Happy Satan Day!

June 6, '06, otherwise known as 6.6.6.

Suggested listening:
AC/DC: Highway to Hell
AC/DC: Hell's Bells
AC/DC: Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be
AC/DC: C.O.D. (Care of the Devil)
Iron Maiden: Number of the Beast
Slayer: Anything they've ever put out

D.C. not as big a terror target as South Dakota

According the new grant budget put out by the Department of Homeland Security, Washington, D.C. is in the lowest 25% of "states" in a likely-to-be-attacked ranking that was the basis of how much security grant money each area receive this year. Who's at more risk of being attacked (and getting more money to prevent it), according to the DHS? Witness the insanity:

West Virginia $7.5 million homeland security grant (Okay, everyone knows I love W.V. best of all, but c'mon. The terrorists aren't coming for the strip mines, people.)

Idaho $6.7 million (The terrorists hate taters!)

Oregon $4.7 million (They will try to cripple our pot-growing abilities.)

Montana $4.5 million (We must kill all them cowboys, Abdul!)

Utah $4.5 million (Attack the holy-underwear wearing infidels!)

Rhode Island: $4.5 million (Do they even get "Providence" re-runs in Pakistan?)

Wyoming: $4.4 million (I guess Buffalo are a bigger symbol of America than the Washington Monument.)

South Dakota: $4.4 million (Okay, there aren't even a majority of U.S. Citizens that could pick out S.D. on a map, but Al Queda can? Riiiight.)

Puerto Rico: $4.3 million (Uh, is this a joke?)

D.C.: $4.3 million homeland security grant

Also on the list for increased funding: Kansas City, MO and St. Louis, MO; Louisville, KY; Omaha, NE (Yes, folks, Nebraska, #1 on Al Queda target lists worldwide, I'm sure); five cities in Jeb Bush's Florida (Actually, Orlando is one of them and I agree that Disney would be a legitimate target. But Ft. Lauderdale? Sorry Muslim extremists, not even close to 100 virgins at Spring Break.)

But that's not all! New York City is also on the not-likely-to-get-the-shit-bombed-out-of-it list.

NEW YORK CITY? D.C.? WTF?! These are the only two places in the nation THAT GOT ATTACKED!!!!!

What a colossal waste of taxpayers' money. Someone please wake me from this Orwellian nightmare.

Gardening Vigilantes!

These are our neighbors from down the street, Mr. & Mrs. S.
They are the traveling gardening vigilantes!

They cruise around in their SUV fixing up gardens that look shabby in our neighborhood.
I see Mrs. S often as she walks alot. She is always complimentary of our yard, which is sweet. She also always comments on our neighbor's yard as it's very overgrown. She mentioned to me one day that she was going to come by and fix up his yard. I thought, "no way." Today was the day I was proven wrong.

I was sitting feeding Sylvia and I heard a weed-whacker and thought, "how odd, my neighbor B. is never home at 2p what's going on?" Of course being the nosy mama that I am, Sylvia and I went to investigate and lo and behold, it was not B. but Mr. and Mrs. S!

She: sporting a fine looking, 1980's-era terrycloth headband, shorty shorts and a tank top, was hand-clipping the edges of B.'s grass near the stairs. I KID YOU NOT.

He: dressed in all white from head to toe (he must have recently attended P.Diddy's White Party in the Hamptons), in his fabu kneesocks, was weed-whacking at an amazing pace.

Please note: it was 90 degrees today and that's not counting the mega humidity!

Mr. and Mrs. S, you ROCK.

Bay United FC, R.I.P.

Jason, looking pained, for some reason. We hadn't even started the post-game drinking yet!


Matthew and I consider yet another humiliating loss, probably. Now to the bar!

I was a late-comer to soccer. In what is now obviously the most tragic irony ever to befall me, I did not like nor understand The Beautiful Game in 1994 when the U.S. hosted its first World Cup. The fact that Spain played its matches a mere 15 blocks east of my house on Capitol Hill and I didn't bother to even notice now haunts my soccer-obsessed dreams. Yes, it was not until when I moved to Spain in 1996 that I came to fully appreciate the world's most popular sport.

When I returned to the U.S. and moved to San Francisco in January of 1997, I decided that it might be cool to actually learn to play the game. I grew up with football, baseball, and -- god help me -- basketball, so I knew less than nothing about how to kick a soccer ball properly. My best friend, Jason, had played in high school, so he and I went to a park near my house in Oakland and he showed me the ropes.

