    10:26 pm More ouch: “But listening to him speak, it’s easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or even a reform, not even in the State Senate.”
    10:28 pm More comments I’d like to see the footnotes for: “America needs more energy; our opponent is against producing it. Victory in Iraq is finally in sight, and he wants to forfeit. Terrorist states are seeking nuclear weapons without delay; he wants to meet them without preconditions.”
    10:30 pm She is trying incredibly hard to make McCain the candidate of change … “In politics, there are some candidates who use change to promote their careers, and then there are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change.”
    10:32 pm I’m running out of nice things to say. “And though both Senator Obama and Senator Biden have been going on lately about how they’re always, quote, ‘fighting for you,’ let us face the matter squarely … There is only one man in this election who has ever really fought for you in places where winning means survival and defeat means death. And that man is John McCain.
    10:33 pm Another knock on community organizing.
    10:34 pm Apparently, It doesn’t count if you aren’t being shot at by foreigners: “And though both Senator Obama and Senator Biden have been going on lately about how they’re always, quote, ‘fighting for you,’ let us face the matter squarely … There is only one man in this election who has ever really fought for you in places where winning means survival and defeat means death. And that man is John McCain.”
    10:38 pm Objectively, a good speech … but I see the strength as energizing the base. Very aggressive against Obama, and (obviously) very positive about McCain, but I don’t think it will turn the undecided and there was very little on policy. There was a lot of mocking and condescension, and I don’t see how that grabs the independent, undecided middle.
    10:49 pm The more I think about this, there is no way she pulls disaffected dems. Big pull for the heartland, tho, but I don’t know how much of the heartland they didn’t already have.
    10:55 pm Gawd, I’m depressed.

  • the “silly” season

    so, i don’t know about your team, but mine spent $121 million this offseason to grab nine players off the open market.

    sound too “spendy” to be true? not in brave new world that is the english premier league.

    as a long time footy player (mostly in goal) and footy fan (college, national teams, d.c. united), i always wanted to follow the epl … but it wasn’t until recently that state-siders had the means (via two dedicated cable channels and al gore’s birth of the interweb) to actually follow an english club.

    so, for the last three seasons, i’ve been following Tottenham Hotspur, a side from North London that is probably best compared to the pre-2004 Boston Red Sox … a storied club, with a good bit of success early in their history, but lately there’s been a lot of, um, “potential.”

    quick detour …

    so why pick the Spurs, as oppose to one of the more successful english clubs?

    well, there’s manchester united … who are the new york yankees of the league and they annoyingly win pretty much everything (well, “the yankees” back when they actually won things). there *is* a good club in liverpool, but they are, well, in liverpool.

    there’s chelsea, which is funded by a vaguely scary russian oligarch who spends money as if his team were the yankees (but they aren’t, which makes the spending that much more offensive). then there is arsenal, a team staffed almost entirely by the french.

    as you can see, the decision wasn’t terribly hard at all.

    back to the $121 million …

    as you might guess there isn’t a salary cap in the epl, but that’s okay because the money we are talking about isn’t actually the player’s salary — it’s the money that the team spends to get permission to sign another team’s player. (yes, you read that right.)

    for example: some bureaucrat at Tottenham watched the European footy championships this summer, and noticed that one of the Russian players (Roman Pavlyuchenko) scored a lot of goals. well, “we like scoring goals,” mr. bureaucrat thought, so he rang up Pavlyuchenko’s team (Spartak Moscow) in Russia and gave them a lot of money ($25 million) for the right to sign Roman to a contract worth even more money (5 years, at $100,000+ a week).

    now, if you made it past the made it past the “veritable orgy of money” part and noticed that we had to bring in *nine* players this off season … you may have thought that so much turnover could be good (boston celtics!) but probably isn’t (florida marlins).

    right now, only eight Spurs (out of 40+ on the expanded roster) have been on the team for longer than two years. and, (oh, by the way) we are on our 6th manager in ten years.

    fortunately for spurs-fans’ sanity, there are only four months out of the year when players are allowed to transfer between teams (three in the summer, one in January). the summer transfer window just closed, which should bring much needed (if temporary and obligatory) stability to the team. so, for now, no more “silly season” and we’ll have to shut up an play, for better or worse.

    while we gained a bunch of good players during this window (a keeper from Brazil, midfielders from Croatia, Mexico and England, that Russian striker I mentioned) we lost two players who scored more than half of our goals last season. (ouch.)

    if i was a cubs fan, i’d say “well, there’s always next year” …

    … except that’s actually not always the case in the epl. as a special brand of torture for english footy fans, if your team finishes as one of the three worst teams in the league, you are “relegated” down to a lower league and have to win your way back up some later season.

    imagine the washington nationals getting booted to the minor leagues, the memphis grizzlies getting demoted to the nba’s “developmental” league, or the miami dolphins playing a year of college ball next season (… yes, they’d all still lose).

    so, *hopefully* there’s always next year …

    (oy, vey.)

  • home (dis)repair

    the lady sparkler and i decided to do a little painting this labor day weekend. [insert punchline here.] as you can guess from the picture, it isn’t going terribly well.

    we decided to paint the hall and the bathroom.

    unfortunately, the hall has five doors, two archways, and a whole bunch of heating and air conditioning objects to dodge.

    even more unfortunately, once we moved stuff out of the bathroom, the wall had 30+ holes left over from at least three remodelings, the tile work (under the sink) wasn’t ever completed, there is a hole through our wall going down to the neighbors below, the last paint job peeled off on in the face of light sanding, and our light fixture was cracked to the point that we became retroactively frightened for our safety during the last year.

    needless to say, this one is going into extra innings.

  • a surprise of epic proportions

    i have to share… right now, if you google “nbc gymnastic commentators,” the search results feature my rant about the Olympic coverage from earlier this month as result #7. if you google “a disaster of epic proportions,” i’m result #5.

    i don’t think i have ever been this cool in my life.

  • live (mostly): oh, *that’s* why i don’t watch the democratic national convention …

    for some reason, i got a hankering this weekend to watch the dem’s convention … i also got a notion to do a triathlon, oddly enough, but that sounds much harder. maybe i’ll stick with politics for now, even though this certainly violates my prohibition on paying attention to the news.

    thursday night

    6:45 pm early start … and only CNN is covering so far. (resisting the urge to put my foot through the television.)
    6:55 pm tee-hee! gold medal winning u.s. olympic gymnast shawn johnson led the pledge of allegiance today. i don’t know why that makes me giggle, but it does.
    7:04 pm why couldn’t they have put civil rights legend rep. john lewis in prime time when someone would have seen him?
    7:11 pm and while we are asking stupid questions, what are the odds that obama’s acceptance speech would fall on the anniversary of the day m.l.k. gave his “i have a dream” speech?
    7:18 pm i just saw michael dukakis! no tank or helmet, tho. (booooo!)
    7:20 pm i hope u2 is getting royalties for each time “beautiful day” is played at the convention. they’d be like bajilionaires or something.
    7:36 pm oh, will.i.am. what have thou wrought?
    7:42 pm sheryl crow? dear god. i never thought i would say this … but i’d like a little more substance, and a little less wolf blitzer dancing.
    7:50 pm make. the. pain. go. away.
    7:58 pm “i cann seee cleeeeearly nowww the raiiiiiin has gonnnnne.”
    8:00 pm whew, pbs.
    8:10 pm i love when pols wave to the audience as if to recognize their cheers, but with no actual cheering … udall just left the stage as if he had sacked rome, and all to the sounds of crickets chirping.
    8:19 pm bill richardson looks, dare i say, statesman-like? well, except for the ferret that appears to have attacked his neck.
    8:26 pm we’ve got to lose this “take america back” message … too confusing from a party that keeps talking about moving us forward.
    8:38 pm the baylor bears are loosing (shocked, i say, shocked!) on the other tuner. no option but to watch stevie wonder.
    8:46 pm i *swear* i just saw Jin-Soo Kwon from Lost.
    8:52 pm gore got a great speech, but has the personality of a wooden plank. there was a glimmer there around the environment, but he couldn’t spin it into the traditional platform issues.
    8:56 pm jeez, al. slow down …
    8:58 pm al needs to go back to being an elder climate statesman … ugh.
    9:07 pm i know that michael mcdonald has a “core demographic” but i’m damned if i can figure out who that would be.
    9:17 pm an eisenhower at the dem convention? i can’t *wait* to see who the repubs dig up for theirs …
    9:22 pm you know, i’d think eisenhower and the generals were good enough to really make a difference … if i thought any undecideds were actually watching this convention.
    9:30 pm (yawn) isn’t someone important supposed to be speaking tonight? i want ice cream. speaking of, do you think that the ballpark vendors are working tonight? i’m guessing veggie burgers, freedom fries, and tofu ice cream. no! sushi, fruit smoothies and an organic espresso bar.
    9:36 pm okay, disadvantaged soccer mom just went off on “what has george bush done for me” and all i could think of was “ask not what your country can do for you…” jeez, i’m slipping into the abyss.
    9:38 pm now *there* is the message we want: “i voted for nixon, reagan, bush and bush — but i can’t afford four more years…”
    9:44 pm those average joes just changed the convention … who ever found them, wow. authentic. completely unforced. life just doesn’t get better than a crowd of 70,000 people chanting the name of someone they just met for the first time.
    9:47 pm the lady sparkler just finished her puzzle.
    9:52 pm watch out, folks. pbs commentator david brooks has started drinking the kool-aid.
    9:59 pm dick durbin is such a happy man. joey biden was just a happy man. *everyone* is happy, and (most importantly) not faking it. who’s party is this again?
    10:08 pm  is this what 1960 was like?
    10:09 pm … well, except the sixties probably had less u2.
    10:13 pm wide shot of the stadium, at capacity, with flashbulbs popping. awesomeness.
    10:19 pm “That’s why I stand here tonight. Because for two hundred and thirty two years, at each moment when that promise was in jeopardy, ordinary men and women — students and soldiers, farmers and teachers, nurses and janitors — found the courage to keep it alive.”
    10:21 pm the convention is using the words “democrat” and “republican” too much. it’s got to turn away some centrists and moderates …
    10:25 pm okay, barack. we get it. time to stop going after McCain’s plans and start laying out your own …
    10:33 pm Better, thank you: “That’s the promise of America — the idea that we are responsible for ourselves, but that we also rise or fall as one nation; the fundamental belief that I am my brother’s keeper…”
    10:38 pm No taxes: check. Energy independance: check. National service and higher education: check, check.
    10:42 pm Damn, he’s good. And he’s just getting warmed up. “We must also admit that programs alone can’t replace parents; that government can’t turn off the television and make a child do her homework; that fathers must take more responsibility for providing the love and guidance their children need.”
    10:44 pm The national security parts were, quite literally, perfect. “You don’t defeat a terrorist network that operates in eighty countries by occupying Iraq. You don’t protect Israel and deter Iran just by talking tough in Washington. You can’t truly stand up for Georgia when you’ve strained our oldest alliances.”
    10:46 pm Keeps coming … “We are the party of Roosevelt. We are the party of Kennedy. So don’t tell me that Democrats won’t defend this country. Don’t tell me that Democrats won’t keep us safe.”
    10:48 pm Is the crowd chanting “USA, USA”? … I don’t think I have *ever* heard that one at a convention. “And I will restore our moral standing, so that America is once again that last, best hope for all who are called to the cause of freedom, who long for lives of peace, and who yearn for a better future.”
    10:52 pm “I realize that I am not the likeliest candidate for this office. I don’t fit the typical pedigree, and I haven’t spent my career in the halls of Washington. But I stand before you tonight because all across America something is stirring. What the nay-sayers don’t understand is that this election has never been about me. It’s been about you.”
    10:57 pm Unreal. I have no words. Crazy good.
    11:01 pm Big wins: going to be harder to cast him as soft, or as an aloof eastern liberal intellectual, and he made a solid play for the center.
    11:11 pm You know, he might just pull this off.

    wednesday night

    8:01 pm hillary moving to accept the nomination of barack obama by acclamation is a *really* nice touch. bravo, hillary (and her handlers), bravo.
    8:08 pm this notion of energy independence as an imperative to cut funding for “the terrorists” is a fascinating theme for the convention, and not one i was really expecting.
    8:16 pm the lady sparkler has given up and is doing a puzzle.
    8:26 pm why does Rep. Patrick Murphy have a men’s choir of secret service agents standing behind him?
    8:37 pm evan bayh?!? i *love* people named Evan … they are so smart, and handsome.
    8:40 pm note to senator bayh: if you are going to do an audience refrain, you need to wait for the audience.
    8:43 pm if i think evan is sexy, does that make me a monosexual?
    8:45 pm “We can no longer be divided into red states and blue states but must stand united as 50 red, white and blue states.” (groan…)
    8:53 pm in the movie of life, the Honorable Jack Reed (D-RI) would be played by William H. Macy.
    9:02 pm here he comes … jesus, bill. don’t screw up.
    9:06 pm four minute standing ovation. wow, we have a *very* short memory … has everyone forgotten the last 12 months?
    9:11 pm it’s like watching the Prodigal Son come home. jeez, he just exudes charisma.
    9:12 pm “Barack has the curiosity that every President needs.” wow, bill. now that you mention it, i think you needed a little less curiosity …
    9:15 pm “The world is always more impressed by the power of our example, than the example of our power.” Oh, Bill. I want to bear your children … hold me.
    9:24 pm *i love you, Bill!* i’m sorry i ever doubted you … take me back. please, take me back. (call me!)
    9:35 pm if we are dragging out john kerry, can michael dukakis be far behind? (ooo, and in his tank and helmet, please.)
    9:39 pm Is it just me, or does Kerry look positively gleeful to be asked to portray McCain as a flip-flopper? “Before he debates Barack Obama, John McCain should finish the debate with himself.”
    9:43 pm Did they just bring out Barack Obama’s white uncle?!? Oh no they didn’t!
    9:47 pm Note to Senator Kerry: Dude! Where was this four years ago? If you had showed this much spine in 2004, we’d be having a very different convention right now.
    9:59 pm Palace intrigue? How funny would it be if Bill Richardson got bumped because Bill Clinton went 10 minutes too long.
    10:04 pm  Quite a short film from Spielberg and Tom Hanks. Worth watching if they post it.
    10:20 pm Joe Biden’s dad told him that the reason we fall down is to learn to pick ourselves back up. I think that means he is Batman.
    10:31 pm For the record, I had no idea Joe Biden wrote the Violence Against Women Act. Now, I did know that he called Slobodan Milosevic a war criminal to his face …
    10:35 pm Get Grandma Biden’s face on a stuffed animal. Cutest. Celebrity Grandma. Ever. (Except for that “bloody the bully’s nose” story. Little scary.)
    10:44 pm Does anybody get it? If you do an audience refrain, you *must* wait for the audience. Come on, people. Please.
    10:52 pm Joey is going to be quite the pit bull. Between that and the international affairs background, Biden’s shaping up quite nicely. Wish he brought more than three electoral votes, tho.
    10:58 pm Awwww. And the DNC even sought fit to invite the nominee. Isn’t that sweet?
    11:01 pm All joking aside, I love it when the families crash the podium. If only they could select slightly less obvious music than “We are Family.”

    tuesday night

    8:01 pm first sign tonight is going to have a much different tone, from Gov. David Patterson of New York: “If McCain is the answer, the question must be ridiculous.”
    8:15 pm second sign tonight is going to have a much different tone, from Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland: “Eight years [after the start of the Bush administration], what do they have to show for it? Surpluses squandered, our national reputation tattered, jobs lost.”
    8:24 pm anna berger (Change To Win, SEIU) should be harnessed as a military weapon … her voice could shatter reinforced steel.
    8:51 pm is a mayor of fairbanks, alaska *really* the best republican the dem’s could dig up? (update: he’s actually the mayor of a borough of fairbanks, not even fairbanks proper…)
    9:06 pm Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (of Kansas) ain’t all that. She makes McCain look like a Baptist preacher. No way she makes national office, and would have been a *horrid* veep.
    9:17 pm Another refrain of “We can’t afford more of the same…” I’m sensing a theme, here. Not terribly original, but a theme none-the-less.
    9:26 pm It just dawned on me … Joe Biden is from Scranton, Pennsylvania. Dunder Mifflin is in Scranton, Pennsylvania. I’ve never seen Joe Biden and Andy Bernard in the same room. Coincidence?
    9:42 pm If Mark Warner’s jaw was any more square and rugged, it would be classified as a mountain range.
    9:50 pm Nominee for quote of the day: “When we look around today, we see … an energy policy that says let’s borrow money from China to buy oil from countries that don’t like us.”
    9:52 pm Now, *there* is the theme they need to keep hitting: “This election isn’t about liberal vs. conservative. It’s not about left vs. right. It’s about the future vs. the past.”
    9:59 pm Who wrote Warner’s speech? Damn, brother should get a raise …
    10:11 pm  Gov. Deval Patrick (D-MA) just gave the third “shout out” of the Convention. We need to stop it with the “shout outs.” Pols just shouldn’t try to get “jiggy” wit da “lingo.”
    10:21 pm Is everyone on the planet from the southside of Chicago?!?
    10:33 pm The world needs more Brian Schweitzer’s in specific, and bolo ties in general.
    10:37 pm BWAHAHAH! The Hillary tribute video just featured Bill Clinton, and the only caption said “Hillary’s Husband.” Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
    10:41 pm I’ve loved Chelsea ever since that MTV inaugural ball where she gushed over Michael Stipe and 10,000 Maniacs.
    10:42 pm the lady sparkler is certain that Hillary’s had (at least one) face lift.
    10:52 pm Hillary just thanked “everyone in the 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the territories.” Damn it, D.C. get’s no love. *No* love at all.
    10:58 pm I (mostly) get the Hillary thing now. Once she got out of the thank you’s and into her stump speech, she became quite a speaker … and very eloquently told her supporters to stop yammering and get in line.

    monday night

    6:45 pm just started watching coverage on CNN.
    6:48 pm egads, it’s wolf blitzer! just stopped watching CNN. starting to watch “Family Guy” instead until convention coverage starts on PBS.
    8:05 pm i think that Jim Lehrer just referred to the next president of the united states as “beru.” as in, “aunt beru” from star wars. i don’t think that can be a good thing.
    8:22 pm early nomination for the most awkward moment of the convention: jimmy carter walks on stage, waves, walks off stage. you’d think if we trusted him with control of the nuclear football for four years, the dem’s would trusted him with a microphone for four minutes.
    8:33 pm second nomination for most awkward moment of the convention: somebody tell me why barack’s sister (Maya Soetero-Ng) wasn’t allowed to read her speech before she gave it.
    8:49 pm god, i love Jesse Jackson, Jr. now, only if his daddy would shut up.
    8:54 pm oh, that’s why carter wasn’t given a microphone … when asked by lehrer if obama had enough experience, carter said barack had more experience than he did when he was elected (ooof).
    9:16 pm carolyn kennedy taking the stage to the tune of “sweet carolyn.” i should be horrified by the cliche, but instead i’m getting my red sox garb.
    9:17 pm oh, god. why are they showing the kennedy’s at play on their yacht? are we trying to steal mccain’s $5-million-or-less middle class voters? let’s put him in a golf cart next, to seal the deal.
    9:27 pm ha! there’s the golf cart.
    9:33 pm damn, teddy looks and sounds good. can’t we find just one of the next generation of the kennedy clan who is fit for public office?
    10:04 pm   jim leach. glad he’s a republican. glad he supports obama. but, he sounds like kermit the frog.
    10:12 pm nominee for the soundbite of the evening from Leach: “This is not a time for politics as usual or for run-of-the-mill politicians. Little is riskier to the national interest than more of the same.”
    10:21 pm second nominee for the soundbite of the evening goes to Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri: “we’re not a red state. we’re not a blue state. we’re a united state.” (groan…)
    10:29 pm the lady sparkler is crying watching the michelle obama tribute video.
    10:37 pm the lady sparkler thinks michelle looks good. i’m a little nervous about her condi rice inspired hair cut.
    10:45 pm the lady sparkler is interested that “they” didn’t put michelle in a suit. i’m thinking she’s spoken in front of a crowd once or twice before …
    10:46 pm michelle spoke of military families saying grace with an empty place at the table for their deployed family. she’s gooood.
    10:47 pm … and *then* a shout out to hillary clinton. damn, that girl is crazy good.
    10:52 pm she’s got the entire audience in tears. i wish i had something snide to say, but i’m coming up a bit short … where is Cindy “20 year old face, 80 year old neck” McCain when you need her.
    10:58 pm one more nomination for most awkward moment of the convention: the satellite cameo by barack with his family. i know it was supposed to be cute, but *awkward*.

    man, i shouldn’t have watched … now i’m going to be really bummed when the republican machine rip the obama campaign to shreds.

  • “Chicago, Chicago, that toddlin’ town.”

    Quick trip to Chicago over the weekend, to see our favorite (and only) groomsmaid and hang in the big city with good friends. On Sunday, Chrissy and the lady sparkler spent some serious time bonding, so i got some quality time with my camera … first real use since Australia, and Chicago certainly isn’t wanting for subjects. Great weekend the whole way round.
    Explore the Photo Set:
    Photos: Chicago, Illinois

  • wait, the olympics aren’t over yet …

    unlike the rest of the world, the Olympics aren’t wrapping up this weekend for the lady sparkler and I.

    we’re only 200+ hours into the coverage, and have a solid 80 hours still to be watched on our tivo. (i know 200 hours sounds like a lot, but remember that one third of the coverage was commercials, and i swear another 20% was rowing or handball.)

    from what i have heard, every one seems to think that the games were a solid “A+” for China, and so far I absolutely to agree.

    unfortunately, i have started to hear some rumblings that the Olympics are starting to lose meaning. common talking points include:

    the Olympics are from a more simplistic time — Since the 1972 Madrid crisis, national politics have mattered nearly as much as the sporting events themselves, and this year the games were held in China despite their miserable human rights record.

    the Olympics promote rampant nationalism — there was an obsession about the total medal count (USA vs. China), an “our country is better than your country” measure if there ever was one. NBC’s coverage was pro-American to the point of being jingoistic (except for gymnastics, which was pro-Chinese once Al Trautwig finally shut up about the age of their women).

    maybe there is some truth to this, but it seems to me that this is a bit simplistic. each of us watch the Olympics and take away exactly what we want to:

    the internationalists see a great coming together of cultures to promote cooperation and understanding. the nationalists see a chance for us to prove our dominance in yet another arena. mommy-figure liberals see a reason to break out the kleenex box. daddy-figure conservatives see a reason to spend 2 weeks exploring the other 236 channels on their television.

    george w. bush sees a chance to be relevant (and human) again.

    sure, the coverage could be better. sure, the little sports (high jump, javelin, shooting) should get their due compared to the big sports (diving, beach volleyball, track). sure, tivo should be able to record all seven olympic channels at once and should be able to record more than 86 hours of coverage at once.

    but, in the end, it’s been a kick-butt two weeks … even ignoring Michael Phelps (which a dark, hidden side of me was trying to do after medal five or so). i discovered a version of the Star Spangle Banner doesn’t sound like the British drinking song that it is. i discovered that the Chinese know how to party, and are freaky good at coordinated dance moves.

    but, most poignantly, i discovered (finally) why every field hockey player i ever knew could crush me with their pinkie.