Soon after, Jason, our great friend Matthew (a rugby player from Engerland), and I got the bright idea to form a rec league team and compete in the Golden Gate Soccer League, which was co-ed and seemed like a good way to meet women.

With that noble goal in mind, I rounded up some coworkers and as many of our friends who would risk embarassment on the pitch and we were off. We dubbed ourselves Bay United FC, on the count of having players from all five areas of the S.F. Bay Area (S.F., Oakland, Alameda, Emeryville, and Berkeley).

I found a place to get some snazzy jerseys made up, designed a bitchin' logo, and voilá! We were a team. One problem: we sucked.

Turns out almost none of us knew how to really play soccer well, and we were soundly beaten in match after match. No matter, the real purpose of the team was the after-game happy hours. There we sat as a team, drinking brews, eating fish and chips, and laughing at all of our mistakes while celebrating any triumphs (like keeping the game close or scoring a goal). Everyone looked forward to each Sunday's game, and we all formed a close bond that I'll always remember fondly.

But here's where the storybook ending comes in. In the league, every team made the playoffs, so we were in as well. We came into the opening playoff game defeated, as in the opposite of undefeated. We hadn't won a single game the entire season and were determined to finally pull one out. As fate (and the tournament bracket) would have it, we were playing the top-seeded team (we were, of course, the lowest seed).

The game was hard-fought throughout, and we ended regulation in a 0-0 tie. Since this was the playoffs, we had to have a winner, so to overtime we went. The overtime worked in a way whereby each team lost a player after so many minutes of not scoring and we took it down to three on three. That's when our star forward, a blonde accountant (who lead a quite unaccountant-like life on the weekends), scored the goal that sent us into the next round and sent the top seeds home to their mommies.

I felt like I had just won the World Cup.

We lost the next playoff game, not that it mattered by then. The team carried on in various incarnations with a multitude of players (although the core group of Matthew, Jason, and I were always there) until around 2001, when we finally decided to call it quits.

When I'm watching the World Cup in two weeks with a brew in hand, I, for one, will remember the Bay United FC and toast to my teammates. We had a hell of a time.

Old friends visit!

jengabevisit
Originally uploaded by Xose.

This weekend we were very happy to play host to some good friends from our days in San Francisco, Jen and Gabe.

Jen was in town for a book expo in the D.C. Convention Center, so they made the trek up to Silver Spring on Metro for a cookout in the back yard. Sylvia was excited to meet them, and Jenny and I were very psyched to hang out with such fun people again.

I worked with Jen at CMP while in S.F., and she and Gabe made the cross-country move about a year before Jenny and I did (we're all part of the great exodus of post-dot-com talent from the ultra-expensive Bay Area).

We had fun catching up and marveling at how much we know about each others' recent lives due to reading each other's blogs. It's amazing that the Internet allows you to keep up with family and friends all over the world. In my opinion, this is one of the best things about the Internet: the capability to bring people together, even if they are far apart geographically.

Anyway, we had a great time with Gabe and Jen, and hope to see them again soon! Thanks for coming down guys!

The quagmire deepens....

The depths to which Iraq has sunk since our illegal invasion are ever more harrowing. According to a new report in today's San Francisco Chronicle, Iraqis are fleeing Baghdad in droves to escape the rampant murders taking place every hour of every day with no end in sight.

Are these people better off now than when Saddam was in power?

"With only six hours of electricity a day and shortages of essentials such as gasoline, Iraqis exchange horror stories of unspeakable violence, which cannot be independently confirmed and might or might not be true.

Someone said a Sunni woman was shot in Amariya this week because she was driving. Someone else said a neighbor who had disappeared last month died of a heart attack in captivity. Women share these stories during short, rare trips to the few grocery shops that are still open.

'Everybody is scared,' said one woman in Amariya. 'No one can protect us.'"

Not that anyone could have seen this coming before we invaded, right? Geez.

Studio time on no sleep

First, our apologies for the non-postings as of late. Sylvie has been bent on a parental sleep-deprivation study, and has reduced us to quivering masses of jelly in little more than a week of zero good night's sleep. At least her thesis will pretty much write itself, now.

I was in the studio with my band, MyLOH (My Life on Hold), this weekend recording three songs for our upcoming demo CD. Sounded really good, and I can't wait to hear the final mixdown. I'll post here when links are available. Now to get a gig somewhere....