  • fenway park, south

    MVI_1583 — Originally uploaded by [ecpark]

    the red sox had a home game today in baltimore, maryland … with more red sox fans in attendance than they can even fit in fenway park north (i.e. the one in boston).

    you think i am exaggerating for effect, but:

    • there we no orioles fans in three rows below, six rows above, and one section to either the right or left. zip, zero, none.
    • two or three times an inning, the “lets-go-red-sox” chant would take over the stadium (see audio/video above). during the first two innings, a handful of orioles fans booed, but by the third inning they had all but given up.
    • red sox garb outweighed orioles garb (conservatively) by four to one. even in the season ticket seats down each baseline.
    • a sox bus tour in left field started “the wave” immediately after Jason Bay’s second homerun, and there were enough Sox fans in the crowd to sustain it for four or five circuits around the yard.
    • the only time i saw flash bulbs the whole night was when papelbon took the field in the 8th, and when they came there were enough for an olympics opening ceremony.

    i actually feel bad. it’s incrediably tough to be an orioles fan at these sorts of games — i followed the O’s myself for neigh on two decades, until i finally had my fill of peter angelos being nasty to d.c. — and the true fans must just stay home.

    as proof, some of the people behind us were kidding with one of the beer guys about how the only people who wanted beer in our section were the ones on the top row, but the beerman snapped back, saying: “i can’t wait until friday when the real fans come back.”

    the sad thing is he’s right … the fan’s just didn’t show, obviously biding their time until the sox (or yankees, who actually manage to have even more offensive fans) leave town. even the ushers looked beleagured.

    funny aside: we played “count the manny ramirez jerseys” today at the park and got up to just four. four! and he was only traded from the sox to the dodgers (for jason bay) three weeks ago.

    now, for reference … there were 200+ papis, 100+ papelbons, 20+ becketts/dice-ks/youks. there were even a dozen brand-spanking-new jason bay tops. but the manny jerseys have been euthanized from red sox nation.

    i’d wonder what that says about red sox nation’s feeling for manny, but i think it’s pretty apparent that it translates to “don’t let the door hit you in the !@#$@# on the way out.”

  • wanted: stupid, drunk people

    [Photo]
    ECPA20080816_1578, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    i don’t like picking on the d.c. government (mainly, because it’s not as bad as everyone makes it out to be) but tonight has temporarily pushed me over the edge.

    so, there was a sobriety checkpoint tonight, southbound on 16th street. southbound, as in going *into* the city. obviously, lots of people get drunk in residential areas on Saturday night and *then* drive into the city after midnight … as opposed to vice versa.

    interesting hypothesis, but not my main complaint: they setup the roadblock just past the exit for park road.

    for those of you playing at home, park road — which was left wide open — leads to (a) a residential neighborhood, (b) a great cut-through street for people going to the bars of georgetown, dupont and woodly/cleveland park, and (c) one block away from a road that will let you drive around the checkpoint entirely.

    to make matters worse, they put the “sobriety checkpoint” sign at the top of the block, to ensure that anyone who could read knew they should take this right.

    how drunk do you have to be to get caught by this checkpoint? were they hoping to catch drunk people who were leaving their homes, but weren’t going towards the clubs, who weren’t able to read, and were too upstanding to drive drunk through a residential neighborhood?

    who’d fall for that? was paris hilton in town? mark foley? Vito Fossella? the bush twins?

  • the olympics so far

    [Photo]
    National Aquatics Center aka Water Cube, originally uploaded by vivelavodka.

    a couple of observations from seven days of olympic coverage so far:

     

    • archery — these bows have technology that rivals most nuclear missle silos. where are the purists that are complaining about the competative advantage of the new swimming suits?!?

     

     

    • badminton — i some how managed to watch the u.s. lose all four of their competitions, and wasn’t able to muster much interest after that.

     

     

    • beach vollyball — i swear. i am rooting for the men’s teams as much as the women’s teams. really. i promise.

     

     

    • cycling — the woman’s road race was held in the worst rain storm i have ever seen. at one point towards the end, you couldn’t tell if they competitors were on a bicycle or a kayak.

     

     

    • equestrian — dressage (the sport of walking a horse around a ring) is the most ridiculous “human” competition i have ever seen. they should give the medals to the horses, not the people holding up the top-hats.

     

     

    • fencing — absolutely addictive. so far, this my curling for the beijing olympic games. bonus: the bulky outfits that the competitors wear helps “prove” that my interest in beach volleyball and field hockey have nothing to do with their sexy outfits.

     

     

    • field hockey — awesome. i never knew this sport existed, outside of seeing girls at my high school in their pleated skirts. the worst player for worst team could put me in a hospital with their pinkie. that’s my kind of sport.

     

     

     

     

    • shooting — my first “cheer out load” moment came when an american snagged the bronze in trap shooting. unfortunately, it happened to be while i was “multitasking” at work.

     

     

    • soccer — the men flamed out in the group stage, the women have advanced to the medal rounds. it’s nice to know that some things never change for the u.s. national teams.

     

     

    • table tennis — despite all of nbc’s attempts to glamorize this sport, it’s still ping-pong. it will *always* be ping-pong. except it doesn’t have beer. (not a good thing.)

     

     

     

    the serious winner from the olympics so far is the divine marriage of my tivo to the lady sparkler’s HD tv. it’s amazing how much difference the high-def “experience” actually makes, and (more importantly) how quickly you can watch a 24 hours worth of Olympic coverage when you “tivo” out the fluff pieces, the commercials, and the awful commentary…

  • nbc’s gymnastics commentators: a disaster of epic proportions

    just finished up the olympic women’s gymnastics team all-a-round competition … and we are *done* with the manic-depressive rantings that spew from nbc’s gymnastics commentators.

    update: for 2012’s NBC gymnastics coverage — live commentary is here, or follow on twitter.

    some snapshots:

    • when Alicia Sacramone fell on a floor routine, it was a “a catastrophe of epic proportions.”
    • when an men’s gymnast fell off the apparatus: “High bar 101, grab the bar.”
    • apparently, japan and romania’s women “don’t show the proper respect for the olympics” by enjoying themselves on the gym floor, and they would be ultimately unsuccessful because they were “unfocused” (romania went on to medal).
    • they won’t shut up about the age of the chinese gymnasts, saying at least three times that “nothing more need be said” about the controversy (if they would only *heed* this themselves).
    • when the chinese started their final routine: “Pick your measure of pressure and multiply it by one point three billion.”

    really, people. they weren’t negotiating a peace treaty. they weren’t transporting nuclear waste. this is a sport. frankly, Sacramone going to have all sorts of undeserved shrink bills even without your drama queen commentary. (we still love you, alicia…)

    turns out that we aren’t the only haters. their are tons of nasty commentary about NBC’s lousy commentary.

    anyway, we’re using the mute button from here on out.

  • beware restaurant week

    d.c. restaurant week has jacked it’s 3-course price fix from $30.08 to $35.08, but all this means is that it’s cheaper to eat off the regular menu. at tabaq, the parts of the meal — kabob ($16), grape leaves ($6), dessert ($6.5) — cost $7 less than the $35.08 “deal” they used to lure you in.

    Photo: View from Tabaq’s Roof, Washington, DC.

  • where are the pick-up trucks?

    [Photo]
    2008 Olympics Opening Ceremony by cavenli2008.
    i love the olympics, and have ever since the 1984 Winter Games in Sarajevo. i was nine, and sick at home, and my parents put a 2-inch portable black and white tv in my room, and i watched the games just about 24 hours a day.

    but the olympic moment i remember the most? it was the summer of 1996, and i was in moscow for a summer abroad program.

    it was horrifying.

    i missed much of the games, but happened to check into a moscow hotel during the opening ceremonies. we walked into the lobby, where a handful of russians were gathered around a tiny black and white green television.

    suddenly, on the tv a fleet of pickup trucks roared into Atlanta’s Olympic Stadium, with their truck beds filled with scantily clad cheerleaders. the russian men started howling, and we were looking for any rock, log, or carpet to crawl under.

    not an olympic ceremony goes by that i don’t marvel at how little culture our young nation actually has.

  • flexday: 83 degrees and sunny

    [Photo]
    ECPA20080808_1544, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    things have been a little hectic at the office with another huge technology project coming down the pike, so i’ve missed (or cut short) my last handful of flex days.

    fortunately, no one scheduled any meetings for me this Friday, so i was able to take the day and bike down to Haines Point and back. no where near as far as my last trip, but the 83 degrees (and low humidity) certainly made up for it …

    Explore the Photo Set:
    Haines Point, Washington, DC

  • exxon/mobil hijinks at nationals park

    exxon is all over the new nationals ballpark: their logo covers the left field wall, are regularly featured on the scoreboards that circle the stadium, rotate through the television ad behind home plate, and are the “official sponsor” of the seventh-inning stretch.

    normally, this wouldn’t raise an eyebrow (especially if the ballpark was in Texas) but considering that nationals park is the first stadium in the country to be certified (LEED) by the U.S. Green Building Council, there are more than a few allegations of green-washing.

    so, here’s the comedy of this good will campaign … tonight, in the break before the 8th inning, the stadium P.A. guy announced each ticket holder in one of the 100 sections would get a $50 gas card courtesy of Exxon/Mobil. people (obviously) rejoice.

    so, the stadium camera (which powers the 4,500 square foot high definition scoreboard in center field) zooms in on one of the lucky winners, but he’s *refusing* to take the card … and when the very confused stadium attendant persists, he finally takes the card and chucks it across the stadium. truly a moving sign of protest, right?

    well, mostly. right before the camera guy comes to his senses and turns away for this P.R. fiasco, in the background you see a group of people lunging for the air-borne gas card like it was a home run ball.

  • We Love D.C.

    Well, it’s been exactly one year since we moved to D.C. proper, after a combined 20 years of living around the periphery (well, I did 2 years in Glover Park, but that hardly counts). so, in the spirit of the new(ish) local blog We Love DC, the lady sparkler and I spent a walk through the neighborhood recounting why we love this place.

    National Zoo
    Denizens of Mount Pleasant refer to the Zoo as their “backyard” and in a lot of ways it is. I know more about the Prairie Dogs than I do some of my friends. Free summer concerts on lion hill, winter solace because the tourists stay away, spring babies, and the best fall foliage in the city.

    Free Stuff
    It’s easy to take this for granted, but we are reminded everytime we leave the city … everything in D.C. is free. From concerts, to movies on the mall, to museums, to monuments. The first time the lady sparkler and I went to NYC together, we just couldn’t shut up about the $18, $25, $30 tickets to see anything of culture. No wonder they are so grumpy up there.

    Kennedy Center
    Truely the greatest “monument” in D.C., the Kennedy Center presents an amazing array of theatre, music and culture to the city. Sure, we should give a shout out to the Woolly Mammoth, Arena, Signature and Shakespeare Theatres too, but the top class productions in D.C. are good enough to rival those of other major cities around the world.

    Food
    A decade ago, “food” would certainly not make an area top list, but D.C. is now home to quite a few decent restaurants. Maybe they aren’t the most daring menus on the planet, but the food is top-shelf and the service is legitimately okay. Going out, we have had as many great meals as we do mediocre, and that’s a step in the right direction.

    Urban Parks
    It’s hard to believe in a city, but we really have trees and parks all over the place. Rock Creek is enormous, and just about every intersection of the big avenues has a park of some kind. Large and small, these parks are one of the reasons DC-ites are out and about so much.

    RFK Stadium
    While a source of scorn for a lot of people who just don’t get it (D.C. United’s owners to name a few), RFK Stadium is the last great municipal stadium in use in the country, and one of the truest places to watch a ballgame in the country. No doubt: we will cry if it ever gets torn down.

    Meridian Hill / Malcolm X Park
    Parisian fountains in the middle of the District … who can argue with that? Almost by definition, spring starts in the city when the park’s fountains are turned on, and it plays host to everything from picnics to drum circles. The best news, is that ten years ago it wasn’t save to think about entering the park. Now? Oasis in the city.

    Mount Pleasant
    I loved Mount Pleasant before I even knew what it was. I got lost here in the late 90s and again in 2005, both times thinking it was the most beautiful neighborhood in the world. I’m here for the amazing. She is here for the farmer’s market. It’s a win, win.

    Now, the one reason we hate this place: no one stays here … in the last 4 months, we’ve lost a handful of our closest friends to Seattle, Boston and now Mississippi. Mississippi?!? When you start losing people to the deep south, you have to wonder how great your city actually is … but why we hate D.C. (politics, interns) is a posting for another day.

  • the cat and the coffee maker

    Emily the Catthe lady sparkler wanted a french press for as long as anyone could remember, and only the possession of an existing coffee pot stood in between her and her dreams.

    in the wee hours of monday morning, however, this caffeine-driven lust percolated into a plan … with shattering consequences.

    according to initial reports, late sunday night ms. sparkler slipped treats to one “Emily the Cat,” who then proceeded to destroy said coffee pot as part of her 3:30 am caterwauling. the victim, a solid yet uninspired resident of the kitchen, was apparently pushed off the silestone cliffs near the sink district onto the cold, slate flooring below.

    when apprehended, ms. the cat declined to comment. old crate and barrel gift cards, left over from ms. sparkler’s recent wedding, have already been mobilized as part of the relief effort.

    in other coffee related news, sparkler fan-favourite burkina boy has recently published a sustainable coffee guide on the web site of some leading conservation organization working to protect life, preserve nature, etc., etc., etc.

  • nso @ carter barron ampitheatre

    after ten years of trying, i’ve finally seem something at carter barron, d.c.’s outdoor ampitheatre that’s nary 15 blocks up rock creek. the program was superb, the conductor hilarious (in a David Schwimmer sorta way), and the accoustics were better than the kennedy center. well worth the wait.

    Photo Courtesy of National Park Service.

  • yet another rain delay/power outage/sign of the apocalypse for d.c. united

    D.C United vs Houston Dynamo, RFK Stadium, Washington, DC.

  • world team tennis comes to d.c. (who knew?!?)

    Washington Kastles vs. Delaware Smash, Kastles Stadium, Washington D.C.
    really, who knew such a thing existed … but apparently Washington now has a franchise (the “Kastles” annoyingly enough) in the three decade old “world team tennis” league.

    we only tripped on this because the D.C.’s home “stadium” (air quotes, the court is temporary and was constructed in the middle of a parking lot downtown) was used in the trials for the homeless world cup.

    the format is a stripped down version of tennis (first to five wins the set, first to four wins the game, no deuces/advantages) where each set is a different competition (men’s singles, women’s doubles, men’s doubles, mixed doubles, women’s singles). the team with the most sets/games wins.

    tragically, washington got whupped (by the 2 win, 10 loss delaware smash) so the two best parts of the evening had nothing to do with the matches:

    • first, in between sets there was a wii tennis match between an 8-year old and a member of the d.c. team where the kid got crushed.
    • second, half way through the final set of the match, the public address mis-announced washington player Sacha Jones (17-year old new zealander tennis prodigy) as Sasha Cohen (23-year old american gymnast or 36-year old british “borat” actor).

    all joking aside, it was a good time, and the organizers were obviously trying really, really hard to make sure everyone had a good time.

  • signs my wife could very well be a boy …

    with apologies to letterman, here are the top five signs the person you married might be a boy … (all said by the lady sparkler this week):

    5. "Awesome! You didn’t tell me the Tour de France was on — move over."
    4. "Of course you should get an iPhone!"
    3. "Dychenko is starting in midfield for D.C.? Oh, well … he can’t be worse than Gallardo."
    2. "I think Evan would make a great house-husband."
    1. "Hi, honey … I’m home. Can we play video games tonight?"

    as for the latter, after more than a little effort, the lady sparkler and i have beaten super mario galaxy through the first time in two-player mode. i completely sold her short, thinking she’d bail after the first couple of challenges.

    turns out she was totally addicted, and was literally bouncing up and down as we polished off the 100th challenge last night.

  • so, i know i’m the only one who cares …

    … but i had to share that I am in first place in my fantasy baseball league. i’m only two points up (out of 2908 points scored) and there is no way i will still be in first by tomorrow, so i’m going to tell anyone who will listen today before i begin the long slide back towards mediocrity.

  • lion king @ the kennedy center

    amazing considering, but i somehow avoided seeing The Lion King until today. A friend scored us tickets in 8th row center, and the experience matched the seats. The production values (lighting, costumes, choreography) were amazing. it’s nice to see creative stuff coming out of the great white way again.

    Photo courtesy of Disney’s Lion King.

  • when the lights go down in the city

    half of d.c. united’s stadium (rfk) lost power tonight, during a match against CD Guadalajara. the outage stopped play for 19 minutes, and freaked us out imagining the chaos if *all* the lights had gone out. united, who is trying to move to a new home that isn’t 47-years old, announced over the p.a. that this was “yet another reason we need a new stadium” … hmmm.

  • a perfect holiday weekend

    [Photo]
    ECPA20080706_1540, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    i’m almost embarrassed about how perfect a holiday weekend this was. little bit of everything … getting out, staying in, sports, animated movies, fireworks. granted, this will solidify my reputation as a 11 year-old boy, but i have no complaints.

    fireworks

    on the fourth itself, we snuck out of town to frederick, maryland for a party with a couple of friends, which featured their new best buddy … a frozen margarita machine. on the trip back into town, we saw three different fireworks displays from the interstate and still made it back in time to watch a re-run of the d.c. fireworks in high-def.

    wall-e

    once the right-wing blogs starting attacking pixar’s new animated feature — “leftist propaganda about the evils of mankind”, “90-minute lecture”, “liberal nonsense”, “Malthusian fear mongering” — i figured it had to be good, at it was … like “clear your calendars” good. or, “rent somebody’s children so you have a justification” good.

    orioles

    good friend lighting chick knits scored some 15th-row tickets to the orioles, so we made the pilgrimage up to camden yards. had a super, super great time … and could just about squeeze Texas hottie Josh Hamilton’s Charmin as he slid into third. now, the orioles are still on my blacklist ’cause peter angelos did everything short of sprouting horns and dancing with a pitchfork to prevent d.c. from getting a baseball team, but the orioles lost (shocking!) and every dime from my wallet went straight to the beer/sausage vendors.

    harry potter

    the last part of the weekend was also the most embarrassing: spindler and i tivo’d the first four harry potter movies — abc family was doing a marathon — and watched them over 12 hours on sunday afternoon. nary a single brain cell was exercised in the process of this remarkable achievement.

    if only every weekend was so good …

  • david, i love you!

    [Photo]
    ECPA20080629_1532, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    oh, my … where to begin.

    you’d think in washington, d.c. the hotest ticket in town would be some kind of political event, or maybe that tiger woods golf tourney happening out in bethesda next weekend.

    but with approval ratings in the toilet (congress is at 19%, the president at 29%) and tiger on his back with a bum knee … the hottest ticket in the district this summer (hands down) is the visit of super-fantastic-megariffic-star david “bend it like” beckham to our small corner of the footballing world.

    his trip to d.c. last year was a circus … and one which the lady sparkler and i opted to watch on the telly instead of braving the soccer-mom driven mania. this year was sure to be no different and — through a couple of tickets t.l.s. scored from work — we got to see it up close and personal.

    i’m not exactly a stranger to the beguiling charm of the english flavour of football (or “footy” as the lady sparkler has taken to calling it…) but the national obsession with the chiseled greatness that is mr. beckham has me more than a little puzzled.

    sure, i can understand 12 year-old girls screaming … and MAYBE we can extend that to their 40 year-old moms. but, the place was packed with 25-35 year old men with mint-edition beckham branded l.a. galaxy unis … shouting out adulation, and snapping pics. and remember, this is d.c. — it’s not exactly a home game for a team from los angeles.

    i’m a 25-35 year old male and, while i am not so ego-tastic to speak for a whole decade of humans, i must say that i remember far more lows in “the david’s” career (thrown out of 1998 World Cup, lackluster showing in 2002 and 2006 Cups, flipping off fans at Euro 2000, benchings by two of the greatest coaches of this age) than i remember his highs.

    so while i respect david for his 100+ appearances for the national team, and for his collection of early club championships — that’s enough for me to hope he does well in the States, but not enough to drop $70 on an spanking new beckham jersey and scream at him like a little girl.

    speaking of which, the funniest moment of the day was shortly after we arrived with some of the lady sparkler’s co-workers … we were poking fun of the whole scene, when someone from two rows back, right behind out heads, shouted “DAVID, I LOVE YOU!”

    unfortunately, we just *lost* it.

    oh, right. the game. d.c. crushed them. beckham looked miserable (as a proper brit should, playing footy .. during the summer .. in 98-degree weather .. in an american swamp).