The best kiss ever

Sorry Joe but I have to say, I received the best kiss ever last night.
It happened about 330a. Yes, 330a in the wee hours of the morning.
Poor Sylvia suddenly got this weird dry cough (kinda allergies) and unfortunately it's one of those trigger-spasm coughs that scares her and wakes her up. So needless to say, she and I and Joe were up all night.
It was so sad b/c at 3a, I tried to give her to Joe for a sec while I washed bottles for her and that did not work AT ALL. She was completely freaking out, crying...which of course made her cough worse...OY. I think we have a bit of separation anxiety starting. So, I got her from Joe and she and I sat on the couch and I sang her the Sylvia song that I only sing her when she's upset. It's something I made up when she was very little and she was having a bad night and I just basically hug her really tight and sing it to her. Last night, she calmed down and just stared up at me with these big, saucer eyes - it was one of those moments where even though you are so tired you could puke, you don't care because it's the best, just to be in that moment where you are able to soothe your child. I was giving her kisses to chill her out and then went I put my cheek next to hers, all of a sudden I felt a "smooch!" She kissed me!
I am telling you, the BEST!

More curtain detail photos

I can only post 5 pics per post, so here's the detail for Sylvia's room and also the pattern for the great room valences (it's a very subtle plaid):

Curtain mania

Joe's mom made us four sets of curtains while she was visiting this past weekend.

We now have curtains for the bathroom, the kitchen, the great room*** and the baby's room.
What a task!!!

I am not crafty at all so I mostly did the shopping portion of the project.
I picked out the fabric and then Joe's mom sewed and sewed and sewed.

*** Valances only, in the great room but still no small task, as each window is 106" in length.

Thanks so much Patsy!

Here are some photos:

Nana & Home improvement central

My mom visited last week and had a great time hanging out with Sylvia. We went to Brookside Gardens and also did some retail therapy. Sylvia got some cool music toys from nana and also her very own boombox. Sylvia's been listening to jazz, classical and pop tunes.

My mom got us a runner for our hallway -- which was much needed as our 50 year old wood floors creak SO loudly and the new rug helps to muffle the sound. I really appreciate having the rug as the snapping and creaking of the floors was making me nuts!
Mom was also going to help me make curtains but we decided to wait as we'd have to mail the cloth back and forth.

Joe's parents are here right now and Patsy's been a curtain making machine...more on that later.

The kid's got good taste!

She thinks that the guys on the back of the record cover are the funniest thing around, and she screamed bloody murder (in the rue morgue) when we took the CD away from her.... Sylvie. All metal. All the time.

Jenny's mom coming to town

Jennifer's mother is coming to visit later tonight, so Sylvie will get some grandma time in for the next few days. Dad will get some much-needed time in the ampworks to try to fix one of his old builds that keeps squealing like a stuck pig.

We're also in the middle of trying to figure out what the hell to do with our lawn/garden. I think Jenny and her mom are gonna hit the greenhouse circuit this weekend, as we're in the market for flowers and a dogwood tree to plant for Sylvie in the front yard.

And then there's the matter that our entire backyard has turned to moss. Do the chores ever end? Uh...no.

Don't ban the bonfires!

I read with dismay a story posted on the SFGate.com site this morning about an impending ban on Ocean Beach bonfires.

The bonfire tradition is special to Jenny and I because that's where we met: at a bonfire on Ocean Beach. It would be a real shame if other folks couldn't have the same opportunity to gather, meet, and fall in love that we did.

The ocean is so cold in S.F., that really, bonfires are one of the only good ways to enjoy the Pacific. And while I understand the problems faced by the SFPD, the Park Service, and the local residents, I don't think banning the fires is the way to go. I hope that volunteer clean-up crews will step up to the plate to save this wonderful San Francisco tradition. [photo taken from sfgate.com/Kim Komenich]

Randy Freaking Rhoades

My mom must have heard me trying to master this riff about 18 million times. Sorry mom! When I was in middle/high school, I wanted to be this guy SO bad...

Randy Rhoades was from outer space, people. He redefined the instrument, IMHO.

Blindness freaking sucks

Sweet mother of crimeny.

I went to the opthamologist yesterday for a check up and to get my new prescription. I need new glasses because my little daughter has this game she calls "grab the specs." Last week she expanded the game to "...and break them in half." :-( Alas, my spec-tacular Scandanavian glasses are no more.

Soooo....I headed up to the opthamologist to get my examination. During the exam, he puts these crazy pupil-dilation drops in my eyes. I have never had this done before and I was not thrilled when I discovered that it renders you unable to focus on anything less than 10 feet away. Oh, and it also makes any sunlight burn your eyeballs right out of your skull.

Not able to drive home after the appointment, I stumbled into the Army surplus store next door and bought the cheapest sunglasses they had ($12). Couldn't read the tag, so I hope the guy didn't rip me off TOO bad.

Then I squinted my way to Bethesda's famous Rock Bottom Brewery to kill time until I could see well enough to drive again. Couldn't read the menu, and had to ask some girl sitting next to me to find Jason's number on my cell phone. Jason thought this would be a good pick up line; he may try it. If it works, look for him to be sporting shades and a white cane in the near future.

It took a full seven hours for the dilation to wear off, and I felt weird and queasy for the whole time. Not fun.

Spring is here!

Spring is definitely here in DC and every day it gets prettier as more trees and flowers begin to bloom. But along with the blooming are also our raging allergies...

We had a great weekend and Joe did a bunch of house stuff. He scrubbed the algae/green stuff off the house and the shed, he began to paint the kitchen cabinets (we're going to look for a different color, so it's on hold), he put on some screens so we can open the sunroom windows (YAH!), he weeded my peonies so they would not get choked, he repotted my new plant by the front door, he painted/removed rust from our front porch railing, he raked up old leaves and weeded this very overgrown spot in the backyard, he took out the patio furniture, last weekend he went to the dump to get rid of all this junk/wood that the previous owners of our house left here, he also babysat for me so I could get some time away both on Saturday and Sunday! PHEW. I am tired just from writing this.
Thanks Joe!

Do we know what really happened on 9-11?

First, let me say that I shudder to think that any government entity had any foreshadowing of the horrible events of 9-11, much less had an active part in planning and executing it. But, I will also say that there are many unresolved mysteries surrounding the event that make me think that, at the least, we are not getting the full story.

Some of the many questions that bug me:

1. Why did both towers fall down after burning only less than 2 hrs? A skyscraper in Venezuela burned for 17 hrs and still stood. One in Madrid burned for 24 hours and still stood. And, in fact, there are only three documented cases of buildings collapsing because of fire. They are WTC 1, WTC 2, and WTC 7 (which wasn't even hit by an airplane, btw).

2. Steel melts at approx. 2000 degrees F. Jet fuel burns at approx. 1300 degrees F. You do the math.

3. How were all four black boxes on the WTC planes completely incinerated, yet the intact passport of a terrorist, made of paper was found intact?

4. Why has the government not released the surveillance tapes of the plane hitting the Pentagon?

5. Why did the wings of the Pentagon plane "disintegrate" without breaking out the window frames on either side of the impact area? Where was the tail section wreckage? The engine wreckage?

There are many more, but I won't go on here. And lest you think I've turned into some crackpot nutcase, I'm in pretty elite company:

Here's San Francisco Chronicle columnist Mark Morford's column on the subject.

And here is New York magazine's take on it.

Finally, here is an excellent video documentary called 9/11 Loose Change that brings up a host of troubling questions surrounding the events of 9/11 and how the facts don't seem to jibe with the official storyline. Please watch this before thinking that it's all bullcrap.

The point here? We deserve a more thorough examination of the events surrounding the most heinous terrorist act in the nation's history. The victims deserve it, and so do we, the Vox Populi.

Fabu

Check me out...I SO have to recreate this outfit for Sylvia. I love it!
Also, I think Sylvia has my body, what do you all think? :O)
That's me at the beach w. my uncle feeding me some food.
Thanks Mom for getting me copies of these photos; they're the BEST!

Holy overtones, Batman!

So pretty much everyone reads comics as a kid, right? Well, the folks over at Superdickery.com decided that it would be fun to go back as adults and take a second look. What they found was interesting:

1. Superman is a total dick. The guy is constantly killing Batman, Jimmy Olsen, Wonder Woman, and even his beloved (or is she?) Lois Lane...again and again.

2. The guys drawing these comics back in the day were either really naïve or really naughty. After viewing some of the "unintended sexual meanings" cartoons, you MUST come to the conclusion that they were the latter. If you need examples, you can look here. But, FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS SACRED, DO NOT LOOK AT THIS ONE. (I'm serious, don't look.)