  • homeless world cup

    [Photo]
    0628081034c.jpg, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    lately, i’ve been looking for something (really, pretty much *anything*) to redeem my faith in the larger human race. but, this morning, i’m glad i got out of bed …

    now, the great thing about sports is the (near) universal appreciation of the stories behind the competition … so long as you know where to look.

    for every $15-million slugger that dopes his way to the home run record, there is a $600,000 baller for the Celtics who overcomes homelessness on the way to win a NBA championship. for every perfectly-formed sprinter turned out by the u.s. track and field machine, there is a 41 year-old South African dissident who overcomes two shattered knees to break a world record at the World Pacific Games.

    never has this been more apparent, that this morning when we went to the u.s.a. trials for the homeless world cup (which is exactly what it sounds like: a (soccer) world cup where all the competitors are homeless).

    the tournament was started in 2001 by some activists for the homeless as a way to inspire the homeless to make positive life changes, and some 70% of past participants have gotten off the streets for good.

    the u.s. team is being selected this weekend, with a tournament down by the old convention center. city teams from across the u.s. are participating (atlanta, charlotte, minneapolis, new york, the district, austin, etc) with the the best players from each squad being selected for the trip to Melbourne.

    there weren’t many people in the crowd for the games we watched, but it was still an incredible experience. the talent and skill were way beyond what we were expecting, and it was pretty easy to see that the competitors were having the time of their life.

    if any of this is sounding interesting, the story of 6 participants in the 2006 Homeless World Cup has been turned into a documentary called kicking it (in theatres now). we’ll be there later this week …

  • the apocalypse

    [Photo]
    IMG_3515.CR2, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    i’ve been ruminating about this blog post for about two weeks now, which accounts for my recent lull in blog activity. and while it seems rude to start a global panic, i think we need to come to terms with the fact that the world is ending. like, tomorrow.

    just listening to npr this morning — my adoring wife’s daily ritual — makes a case for the pending apocalypse that’s at least as good as the case for increasing domestic oil production.

    let’s run through the major topics addressed as i refused to get out of bed this morning, hoping the world wouldn’t notice my absence … we’ve got:

    • flooding in the midwest
    • drought in the south, panhandle (drier than the Dust Bowl of 1930s)
    • fires engulfing california (two months earlier than usual)
    • earthquakes in china (69,000 dead)
    • cyclones in myanmar (138,000 dead or missing)
    • plants on European mountain ranges are moving up the mountain, searching for “higher ground”

    … and, lest we forget, people are killing each other in iraq, afghanistan, israel/palestine, and (it seems) most of sub-saharan africa and south asia — not to mention drug wars in central and south america.

    add this to what you and i already know:

    • gas prices are through the roof
    • home values are in the toilet
    • food staple costs are up 30% in the last year
    • the stock market has slid back to where it was in July of 1999
    • consumer confidence index is the third lowest since it began in 1952
    • presidential approval rating is at 28% (worst sans truman and nixon)
    • a whopping 14% believe our country is moving in the right direction (lowest ever)

    …and what al gore (the guy who invented the interweb) has told us:

    • the 11 warmest years on record have all been in the last 13 years
    • the number of Category 4 and 5 hurricanes has almost doubled in the last 30 years
    • the flow of ice from glaciers in Greenland has more than doubled over the past decade

    … and we’ve pretty well slept with the four horsemen of the apocalypse, and possibly tried to steal their girlfriends. we’ve got conquest, war and famine all sorts of angry. turns out there is even a good, old fashioned plague (locusts in massachusetts) which, in other news, can’t be a good omen for the democratic party.

    i was talking to a friend of mine about this “crazy like a fox” idea at lunch today, and it turns out that i am not the only one stockpiling water, duck tape and plastic sheeting. both abcnews and the associated press have come to similar conclusions … and both in the last month.

    now, looking at my own reaction — and running through what i remember of the five stages of grief — i have either skipped three stages (straight to depression) or am still in denial. actually, considering i have blacklisted all sources of news from my daily existence (npr, bbc, washington post, even those metro tabloids) i think i’m clearly in “kathleen harris running for public office”-level denial.

    that leaves anger (which’ll be easy!), bargaining, depression (that’s easy too!) and then acceptance. of course, all four together might be hard to get through by the time we turn into nothingness, like, tomorrow.

    p.s. if you are planning on being raptured, now would be a good time.

  • flexday: monuments, the non-postcard edition

    i’m getting a little bored with shooting d.c., so on this particular flex day i biked around the national mall … but i only brought the wide angle lens. some pretty interesting pictures happen when a wide lens forces you to change how you see the capital’s iconic monuments.
    Explore the Photo Set:
    flexday: monuments, the non-postcard edition

  • banner no. 17

    [Photo]
    Wow, it’s been 22 years since the last Championship, originally uploaded by Pink Knitter.
    well, it’s a good time to be a sports fan in boston.

    the red sox have won twice in four years. the patriots blew their chance to be a perfect 19-0. (oh, btw, i like all teams in new england *except* for the patriots.) the revolution lost their fourth major league soccer title game in six years. (oh, the revs … *hate* the revs, too.) and, the boston celtics just won their first championship in 22 years.

    now, i don’t want to say that the culture of new england has changed … but it has, so i guess that phrase was an empty blogging device.

    my father and i talked after the celtics won game four, in los angeles, to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the best of 7 series.

    if this was 2001 — with the red sox in an 80+ year drought and the celtics in a 15 year skid — new englanders would be talking in hushed tones about how the lakers were a great team who were the odds on favorites to come back and win, especially knowing *our* (ie. new england’s) luck.

    but, you throw three super bowl rings and two world series trophies into the mix, and these crazy yanks get down right cocky.

    talking to my father that night, he guaranteed — OUTLOUD! — that the celtics were going to win the championship, and odds-on it was going to happen in five games. needless to say, given my comparative old age and experience, i was looking for any piece of wood available to knock on.

    sure enough … my boy was right. he wiffed on the number of games — it was six not five — but a championship none-the-less.

    and all was well in beantown. again.

  • eugene onegin @ the kennedy center

    [Photo]
    Kennedy Center Foyer, originally uploaded by Andy961.
    being a russian studies major with a theatrical design minor, i am a sucker for russian opera. being a reasonably well-off white metrosexual male, i am a sucker for the kennedy center.

    so, when the n.s.o. had to discount tickets to their production because they weren’t selling — trouble selling a russian opera, who’s heard of such a thing?!? — we grabbed us some $25 tickets like the materialistic capitalist scum that we are.

    the production was sublime. eugene onegin — or ??????? ?????? for those people who took six semesters of russian that they don’t use and feel the need to show off to justify the time, pain and expense — is a tchaikovsky adaptation (the nutcracker guy did some opera, too) of a pushkin poetry classic.

    unlike the awful sanitized version of tchaikovsky’s swan lake — the one where the swan lives — eugene does bad things he actually pays for it. (the swan lives?!? really people, are we so devoid of vertebrae that every story has to have a happy ending?)

    actually, onegin’s demise is the story of russia itself: men behave like twits, women get royally screwed, men realize their error, women quickly marry the next guy they find (ie. before he can be a twit and, thereby, restart the opera).

    of course, this story arch serves as a stark contrast the classic story of america, where man screws up for 10 minutes, covers it up for 10 minutes, and then apologizes for 10 minutes.

    with this as background, it’s not hard to believe that russia has created great opera, while all we’ve managed to pull off has been “mad about you” and bill clinton’s life story.

  • our long national nightmare is over

    [Photo]
    Day 55 – Barack Obama Mural in Houston Texas (Houston Graffiti Art), originally uploaded by Marco From Houston.
    well, i don’t even know where to begin on this one…

    now, we weren’t exacty backing hillary in this horse race (tho admittedly we’d have voted for her as the nominee) but, as late april turned to mid may turned to early june, our patience with hillary’s mathematical chances to secure the nomination started to wear a bit thin.

    once it became clear that the her only chance for nomination rested on convincing superdelagates to vote against their constituencies, i (for one) started to flip out … ’cause overruling the populace isn’t something *we* do, that’s something the opposition does.

    now, i’ll give hillary mad props for toning down her rhetoric as this dragged on … but the notion that her supporters would threaten to boycott the general election (bad form) or vote for McCain (worse) because of how “poorly” they/hillary were treated?!?

    ick.

    the view from here was that hillary was giving just as much as she was getting … and not necessarily in that order. actually, our “insider” circles were *rife* with tales of hillary supporters linguistically kneecapping fellow party members with threats of reprisals if they took the “wrong” side and she pulled off the win in extr innings.

    it is the very peak of sad that, at the time we should all be celebrating *whichever* pioneering nominee came out on top, we are instead debating recriminations and writing bitter blog posts.

    sigh.

  • food, food, food, and baseball

    [Photo]
    Nationals Park from Left Field, originally uploaded by BostonCityWalk.
    the va parkers came to town, and we used the occasion to make our inaugural pilgrimage to the new washington nationals baseball stadium.

    the stadium is very, well, washington dc … it’s beautiful, but concrete, but monumental, but sort of industrial. as far as i can tell, there is not a bad seat in the house, and everything feels close to the field.

    but all of this misses the point … which, oddly enough, is the food.

    the nats signed contracts with 10+ local independent businesses, including ben’s chili bowl, giffords’ ice cream, five guys hamburgers, red hot and blue barbecue, mayorga coffee, capitol city brew, and hard times chili. that’s a season full of grub, without going back to the same trough twice.

    oh, for what it’s worth, the nats lost. again. they kept it close though, albeit 0-0, until san francisco’s seven hitter whacked a grand slam in the eighth. after that, it as business as usual.

  • wall photos: wedding

    [Spindler/Parker Wedding, Washington, DC. (Sarah Voisin, Photographer)]
    [Spindler/Parker Wedding, Washington, DC. (Sarah Voisin, Photographer)]
    [Spindler/Parker Wedding, Washington, DC. (Sarah Voisin, Photographer)]
    [Spindler/Parker Wedding, Washington, DC. (Sarah Voisin, Photographer)]

  • photos: membership retreat, annapolis, maryland

    [Photo]
    ECPA20080604_1491, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    Explore the Photo Set:
    membership retreat, annapolis, maryland

  • too much free time. more playoffs, please.

    [Photo]
    Kevin Garnett, Boston Celtics, originally uploaded by Paul Keleher.
    so, my father is a lockdown celtics fan.

    now, i often say that i don’t remember anything before 7th grade (which is sad, yet still true) but, due to my father’s Boston brand of religion, some of my best childhood memories involve the celtics, including:

    1. my father sneaking us into the old Garden, and then sweet-talking the staff after we got caught. the parquet playing floor wasn’t down because of a Boston Bruins game, but those Championship banners were sure up in those rafters.
    2. watching the Celtics win Game 7 of the ’84 finals against Los Angeles, giving them Championship #15. To this day, I still hate that whole squad of Lakers, especially Kurt Rambis. (sorry, Nadav…)
    3. “havlicek stole the ball!” actually, that wasn’t a childhoold memory (because I was born almost 20 years, to the day, later) but CBS used to play it over and over anytime the Celtics made the playoffs … to the theme from “Terms of Endearment,” no less.

    of course, with said favorite memories, came some of my least-favorite childhood memories, too:

    1. waking up after the ’88 division series loss to the Pistons, realizing that the Celtics just weren’t the “Celtics” anymore. (which would have been revealed a year earlier if not for a last second gaff by the Pistons.)
    2. len bias.

    i was seventeen when Larry Bird retired, and the Celtics launched a 15-year “forgettable” streak. over that span, they had only three winning seasons, three playoff series, and just two players named to an All-Star team. last year, they lost 58 games and won just 24.

    but, everything change this summer, when Celtic GM danny ainge — who was in contention for “worst GM ever” until that point, which is saying something considering recent Celtic history — pulled of the steal of a lifetime by snagging Kevin Garnett from Minnesota.

    now, i watched the Celtic’s new “big three” during the regular season, but i knew they were going to choke … so didn’t get too attached. in fact, i was more optimistic about the Red Sox’ chances in 2004 … and they were facing down 86 years of history, not a pedestrian 20.

    however, once the Celtics made the playoffs, we started watching. and watching. and watching.

    and yes, that was “we” — as in the lady sparkler’s been watching, too. and she’s been screaming at the television when Ray Allen bricks another three. and she’s been twitching non-stop during every road game waiting for the choke to come. and she’s been wondering how Paul Pierce became the team hero when Kevin Garnett has him beat in every major stat category except assists.

    at this point, the lady sparkler and I are guessing that we have seen 15 of the 20 playoff games so far, for 50+ hours of basketball. there has been a game just about every other day since the end of April. which brings us to why I am blogging about this today … there hasn’t been a game for four days. and won’t be one until the finals start this Thursday.

    basically, we are in withdrawal.

    All day Sunday, i felt like i was missing something … and it didn’t go away until I realized that I would have been watching Game 7 had they not clinched two days earlier. today, i felt like i needed to do something when i got home. but no. it was just an even number of days since the last game.

    and so we wait.

    and it sucks. and i can’t imagine what it’s like for someone (like my father) who’s been around for all the rest of the 16 championships, 20 conference titles and 26 divisional titles, and has had to wait 20 years for the next glimmer of hope … because the anticipation is just *killing* me.

  • regina spektor @ the national mall

    [Regina Spektor, The National Mall, Washington, DC.]
    the whole show was a little “off.”

    it was part of the Israel@60 celebration on the mall, so it was a limited set to an age-diverse audience where no one over the age of 35 knew any of the songs … so, even through they were extremely appreciative in between songs, it wasn’t really a “participatory” crowd.

    we also felt a little unsettled from being (seemingly) the only people there who didn’t have a strong religious/ideological reason to attend, compounded by the fact that i’m pretty sure that i was the only one there who had spent any extended amount time in Syria.

    oh, and the panel truck continually circling the mall while plastered with pro-palestinian propaganda didn’t helping us feel very comfy, either.

    anyway, two songs in regina forgot the lyrics to the song she was singing … which (fortunately for her) was the song making the Adult Alternative radio rounds at the moment, so the crowd just sang parts of it without her. (later, she blamed the dual pressure of performing for an event for Israel while in the shadow of the Capitol building.)

    she plowed through the rest of the show without incident, but it wasn’t quite the intimate, personal concert that she’s known for … so, i’m going to chalk this one up to being a missed opportunity and try and see her live in a more conventional setting.

    SET LIST: Bobbin’ for Apples, On the Radio, That Time, One More Time with Feeling, Ghost of Corporate Future, Apres Moi, Better, The Flowers, Poor Little Rich Boy, Ain’t No Cover, Fidelity, Us, Summer in the City, Samson, Hotel Song

  • flexday: pedaling to great falls

    [Photo]
    lock house, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    it’s officially the start of summer, because i start “flexing” every other friday. the deal at work is this: we still have to put in our 10 days worth of hours, but if we can do it in 9 days, we get every other friday off.

    now, about 90% of me wanted to stay home, sleep, eat, play wii, etc … but with 72 degree weather, and working for an organization with “nature” in the title, it seemed like the slacking could wait until those 102 degree days in July.

    so, i hopped on my bicycle, and headed up the C&O Canal Towpath that runs along the Potomac towards West Virginia. The trail head is four hilly miles from our place but, once on the path, it’s mercifully flat for the rest of the 35 mile round trip.

    there really are about ten days out of the year where D.C. is the most beautiful place on earth, and i just got lucky with one of them.

    Explore the Photo Set:
    Cycling to Great Falls, Maryland (and back)

  • found the water heater, finally

    [Photo]
    found the water heater, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    after a week of searching, we found the water heater … and i snagged these never-before-seen pictures through a three inch hole in a cabinet only findable after removing the refrigerator.

    if you look at this picture from when we moved in, the water heater is to the right of the refrigerator, under the marble counter top.

    it’s startlingly hard to believe who would think it was a good idea to completely enclose the water heater with cabinets, marble, and 2 exterior walls (less the 3 inch hole blocked by the fridge, of course) … but at least we found it and it doesn’t look too, too ancient.

  • Sports Night at the “Juice Box”

    [Photo]
    ECPA20080524_1332, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    We’re in Houston for Memorial Day/the lady sparkler’s Birthday, and spent last night with Nadine and Nadav at Minute Maid Park. (the lady sparkler’s parents had a prior engagement to see Pink Martini.) Great park, great game … which Houston won 4-3 by gunning down the tying run at home plate, with the bases loaded, for the final out.

    Speaking of sports, i just read a story out of Washington State where a senior softball player in her final game blew her ACL after hitting a home run, and was carried around the bases by the opposing team. Incredible. I cried like a baby.

    Speaking of crying like a baby, the only other time i’ve gotten misty during SportsCenter was a segment about an autistic teen who scored 20 points off the bench in the first and only basketball game of his high school career. (turns out that segment was nominated for an Emmy, so i wasn’t the only one bawling, fwiw.)

    (p.s. insert your “evan/girl” or “the lady sparkler/pants” jokes in the comments.)

    Explore the Photo Set:
    Astros v Phillies, Minute Maid Park, Houston, Texas

  • i seem to have misplaced the hot water heater

    [Photo]
    ECPA20080522_1319, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    your not going to believe this, but we can’t find our hot water heater. you would think this would be something that would be hard to miss, especially in a 700 sq. ft. apartment, but it appears that we are “special” people.

    last summer when we moved in, our building inspector came in and showed us around the place. he talked us through the a/c, the furnace, the annoying glass-top stove, etc. about half way through, he said “oh, it looks like you guys have communal hot water, so there must be a building-wide water heater down in the basement.”

    we didn’t think anything else about it.

    … until yesterday. for reason’s too boring to explain, I was emailing with some people from the condo board (more on that later) and asked how the communal hot water worked.

    they said there was no communal hot water.

    so, i just came home and started looking around for where a hot water heater might be stashed. looked in the closets. looked in the laundry. looked through a this weird, tiny little 9″ x 9″ access hatch located behind our refrigerator (actually, it was too small to look, so i stuck a camera through and took the picture above.)

    nothing. not just that, but i honestly don’t know what to do next.

    in other news, the reason i was emailing with the condo board members was because they saw fit to elected / appoint me to the board three days ago. a board member was itching to get off — he had moved out of the building and is now renting his place out — and i was a warm body who didn’t know better to say no.

    the funny punchline to this is that they asked me to be the treasurer. now, for those of you who don’t know a thing about me … i’ve never been paid to manage a budget, haven’t taken a math class since 1991, and had a legitimate shot of being a triple Theater / Russian / Geology major. (notice the one thing in common? no math.)

    anyway, i agreed to serve on the board, but politely turned down the treasurer position, saying that we would be open to a “gross negligence” lawsuit if i said yes. volunteered to be secretary, or internal communications specialist, or streak through the hallways naked … basically anything that didn’t involve math.

    *sigh*

  • wine in the woods

    [Photo]
    DSCN5734, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    Explore the Photo Set:
    Wine in the Woods, Columbia, Maryland

  • wow, we really are married …

    [Photo]
    facebook, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    funny that it hasn’t sunk in before now, with the life insurance policy, the joint bank accounts, the house, the mortgage, all the name change paperwork she filed, and (not to mention) that whole ceremony/reception/honeymoon thing, but …

    … it turns out we really are married.

    what made me realize this was, tonight, when i noticed the lady sparkler’s name change application to “facebook” had finally been accepted (they hand-review each name change to limit fraud).

    funny that i lobbied her to *keep* her old name, and have so far kept up my boycott by continuing to scream “Spindler!” at her, regardless. she’s been unswayed, however, and i guess if facebook sees us as mr. and mrs. parker, who’s to argue?

  • day of amusement

    [Photo]
    0510082012.jpg, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    the lady sparkler and i went down to williamsburg, to visit my parents … and we spend Saturday at busch gardens europe, which (if you are from out of town) is pretty easily the best reason to visit the ‘burg.

    spindler hadn’t been to an amusement park in 10 years, and i am pretty sure it had been 8 for me. we hit all five roller coasters — and then some — and had a blast. as for the picture, it’s pretty obvious to say that you had a good weekend if you are smiling on the “teacups.”

  • spring has (preliminarily and tentatively) sprung

    [Photo]
    panda-porn, pt I, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    i have to lead with the panda-porn, well, just because … but this is actually only the third best thing we saw while we soaked up spring in our backyard (a.k.a. the national zoo).

    in second place, we saw a river otter do 50+ flip turns in the five minutes we were watching. he just kept going and going. i’m thinking maybe we need to put in for a bigger pool for him … maybe something Olympic sized.

    the pièce de résistance was seeing an orangutan actually use the so-called “o-line” around and above the Zoo. now, i have been coming here rather steadily since moving to D.C. eleven years ago, but i have never seen any animal actually using those cables they have strung above the sidewalks near the ape house. today? there they were … and they even dropped poo on the tourists.

    truly, a perfect day.

    Explore the Photo Set:
    National Zoo, Washington, D.C.