3. Batman and Robin were gay. Look, this disturbs me as much as it does the next red-blooded American male, but the proof is in the pudding, folks. Read these comics! The truth will horribly reveal itself!

4. The guys that drew Wonder Woman just wanted an excuse to draw sexy girls in bondage. I mean, week after week, issue after issue, Wonder Woman is bound with chains, with ropes, with her own frickin' golden lasso. It's amazing, really, that she ever got out of the house.

Great weekend!

My Mom and Dad came up this weekend to babysit so Jenny and I could have a couple "nights on the town."

On Friday, we went to a fabu St. Patrick's Day party hosted by our friend Ed in D.C. The party was PACKED (at least 100 people in his two bedroom condo), and we lots of really nice folks.

During the party folks were giving out stickers for the benefit of single folks, gold stars for gay singles, and American flags for straight singles. Married folks like us were out of luck, alas. Of course, as usual, I was instantly asked if I wanted a star, since I looked so obviously gay. It's got to be the glasses.

On Saturday we went back into D.C. to Dukem, our newest favorite Ethiopian restaurant with two more new friends that Jenny knows from the neighborhood. The food and conversation were both excellent. Man I love Wats.

It was, of course, great to spend more time with my Mom and Dad, and the baby was LOVING her extended granmagrampa time.

To round things off, we planted some shrubs, bulbs, and seeds, and I hauled a crapload of junk from behind my shed to the bed of my truck. Looks like a trip to the dump is in order. The Spring cleaning frenzy starts now, people.

Comment problems fixed!

Hi everyone!

I was just alerted that when people have been trying to comment on our blog, it wasn't working properly....

I've fixed the problem now, I think, so please comment away!!!

J,J, & S

Future pianist?

We went down to Joe's parents' house this past weekend and Sylvia indicated that she'd like to play the organ. So, here she is, playing her debut piece, "Minuet in Geeh:"

Generation Make

It seems that DIY is quite the rage these days. The hipster culture has embraced everything from quilting to cooking to wine making to guitar amp building, and personally I think that's pretty freaking cool.

I learned my DIY skills from my dad and mom. My dad always taught me to break down problems into component parts and solve the bits to make the whole work. My mom was DIY when DIY wasn't cool, teaching herself to speak Spanish, quilt, paint, refinish furniture, etc.

I've refinished an old guitar, built a handful of amps of my own design (or based loosely on previous designs), made my own soccer goals, and done a few other neat projects.

If you haven't made anything with your own two hands, you should give it a try. It's a very rewarding feeling to use something that you have personally crafted.

Try these links on for size to get started building, cooking, knitting, whatever....

AX84: Build your own guitar amps!
Make Magazine
Indestructables: Millions of cool projects here
ReadyMade Magazine

BRRR

Well, I am happy to announce that it is currently 17 degrees here in DC.
I really want to go to sleep but am hiding out in our guest room b/c Ms. Sylvia is having sleeping issues due to teething and if I walk out in the hall she can "sense" me and pops up and wants to play. Oy. Hopefully Joe will get her back to sleep soon -- so I can go to bed also.
The weather has been so weird this past week. We had the major snow dump last weekend, then we had 3 days of ~60 degree weather, then on Friday we had major winds (so fierce that it ripped one of our storm windows off of the house), then today the temperature dropped to the bone chilling 17 degrees that I mentioned above.
We have a fire in the fireplace and plan on camping out at home tomorrow...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!
Love,
Sylvia

Knife fight in D.C.!!! I got on the news!!!

Holy. Crap.

So I'm walking out of my office to go to the dentist yesterday. I'm passing the little mobile hot dog stand outside my office's front door (the corner of 17th and L, NW--this is the HEART of downtown people!) when I hear shouting from my left. I turn to see a homeless guy and a Hispanic guy arguing loudly. Many "f%$ks and "hijo de p#$as" were heard. Like any red-blooded American male, I hark back to sixth grade and hang out to see the inevitable punch-up. That's when I see the knife.

The homeless guy is holding a big ol' hunting knife with a blade that looks to be about four or five inches long! Woah. I grab my phone and scream at them, "I'm calling 911 right now!" in the hopes that it would make the homeless guy run off. They both ignore me. The hispanic guy goes over to his three friends, one of whom hands him a handled box cutter to defend himself with. This is getting uglier by the minute.

As I'm on the phone with 911, out of nowhere a paramilitary looking D.C. cop comes striding down the street, gun drawn, shouting at the dudes to get on the ground. They do. Then up runs a TV cameraman and reporter, who happened to be driving by at the right time. As the cop is starting to arrest the hispanic guy, I went to the cop and told him that he was only defending himself. (We found out on the news later that he was not charged, thankfully.) Other cops quickly arrive on the scene, one of which takes my detailed statement, and the TV crew interviews me. Crazy stuff.

And then, at 11 o'clock, comes my brief moment of stardom. Sweet! Already, I've heard from two of my printer contacts that saw my interview on the news...it's only a matter of time before Hollywood comes calling. I won't forget you all at the Oscars.

Blog tagged!

Thanks Sarah! I'll do this one (Xose)

Four jobs I’ve had:
Printing salesman
Archaeological Assistant
Deputy Editor in Chief
Sales dork at Heck's Dept. Store

Four Movies I can watch over and over:
Star Wars
This Is Spinal Tap
The Jerk
The Blues Brothers

Four Places I’ve Lived:
Montgomery, WV
Oviedo, Spain
Oakland
Durham, NC

Four TV shows I love:
Buffy
The Shield
The Wire
Angel

Four places I’ve vacationed
Chile
Morrocco
England
Finland

Four of my favorite dishes:
Asturian Fabada
Spanish chorizo
Jenny's pork chops, kraut, and apple sauce
Pote Asturianu

Four sites I visit daily:
AX84
Questionable Content
Diesel Sweeties
Asturian-American Migration Forum

Four places I would rather be right now:
At home with Jenny and Sylvie B.
On the river in WV
Honalulu
London

Four bloggers I’m tagging:
No tags....

photos from the weekend

Cool weekend trip

This past weekend we went to the Virginia mountains with some friends of ours, Allison, Etienne, and their baby, Beck.

They rent a small house in the middle of a field right at the foot of a mountain range that is simply beautiful. The place is really in the middle of nowhere (actually, Syria, VA), which is fantastic when you're trying to get away from it all. The place doesn't have a TV, which was great for conversation and ghost stories. At one point in the '60s, some farm worker murdered his wife in the house's living room (or so the story goes), so we were freaking on that for a while! :-)

We also discovered that Allison and Etienne are huge Buffy freaks, just like us, so we compared favorite episodes while listening to the soundtrack from "Once More, With Feeling." (Allison had it on her iPod!)

Sylvie and Beck had fun playing together, as usual, with the only bummer being that they both had colds (as did Allison and I) and so couldn't really romp that much.

All in all a great trip and we hope to go back if they'll have us! Jenny will post pix soon, I'm sure.....

Happy Friday

It's Friday. Yah! Here are some shots of tulips that were given to me by my cousin Jane.

Need more $$$ from the Internet

I've decided that the Internet needs to be generating more money for us. How to get it to generate that money, I'm not sure. I have a Web site that sells custom-made amplifier plates (Amplates), but it's not bringing in the killer flow, so I need something else. A money machine like this one, if you will.

But how? Adsense? Click-throughs? WTF? Self-help e-books? I'm at a loss here, people.

Nite out!

We went on our first nite out since being back here in DC. We ate dinner (at this neat place in Silver Spring called, Jackie's and had a drink (at the Quarry House) with our neighbors and friends, Bill and Kim. They are cool as they put up w. our constant Sylvia talk! Though we really tried to keep it in check tonight.
My mom's in town and babysat for us...
Here's a photo our petite fashionista wearing a handknitted hat and sweater, made by my mom.
Sorry this is a random blog but I am tired.

Blog slacking

Just wanted to apologize for the slack blogging lately. Things have been pretty crazy at the homestead and office, and honestly, we haven't had time.

Jenny's mom is in town this week to get some Sylvie time, which is nice.