  • fresh paint in the living room

    [Photo]
    fresh paint in the living room, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    it’s officially spring, because the lady sparkler and i got the urge to start painting things, “recycling” anything that isn’t walking, and then rearranging what’s left.

    first up was paint: the lady sparkler found a green that she loved in the pottery barn paint collection … which we dutifully poached and had the d.c. home depot match for $20/gallon less.

    while we were painting, we put the couch under the windows to get it out of the way … and then liked it so much that we kept it there. during move-in last summer, we weren’t terribly happy with how we had the living room, and this setup is much, much better.

    in other news … we took two massive loads of stuff to good will, including about a third of our books (we sold another 40 online). you wouldn’t believe how big the second bedroom looks now 🙂

  • finally, wedding photos …

    [Photo]
    i know these have been a long, long time coming … but we finally uploaded all of the wedding photos. (that’d be the “royal we” for those of us enjoying the notion of the lady sparkler, a mac, and 700+ digital photos).

    we just uploaded the images to flickr, so hopefully they will be easy to navigate. also, as you are browsing through … if you see a photo you like just click through to the individual image page and you can either download the high-res image file for yourself (the “all sizes” button) or buy a print to be shipped to you by one of flickr’s partners (the “prints & more” button).

    i know that i am required by marital law to say this but, even after six months of hindsight we had such an incredible time at the wedding, and i think the pictures do a great job of capturing that. food, friends, family, honeymoon. ah, perfection.

    poke around, and let us know what you think.

    p.s. we have to give serious props to Sarah Voisin who did all the photography. we couldn’t be happier …

    Explore the Photo Set:
    Spindler/Parker Wedding, Washington, DC

  • earth day 2008: done, done aaaaand done

    happy arbor day!

    well, i made my goal to plant 200 trees thanks in large part to a late flurry of my former hippie co-workers. (former => co-workers, they are all still hippies.)

    a big thank you to everyone who donated … you helped a great cause that i truly believe in, and have helped me do something (personal fund raising) i have never, ever done before.

    with that in mind, i gotta say … these last 3 weeks have really changed my world view on how to raise money.

    first, i have a new found respect for the people I know who raise lots of money for hikes, walks and such. it isn’t easy to sell your friends and family on a cause, even one you love … and I was only looking for $200. i can’t imagine fund raising for a $3,000 walk.

    second, as someone who does online fundraising for a living, i’ve been to tons of conferences where people sell this type of “friends-asking-friends” as the future of modern american online fundraising. all i can say is “hooey.” or “pthbthbthbthbt.” or some other onomatopoeia of your choice.

    to begin with, it’s *hard.* a lot of people (me!) don’t like to ask for money. writing just four blog entries pitching the cause was excruciating. also, there is a very vocal group who *really* don’t like to be asked for money, either. (granted i run with a snarky lot, but still …)

    imho, the benefit of doing this sort of campaign is the way it can energize an organization’s base, and as a great way to spread it’s message to new people. it’s hard to believe that some day organizations will get the bulk of their funding from a process that is so draining for half the personality-types on the planet.

    but all this is water under the bridge … 15 *great* people steped up and give their hard earned moolah to plant trees in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest. hopefully, we’ve helped jump start the Plant a Billion campaign, which has — in just three weeks — raised enough to funds to plant 276,080 trees.

    p.s. the “chevy” widget above isn’t actually green-washing (entirely?) … the nature conservancy get $1 to plant a tree each time someone grabs the widget for their web site or social network page. you’d think that would be better highlighted somewhere …

    p.p.s. now, i return you to your regularly scheduled blog without substance.

  • this could be a post about earth day, but wait … it actually *IS* a post about earth day

    One dollar, one tree, one planet.

    it’s been a long run up to earth day — work, work, work — so, much like at the wedding, y’all are going to have to make due with the loosely-affiliated ramblings of a distracted man.

    (stream of conscious, #1)

    happy earth day! speaking of which …

    (stream of conscious, #2)

    i want to say a very special thank you to those who have donated to support my Plant a Billion Trees campaign so far. speaking of which …

    (stream of conscious, #3)

    i just realized i have no way of finding out who you are unless you tell me. so, if you donated feel free to toot your own horn in the comments. speaking of which …

    (stream of conscious, #4)

    easily my favorite comment so far:

    aight, aight, I planted some damn trees. ya happy now?

    this morning, i was a *weeeeee* bit down because i’m not likely to make my self imposed deadline of 200 trees by earth day, but this comment — and the obviously righteous and noble passion for conservation that pours from each syllable — has inspired me to push on. speaking of which …

    (stream of conscious, #5)

    great news! I have decided to extend my personal campaign for Plant a Billion Trees through Arbor Day. you obviously wanted more of my great posts on the Atlantic Forest of Brazil, and i obviously don’t want to fail horribly on my first attempt at direct fund raising. speaking of which …

    (stream of conscious, #6)

    arbor day is this Friday, so you have three more days to help me plant 200 trees. then, it’s a whole lot more snarkiness, and a whole lot less convincing you to support a worthy cause. speaking of which …

    (stream of conscious, #7)

    I love you guys … 🙂

  • This could be a post about Kathleen Edwards @ the Birchmere

    [Photo]
    0414082140.jpg, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

    … but, alas, i am still 139 trees short of my goal to plant 200 trees in brazil’s atlantic rainforest by earth day.

    so instead, let me show you a little clip about the rainforests of brazil. did you know that they are home to over 1/3rd of brazil’s plant and animal species?

    tropical birds, pink and gray river dolphins, manatees, spider monkeys and jaguars all find their home here, alongside brazil’s ancient indigenous communities who have lived in these forests for hundreds of years.

    donate $10 to the plant a billion trees campaign, and you can be a part of the solution for brazil *and* for climate change … people like you have raised almost 200,000 trees worth in just the last two weeks!

  • kathleen edwards @ the birchmere

    kathleen-edwards-live-041408
    great concert. favorite parts? hard to pick them out, but:

    1. at one point, she was rocking her guitar so hard, it came unplugged, and she didn’t notice until her husband plugged it back in after a couple minutes;
    2. she forgot to pee before the show started, so darted off during a guitar solo, took care of business, and ran back;
    3. she confessed a celebrity crush on hockey enforcer Marty McSorley, and described all the things she would do to him if he agreed to help her with the video of one of her songs.

    SET LIST: mercury · in state · what are you waiting for · asking for flowers · run · copied keys · i make the dough, you get the glory · 12 bellvue · alicia ross · i can’t give you up · buffalo · six oclock news · summer long · good things · oil man’s war · the cheapest key · goodnight, california · back to me

  • This could be a post about the Sakura Matsuri Street Festival

    [Photo]
    0412081159.jpg, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

    This would normally be a post about the “experience” the lady sparkler and I just had wandering around the Sakura Matsuri Street Festival in downtown D.C.. The place was ripe with bloggable points — including scores of women in those oh-so-authentic-komono-tops you buy at oh-so-japanese stores like Kmart; not to mention 800 lb. boys in anime costumes and 800 lb. girls with green and purple hair in Japanese school girl outfits …

    But alas, I haven’t raised enough money to plant 200 trees.

    So, instead, let me tell you more about the Atlantic forest of Brazil which is where The Nature Conservancy is working to Plant a Billion trees.

    Five hundred years ago, the Atlantic Forest of Brazil covered approximately 330 million acres (about twice the size of Texas), but today more than 93% of this forest has been cleared and what remains is highly fragmented. The remaining 7% of the Atlantic Forest is still among the biologically richest and diverse forests in the world and exhibits a high number of species that can be found nowhere else on Earth.

    Help me restore 2.5 million acres of forest in some of the most beautiful and pristine rainforests left on earth. If that isn’t convincing, help me restore this blog to the substance-less place of wit and snarky-ness that you love so much.

  • earth day 2008: help me plant a billion trees

    I’m not a big fan of asking people for money (It’s ironic, given my line of work) but this year is a little different, because …The Nature Conservancy just launched a campaign to Plant a Billion Trees.

    This campaign is big — that was billion with a “b” — but replanting tropical forests can have an even bigger effect on climate change.

    Together, our trees will remove 10 million tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere every year, which is like taking 2 million cars off the road.

    So, here is where you come in:

    1. Donate $10 — I’ve set a goal of raising $200 from the dozen or so people who know this blog exists (click here to donate to my campaign). That’s a mighty big goal from such a modest audience, but I have faith that you guys won’t let me embarrass myself. It’s the cost of two lattes, one movie ticket, half of a parking ticket … heck, you probably have more loose change in your couch.
    2. Plant a Widget — Planting a billion trees is going to take a lot of help, so let your friends know by downloading the Plant a Billion widget. It’s flash, looks wicked cool, and you can drop it painlessly onto your blog, facebook page, or any other place you hang your hat on the web.

    If step two is confusing, feel free to just do step one twice. 😉

    And, just like NPR, this is all I am going to talk about between now and Earth Day — that’s April 22, 2008 for the uninitiated — so the quicker you we get this over with, the quicker we return to the regular wit and candor you have come to know and love.

    I love you guys.

  • wii would like to play (a.k.a. geek nirvana)

    miimage.jpg
    photo courtesy of [ecpark]
    yup. kind of creepy.

    so, the family bought me a wii for my birthday this year … the vermont parkers have one, the virginia parkers have one, and there was this notion that we might be able to play together if i got one too (and then quietly explain to everyone how to hook them up together via the interweb).

    i think this is the first time in recorded history that i have been the last adopter of new technology in my family. what’s even more strange is that the lady sparkler (a) comes home from work and wants to play wii as soon as she walks through the door, and (b) invites other people to come over to play with my video game console … and they are (gasp!) even female.

    truly, i have entered some strange parallel universe where geeks get the hot chicks, everyone speaks Klingon, and the varsity a/v club slams the basketball team into the lockers everyday after gym. oh, and everyone in this magical land of dork-dom speaks only in movie quotes, uses their windows computer as a doorstop, and tina fey was just elected president.

    ahhhh, it’s good to be home.

  • wall photos: australia

    [Great Ocean Ecolodge]
    [Cape Dombey]

  • Duke Wins (barely), Baylor Loses (badly), Planet continues spinning unimpressed

    [Photo]
    0320081650.jpg by [ecpark]
    it’s that time of the year again, when a young man’s fancy turns to basketball.i bought tickets to the first round games in D.C. for my brother’s birthday gift last year, so he came down for the games this weekend. out of shear luck, his favorite team (duke) got seeded into the d.c. bracket, so he is in 27th heaven (which also means that i can give him crappy presents for the next couple of years with impunity.) it also turns out that the lady sparkler’s alma mater (baylor) is playing in the d.c. part of the tourney, too … so everyone has someone to root for but me.

    my alma mater (william & mary) has not appeared in the ncaa tourney yet despite 80 years of trying, and my favorite team (maryland) just crashed out of the tourney-wannabe (N.I.T.) this afternoon. in a purely sociological experiment, i decided early on to root for the teams with the best looking cheer/dance squad. i am sad to report that this turned out *not* to be the way to go as my teams went 1 for 4. (although i must say i was *much* less stressed about the games’ outcomes then the rest of my Baylor-, Georgia- and Arizona-rooting friends.)

    baylor actually played quite well. they took good shots, and held their own defensively, but the ball simply never bounced their way. their opponent, purdue, were chucking balls at the basket without looking and scoring left and right. not much you can do when you are up against a team having that kind of a day, unfortunately.

    duke, on the other hand, nearly screwed the pooch (pardon my french, of course) and ended up just one point shy of losing to the 6th worst team in the tourney. they shot 28% from three-point range, and their regular-season leader in points had just one field goal in 29 minutes. only guard gerald henderson saved duke from the abyss — with 21 points, seven rebounds and five steals.

    anyway, in the end … duke won, baylor lost, and evan embarrassed himself by picking the losers better than the winners. all is as it should be.

  • last photo in australia

    [Photo]
    ECPA20080314_4965 by [ecpark]
    Austalia (Day Twenty) — Well, this trip didn’t quite end how I expected. Everything I read, and everything I knew, pointed to Melbourne being my type of city … certainly when compared to the yet-another-big-city in Sydney.

    I can count on exactly one finger the number of “first” cities I like (New York) and wasn’t planning on this being any different. So, I was a bit surprised when I found myself picking out curtains in Sydney after being decidedly ho-hum about Melbourne.

    Granted, I crammed a LOT into my 30-hour Sydney experience, including the Bridge, a tour of the Opera House, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Observatory Hill, a beach (Manley), two ferry rides and one of the best opera performances I have seen in the last five years (La Boheme at said Opera House).

    In the end, the Sydney / Melbourne question went a lot like the rest of the trip: all the greatest stuff came when we weren’t expecting it, and for entirely different reasons than we expected.

    The best city was the afterthought (Sydney). The most time was needed at the place we had the least (Tasmania). The best part of the Great Ocean Road wasn’t actually part of the Great Ocean Road (Adelaide to Port Fairy). The best part of my Australian vacation was the work. Even with all the spectacular vistas, the best part wasn’t the parks but the people.

    In the next couple of weeks, I will pull my thoughts together on the trip as a whole … and try and distill all the best bits. But until then, I think it is a fair say that this was far and away the best three weeks of travel in *my* short lifetime, and while Belize was paradise on earth, Australia is where I will be packing my bags for if I ever get the means.

    Explore the Photo Set:
    Sydney, Australia

  • travel: sydney harbour

    [Photo]
    IMG_4376 by [ecpark]
    Austalia (Day Nineteen) — Well, the lady sparkler’s back home and I just flew into Sydney after six days in the South West. The trip out was simply amazing, but I have a little over 3,500 images to sort through before anything gets posted. So, until then … here are a couple of Sydney-at-night pictures to tide us over.
    Explore the Photo Set:
    First Night in Sydney, Australia

  • travel: cricket in 3,482 simple steps

    [Photo]
    IMG_0739, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    Australia (Special Edition) — I never thought I would say that the U.S. needed yet another professional sport, but we are missing out on one: Cricket. Sure, the rules are obtuse, the matches long, the fields required enormous, but the lady sparkler and I must have watched parts of half a dozen matches or more, and loved every minute of it.

    The sport is nothing like American baseball, but the easiest way to explain it is through that terminology. (A new Aussie friend of ours explained that you can tell when an American understands Cricket because they start getting offended when the baseball analogy is made.)

    Basically, there are two batters (batsmen) who don’t bat as much as they protect the wicket (three croquet mallet handles stuck in the ground behind each of two home plates) from pitchers (bowlers) who hurl wooden balls trying to knock the wickets over.

    There are “outs,” which comes if the bowler knocks down the aforementioned wicket, or the batsman makes a batting error (hits the ball to one of the outfielders, or uses something other than his bat to strike the ball). Two batsmen are on the field at once, and each stays until he is out once, scoring as many runs are possible. All members of one team bat before the other has their go.

    Runs are scored when the ball is hit well enough that the two batsmen can exchange places. There are even two types of home runs (6 runs if the struck ball clears the park without touching the ground, and 4 runs if it just dribbles over the boundary). Good batsmen can score one hundred — or more — runs in a match.

    There really isn’t the downtime here that you have in baseball, with nearly constant action through the whole match (except for when they break for tea, of course). Because each player does their batting all at once, there is a better opportunity for a “dual” to develop between batsman and bowler. Also, when the batsman or bowler is having a good go of it, there is a sort of “king-of-the-mountain” tension that develops as well.

    The greatest thing about the game is that it is watched here by all kinds, though women do seem to roll their eyes when it is discussed at the dinner table.

    Explore the Photo Set:
    Melbourne, Australia

  • melbourne olympic stadium

    [Melbourne Olympic Stadium]
    with an apparent genetic predisposition to sneaking into sports venues, the lady sparkler and I talked our way into the Melbourne Olympic Stadium today.

    being an Olympiphile (sounds dirty, huh?) I wasn’t going to pass up an opportunity to checkout a venue, and so I led us on a walk around the city that “conveniently” went past the stadium.

    unfortunately, it’s now a private training venue.

    not to be denied, I marched right up to the security gate and proceeded to barrage the (60+, toothless) lady with how honored i was to be at the Stadium, how incredible the 1956 games were, how I reveared Australian national icon (and three time Melbourne gold medalist) Betty Cuthbert, and how important the games became when they were the first to allow all the atheletes enter the closing ceremonies together (as opposed to marching in by country).

    needless-to-say, she was confused by my knowledge and excitement which it became obvious that, as she stammered to keep up, she didn’t share.

    (what I neglected to tell her was that I had watched a two hour documentary on the Melbourne Olympics on the flight over … details, details.)

    finally, I assume out of boredom or desparation, she waved us through and asked us not to wander too far.

    and while the stadium itself doesn’t look too different from the track at my college, seeing the same venue from the documentary (only less scratchy, and less black-and-white) was incredible.

    not that i need an excuse to Become more obsessed with the Olympics, but it’s nice to have one regardless.

    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    melbourne olympic stadium

  • Travel: Last bits of the Great Ocean Road

    [Photo]
    IMG_0330, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    Austalia (Day Nine) — It was a pretty lazy day today, our last on the road before Melbourne. We backtracked a bit to Triplet Falls, which Lizzie (our host from the previous night) had recommended.

    Once we got back on the road from Otway to Melbourne, there was much to see, but not a lot to photograph. The last day of the Great Ocean Road — which is actually the first day for most as it is closest to Melbourne — was a series of small beach towns with some scenic surfing beaches in between. Lovely, but not unlike coastal America.

    Driving the last little bit into the big city more than a little tedious … lots of one way streets, a omnipresent tram system, flocks of asian tourists, no serviceable map, and rush hour traffic. There will be more on all things Melbourne a little later.

    Explore the Photo Set:
    Cape Otway, Australia

  • Travel: Cape Otway Centre for Conservation Ecology (a.k.a. Cape Otway School for Orphaned ‘Roos)

    [Photo]
    IMG_0209, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    Austalia (Day Eight) — Perhaps the place that the lady sparkler and I were the most psyched to stay during our trip was the Great Ocean Ecolodge, which is a small bed & breakfast type accommodation (5 rooms) attached to the Cape Otway Center for Conservation Ecology. The lodging came ridiculously highly recommended — especalially by TNCers — and the experience was even better.

    Shortly after arrival they took us on a “dusk” walk around the properties, and within the first 20 minutes we had seen three koalas, were explained the entire regional ecosystem and were firmly behind their site management plan. On our way back it was all down hill, only tripping on three parrots, two dozen kangaroos, two wallabies and a magpie that enjoyed attacking human’s shoes.

    The owners are a zoologist and a natural resources manager in their mid-twenties, who have overcome some pretty long odds to launch this, their dream project. Besides using the property to test a range of ecological hypotheses — including the best ways to revegetate portions of Australia that have been over-cleared — they take in injured / abandoned animals such as a baby kangeroo who flopped around the house while we ate dinner that night. If you have the chance, we highly recommend making the trip.

    We had quite a great crew of fellow quests, including a retired couple from Sheffield, England and a couple of small business owners from somewhere along the Gold Coast of Australia. Much of the convesation that night was predictable (“how in &^%$ sake did *he* get elected?!?) but everyone was most generous to keep it amicable and gave us the widest possible recognizing that the lady sparkler and I weren’t unilaterally responsible for the current geo-political situation.

    Ah, imagine that … two cultures who don’t assume the worst about their contemporaries.

    Explore the Photo Set:
    Cape Otway Center for Conservation Ecology, Australia

  • Travel: Discovery Bay National Park, Victoria

    [Photo]
    IMG_9584, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    Austalia (Day Seven) — Today we had two of the best hikes of the trip so far, both through Discovery Bay National Park, which runs along the Southern Ocean on the western edge of Victoria.

    On our way back from the second, we ran into three billy goats (“gruff” presumably) in the middle of the path. Don’t know where they came from — they weren’t anywhere to be seen on the way out — but they were sure enough there on the way back. Initially, things didn’t look particularly good … the biggest one of the bunch approached slowly, dipped its head, and started pawing the ground.

    Perhaps, now is a good time to pause for some back-story:

    Last year when the lady sparkler and I were in Tucson, we mis-timed one of our hikes and found ourselves out in the desert after dark. As we were scurrying back, we had not one but two rattlesnakes try and kill us. The second of the two actually rattled across the path between the lady sparkler (who stopped) and myself (who sped up).

    Yesterday, we were hiking around Mount Richmond in the middle of the day, when I noticed a large tree branch that was down across the path began to move. We’d find out later that it was actually a copperhead, one of the 14 breeds of snakes in Australia that can kill you. Now, when you think copperhead, you think of a normal-sized snake that just happens to be poisonous. This, however, was the size of the basilisk from that Harry Potter movie. It looked like it had recently eaten a moose. Or an auto.

    Anyway, back to the goats. The only thing that kept me from running around like a blithering idiot around the snakes — other than the whole “being paralyzed with fear” thing — was that I keep being told that they are just as scared of us as we are of them. The goats? Not afraid of us, though, this turned out to be a good thing.

    Momma goat DID dip her head, and pawed the ground, but was just looking to soften up the dirt before she laid down to completely block the path. Her two chil’en quickly followed suit. We gingerly chose about a 6 inch path between the goats and the 200-foot cliff, and resisted the urge to pet the (now) cute little goats. Didn’t want to open ourselves up to *that* conversation with Customs.

    Turns out that not everything in Australia is trying to kill you.

    Explore the Photo Set:
    Travel: Discovery Bay National Park, Victoria, Australia

  • travel: on the road to robe

    [Photo]
    IMG_8887, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    [Photo]
    IMG_9088, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    Austalia (Day Six) — Today was really expected to be a “throw-away” day, in that we wanted to drive from Robe to Melbourne (which is the pretty part) but still had to get from Adelaide to Robe (apparently the “beaming” technology advertised by Star Trek geeks hasn’t advanced quite as far as they have implied).With that in mind, we were a bit surprised (“Shocked, I say, shocked!”) that we ended the day debating over which landmark was the most beautiful thing we had ever seen in our lives.

    My favourite (notice the “cheeky” Anglo spelling) was a place called The Granites (above, top). We tripped on it purely by accident (we saw a small brown sign with a distance, but no description) and went on a lark. We got a set of exquisite pink granite boulders in an amazing blue-green sea.

    The lady sparkler’s favourite was Cape Dombey (above, bottom) which is part of a “recreational reserve” in the port town of Robe where we are spending the night. Also an accident, we had set off for the town’s lighthouse (modernist, hideous) when we tripped on the Dombey obelisk that sat on a set of breathtaking cliffs.

    We have had such incredible luck this trip off recommendations, but even better luck with serendipity.

    Explore the Photo Set:
    Travel: On the Road to Robe, Australia

  • Travel: Adelaide, My Adelaide

    [Photo]
    IMG_8615, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    Austalia (Days Four & Five) — We are back on the mainland, and the local baggage sprites are obviously trying to make amends for their Californian cousins as all three of our bags come out of the conveyor together, and were among first twenty off the plane.Yesterday we lazed around the city, wandering through the city’s botanic gardens. (You wouldn’t believe how much of this city is devoted to parkland, and they take their open spaces very seriously.) Today we took the car out and hit some of the wineries to the East and South of town.

    Now, leaving Tasmania, we were more than a little concerned that the mainland would be just as beautiful, and it turns out that’s the case (how much beauty can a couple stand?!?) The views through wine country were really unbelievable, and some of the beaches on the way back into town were as spectacular as they were empty. (Near as we can figure, school started back up this week.)

    In other news … Adelaide has taken our time confusion and kicked it up another notch — BAM! — as it turns out the town elders decided that adhering to time zones was a silly notion. Apparently being a half hour off sounded like a laugh, so we are now (temporarily) 16 hours and 30 minutes ahead of D.C. time. Oh, and we haven’t figured out how to adjust the clock in our car, so we have just stopped even trying to care what time it is.