Can I just say that I don't know how I lived without DVR capabilities for so long? When we got the DISH Network installed (including butt-ugly satellite dish on our roof...bah!), our package included DVR for two rooms. Now I have it set to record EVERY televised English Premier League and Spanish La Liga soccer game! OH MY GOD I'M IN SOCCER HEAVEN NOW!!!! :-)

Wee Ones

In our neighborhood we have all these playgroups for the kids (and for the moms) so you can get out of the house and meet other people.
I went to Wee Ones yesterday but decided that I will wait before I go again...the kids were way older than Sylvia and it was quite chaotic. Sylvia, though, was a star and just sat on my lap and smiled at everyone. I found it a bit brain jarring with all the kids yelling and playing and trying to not let them paw at Sylvia...Everyone there was really nice and hopefully I can get to know them better later.
Luckily there is a 'mini' wee ones group that formed for those of us with the infants...I may try that one next week. I also joined a neighborhood walking group of all moms. We're going to try to meet up at least 2x per week.
That's the report from my end.
Here's some cute snaps of my favorite human being:

Happy New Year/Christmas wrap up

Well, we got back from our Christmas/Channukah trip to St. Augustine, FL on Tuesday. What a wonderful trip! If you've never been to the oldest continuously occupied city in North America, you're missing out! From the old Spanish quarter, where you can see how the Spanish colonists lived, to the old Fort, which is replete with real, live cannon fire, the whole town brings history to life.

Sylvie was showered with grandparent affection the whole time, naturally, and it was fun to get together with my cousins for Christmas.

Jenny got a new Canon digital SLR for Christmas, so be on the lookout for Sylvie shots that are more glorious than ever!

Happy Christmakkahwanzaa!

We would like to take this time to tell everyone how much we value your friendship, especially at this reflective time of year. We feel very blessed to have so many loved ones all over the world, and we sincerely hope that all of you have a wonderful holiday season!

Love, Joe, Jenny, and Sylvie

Holy crap! A CEO deferred a pay raise!

I just read an amazing story over at Wal*Mart Watch, a site dedicated to opening people's eyes to the corporate shitpile that is the world's leading retailer.

It seems that a CEO for a small firm called the RiskMetrics Group actually turned down a raise and recommended that the board give his bonus to his underlings. Amazing!

According to the article, the CEO in question, Ethan Berman,"...took the highly unusual step of sending his board of directors a memo that recommended that he receive no increase in salary and a reduced annual bonus from 2004."

In Berman's own words:

“The banker J. P. Morgan once said that he would never lend money to a company where the highest-paid employee was paid more than 20 times the lowest-paid, as it was in his view unstable...the firm’s stronger than expected performance was driven by a large number of employees in other roles, and therefore I would like to see the bulk of my direct reports, and in fact many of their direct reports, paid greater bonuses than I receive."

Ethan Berman, you fricking rock. My hat's off to you, sir.

Rough night, Santa?

Looks like Ol' St. Nick had a little too much holiday cheer the night before this scary ass photo was taken. The kid is probably crying to keep from passing out from the Vodka fumes....

More at the Scared of Santa Gallery. Thanks, Sarah, for the link.

Diesel Sweeties

Warning: Addictive Web Comic alert.

I found Diesel Sweeties from a link at the super-cool Questionable Content web comic's site.

If you could get into the smart-ass exploits of indie rock poseurs, heavy metal vegetarians and former porn stars (and their robot lovers), then Diesel Sweeties might just be for you. Three words: Crush. All. Hu-mans.

Holiday fun

Tonight we attended Woodmoor's Annual Tree Lighting Ceremony. It was a crack up. The whole neighborhood gathers (with SO many kids, it freaked me out), and at 7p they flick the lights on this huge tree in the center of our neighborhood. The lights were a bit sad... but it's the thought that counts, it's a sweet idea and the kids love it. Santa comes too. There's also supposedly a Hanukkah menorah that they light up, but I did not see it.
We put up our tree and we re-arranged the furniture so it could be in the center of our picture window. I decorated our front lawn/azaleas/rose of sharon bush/banisters w. white pin lights. We also have a reindeer on the lawn who is made of twig and pin lights (he's super cute). I heart him.
I think it's going to snow tonight which will make it all seem quite official.
What else, Sylvia now has the beginnings of TWO teeth. They began to emerge in the last few days and she has been quite a trooper. She's still eating a ton but just has moments of pain. Carrots are her new favorite. She told me.

And we have success

The turkey was so juicy, Joe thought something was wrong with it.
Here's the listing of final food mania list:
- 11 pound free range organic turkey -- check
- homemade gravy
- canned cranberries (sorry couldn't make anything else at this point)
- mashed yukon gold potatoes
- Stove Top stuffing
- baguette
- salad
- sweet pototoes
- homemade apple crisp
- pea cassarole
- Fetzer wine
I feel like I forgot something.