    Tomorrow, we start our four day drive along the Southern Ocean into Melbourne, in what is supposed to be the prettiest portion of our trip. My “shutter” finger is just aching in anticipation …

    Explore the Photo Set:
    Travel: Adelaide, Australia

  • Travel: More reasons to hate Californians, and everything is NOT bigger in Texas

    [Photo]
    IMG_8562, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    AUSTRALIA (DAY THREE) — Well, my luggage mysteriously appeared in our hotel room last night, and the sudden appearance (which occurred without any apparent human intervention) gave the lady sparkler quite a start when she got up to use the ‘loo.’

    Still no word on her bag though, other than the knowledge that it never made it through LAX. Interestingly, when we were talking to one of the Qantas baggage service people about what happened, she rolled her eyes and said, ‘LAX happened.’ Not that we needed another reason to dislike Californians, but apparently their baggage handling skills are world renowned for all the wrong reasons.

    We spend the day driving 200 kilometers south through what is widely considered as the most beautiful portions of Tasmania. We knew we were in trouble when I had taken over a hundred pictures *before* we even entered the first of three national parks for the day. (The final tally included two full memory cards for over 350 images.)

    Today was less about rainforests, and more about landscapes. We passed though mountain ranges, savannah grasslands, scrubland/hill country, reeded marshlands, both rocky and sandy beaches, before finishing up in rolling prairie-land. All this in little more than one hundred miles driven.

    Which brings us to our first conclusion of the trip: everything is decidedly *not* bigger in Texas.

    The roads here never end. We could spend four weeks on an island the size of West Virginia, and never see the same thing twice. The trees here would take half a dozen adults to surround holding hands. The animals are bigger (they even have longhorns). The land is more diverse. The mountains are higher. The beer is larger. So are the hats. Even the hubris is bigger (they have routed an entire river through pipes for use in hydro-electric plants.)

    And we haven’t even reached the mainland.

    Near the end of today, we were wincing as we drove around corners because the impossibly beautiful just kept getting more beautiful … it was actually more than a bit overwhelming. Words honestly can’t describe this place. The photos we posted do a pretty good job of showing the beauty, but really can’t give a hint to the scale … so, while you are looking think ‘vast’ and then triple it.

    UPDATE: the lady sparkler’s luggage was waiting for us at the hotel in Hobart, which is great as we fly back to the mainland tomorrow morning. t.l.s. has never been so excited about the possibility of shaving her legs.

    Explore the Photo Set:
    Travel: Lake St. Claire National Park, Tasmania

  • Travel: It’s a mad, mad, mad world …

    [Photo]
    IMG_7976, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    AUSTRALIA (DAY TWO) — I woke up this morning, and the world was on its head. I’m 12,000 miles from home. People drive on the wrong side of the road. The land is impossibly beautiful. People are nice. Water flows around the drain the other way. Internet access costs $26 for 2 hours. Tottenham Hotspur actually won something. The sky is down, and the ground is up. the lady sparkler doesn’t mind if I wear the same clothes day after day. 

    About that: I should have mentioned that while we made landfall yesterday, our luggage didn’t. the lady sparkler being a smart girl has two changes of clothes and four pair of underwear in her carry-on. I have 10 pounds of camera equipment. The most beguiling thing about this parallel universe we find ourselves in is that neither of us seem to care about the state of our baggage.

     

    About that: Tasmania is just devastatingly beautiful. Since Australia is the original continent — and there hasn’t been much in the way of earthquakes, volcanoes or glaciers to stir up the ground — much of what you see has been that way for the last billion or so years (give or take).

     

    The place we stayed last night was at the entrance to Cradle Mountain National Park, and so we began the morning hiking through the temperate rainforest at the mountain’s base. The youngest trees looked 500-years old, and there was a *thick* carpet of moss on anything that wasn’t moving.

     

    After our morning in Eden, we bustled ourselves off to Strahan (the ‘ha’ is silent) on the western coast of Tasmania. The last quarter of the pictures are from the city’s “park,” which seems a mild understatement as it is big enough to house a 40-minute walk through rainforest to a trio of stunning waterfalls.

     

    It’s a mad, mad world.

    Explore the Photo Set:
    Travel: Cradle Mountain National Park, Tasmania

  • Travel: Trowunna Wildlife Park, Tasmania

    [Photo]
    IMG_7813, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    AUSTRALIA (DAY ONE) — We arrived this morning in Australia this morning, after somewhere about a 31-hour journey. We would consider being jet-lagged, but we are so confused about the time shift that we are thoroughly unable to figure out if we should be tired or not.

    The moment the lady sparkler bought tickets to Australia, she started a list of animals that she wanted to see: kangaroos, wallabies, koalas, tassie devils, platypus-es (platypi?) and wombats. Fortunately, in the run up to our trip we saw something on the Travel Channel about the Trowunna Wildlife Park outside of Launceston (the ‘ce’ is silent) which rehabilitates wounded animals.

    Now, if you haven’t been lucky enough to be on the lady sparkler’s Blackberry distribution list to announce her animal sightings, then (a) let me know and I will try and pull some strings for you, and (b) she saw ALL of the above in one afternoon sans the platypus. She even got to hold a baby wombat.

    I’m not positive, but I’m pretty sure her life is complete now.

    Explore the Photo Set:
    Travel: Trowunna Wildlife Park, Tasmania, Australia

  • Travel: Landfall on Australia

    [Photo]
    IMG_7750, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

  • wren cross

    the college of william and mary — my alma mater — has become the latest bauble in the rhetorical culture wars that have been consuming our society.

    in october 2006, the school’s president removed a cross from permanent display on the altar of the college’s Wren Chapel saying it was important for people of all faiths to feel welcomed in the college’s buildings.

    that cross is still available (and actively used) for christian services, but would not be displayed by default.

    a frenzy of opposition arose, largely from outside the college community. one petition collected 10,000 signatures demanding the “return” of the cross, but less than 30% of the signers had ever been affiliated with the school.

    what few people know is that the cross isn’t actually property of the school — it has been loaned by bruton parish church (and caterbury, the parish’s college community) in 1931.

    and, for the two hundred and fifty odd years before that loan in 1931, the chapel was without a cross of any kind — as no Anglican Virginia church displayed a cross during the colonial period.

    but, just as in the pledge of allegiance — in which the divisive “under god” phrase wasn’t added until the mccarthy fueled 1950s but is seen by some elements as being core to the pledge itself — historical fact has little to bear on modern controversy.

    during the late 1990s, i was the liturgist for caterbury (the “owners” of the wren cross) and was the person responsible for both the only regular service in which the was used and (in as much as anyone) for the cross itself.

    while i didn’t threaten to revoke a $12 million donation to the school over the issue, you could argue i’d be one of the people most emotionally outraged by the wren cross controversy.

    but i’m not.

    why? because i’m comfortable in my Christianity, and as such I don’t need to cling to iconography to support my religious beliefs. i also feel like we all paid tuition to this great college without regard of our religion — and as such, we should all feel equally welcome in the college’s buildings.

    unfortunately, the school’s president Gene Nichol resigned this morning — under pressure from alumni withdrawing donations from the school — for having these very same constitutionally guided views.

    and while i know that the College won’t even notice, after much deliberation i have decided that I can no longer financially support a school that succumbs to such petty partisanship and radically exclusive views — even though i’ve been supporting the school financially every year since 1995.

    i can only hope that someone comes along to right this ship, but that won’t happen so long as the campus remains obsessed with the views of fringe elements from outside it’s walls.

  • musings: obama

    the lady sparkler and i have a house rule, that you can’t discuss an election until it’s the year *of* said election. while the media may want us to obsess, there is no reason to even pay attention until it’s time for your local primary.

    either way, it’s open season now.

    as of january 1, i thought i had this whole election this worked out. obama & edwards: guardians of the working class populous; clinton: guardian of the north-east elite. and then new hampshire happened … for reasons i am still struggling to comprehend, clinton carried the $50k and under, high school educated crowd, and obama carried those who make over $100k and have post graduate degrees.

    clinton … blue collar? obama … white elite?

    some order was brought to my internal chaos with super tuesday. obama carried the heartland (montana, kansas, north dakota) and clinton carried the coasts (california, new york, massachuesettes). but even with that, there were enough outliers (obama in connecticut, clinton in oklahoma) that i came to a startling realization: even with four years on the hill and another four years at a political consulting firm, i have no clue about politics.

    my biggest complaint about politics (and politicians) is the seeming endless partisanship that has settled on d.c. since the republican “revolution” of 1994. and it has (inarguably) gotten worse since Bush II took office. my point is that, while truly believe that clinton would make a solid leader of the free world, i just can’t face the idea that we will have another 8 years where 49.5% of the electorate utterly despises the sitting president.

    so, over the last two weeks i basically ruled out everyone else, and was left with obama for (admittedly) all the wrong reasons. and then i heard him speak for the first time. and then i was hooked.

    now, i am a *sucker* for obama’s message. i hate fear mongering. the best president of my lifetime was played by martin sheen. i need oration, and hope. i want my politician to tell me why to love him, and not why to hate everyone else. i want someone to dream big, and challenge those around him to keep up. i want to vote for *someone*, and not just for who-ever is running against the neo-con of the cycle.

    obama gives the best stump speech i have heard … easily since the “other” clinton in ’92, but probably since the kennedy brothers in ’60 and ’68 (of which i heard recordings, obviously). i find it fascinating how well he is doing in places that have heard him speak.

    now, if you are already on-board, God bless you. but if you aren’t, watch the video clip above of him speaking in New Hampshire — if you are short on time, skip ahead and watch the last half — and tell me that’s not what you really want in a candidate.

    unless, of course, you are christy rome … in which case don’t tell me, because i prefer living in denial.

  • preview: australia

    [Photo]
    Map courtesy Google Maps.
    Travelling breeds more travelling, so even before we got back from Belize, we immediately started imagining where we were going to go next. I wanted to go to Chile/Argentina (the Valdivian Coastal Reserve, the southern tip, Patagonia) and the lady sparkler was hot on South Africa or Southeast Asia.

    Turns out, the Conservancy is sending me to Australia because it is the location of our next Adopt an Acre project. We actually do most of our work on the continent through partners, so we occasionally have to fly in marketing/membership specialists to collect stories, collateral and other materials we need to launch the program.

    So, I’ll already be there for about 9 days, and the lady sparkler and I will tack on a little time beforehand. Here is how the itinerary is shaping up:

    • Tasmania — We fly straight into Tasmania from the U.S. and then drive around the island, through Cradle Mountain – Lake St. Clair National Park and Mt. Field National Park on the way to Hobart, the territory’s capital.
    • Adelaide / Great Ocean Road — We’ll spend a day or two in Adelaide, before renting a car to travel along the south coast on a road much like our Pacific Coast Highway. We’ll stop in three different seaside towns, and pass through a number of parks including Coorong, Port Cambell and Cape Otway National Parks.
    • Melbourne — As soon as we arrive into the big city, I start having meetings for the Conservancy, but the lady sparkler will have a couple of days to explore the city. I’ll have one fully free day to explore before she and I go our separate ways.
    • Gondwana Link — I’ll hop a flight to Perth, which is near our project area, and travel between Perth, Albany, Margaret River and the project itself.

      The story behind the southwest of Australia is much like the Dust Bowl-era high plains of the U.S. — government endorses cultivation, indigenous people are displaced in the onslaught, farming destroys the ecosystem and then collapses due to the land being poorly suited to cultivation.

      The Conservancy is working with local partners and the indigenous Noongar to rebuild segments of the ecosystem, and by preserving the open spaces that remain to link these fragments into a sustainable environment.

    • Sydney — the lady sparkler will come here straight from Melbourne, and I will follow long after she has gone. We will both have a day and two nights, which will be just about enough to get a picture of the Opera House.

    Needless to say, we are feel incredibly luck to have this kind of dropped in our lap. More on the work part of the trip next time around.

  • photos: wedding of the century

    [Photo]
    IMG_1136, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    words. sometimes, they seem so inadequate. i have heard that eskimos have 34 words for snow. i now believe that texans probably have 35 words for wedding. and, what i just saw probably made a case for a 36th.

    when two of our d.c. friends got engaged and invited us to their wedding in waco, texas … i could never have imagined the amazing event it would turn out to be.

    there were 600 peope in attendance, and yet i saw the bride and groom more than i think i saw my own guests at my own wedding.

    there must have been 20,000 square feet of reception space, and yet there wasn’t a single detail that was overlooked (the trash can’s in the bathrooms were wrapped in fabric that matched the rest of the wedding).

    the bridesmaid’s dresses had their own trains. the band was great. the food was fantastic. the place settings were immaculate. the red wine was allowed to breathe before serving. i talked about the english premier league with a groomsman at the afterparty (in TEXAS).

    wow. brilliantly done. and the bride and groom look fabulous. my meager mind will never be able to comprehend how such an amazing wedding is even possible. Jenna Bush (getting married this spring in Waco) should be so lucky.

    i know it’s hard to soak it all in, so flip through the pictures. i *promise* you, it’s worth the peek.

    Explore the Photo Set:
    Photos: Skye & Cole’s Wedding, Waco, Texas

  • travel: waco, texas

    [Photo]
    IMG_1082, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    Explore the Photo Set:
    Travel: Waco, Texas (including Baylor University and the Dr. Pepper Museum)

  • travel: nola

    [Photo]
    IMG_7646, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    It would have been hard, in the aftermath of Katrina, for us to not feel some kind of draw towards visiting New Orleans. We have been talking about going to New Orleans for quite sometime. I have never been, and while the lady sparkler was born there, she hadn’t been in the last decade or so. It’s sad to say, but the post-hurricane discussion crystallized a feeling inside us that, if we wanted to go, it should be sooner rather than later.

    So, we had sometime this year between Christmas (in Houston) and New Years (in Waco, more on that later) and decided to make a couple days of it. While both sides of the lady sparkler’s family have a history in the city — and her father spent the first 20 years of his life there — thankfully everyone had moved away in the years before Katrina.

    The City

    First of all, we had a fantastic time. The city is very much open for business, and while we hit all the touristy areas (French Quarter, Esplanade, Garden District) we never felt unsafe, even for a moment. There was live music everywhere, descent crowds in the streets, and outrageously good food. It was just an amazing experience.

    Even so, something seemed just a bit melancholy. While the streets were full, it wasn’t as busy as it “should” have been two days before New Years (and the Sugar Bowl, even if it was Georgia vs. Hawaii). And, while we were admittedly in the wrong part of town, the locals seemed to have returned in even less force than the tourists.

    I may have been projecting, but there was a real sense that a clock was ticking on New Orleans. There was quite literally water everywhere. We must have driven on 30+ miles of causeways over all sorts of rivers, lakes, swamps and bayous to get into the city. Not to mention, the area protected by the levees blew my mind (we drove what seemed like 20 minutes from the French Quarter before we passed the last sea wall).

    It’s hard to explain how exposed 12 feet above sea-level seems unless you’ve been there (and that was the “high” ground).

    Things to Do

    So, back to the great time we had … The only “must” on my list of recommendations is Frenchman Street. Located just off the eastern edge of the French Quarter, it is much less “college frat party” than Bourbon Street. There are at least four great, authentic music venues — we saw great performances at d.b.a. and Snug Harbor, and listened in to another at Blue Nile.

    We had nothing but spectacular dining experiences, including breakfasts at La Boucherie and the ever-famous Café du Monde, lunches at Napoleon House (built in 1797) and Central Grocery (the home of the Muffalatta), and dinners at Bacco and Acme Oyster House. It seems like such a stereotype, but you really do eat and drink here non-stop, and all of it was not only reasonably well priced, but well worth their reputation / our effort. (Photos of all these places are in the Flickr photoset if you are interested.)

    Finally, if you are looking for cemeteries, St. Louis no. 3 (up near City Park) was perfectly safe, and our trip out to the Garden District (to stare at the mansions) was worth the effort. I will say that we rented a car and were glad we did; they weren’t running that many street cars, and taxis were hard to find outside of the hotels.

    Grand Finale

    I have no idea what will happen in the next 100 years, and I am even more conflicted then ever about exactly how much hubris we should muster to try and beat back what nature seems to have planned for the city. The one thing I am not conflicted about is this: Go. Honestly. Such a great experience, and there is enough left to give you a flavor of what everyone else has been talking about.

    Explore the Photo Set:
    Travel: New Orleans, Louisiana

  • donald harrison jr. @ snug harbor

    [Donald Harrison Jr. @ Snug Harbor, Frenchman Street, New Orleans, Louisiana]
    the show turned out to be a reunion of some kind, with a dozen or more kids who studied under harrison at a local magnet school for music. by the end of the night, it seems like everybody in the city had made their way to the front of the stage for a solo.
    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    Donald Harrison Jr. @ Snug Harbor, Frenchman Street, New Orleans, Louisiana

  • wall photos: post-wedding

    [Lost River State Park, Mathias, West Virginia]
    [Parker Canyon, Arizona]
    [Tulips, New York, New York]

  • ingrid lucia @ d.b.a.

    [Ingrid Lucia @ d.b.a., Frenchman Street, New Orleans, Louisiana ]
    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    Ingrid Lucia @ d.b.a., Frenchman Street, New Orleans, Louisiana

  • waylon thibodeaux @ tropical isle

    [Waylon Thibodeaux and the Bourbon Street Cajuns, Tropical Isle, New Orleans, Louisiana]
    See All the Photos on Flickr:
    Waylon Thibodeaux and the Bourbon Street Cajuns, Tropical Isle, New Orleans, Louisiana

  • musings: christmas wishes

    [Photo]
    IMG_2545, originally uploaded by christy_rome.
    as new year’s eve 2007 draws neigh, it would be a considerable understatement to say this year has been simply eventful. we have a new home, a few weeks in central america, and that whole wedding thing under our belts … and It has been our friends and family who’ve kept us sane in what has been a wonderfully crazy year.

    it’s easy for us trace our current state of happiness to the fabulous people who surround us, and so we want to take what time is left in 2007 to say thank you. with that in mind, may the very best of the season be with you this holiday, and may you experience in your life the joy, love and peace that you have brought to ours.

  • photos: zoolights

    [Photo]
    IMG_7564, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    Explore the Photo Set:
    Zoolights, National Zoo, Washington, DC

  • musings: a tale of twenty-two parties

    [Photo]

    Ah, ’tis the season of love, joy, and parties. This year, we have two work parties each, two more parties at our house, a couple trips to the theater, and about half a dozen happy hours between us.

    Not that I am complaining, but I actually had to stop commuting to work via bicycle in mid-December, because we have something just about every day after work for the last two weeks before Christmas. Thank God we finished up our Christmas shopping in late November, or a lot of people would be getting a whole-lotta nothing.

    The highlight so far — for us, at least — was the Christmas Cartoon Extravaganza. Each year we collect as many television Christmas specials as we can, and throw a party where they are playing in the background. Our place is a bit small, but we managed to cram in twelve people to watch three and a half hours of pure animated Christmas goodness, including A Charlie Brown Christmas, Frosty Returns, Robbie the Reindeer, Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends christmas special, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

    I think this is only the second or third time the lady sparkler and I have thrown the Extravaganza, but I have done something similar on and off for the last decade. I wish I could take credit for the notion, but the idea originally came from a Theatre Department tradition at the College of William and Mary where people gathered each year and managed to turn How the Grinch Stole Christmas into a drinking game.

    The basic premise of the College version was to drink each time you hear the word “Who” — as in “All the Who’s down in Whoville” and “Cindy Lou Who who was no more than two.” As you can imagine, the “winner” was essentially declared by the first commercial break by looking around at whomever was still standing.

    Fortunately, the thirty-something version entailed just sitting on the couch and thinking warm thoughts of friends and family, though we did “go crazy” by slipping some peppermint schnapps into the cocoa.

  • theatre: spamalot

    [Photo]
    [Photo]
    Photo courtesy of Monty Python’s Spamalot.

    i normally don’t stoop so far as to shill for touring companies, but we saw monty python’s spamalot at D.C.’s national theater tonight and it was just incredible.

    i haven’t seen Holy Grail since college, so i’m by no means a connoisseur. (actually, most of the complaints i have heard about the show have come from hard-core fans.) even so, i thought the show was smart, bawdy, funny (with a minimum of toilet humor) and just consistently great.

    in my experience, it’s pretty common for a show to have 4 great songs, and then a bunch of crap filler to pad the rest of the show. while Spamalot didn’t really have a marquee song per say, there wasn’t a single bad song … and i never once looked at my watch wishing the show would hurry along. that, and the lady sparkler didn’t stop laughing for 2 1/2 hours straight.

    oddly enough, i just heard it is playing in Vegas now (fitting!), along with the usual london and new york. needless to say, if you have the means, i highly recommend.

  • home: christmas expedition

    [Photo]
    IMG_7551, uploaded by [ecpark].

    the elementary school next door has a christmas tree sale every year, but some strange reason it’s not until the second week of december. (who waits that long?!?) as you can imagine, being genetically unable to wait for pretty much anything, the lady sparkler and i decided to head out of our hamlet and forage for a tree.

    we passed through the seven levels of the rock creek forest, through the sea of swirly twirly gum drops, and to a magical place called “north Georgetown.” we found a small, Christmas forest of pre-cut trees located at the corner of “Wisconsin” and “Calvert.” a kindly old man with a chain saw assisted us with the finest of skinny trees, and strapped it on to our late-model, german engineered sleigh.

    there is nothing quite like a city christmas.

  • Photos: Colonial Williamsburg

    [Photo]
    IMG_7465, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    Explore the Photo Set:
    Colonial Williamsburg, Williamsburg, Virginia

  • musings: christmas extravaganza

    IMG_4999.jpg

    it’s the weekend after thanksgiving, which means it’s the official start of the “get-evan-prepped-for-christmas” season. you laugh, but i have found that after 30+ years of christmases (christmi? christmasuses?) i have developed a pre-christmas routine that boarders on obsessive.

    first, we have the music. i’m currently sitting on 600+ christmas songs (from 30+ christmas albums) which means i can listen non-stop for about a day and a half without repeating the same version of a song. my itunes currently features 18 versions of silent night (my favorite is a classical russian folk recording) and if you ever want to have a conversation about the definitive recording of “o holy night” then i am your man (my vote is for the new orleans benefit version featured on studio 60 last year).

    but mostly, we have the movies. and television. and cartoons. it all started about a decade ago when i noticed that the more christmas “stuff” i watched, the more likely i was to have a good christmas. this has now officially spiraled out of control, and has resulted in me watching about 20 dvds worth of goodies each holiday during November and December. actually, i have taken to throwing a “christmas cartoon extravaganza” each year to help spread the love (or share the burden, as it were).

    my checklist for this year has 50+ items on it. while i certainly won’t get through more than about half of what you see here, i’ve documented the whole list so i don’t have to keep recreating it every year. if by some strange miracle i have forgotten something worth seeing, please mock my omission in the comments.

    Best Christmas Cartoons & Best Christmas Specials

    this selction include christmas cartoons (rankin-bass!) and several live action specials including various muppets. also included are television show episodes worth re-watching during the holidays, especially aaron sorkin productions (who has a knack for christmas that i wish he could spin into the other 364 days of his work each year).

    A Charlie Brown Christmas
    A Chipmunk Christmas
    A Special Sesame Street Christmas
    Emmett Otter’s Jug Band Christmas
    Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends (“Christmas Special”)
    Frosty Returns
    Frosty the Snowman
    Frosty’s Winter Wonderland
    Grandma Got Runover By a Reindeer
    Holidaze: The Christmas That Almost Didn’t Happen
    How the Grinch Stole Christmas
    It’s Christmas Time Again, Charlie Brown
    John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together
    Little Drummer Boy
    M*A*S*H (“Death Takes a Holiday”)
    Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey
    Olive, the Other Reindeer
    Pee-wee’s Playhouse (“Christmas Special”)
    Robbie the Reindeer
    Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
    Rudolph’s Shiny New Year
    Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town
    Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (“The Christmas Show”)
    ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas
    The Life And Adventures Of Santa Claus
    The West Wing (“In Excelsis Deo”)
    The West Wing (“Noël”)
    The West Wing (“Holy Night”)
    The Year Without a Santa Claus

    Best Christmas Movies

    some are good (miracle on 34th), some are bad (santa conquers the martians) but anything is fair game (die hard) if it happens at christmas.

    About a Boy
    A Christmas Carol
    A Christmas Story
    Bad Santa
    Christmas in Connecticut
    Christmas Vacation (National Lampoon’s)
    Christmas with the Kranks
    Die Hard
    Die Hard 2: Die Harder
    Elf
    Ernest Saves Christmas
    Holiday Inn
    Home Alone
    It’s a Wonderful Life
    Love Actually
    Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
    Miracle on 34th Street (1994)
    Prancer
    Santa Claus Conquers the Martians
    Santa vs. Snowman
    Saturday Night Live Christmas
    Scrooge
    Scrooged
    The Muppet Christmas Carol
    The Nightmare Before Christmas
    The Polar Express
    The Ref
    The Santa Clause
    The Santa Clause 2
    Trapped in Paradise
    White Christmas

    again, if i have forgotten something worth seeing, please share.

  • Photos: Virginia Air & Space Museum

    [Photo]
    IMG_7415, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    Explore the Photo Set:
    Virginia Air & Space Museum, Hampton, Virginia

  • photos: virginia zoo

    [Photo]
    IMG_8045, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    Explore the Photo Set:
    Virginia Zoo, Norfolk, Virginia.

  • taylor twellman is a twit

    [Photo]
    1118071406, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    the championship match of major league soccer returned to D.C.’s RFK Stadium again this year. unfortunately, after having the best record during the regular season, D.C. United flamed out in the first round of the playoffs and blew the chance to play for the cup on their home turf.

    instead, we watched the lady sparkler’s hometown team (the houston dynamo) hand the new england revolution (employer of the twit mentioned above) their fourth cup defeat in the last six years. you can guess our allegiances (have i mentioned he’s a twit?) and i can safely say that we were in a small, small minority of people cheering for houston as they sent the revolution to the bad side of the record books.

    now, not everybody cares about fútbol/soccer, but focus for a moment on the futility factor here: 4 championship appearances, no wins. only two professional teams share this dubious honor (the buffalo bills and the minnesota vikings, both of the NFL, both 0-4 in the superbowl). hockey has only one team that comes close (st. louis blues, 0-3) and basketball/baseball can only muster a few 0-2 teams (utah jazz, phoenix suns, new jersey nets, san diego padres).

    the amazing thing is that major league soccer is just a decade old. imagine what their futility mark could be like with another 30 years of championships to lose. how would you like to be part of a franchise like that? i meant to ask some of the 30,000+ Revolution fans as they were leaving the stadium grounds, but …

    back to the twit. i’m normally not one to shower the hate on people, but it’s even worse that i can’t figure out why i loathe him so. part of it could his gawd awful kick medic commercials i have to watch every weekend on fox soccer channel. part of it could be that no matter how good he is for his club (83 goals in 145 appearances, or 57%) he is equally bad for his country (6 goals in 28 appearances, or 21%). or it could just be because he wears his shirts two sizes too small.

    regardless, houston won their second straight (the only team other than D.C. to do that) and twinkle-toed twellman and the revs lost … all is right with the world.

    Explore the Photo Set:
    MLS Cup 2007, Washington, D.C.

  • website: comments

    In what is sure to be a freak storm never to be repeated again, I had three people complain to me that the blog didn’t accept comments. Here is what was *easily* my favorite complaint:

    I have thoughts and opinions. I need to be able to express them on your blog.

    Frankly, I had comments turned off because I assumed that no one actually read my ramblings, or cared to comment if they did. However, after about 15 minutes of hard labour, you, the adoring public, can now comment to your hearts content.

    (cue the sound of crickets chirping)

  • wedding: “green” weddings for the washingtonian

    so, the Washingtonian magazine is doing a “green” edition of their magazine this January, and have been looking to talk to a bride and groom about their “green” wedding.

    a friend of mine is the director of media relations here at the conservancy, and he suggested that the reporter talk to me. to make a long story short, the call is scheduled for tomorrow morning at 10am.

    needless to say this, quite rightly, got me to thinking about whether our wedding was actually “green” or not. and by “thinking”, i mean “obsessing”. i’m pleased to report that, after about 24 hours of concerted panicking, i am pretty certain we actually didn’t do a half bad job putting together something that closely resembles a green wedding (which is a bold statement considering how caveat-laden i usually am).

    my first concern was the defining the term “green wedding”. we didn’t really start off trying to be “green” so much as we were trying to be thoughtful about reducing our wedding’s drain on ourselves and those around us. obviously, this meant we were looking for simple things we could do that would reduce our wedding’s strain on the planet as well. my second concern was that, in my head, the term “green wedding” was essentially synonymous with “hemp wedding dress” which i knew wasn’t going to fly (i didn’t even ask).

    in an odd stroke of coincidence, the month after the lady sparkler and i got engaged, the conservancy posted something about the simple things you can do to have a green wedding. reading this yeilded my first thoughts that a "green" wedding might be possible (or, more important, practical).

    looking back at the list now, we actually did quite a bit to reduce our wedding’s footprint:

    • central: we threw the wedding in downtown d.c. which — besides being home for us and most of our friends — was also decidedly central for most of our families (who hailed from Oregon, Texas, Virginia, and New England).
    • walkable: the whole weekend happened within four blocks of the church, including the hotel, the bachelor party, the rehearsal dinner, the reception and the after-party. once people arrived, they could opt out of transportation for the rest of the weekend.
    • organic favors: for wedding favors, instead of the usual rock with our name painted on it, we gave out organic “endangered species” chocolate and planted 35 trees in a national forest on behalf of our guests. (also, it goes without saying, but we used animal-friendly blowing-bubbles instead of having guests throw rice or birdseed.)
    • locally-grown: we tried to use local businesses as much as possible (more on that below), and the reception site we used (15RIA) billed themselves as “using a bounty of local fresh products.”
    • virtual: besides trying to reduce the amount of paper we used in our invitations (limited inserts, no inner envelope), we saved a few trees by doing an email save-the-date and by using a wedding blog to keep people updated about the weekend details.
    • eco-honeymoon: while the first half of our trip was at a resort with locally-grown/organic-friendly food, the second half of our trip was more legitimately eco-friendly at one of Belize’s oldest eco-lodges. we wanted to be sensitive, but we weren’t willing to honeymoon in a tent in our backyard.
    • green registry: we (ahem) "strongly encouraged" our guests to make a gift to MercyCorps instead of the more traditional registry gifts, and about 1/3 of them actually did it. obviously MercyCorps isn’t an environmental organization, but poverty is one of the largest barriers to effective conservation. (we also were given an acre of rainforest through the Conservancy and a pig through Heifer!)
    • offset everything else: we absolutely weren’t willing to uninvite people who had to use carbon-based fuels to get here (or make them watch on a web cam), so we offset everyone’s flights to and from our wedding — including our own flights to and from Belize. (the sum of everything, for the record, turned out to be around 18,000 lbs of CO2.)

    so, with all that, why am i hesitating about whether it was a green wedding or not? well, we have a couple of open items …

    • the hemp dress: while our tuxes were rented (it’s best to share tux resources with hundreds of other grooms and groomsmen) and the bridesmaids picked out their own dresses (this increases the chance they might be worn again, however slightly) we didn’t even consider going down the path of the organic wedding dress. there was just too much wrapped up in our (er, her) vision of the perfect dress to add this layer of complexity.
    • the rings: the lady sparkler got a diamond (and loves it however guiltily), and i got a gold ring (silver is less toxic for the environment). neither of them were used or recycled. we had a devil of a time trying to offset the rings (we tried, but couldn’t find anyone who would even approximate what would be required) so this one is destined to remain an open issue.
    • the cake: we tried so hard to use local merchants, but every cake place we tried within the district didn’t pass our admittedly lofty standards (yes, including Cake Love which was dry and over-hyped). so we ended up using a place in (God-forbid) Herndon. not two months after we “sold out to the ‘burbs”, we found an equally fantastic bakery in DC’s Mount Pleasant neighborhood, and we will be definitely using them for all our baking needs in the future.

    … but all of this, to some extent, misses the point. we were looking for simple ways to reduce our footprint, and (to be honest) we as a society just might be a couple years away from “eco-wedding dresses” and “environmentally sensitive engagement rings” being an option for mainstream-ers like us. that, and we just had bad timing with the bakery.

    not that i am EVER going to have another wedding (ever, EVER!) but i’m happy to leave those three items open for future, er, motivation.

  • hike: roosevelt island, washington, dc

    [Photo]
    IMG_7889, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    the lady sparkler and i set out at about 1 pm for the great western woods, but after 30 blocks of remarkably abysmal traffic, we were still in D.C. at 2:30 pm. so, we regrouped and walked around roosevelt island, a national park in the potomac between rosslyn and georgetown.
    Explore the Photo Set:
    Theodore Roosevelt Island, Washington, D.C.

  • Travel: Atlanta, Georgia

    [Photo]
    ECPA20071105_0880, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    I went down to Georgia on Monday and Tuesday, for a donor metrics conference hosted by the American Cancer Society. I was on the ground for less than 36 hours, so didn’t have much time to get out … but I walked around Centennial Olympic Park for a few minutes Monday evening.

    It was quite lovely, but I can see why there was so much criticism about the 1996 Altanta Olympics for being so horrifically commercial. Everything in the park — and I mean everything — had a corporate sponsor on it: bricks, plaques, buildings, statues, etc. I can’t imagine what it would have been like when lined with 100s of booths representing a patheon of corporations preying on the American consumer culture.

    Explore the Photo Set:
    Travel: Centennial Olympic Park, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

  • Hike: The Remains of the Foliage

    [Photo]
    IMG_7860, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    We completely missed peak foliage this year, because of the whole wedding/honeymoon thing … so on our first real weekend back, we headed out in search of what was left of the leafs to peep.

    First thing we learned was to not trust state tourism department’s web sites. It makes sense with hindsight, but both Virginia and Maryland seem to have incentive to be less then honest about the status of the foliage in their respective purviews. In their “foliage reports,” they used words like “spectacular” and “peak” that roughly translated to “intermittent” and “you should have visited two weeks ago.”

    The only people who seemed to have a clue about what was going on was The Weather Channel, which has a forecast map showing the state of the foliage on the ground. This turned out to be the most correct, largely because it said that vast majority of the country is, in fact, “past peak”.

    In search of what was left, we drove out to Elk Neck State Park in Maryland, which is situated right on the northern tip of the Chesapeake Bay. The drive in had some widespread (but muted) foliage, but there wasn’t anything — and I mean anything — once we go into the park itself. From there, we headed 20 miles west of Baltimore to Morgan Run Natural Environment Area. While the drive in wasn’t as pretty as in the far northeast of the state, the hiking was great.

    From all reports, this just isn’t going to be a good year for foliage. I found a great write-up on what makes for good foliage, and we just didn’t have the wet growing season and dry, sunny fall needed for anything other than muted, muddy leaf peeping.

    Explore the Photo Set:
    Morgan Run Natural Environment Area, Maryland

  • Halloween in Mt. Pleasant

    [Photo]
    CRW_7140.CRW, originally uploaded by [collin].

    Unbelievable the number of kids out in Mt. Pleasant tonight.

    After dropping a friend off in Northeast, I drove through Capitol Hill, Shaw, Petworth and Columbia Heights on the way home … and saw probably 20 kids in 20 minutes (that’s one kid per minute for those playing at home).

    As soon as I crossed 16th street, however, I saw packs (PACKS!) of kids toddling from house to house (princesses and angels were big this year, with a strong second for little boys in vampire caps). I would hate pull a National Park Service here, but the count was easily in the hundreds.

    I’m guessing not all of them were local, too. I saw every kind of car stuffed with kids heading into the fray — trick or treaters whose parents who had obviously driven across the city. One of the streets west of Mt. Pleasant Ave (not sure which, I drove for a very unusual 30 minutes looking for parking) was closed to handle the throngs.

    Anyway, the secret is out: if you are under 5 and in D.C. looking to score some halloween candy then Mt. Pleasant is the place to be.

  • Home: Emergency Bathroom Remodel

    [Photo]
    IMG_0852, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

    So, a last week the bathroom vanity collapsed around 1 a.m. in the morning. On Sunday, we made an “emergency” trip to Home Depot, which of course led to an “emergency” bathroom remodel.

    The most interesting part of the whole conversation is when we got to Home Depot and saw the exact same medicine cabinet that had collapsed the previous week ($99, fwiw). You would think we wouldn’t have even considered going down that road again, but … fortunately, thoughts of picking glass out of our cat’s hair won out.

  • home: halloween

    [Photo]
    IMG_0849, uploaded by [ecpark].

    We had a couple of halloween parties to go to tonight (even though we only made it to one of them).

    After many long evenings frantically digging through our closets, the lady sparkler decided she would go as David Beckham, and I decided I would go as the Pool Boy that my beloved brought back from Belize. You’ll notice the “Why Not Us?” Red Sox t-shirt which was a late addition … because the parties were poorly timed to coincide with Game 3 of the World Series (the nerve, really).

    It’s incrediable how much you have to think when you are wearing a sarong. Getting in and out of the cab was almost comical, as was me sitting demurly on the couch (with my legs crossed at the knees) at the party. I don’t know how girls do it … well, except for Britney Spears who doesn’t seem to try very hard.

  • Wedding: The Abridged Belize

    IMG_0356, Snorkeling off the Caye, Laughing Bird Caye, Placencia, Belize
    IMG_0356, originally uploaded by [ecpark].

    Now, there are always people who *say* they want to see pictures from the honeymoon, but aren’t prepared for the full 526 photo onslaught. For those, we have prepared something special: the 72 picture abridged Belize.

    If you are looking for the full annotated story (the hard core wedding enthusiasts, I presume) check out our more expansive “honeymoon” posts for a walk through our 10 amazing days in Belize.

    Explore the Photo Set:
    Honeymoon: The Abridged Belize

  • Home: 14 Years of Bad Luck

    [Photo]
    IMG_0831, uploaded by [ecpark].

    We woke up this morning at 1 a.m. to the sounds of glass shattering.

    Never a fun thing to wake up to, we stumbled out of bed and found that the door to our medicine cabinet had collapsed into the middle of the bathroom floor. The cabinet had glass on both sides of the door, so we got a two-for-one discount on the 7-years of bad luck offer.

    About a year ago, in our previous place, we woke up to a horrifically loud crash … I woke up with such a fright that I landed (literally) on top of the lady sparkler. Our bedroom closet shelving had collapsed. To this day, we don’t know if I was trying to protect her or if I was running away and just got stuck on top of her.

    Anyway, all the kings horses and all the kings men couldn’t put that vanity back together again, and to make matters worse the collapsing medicine cabinet ruined the sink on its short trip south.

    i guess it’s time for a trip to home depot.

  • Website: theparkerfamily.org (launch, v10)

    screenshot2

    Now that the wedding is over, we have to figure out what to do with tashaandevan.com … do we hold it in perpetuity as a last memento of the glory days of our engagement?

    Sitting on the domain just seems unfair to the legions of Evanses and Tashas sure to follow (especially as evanandtasha.com appears to taken as well).

    Instead, we have decided to take merge my web site (evancparker.com) with the engagement site, to form a brand-spanking new site called theparkerfamily.org. I had bought that domain for my parents for a Christmas almost five years ago (hi mom!) but sadly, nothing came of it (sorry mom!) and my mom ended up with a computer instead.

    Anyway, if you want to keep track of the Sparklers from this point forward, you have come to the right place. You might want to grab our RSS Feed (if you are into that sort of thing) or sign-up to be notified by email when we post something new.

    p.s. If you are wondering about the picture, for the last decade — dating back to when my vanity web site was unclevanya.com — my site has featured the same picture of my face on Karl Marx’ body that you see here. The new addition is the lady sparkler’s face gracing the body of Catherine the Great, who was arguably the most powerful female ruler of the last half millenium (it seemed fitting).

    UPDATE: Karl Marx and Catherine the Great are growing to be a little too obscure, even for us. I just swapped them out for The Great Gonzo (needs no explanation) and Abby Cadabby, the newish girly-girl-fairy-princess Muppet on Sesame Street (which seems to resonate the lady sparkler all over the place). I was also thinking about Shaggy and Velma — which would be funny beyond all possible understanding — so maybe that will come next.

  • Travel: Actun Tunichil Muknak, Belize

    IMG_0695, Entrance to the Cave, Actun Tunichil Muknak, Tapir Mountain Nature Reserve, Belize
    IMG_0695, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    Our last excursion in Belize was to a cave system about an two-hours outside of Chaa Creek. Called Actun Tunichil Muknak (or A.T.M. for short), the caves were used by the Mayans as a place of worship.

    After driving out towards the A.T.M., we parked the van and hiked 45 minutes to the mouth of the caves. Once there, we hopped into the river flowing out of the cave, and swam inside. After about 100 yards, the water was shallow enough to stand up. After hiking through the water for about half a kilometer, we climbed out of the river and spent an hour walking through the formations which 2,000 years earlier were a Mayan burial ground.

    The whole day was spectacular, not just the journey, but the formations and especially the Mayan artifacts left untouched for over two millennia.

    Explore the Photo Set:
    Actun Tunichil Muknak, Belize

  • last photo in belize

    [Entrance Road to Chaa Creek (Last Photograph in Belize), The Lodge at Chaa Creek, San Ignacio, Belize ]

  • Travel: Last Free Day, Chaa Creek, Belize

    IMG_7791, Butterfly Farm, Chaa Creek Natural Reserve, San Ignacio, Belize
    IMG_7791, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    Tomorrow we are going on our last excursion, so today we did … well, pretty much everything left on our list in Chaa Creek.

    We got up early and spent the morning birding with a local naturalist. After breakfast, we went mountain biking through the nature reserve next door. After lunch, we got a tour of the reserve’s butterfly farm. Finally, after dinner, we hiked the resort’s River Trail (which, up to this point, had been closed due to high water levels caused by the wet season).

    Explore the Photo Set:
    Last Free Day, Chaa Creek, Belize

  • Travel: Caracol Archaeological Reserve, Belize

    IMG_7693, "Caana" or Sky Palace (Group B), Caracol Archaeological Reserve, Caracol, Belize
    IMG_7693, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    Our first major excursion in the Cayo District of Belize was to Caracol, which is the largest known Mayan site in Belize. The reserve contains the largest building in Belize (the 2,000 year old “Sky Palace”) and dozens upon dozens of excavated ruins from the Mayan Classic period.

    One monument here records a military victory over the army of Tikal — a larger Mayan city across the border in Guatemala — in 562CE, where Caracol’s Lord Water is shown to have captured and sacrificed Tikal’s Double Bird.

    Part of the excitement was having AK-47 toting members of the Belize Defence Forces escort us from the Mountain Pine Ridge ranger station to the ruins. Apparently, about two years ago, a group of Guatemalan bandits (angry about the aforementioned defeat of Tikal, I’m sure…) crossed the border and held up a couple of tour buses. While the bandits were caught long ago (and presumably taken out back and shot) the Belizean authorities aren’t taking any chances with their tourist revenue.

    The ruins themselves were just amazing, and we were two of 30 people in the park that day, so had the place largely to ourselves. Simply amazing.

    Explore the Photo Set:
    Caracol Archaeological Reserve, Belize

  • Travel: Chaa Creek Natural Reserve, Belize

    IMG_7504, Agricultural Fields, Chaa Creek Natural Reserve, San Ignacio, Belize
    IMG_7504, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    As with the first day in Placencia, we spent the first day in Chaa Creek wandering around the area. The place we are staying is surrounded by a 350-acre nature preserve, and we spent the morning hiking around the resort’s seven miles of trails.
    Explore the Photo Set:
    Hiking in the Chaa Creek Natural Reserve, Belize

  • Travel: Transfer to Chaa Creek, Belize

    IMG_0424, Road to San Ignacio, San Ignacio, Belize
    IMG_0424, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    The morning of day six saw a surprisingly easy three-hour transfer from Placencia southern Belize to just outside of San Ignacio in northwestern part of the country. Outside of the 27km of dirt roads to get from the Turtle Inn to the main highway, the trip was remarkably easy.