A Snowy Thanksgiving

It's snowing here in DC (well, Silver Spring, Maryland) and I am about to prep some of the dishes for our first official mini-family Thanksgiving. It's weirding me out not being in La Jolla. I associate warmish weather with Thanksgiving, not snow!
I will also miss my mom's totally yummy cooking. In honor of my mom (who LOVES Thanksgiving), I am about to make an apple crisp. She's the pie master-ette but I don't have the energy to make a pie, so I will make the crisp instead. Our friends Bill and Kim are coming over to join us and that will be fun.
Will report back tomorrow with the food news....

New Song on MySpace

Just wanted to let y'all know that I've added a new song up on my MySpace site. It's a jazzy type thing called "Standards Firmly in Place," about a lady on a rather unfortunate trip south of the border....

Check it out here

Long time no post....

Sorry to all for the delay in posting. I was away in NYC for a business trip, the folks were staying with Jenny, and things got hectic. What can I say? :-)

New York was cool, as it always is, and the weather cooperated well, with temps in the 60s the whole time I was there...nice. I had some yummy expense-account food, with a highlight being a fusion restaurant called the Mesa Grill. It was the best food I've had out in quite some time. I had the venison, which was Bambi-tastic.

This weekend I worked on storm windows, both making and reparing them. I am manly man. Grrrrr, as Jenny says.

Autumn is rad

It's so pretty here in DC right now. Our neighborhood is looking beautiful due to the trees all turning amazing colors. Sylvia and I took our walk yesterday and I told her about the trees and why they turns colors. She also got to wear her coordinating velour sweatsuit for the first time (thanks Grandma Joan)!

Deregulation sure is great, huh?

When the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) decided in 1978 that airline regulation was a bad thing and stripped pretty much all goverment regulations on fares and service, it was touted as the be-all, end-all to "save" the aviation industry.

The theory, not unlike most deregulation arguements, is that the increased competition would drive down fares and economic pressures would force airlines to provide better service to compete in the open market. And like most degregulation policies, that ideal has proven to be unattainable, due to the seemingly unquenchable corporate greed so cultivated in the American business culture.

So far as I can tell, fares have dropped, no doubt. So that part worked. But what else has fallen by the wayside in the name of corporate profits? Pay for pilots, mechanics, and flight attendants has fallen, service has certainly declined (when was the last time you got a free meal on a domestic flight?), and, most troubling, smaller markets have seen the number of service providers plummet.

With yesterday's announcement of Independence Air's Chapter 11 filing, many small cities, like Charleston, WV, where I fly often, will be left with few options and higher prices. Large cities will avoid this problem, but New York, L.A., and Chicago aren't the only places people want to fly in this country.

Poor Flyi, we barely knew ye.

I accept my nomination...

...to be the president of all babies for nations near and far. If you don't vote for me, I will squeeze your "you know whats" with my oh-so-powerful vice grip.

Republicans: the Family Values Party? Right.

It's no surprise to anyone that the country is going into ever more massive debt. We need to cut corners to turn this thing around, nobody is arguing that point. Where we differ, however, is which corners should be cut. Those natsy ol' liberals like me want to make up some of the difference by making the richest people in our society actually pay taxes again.

Those family values loving Republicans like our buddy, Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert in the photo above? They want to take food out of schoolkids' mouths to save some cash. According to the article in today's Washington Post,

"The food stamp cuts in the House measure would knock nearly 300,000 people off nutritional assistance programs, including 70,000 legal immigrants, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Those immigrants would lose their benefits because the House measure would require legal immigrants to live in the United States for seven years before becoming eligible to receive food stamps, rather than the current five years.

"About 40,000 children would lose eligibility for free or reduced-price school lunches, the CBO estimated."

Meanwhile, according to the article,

"Republicans move in the coming weeks to cut taxes for the fifth time in as many years. Those tax cuts, totaling $70 billion over five years, would more than offset the deficit reduction that would result from the budget cuts."

I wonder who will receive those tax cuts?

The amount of dickitude exhibited by the Republican party staggers the imagination.

By the way, we have spent $216,884,337,742 (that number has jumped by several hundred thousand dollars as you were reading this sentence) on the war in Iraq. Maybe that's why we can't seem to find any money to feed 40,000 children.