    Once in Chaa Creek, we spent the afternoon walking around the grounds of The Lodge at Chaa Creek which is where we will be spending the last half of our honeymoon.

    Explore the Photo Set:
    Transfer to The Lodge at Chaa Creek, near San Ignacio, Belize

  • Travel: Trip up Monkey River, Belize

    IMG_7410, Howler Monkeys, Monkey River, Monkey River Villiage, Belize
    IMG_7410, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    Our second major excursion in Belize was up the Monkey River, which is one of the larger rivers in southern Belize. We took a boat up the river and saw all sorts of wildlife (Howler Monkeys, Egrets, Ospreys, Crocodiles, ect.) and had lunch in Monkey River Town on the way back through.

    back at the turtle inn, after making our way through the vast majority of the happy hour special list, we finally asked the bartender what the locals drink when they don’t want bad fruity resort drinks.

    he introduced us to the rum and coke, with belize’s own one barrel rum.

    the rum is made with sugar cane, which gives it a bit of a vanilla taste — which makes it a lot less like drinking alcohol, and a lot more like drinking vanilla cokes.

    mmmmm.

    Explore the Photo Set:
    Boat Trip up Monkey River, near Placencia, Belize

  • Travel: Rainy Day at the Turtle Inn, Belize

    IMG_0398, Swimming in the Rain, Turtle Inn, Placencia, Belize
    IMG_0398, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    Today was our first day of rain in Belize (and it would ultimate turn out to be our last), but as we were planning on spending the day at the resort, it didn’t turn out to slow us down a bit. We realized today that we haven’t taken a single picture of our accommodations, so we spent part of the day wandering around snapping pictures of where we stayed.

    we spent the bulk of the afternoon at the pool bar, which just so happened had happy hour specials that made the drinks actually mostly affordable.

    Explore the Photo Set:
    Rainy Day at the Turtle Inn, Placencia, Belize

  • Travel: Snorkeling off Laughing Bird Caye, Belize

    IMG_0301, First Attempt at Underwater Photography (Ever), Laughing Bird Caye, Placencia, Belize
    IMG_0301, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    Our first major outing was to Laughing Bird Caye, a National Park in Belize (where, coincidentally, The Nature Conservancy has a few marine projects). Belize is home to the largest barrier reef in the Western Hemisphere, and we spent the day snorkeling through the western fringes of it.
    Explore the Photo Set:
    Snorkeling off Laughing Bird Caye, Belize

  • Travel: Relaxation in Placencia, Belize

    IMG_7292, After Dinner Photography, Turtle Inn, Placencia, Belize
    IMG_7292, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    We spent our first full day in Belize doing what all honeymooners should, lounging around the resort … which we referred to more elegantly as “getting our bearings.” After dinner, we went out and took some pictures of the resort at night.

    it turns out pretty much everyone here is on their honeymoon — which would have been funnier if it we hadn’t had the “oh my god, we got married on saturday too! what a coincidence” conversation twelve times before we figured it out.

    Explore the Photo Set:
    getting our bearings, placencia, belize

  • Travel: Arrival in Placencia, Belize

    IMG_0070, Drinks at Mare Restaurant, Turtle Inn, Placencia, Belize
    IMG_0070, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    honeymoon! we flew out of Washington’s National Airport at early, early in the morning, and arrived in Belize CIty by mid-morning.

    Once in-country, we hoped on a little puddle-jumper of a plane for the trip down to Placencia. WIthin minutes of landing, we were at the Turtle Inn, a Balinese-style report put together by Francis Ford Coppola after Placencia was ravaged by Hurricane Iris in 2001.

    We spent the afternoon biking into the villiage, and hanging around the pool. Beautiful.

    Explore the Photo Set:
    Arrival in Placencia, Belize

  • Wedding: Honeymoon

    IMG_0068
    let the tropical drinks begin…

    I’m not “supposed” to be online, but I negotiated and got that sentence reduced to just a ban on email.

    With my new found interweb freedom, we have been uploading pictures from the honeymoon to Flickr. If you want to see what we have been up to, take a peak at our Flickr slideshow of the honeymoon so far.

    We’ll keep posting so long as we have access to free WiFi at the bar (the drinks make uploading go MUCH faster).

    UPDATE: Well, Flickr was fun while it lasted. Everything is great at Chaa Creek, but WOW! is the internet slow. It takes so long to upload one picture that if we keep going we won’t have any time to *take* pictures. Anyway, we have (sadly) posted our last pictures until we get home this upcoming weekend.

    UPDATE: We’re back, and everything is uploaded. We will post an abridged version later, but if you want to see everything from beginning to end you can look here.

  • Wedding: Afterparty

    Afterparty @ Stetson's (Tasha & Evan's Wedding), Washington, DC
    IMG_0010, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    You’ll have to forgive the lack of originality here (stand in a straight line, arms around each other, smile) but we had such a great time at the afterparty, we wanted to have pictures with as many people as we could…
    Explore the Photo Set:
    Afterparty @ Stetson’s, Washington, DC

  • Wedding: Thank You.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/unclevanya/sets/72157624993258967/show/

    Thank you for coming! We had a fantastic time at our wedding, and it was absolutely because of the wonderful people who decided to share our special day with us. For those of you who didn’t get a chance to see our slideshow at the reception, take a look and see some of the other wonderful moments of our new family’s life.

  • Wedding: Where did the 538 days go?

    IMG_0012
    first picture together

    I guess it is about time for me to become weepy and sentimental, but first … where the heck did all that time go?

    We had an 18 month engagement (April 15, 2006) and it seems like it was only yesterday that The Lady Sparkler was having trouble explaining to all of her Texas friends how a couple could be together since the first term of the Bush II administration and not be common-law wed yet.

    A couple of lesson’s learned for anyone who is going to try throwing one of these themselves:

    • Simplify — We did everything we could think of to simplify the wedding, and we still needed the whole 18 moths to pull it off (assuming tomorrow goes smoothly, of course).
    • Avoid wedding magazines — Go your own path. Magazines are only good if you don’t already have too many preconcieved notions, and besides … nothing is ever *that* simple anyway.
    • You and your betrothed are on the *same* side — And, frankly, if you aren’t then you should probably rethink the whole “wedding” thing.

    … but the last one is really is the key. I can honestly say that the wedding has made The Lady Sparkler and I better partners, and that fact has been a real strength in seeing us through the last 18 months.

    Oh, that, and the promise of a 10 day honeymoon when it’s all done. Which is tomorrow.

    *whew*

  • Wedding: Photos on Flickr

    uploaded by code poet

    Well, people have already started arriving for the big weekend … and pretty much all of them brought cameras. This led me to thinking that this is going to be a fairly well documented event, and we might want to do some online sharing of our own.

    A lot of us use Flickr for our pictures and, if you are one of them, why don’t we try tagging all of our wedding weekend photos with “ParkerSpindler2007” (without the quotes) so we all can all share in the picture love.

    It’s so rare for us to have this many friends and loved ones together, we’d love to see any many pictures of the ensuing happiness as we can.

    Once The Lady Sparkler and I have the “official” pictures back from the wedding photographer, we will be tagging them this way (along with any snapshots from the extended weekend). If you aren’t on flickr, just add a comment to this blog entry with a link to wherever your post your pictures. If you don’t *have* a place to post them, feel free to forward them along to us … we’re happy to post them on our account for you.

  • Wedding: This weekend’s events

    IMG_0012
    © epmd

    We’re almost there, which made us think it might be nice to tell you all what the heck is going on this weekend.

    First of all, for those of you around (and not working) on Thursday, The Lady Sparkler and I will be having an open house at our new place in the Mt. Pleasant neighborhood of D.C. We’ll be there (1661 Park Road NW Apt 206) with some love and baked goods from 1:30 PM until 4:30 PM. Just take a taxi up 16th Street, amble up to the front door call box, press #206, and we’ll buzz you in.

    By now, we hope that you have certainly heard about Saturday’s wedding ceremony (10:30 AM @ Foundry / 1500 16th St NW), not to mention the reception to follow two blocks away (11:30 AM @ Doubletree Hotel / 1515 Rhode Island Ave. NW).

    What you may not have heard is that we are also having an after party that night on the top floor of Stetson’s (7:30 PM / 1610 U St NW) to help us relax after what is sure to be a wonderful day. Everyone’s welcome, so we hope you can join us.

    p.s. All this (and more!) is available on the printable map and schedule mention in the last post.

  • Wedding: Schedule and Maps

    We have thrown together a schedule of this weekend’s events, complete with a map with where everything is in relation to each other. We’ve got printed copies for people, but if you want to do some poking around before-hand, download the map/schedule here. The map also has a dozen (or more) places to eat within a mile of the church / hotel.

    If you are a little uncertain about getting around the city, we also have a map explaining the taxi-cab zone system and one showing where the closest metro stops are to the hotels. (Again, we will have copies for you if you would like one.)

  • Wedding: Weather Watch

    Well, we’ve been watching since 15 days out … and the forcast for the 6th has been holding at 80 degrees and mostly sunny for the last week. We have been looking at accuweather.com but The Weather Channel seems to be saying much the same thing.

    Now, we must focus our collective attention on keeping Belize hurricane-free for the next two weeks.

  • Wedding: You *can* go back again …

    IMG_7267We had a great day today. Two weeks out from “D-Day” and this morning we felt like we were far enough ahead that we could go hiking for the first time in 6 months.

    We drove out to Shenandoah National Park, which is exactly what we did on our first date way back when. Oddly enough, we ended up doing a hike on the very same mountain. To completely beat the symbolism into the ground, we decided to top the day off by going out to the same restaurant (Ruby Tuesday’s … oh, were there something in Warrenton that ISN’T a chain).

    It was great getting out. It’s good to get away and remember exactly why were are going through all this work 🙂

  • Photos: Shenandoah National Park, Virginia


    IMG_7267, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    The Lady Sparkler gave me a new lens as a wedding present, and before we hopped the plane to Belize, I wanted to shoot it around for a few hours to make sure it, well, worked. The lens is a Canon 10-22mm f3.5/4.5 USM, which means it is an ultra-wide zoom, and from the few snaps you see here, it seems to take some pretty great pics.
    Explore the Photo Set:
    Insert Flickr Set Name Here

  • Wedding: Dancing with the Sparklers

    (not us)The Lady Sparkler has wanted to learn how to waltz since we met. I haven’t waltzed since April 1997, but something happened to my senses and I gave dance lessons to The Lady Sparkler for her birthday in May. Needless to say, she just “cashed” them.

    Honestly, the topic is just ripe for a feast of self-depricating comedy, but I have to admit it went better than I ever expected (given that I have size 15 feet). The Lady Sparkler does have a rather funny habit of wanting to lead, tho.

    Anyway, we only have one more lesson before the wedding, so don’t expect anything too, well, impressive. Our highest aspiration is to avoid killing each other, not end in an elaborate pose to waves of rapturous applause.

  • Travel: Chicago, Illinois

    IMG_7153
    IMG_7153, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    I love Chicago, and would move out here in a heart-beat if the winters weren’t so miserable. A great friend of mine (Chrissy, the groomsmaid) moved out here after college, and we came out for a long weekend as a kind of last hurrah before the wedding. We had such a fabulous time, and Chicago is an incredibly photogenic city.
    Explore the Photo Set:
    Chicago, Illinois

  • Wedding: Our Favorite Things to Do in D.C.

    [Arial View of Washington, D.C.]This is (hopefully) the first in a series of posts about things to do, places to eat, the best ways to get around the city, etc. In case you are coming to D.C. to see something other than us get married, let’s start off with a list of some of our favorite things to do while in the District. Let us know if you have questions, or if you need additional inspiration.

    The Korean War Memorial

    Why? It is the most interesting of all the National Mall memorials, composed of a group of soldiers making their way through Korean rice paddies. See it on a cloudy day or at night for the best effect. Easily the “local” favorite of all the monuments.

    How? It’s on the very west end of the Mall, next to the Lincoln and Vietnam Memorials. A long, but nice walk from the Smithsonian metro, and tour bus accessiable. Open 24 hours.

    ONLINE: The Korean War Memorial

    PHOTOS: ‘koreanwarmemorial’ on Flickr

    MAP: The Korean War Veterens Memorial on Google Maps

    Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial

    Why? It’s one of the newest monuments, and is easily the greatest departure from the rest because it is a little more interactive than the more somber downtown monuments. in its layout. It occupies over seven acres, with dozens of statues and waterfalls.

    How? It’s a little remote, being on the west side of the Tidal Basin (ie. the far side if you are standing on the Mall) in between the Lincoln and the Jefferson memorials. There is plenty of parking, a longer (but nicer) walk if you are up for it, and tour bus accessiable. Open 24 hours.

    ONLINE: Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial

    PHOTOS: ‘fdrmemorial’ on Flickr

    MAP: FDR Memorial on Google Maps

    View from the Washington Monument

    Why? Easily the best view of the city, and a nice short cut to see a lot (as in ALL) of the city in a short period of time. There is an elevator to the top — since the renovation, you aren’t allowed to take the 896 stairs — and they give you a great overview of the monument on the way up.

    How? It’s hard to miss, so I will spare you the directions. Timed-entry tickets are required, but they are free and can be obtained for same day visits from the kiosk at the bottom of the monument’s hill. Tickets run out early in the summer, but you should be fine on off-peak weekends. Open 9 am to 4:45 pm.

    ONLINE: Washington Monument

    PHOTOS: ‘washingtonmonument’ on Flickr

    MAP: Washington Monument on Google Maps

    Smithsonian Museums

    Why? Normally, the National Air and Space Museum wouldn’t make our personal top 10 — been there 10,439 times — but the National Museum of American History is closed and the Smithsonian has relocated their “Treasures” collection here (think “Ruby Slippers”). Across the Mall is the National Museum of Natural History, which was magnificantly redone in the last 5 years, with the addition of a brand new IMAX theater (which makes a great break in a day of touring). You also have the Castle (houses special exhibitions) and the National Gallery of Art (best gallery outside of the Met in New York City).

    How? The whole DC transportation system is geared to get you to these places. Take the metro (Smithsonian), drive or take any of the tour bus operators’ offerings. Most are open 10 am to 5pm, everyday.

    ONLINE: The Smithsonian Institute

    PHOTOS: ‘smithsonian’ on Flickr

    MAP: Smithsonian Museums on the Mall

    U.S Botanic Garden

    Why? This is a great place to visit, rain or shine. It is a giant greenhouse, with some of the most exotic plants you will ever see. There is a brand new external garden next door as well, and a rotation of new and permanent exhibits inside the conservatory.

    How? It’s on the east end of the Mall, between the Capitol and the Smithsonian museums. Smithsonian Metro, although Union Station will work in a pinch. Open daily 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

    ONLINE: U.S. Botanic Garden

    PHOTOS: ‘usbotanicgarden’ on Flickr

    MAP: U.S. Botanic Garden on Google Maps

    National Geographic Museum

    Why? Always with a global flavor, you can view changing and permanent exhibitions on a variety of scientific, geographic, and cultural themes. Check to see if they have something for you on their website.

    How? Located on 17th between L and M, this is about three blocks from the wedding hotel. Open Monday thru Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

    ONLINE: National Geographic Museum

    MAP: Museum Hours and Directions

    Eastern Market

    Why? Absolutely beloved by locals, Eastern Market is the last traditional city market in DC. The main building recently burned down, but it relocated just across the street while being restored. There are several “sub-markets” including a flea market, farmers market and arts-and-crafts market every weekend.

    How? Located on the opposite side of the Capitol, the market has its very own metro station (cryptically named “Eastern Market”). The flea market is open Sunday 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; farmers market Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; arts-and-crafts market Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

    ONLINE: Eastern Market

    PHOTOS: ‘easternmarket’ on Flickr

    MAP: Historic Eastern Market on Google Maps

    The Library of Congress

    Why? The reading room is one of the most spectacular inside spaces in DC, and their collection is easily holds its own with the Smithsonian. The Library of Congress also offers book talks, gallery talks, poetry readings, lectures, and vintage movies that are open to the public.

    How? To get the most out, you should do a tour, which is available Monday thru Friday at 10:30, 11:30, 1:30, 2:30, and 3:30 and Saturday at 10:30, 11:30, 1:30 and 2:30. Visitors should arrive 15 minutes early for a security check. Capitol South is closest, though Union Station will again work in a pinch.

    ONLINE: Library of Congress

    PHOTOS: ‘libraryofcongress’ on Flickr

    MAP: Library of Congress on Google Maps

    Arlington National Cemetary

    Why? On the other side of the Potomac from DC, there is something for everyone from the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to JFK’s eternal flame. The cemetary is huge, so plan on walking… quite a bit.

    How? There is a metro station at the base of the grounds. The guard changes every hour on the hour from October 1 through March 14, and every half-hour from March 15 through September 30. The cemetery is open 8 a.m.-5 p.m. from October 1 to March 31, and 8 a.m.-7 p.m. from April 1 to September 30.

    ONLINE: Arlington National Cemetary

    PHOTOS: ‘arlingtonnationalcemetary’ on Flickr

    MAP: Arlington National Cemetary on Google Maps

    Cultural Tourism DC

    Why? There is a DC beyond the Mall, and these guys will help you find it. Oddly enough, not all of DC is made out of marble and granite.

    How? Check out their web site, as there are dozens of walking tours that you can take to get a much better flavor of the city.

    ONLINE: Cultural Tourism DC

    PHOTOS: ‘culturaltourismdc’ on Flickr

    MORE: Check out their Trip Manager

  • fostermom

    a friend of ours is getting ready to become a foster parent, and is @#$%ed off about the process enough that she wants to vent. publicly. not my design (i don’t really do purple — or butterflies) but i setup the nastiness on the technical backend.
    Foster Mom
    http://fostermom.miramir.org/

  • Travel: Champlain Valley Exposition, Vermont

    Crowds, Champlain Valley Fair, Champlain Valley Expo Center, Essex Juntion, Vermont
    Crowds, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    We weren’t able to make it up to Vermont this year for my brother’s birthday, so we went up a couple of weeks later for the Champlain Valley Exposition outside of Burlington. Nothing is better than a county fair for photography.
    Explore the Photo Set:
    Champlain Valley Exposition, Essex Junction, Vermont

  • Wedding: Basics, v2

    52 days left before the big day, so we figured it was a good time for an update.

    The wedding ceremony is now scheduled for 10:30 am on Saturday, October 6th at Foundry United Methodist Church in Washington, DC. We have had two of our three meetings with the minister, and have mapped out most of the service — with the exception of the music, which is still to come.

    The reception to follow will be held at 15 RIA, which is about two blocks south of the church — check out or interactive Google map to see where everything is in relation to each other. The reception will feature a mostly traditional brunch spread, which is heavy on our favorite food groups: eggs and breakfast pork. They kick us out at 4pm.

    That night, we are throwing a little after-party at Stetson’s on U Street. For those who aren’t familiar, Stetson’s has quite the political heritage, including a stint as the central watering hole for Clinton Administration staffers, later gaining further notoriety as the place where the Bush twins got busted for underage drinking (wonder if there is a connection between the two?). We have the top floor reserved from 7:30 to 11pm.

    As you may have heard, our block of hotel rooms at the Doubletree Hotel is full, but we have a new block for anybody who needs one next door at the Holiday Inn (details here).

    If you have any questions post us a comment or email us at [email address].

  • Wedding: Holiday Inn @ $159/night

    As you may have heard (we tried to email everyone who may be looking for a hotel room) our room block at the Doubletree is booked solid.

    However, The Lady Sparkler was able to work her magic yet again and get a great deal at the Holiday Inn next door — and that’s literally next door, no exaggeration. Just call up the reservation line (202.483.2000) and tell them you are with the Spindler-Parker wedding, and they will give you the extra-special bonus rate of $159 a night, available Thursday, Friday and/or Saturday nights.

    (We just faxed in the contract this morning, so they might not know what you are talking about if you call before Tuesday afternoon.)

    The good news is that we don’t have to fill a quota of rooms, but the trade off is that the block rate is only available until September 5th, 2007.

  • Wedding: Unregistry

    The Lady Sparkler and I are in kind of a non-traditional wedding position … not only have we both been blessed with good jobs, but we have each spent a decade setting up our comfortable living situations. Unfortunately, that makes the prospect of registering for traditional wedding gifts a little, well, uncomfortable.

    With that in mind, we hope that you will at least consider making a donation in lieu of the gift you may have otherwise given us. For instance, we love the work that Mercy Corps does in the aftermath of natural disasters and human conflicts, as well as their work fighting chronic poverty and social instability around the globe. In the last three decades, Mercy Corps has provided $1.3 billion in assistance to people in 100 nations.

    Coincidentally, they also have a wonderful Mercy Kit gift program, which is perfect for people looking to give tangible gifts — a well for a villiage, a goat for a family, a soccer ball for a school — on behalf of their friends, family members or incredibly smart and attractive wedding couple(s). Best of all, Mercy Corps sends a card announcing your gift to the happy couple so that we/they can share in the joy of your contribution.

    All that being said, we have been told often enough that it is rude not to register somewhere — though maybe not as rude as blogging about it, I would imagine — in case someone would prefer to make a more traditional gift. If that is the case with you, we have found a few things we could use for our new kitchen (Cooking.com), on our eco-honeymoon in Belize (REI.com) or in our new home (CrateAndBarrel.com).

    p.s. We really weren’t kidding about Mercy Corps. Check out some of the work they are doing if you have a minute.

  • Home: The First Step Towards Disenfranchisement

    Today, The Lady Sparkler went to the DMV and successfully revoked her right to participate in our fair Republic. And, from the pictures, I’ll bet that you thought she just got license plates.

    For those of you who don’t know, voters in DC do not have voting representation in Congress. We didn’t get the right to vote for the President until 1961, and weren’t given the right to elect our own mayor until 1973. Our founding fathers apparently didn’t expect anybody to *live* in the Federal City, just work. Hard to believe, no?

    It’s especially ironic because Washingtonians pay the highest per capita federal income taxes in the country, even though we aren’t allowed to vote in the body that makes those taxes into law. This neatly explains why all DC license plates have “Taxation without Representation” emblazoned across the bottom, instead of a nice state motto like “Live Free or Die” or “She flies with her own wings.” (For those playing at home, DC’s motto is Justia Omnibus or “Justice for All”.)

    So, if you happen to be talking to YOUR representation in Congress, be sure to mention the DC Voting Rights Act. It has already passed the House, is currently before the Senate, and would give The Lady Sparkler, myself, and 600,000 of our dearest neighbors a voting member of Congress for the first time ever. It should be voted on this fall.

    That’s it. No more sermons until the wedding, we promise 🙂

  • Photos: The Home Stretch

    Life is finally returning to normal in the Sparkler household, after a pretty crazy couple of weeks. Here are some highlights (or skip to the bottom for pictures of the new place):

    • Emily has regained control of her faculties — After spending three hours on move-in day hiding in her litter box, Emily decided that day two would be best spent trapped under the bathroom vanity. It took a saw and a couple of crowbars to spring her. The good news is that after two weeks in Mt. Pleasant, she is starting to mellow down to her usual high strung, psychotic self.
    • Our home air conditioner has stopped flooding water all over our hardwood floors — Somewhere around day six, water started spewing from our air conditioning. We had the previous owner’s AC guy come out who said that it was leaking because the condensation drain was plugged up from the floor below all the way to the floor above. They professionally installed a bucket under the drain pipe (which we replaced the next day with a funnel and fifteen feet of hose leading to the bathtub) while we waited for the condo board to send out a plumber. Somewhere around day twelve, the plumber came and liberated us from our MacGuyver existance.
    • The car has stopped breaking — A green, glowing “emissions” light come on about day four, followed by a bright, blinking red “engine overheating” light on day six (which nicely coincided with the car’s air conditioning failing), followed by another green, glowing “emissions” light on day eleven. So, during four trips to the dealership in the last ten days, we have replaced the catalytic converter, the oxygen sensor, a radiator fan fuse, and retightened an engine exhaust hose. The dealership assures us that everything is fine … for now.

    Fortunately, somewhere in all that we managed to unpack and finish setting up all the rooms. We still have about a car load of stuff in Arlington, and about 6 boxes of miscelaneous crapola that we have to give away, put away, pitch or recycle … but we are finally in the home stretch (pardon the pun).

    For those of you in town on Thursday before the wedding, we are going to host a little open house that afternoon so our beloved friends and family can see the new place. Until then, some more pictures below:

    Second Bedroom

    Master Bedroom

    Kitchen

  • Home: Emily’s First Day

    Well, we are in. We settled Thursday … the sellers were very sweet and gave us cookies. They even dusted, God bless them.

    Friday was vendor day (locksmith, Comcast) and we took over all the breakable stuff that we didn’t trust to the movers. Actually, we rented a Flexcar minivan — a Honda Odyssey — so we only had to make one trip instead of ten. Flexcar allows you to rent them for about $7 an hour, and they are parked all around town. This one was just 5 blocks from our door.

    Saturday was last-minute packing day (and travel-to-the-box-stores day) and then the movers came at 10 am Sunday morning. By 6 pm, Emily decided to join us at the new place, which bring us from DNA right up to this moment.

    We’ll post more about the move (including pictures) as we get a little more settled. G’night!

  • Photos: Berry-picking at Butler’s Orchard

    Picked, Berry Picking, Butler's Orchard, Germantown, Maryland
    Picked, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    In a break from the wedding planning madness, The Lady Sparkler and I went out to Germantown, Maryland with friends of ours (Michael and Anne McCauley) for an afternoon of berry-picking at Butler’s Orchard.
    Explore the Photo Set:
    Berry-picking, Butler’s Orchard, Germantown, Maryland

  • Home: 7 days, and counting … (July Edition)

    Made you look. No, the wedding is still 86 days away (not that anyone is counting). We speak, instead, of the move.

    In fact, in seven days I expect to be painting our very own master bedroom a lovely shade of Chianti after earlier in the day giving our sellers the largest check I have ever seen in my life.

    To bring you up to speed … Since we last mentioned Mt. Pleasant nary sixteen days ago, we have:

    • Gotten the results of our home inspection back — Everything looks pretty great. The combination furnace/AC unit needed to be serviced and there were a couple of power outlets that needed work. The home inspector also mentioned something about our electrical circuit box potentially bursting into flames without warning, but not sure exactly what he meant. All in all, we were pretty happy.
    • Negotiated some extra dough from the sellers for the (potentially) flaming electrical box — Turns out that having a Federal Pacific “Stab-Lock” electrical box that could burst into flames at a moment’s notice is considered a “bug” as opposed to a “feature.” After a little negotiating, we managed to get some money from the sellers to get it replaced.
    • Tested Evan’s bicycle commute — I have been biking to and from work for about 6 weeks now, and hope to keep it up after the move. It should be easy. Our new place is right off the Rock Creek Trail (which meets my current commute) and forms a nice little seven mile commute each way. This past weekend, I tried the full trip from to Mt. Pleasant and back, and it was a LOVELY ride with some truly beautiful sections through Georgetown, Rock Creek and the National Zoo.
    • Determined Evan probably should not use a two decade old bike for commuting long distances — The following day, while commuting to work, I nearly wrapped myself around a tree because my 18 year old brakes and gears no-workey-so-goody, especially when wet. If I make it another 6 weeks of commuting via bicycle — ie. haven’t killed myself and haven’t given up trying — I am going to seriously ponder getting a bike made sometime *after* the first Bush administration.
    • Reviewed the condo’s bylaws and budget documents — Apparently, The Lady Sparkler and I share 5.2% of the voting power in our condo association. I am already wondering how best to abuse our new-found power. Perhaps we will start by repealing the bylaw that states that 80% of our *gorgeous* hardwood floors are supposed to be covered by area rugs.
    • Started shopping for rugs — Well, yes, but not because of the condo rule. We did some research and discovered that the current owners have never had more than 30% of their floor covered since the late 90s, and that most people aren’t meeting either the letter or the spirit of that rule. Not to mention: our unit is directly above the lobby, so there aren’t a whole lot of people to complain.
    • Gotten our appraisal back — Perhaps the most bizarre realization of the last two weeks was finding out that the bank felt comfortable verifying the value of our purchase without ever stepping foot inside the building. Not to mention, they *miraculously* appraised it at $1,000 more than we are buying it for (so we have already made a profit!)
    • Gone to Home Depot for paint colors — The only thing we are painting before we move in is the master bedroom, as it is currently a lovely shade of mango. To be fair, the color really is quite lovely, but our drapes are burgundy and our spread is olive and maroon, so keeping the mango isn’t really an option. The rest of the colors — seafoam living room, mango second bedroom, cobalt-ish halway, beige bathroom — match enough to buy us some time.
    • Found movers, electricians specializing in flaming electrical boxes, locksmiths, water/sewage authorities, a gas service and an electrical utility — Not much to add on this one.
    • Petted Emily-the-Cat — For two whole weeks, we said “wow, Emily is really taking all all this commotion well.” Then two days ago, she finally figured out something was up … and that 200 packing boxes might be something other than construction materials for the fort of her dreams.
    • Packed 60% of our belongings — Basically, everything is done except the kitchen. It took 16 copier boxes (and then some) to pack our bookcases alone, and that is after giving away four boxes of books. It is going to take years for us to get everything out again once we make it to the other side of the Potomac.

    So, there you go.

    Neither of us can wait ’til the end of October, when we can look back at this and start thinking that “shooting the moon” by moving and getting married on top of each other wasn’t the silliest idea we have ever had 😉

  • Wedding: How well do you know the Bride?

    Our bridesmaids put together a little quiz to see how well everyone knows her, and I have posted it on an online quiz site called “Quibblo.”

    If you want to see how you how you stack up in knowledge of the inner-workings of The Lady Sparkler’s brain, just go here:

    http://www.quibblo.com/quiz/3i14kS/How-well-do-you-know-Tasha

  • Wedding: Church Declares Bride and Groom Incompatible, Couple Unrepentant

    So, maaaaaybe that statement is a bit of an exaggeration, but it is safe to say we are now formally banking on the axiom: “opposites attract.”

    We just got back from the second of our three church counseling sessions with the man who would marry us, Rev. Dean J. Snyder. At the end of the first session, he administered the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test to us. Now, at the second session, he promised to review the results with us.

    And, oh, what results they were.

    Turns out that of the four bands (Extraversion vs Introversion, Sensing vs Intuition, Thinking vs Feeling, Judging vs Perceiving) we were at the opposite ends of all but one. The Lady Sparkler is a ESTJ, and I am an ENFP.

    Below are some highlights of our personalities:

    Favorite world: Do you prefer to focus on the outer world or on your own inner world?

    People with a preference for Extraversion (both she and I) draw energy from action: they tend to act, then reflect, then act further. If they are inactive, their level of energy and motivation tends to decline.

    Information: Do you prefer to focus on the basic information you take in or do you prefer to interpret and add meaning?

    Individuals with a preference for Sensing (The Lady Sparkler) prefer to trust information that is in the present, tangible and concrete: information can be comprehended by the five senses. They prefer to look for detail and facts.

    Those with a preference for Intuition (Evan) will trust information that is more abstract or theoretical, that can be associated with other information. They are more interested in future possibilities.

    Decisions: When making decisions, do you prefer to first look at logic and consistency or first look at the people and special circumstances?

    Those with a preference for Feeling (Evan) will prefer to come to decisions by associating or empathising with the situation, looking at it ‘from the inside’ to achieve the greatest harmony, consensus and fit with their personal set of values.

    Those with a preference for Thinking (The Lady Sparkler) will prefer to decide things from a more detached standpoint, measuring the decision by what is reasonable, logical, causal, consistent and matching a given set of rules.

    Structure: In dealing with the outside world, do you prefer to get things decided or do you prefer to stay open to new information and options?

    People with a preference for Judging (The Lady Sparkler) prefer matters to be decided, to start tasks well ahead of a deadline, and they can sometimes seem inflexible in this regard.

    Those whose preference is Perceiving (Evan) are happier to leave finishing a task until close to the deadline, are energised late rushes of information and ideas, and are readier to change plans if new information comes along.

    In retrospect, it’s funny/encouraging/touching that our number one response to the question “why do you like each other” over the last three years has been that the other “balances me.”

    Maybe there is hope for us yet.

  • Hike: Calvert Cliffs

    Water Lillies, Grey's Creek, Calvert Cliffs State Park, Lusby, Maryland
    Water Lillies, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    One of the side-benefits of working at The Nature Conservancy is that we get every other friday off during the summer (assuming that we are able to compress the 40-hour work-week into 4 days).

    I usually use the day to go hiking around the region but this year, with the wedding, I haven’t gotten out as much as I otherwise would have. Today, a friend of mine from TNC and I hiked around Calvert Cliffs State Park for the afternoon, and snapped some pics.

    Explore the Photo Set:
    Calvert Cliffs State Park, Maryland

  • House, 2.1

    Yay! We got it 🙂

    We got the call today shortly before lunch, that the nice people who live in the place we want to buy accepted our offer. Actually, they countered with another offer that was 9k more than what WE offerered, but which was still 16k less than the list price and 1k less then we *thought* they were going to counter with.

    Needless to say, we are besides our self with happiness. The settlement is July 19th, and we don’t have to vacate our current appartment until the end of August. This give us almost 6 weeks to move. Oh, joy! Oh, rapture! I have no idea what to do with the extra time … except for plan a wedding of course.

    The home inspection is on Monday, July 2nd @ 4:00 pm, so no real news (and no better pictures) until then. However, before the MLS listing disappears, I downloaded it for posterity’s sake, and it is below.

    101 days until the wedding …

    Property Details

    MLS#: DC6435304 · Bedrooms: 2 · Bathrooms: 1 full · City: WASHINGTON · Status: CNTG/NO KO · Type of Home: Garden 1-4 Floors · Style: Beaux Arts · Year Built: 1925 · Lot Acreage: 0 · Subdivision: MOUNT PLEASANT · County: WASHINGTON, DC · Address: 1661 PARK RD NW #206 · City, State, Zip: WASHINGTON, DC, 20010 ·

    Remarks

    Comments: Gorgeous & Sunny 2 BR/1 Bath Condo in a GREAT Pet Friendly BLDG w/Bike Room**This unit SPARKLES w/UPDATES GALORE to incl:Kitchen w/SS Appls, Cabinetry, Silestone Counters, Remodeled Bath, NEW AC & Fresh Paint**Lovely HWD Flrs & Doors, Crown Molding**Large Rm sizes**W/D in unit**METRO, Rock Creek Park, Shops, Restaurants & Nightlife are here!!City Living at it’s Best**Sellers have taken PRIDE!

    Home Features

    Amenities: Crown Molding, Elevator, Shades/Blinds, Wood Floors · Appliances: Dishwasher, Disposal, Dryer, Exhaust Fan, Intercom, Microwave, Oven/Range-Electric, Refrigerator, Washer · Kitchen / Dining Info: Kit-Breakfast Bar, Liv-Din Combo · Heating System: Forced Air · Heating Fuel: Natural Gas · Cooling System: Central A/C · Cooling Fuel: Electric · Hot Water: Electric · Parking Info: Street · Water System: Public · Construction: Brick · Community Amenities: Common Grounds, Elevator

  • House, 2.0

    [Map]In completely unrelated news, The Lady Sparkler and I made an offer on a new place to live today. Yup, that’s right. We sat around last week, brainstorming about what we could do to make the last three months before our wedding a bit more chaotic, and this is the best we could do.

    Actually, truth be told, this has been in the back of our minds for quite some time. The housing market bottomed out (in DC, at least) in November of 2006, and is on the way back up. Interest rates are low, but climbing. Personally, our current lease expires in August, we are expecting another lease hike, and our building punishes you if you don’t renew for a full year ($300/month to go month-to-month).

    So, basically, the economic gods seem to be telling us something. Not wanting to anger said gods (Alan Greenspan?), ten days ago we found a real estate agent (Brandon Green) and a mortgage broker (Rob Riggins), both of whom came VERY strongly recommended and both very kindly gave us a crash course in home buying. After a weekend of getting oriented, and half a week of getting pre-approved, we hit about 20-25 different places this weekend.

    The primary goals were a 2 bedroom condo in DC (in the Circles area — Logan, Scott, Dupont, Thomas) or in Virginia (either near where we live now in Court House, or near were The Lady Sparkler used to live in Del Ray/Alexandria). Given our budget, Brandon chuckled warmly at his naive little charges, and politely showed us some places we could actually afford.

    The winning neighborhood by far was Mt. Pleasant, which is due north of downtown (16th street runs along the western edge of the neighborhood) and is nestled up against the back door to the National Zoo. The neighborhood has a fantastic diverse, family-friendly, funky vibe — those who know me know I don’t use the words “funky” or “vibe” lightly … darn hippie words! — and it seems to be one of the last true communities in the District.

    The place we are bidding on is 1661 Park Road, #206 and is located at the corners of 17th street and Mt. Pleasant Avenue. It’s about 2 blocks from the Columbia Heights metro (where a Target, Best Buy, Marshall’s, Starbucks/Caribu Coffee and Carvel are all opening), 3 blocks from Rock Creek Park, and 6 blocks from the zoo.

    (If you look on the Google Map above, the place we are looking at isn’t marked correctly … 1661 is actually well to the left of the green arrow, on the other side of the 5 townhouses you see on Park. It’s the building with 2 big trees between it and the street.)

    The apartment has a ton of windows, and gorgeous, dark hardwood floors. Two bedrooms, brand new kitchen. The pictures attached to the listing were so bad, that we almost didn’t look at the place.

    Anyway, we will obviously keep you posted as we keep moving towards the exciting conclusion of this very special episode of Extreme Makeover: Life Edition.

  • Wedding: “We went to Jared!”

    18k Gold 6mm Comfort-Fit Wedding Band*SIGH*

    I can’t even explain the horror of writing this post. They say confession is good for the soul … all I ask is you read through to the end before laughing hysterically. Basically, a funny thing happened on the way home from the cake place …

    After having our initial meeting at Lille a month ago, we forgot to actually place the order for the cake, and then they forgot what wanted when we called back 3 weeks after we were supposed to. So, today we had to shlep all the way back to Herndon, see “the guy”, redraw the cake and fork over a deposit.

    On the way back from “Cake, part 2: The Revenge of Fondant”, we realized that we had no idea what our ring-finger sizes were, and that the ignorance of such things was going to make wedding ring shopping online … well … suboptimal. Thusly, we decided to “swing by” one of the malls in Tyson’s Corner, pretend to be interested in buying our rings, get our fingers sized, and rush home to buy the rings online.

    Unfortunately for the mall theory, there was a bit of a traffic jam on Route 7 (the main road in to Tysons) and it just grinded to a halt after a while … directly in front of a Jared: the Galleria of Jewelry.

    With our souls already crushed by the traffic, we figured going into the store responsible for the most soul-sucking television commercials in nigh-on-a-decade (“He went to Jared!”) couldn’t kill what was already dead. Besides, if we want to bring down the evil empire, what better way to do so then by bring false hope to their sales associates and making them waste time sizing the fingers of future Blue Nile customers.

    Sadly, a very nice sales associate named Danielle helped us try on various rings. Even more sadly, they actually fit and looked rather nice. Even MORE sadly, they were reasonably priced, and The Lady Sparkler found the ring of her dreams.

    Wanting to save the last shred of my dignity, we took down the ring information and *promised* to come back to consummate the deal. I may not be able to stop the flood, but at least I can delay it a bit.

    UPDATE: When we went back the following weekend to actually place the order for the rings, our little helper Danielle was abjectly shocked to see us. I asked why she was so surprised, and she said that it was very rare for people to come back after being sized, and even more rare for a couple to ask for the person that helped them the first time. I handed her a credit card, completed the transaction and guiltily skulked away. I have become that which I had feared most…

    p.s. The first person who sees me walk by and says “He went to Jared!” will get slugged. Pow. Right in the kisser. (“To the moon, Alice. To the moon!”)

  • Wedding: Ceremony Now @ 10:30am!

    The Bride, the Groom and the Maid of Honor sat down tonight (and besides celebrating the Maid of Honor’s new job!) we ran through the ENTIRE wedding day schedule, mapping out what happens when. Unfortunately, the very first thing we noticed was that we are going to have to push the ceremony up to 10:30 am to fit all the partying in.

    We’ll post more info about the schedule a little later, but in a desperate, pandering attempt to win your affection: (a) we are going to try and do the bulk of the pictures before the ceremony (yay!) and (b) while we are going to do a receiving line leaving the church, if you sneak out the back door and run over to the reception, the food and libations will be flowing long before we show up.

    Mazletov!

  • Wedding: Washington Photo Safari

    Glass Harmonica, Washington Photo Safari, Old Town, Alexandria, Virginia
    Glass Harmonica, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    The “boys” needed something to do while the “girls” were having a bridal shower, so a group of us grabbed our cameras and went on a Washington Photo Safari. This particular trip was around Alexandria (which, coincidentally, was where the shower was being held) and it kept us out of the way long enough for the cucumber sandwiches to be cleared.
    Explore the Photo Set:
    Washington Photo Safari, Alexandria, Virginia

  • photos: capitol hill

    [U.S. Capitol Building, Capitol Hill, Washington, DC ]
    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    capitol hill, washington, dc

  • Wedding: Sailing on the Bay

    The Lady Sparkler, Sailing, Schooner Woodwind, Chesapeake Bay, Annapolis, Maryland
    The Lady Sparkler, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    The Lady Sparkler’s bridesmaids threw her a little shower this weekend, and both sets of parents came into town for the event. For part of the weekend, we went to Annapolis for a sailing trip around the Chesapeake Bay on the Schooner Woodwind. The whole family and all of the bridesmaids joined us for the sail.
    Explore the Photo Set:
    Sailing on the Chesapeake Bay, Annapolis, Maryland

  • Wedding: “It was an emotional wedding…”

    “It was an emotional wedding. The mother of the bride cried. Even the cake was in tiers.”

    HAAAA! I kill me. No, seriously folks … thank YOU. I’m here all week. Try the pork loin.

    The only thing we have been enjoying nearly as much as finding a rehearsal dinner venue (which we are still using as an excuse for eating out MONTHS after we have actually found the place we are going to use) is cake tastings.

    I feel like we have done 237, but it may only actually be 236. However, we finally appear to have settled on our champion this afternoon.

    We went out to Lille in Herndon, Virginia, and had an appointment the owner (Moustafa?). A one-on-one sitdown with an actual craftsman was a welcome respite to the god-awful “open houses” we have frequented with 50 people packed into a small room in an industrial park on the outskirts of town.

    He walked us through some options, and gave us a sampling board of cakes, frostings, fillings, etc. We have gone through this whole process under the assumption that we would end up with a chocolate cake, just based on personal preference. Lille, however, had this great white cake, with white chocolate mousse and a raspberry jam filling. I have never had cake so good.

    AND, on top of it all, he suggested a cake design with cala lilies (which just happen to be the leading contender for the flowers in The Lady Sparkler’s bouquet).

    We still have one last place to look at, but we took down Lille’s information, and will likely call back in a week to reserve the cake. We’d order it now, but there is this one place near Topeka that we haven’t tried yet …

  • Photos: Jamestown, Virginia

    Flag Procession, America's 400th Anniversary, Jamestown, Williamsburg, Virginia
    Flag Procession, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    I grew up about 2 miles from Jamestown, the sight of the first permanent English colony in North America. Established in 1607, this year marks the 400th anniversary of the landing of the first three ships.

    As one would expect, there was a big to-do, with Queen Elizabeth II over from England, and President Bush II down from D.C. It was a three day affair, with a reenactment of the landing, concerts and all sorts of educational stuff at the State & National Parks that surround the landing site.

    My parents still live those 2 miles away, and we all spent the weekend taking in the festivities.

    Explore the Photo Set:
    America’s 400th Anniversary, Jamestown, Virginia

  • Hike: Hazel Mountain Trail

    Waterfall, Hazel Mountain Trail, Shenandoah National Park, Sperryville, Virginia
    Waterfall, originally uploaded by [ecpark].
    Explore the Photo Set:
    Hazel Mountain Trail, Shenandoah National Park, Virginia