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Showing posts from February, 2013

Sally's Facial

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One of Sally's friends from Arbonne came over last night to help her with her make-up. I have no idea why this was necessary, but they were futzing around with it for a few hours. Anyway, the results looked good. In person, I thought she looked very nice. I still don't think this photo quite does her justice, though.

Stratford YMCA Sweetheart Run 2013 Race Report

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Sally and I ran the  Stratford YMCA Sweetheart Run  over the weekend.  The course is four miles of sharply rolling hills through the residential neighborhoods of northern Stratford, CT.  It starts and ends at  Booth Hill Memorial Park . *** Pre-Race Of the two of us, I think I’m usually the one that puts more pressure on himself before a race, and Sally is the one who tends to take it as it comes, satisfied to do her best without any real expectations.  This race was a little different, however, because Sally won her Age Group last year for the first time ever at this race, and during the weeks leading up to the race, I could see that she was keen to defend her title.  Moreover, the Sweetheart Race is a four-mile  run , and Sally is a  runner .  Meanwhile, I don’t tend to think of myself as a runner so much as just  a guy who runs , and paradoxically, I think that makes these pure running races easier for me, at least mentally. Anyway, as I wrote in last week’s training diary, I decide

Important Comic Book Question

My daughter Emma is almost 8. She's also a HUGE comic fan, especially superhero comics. So last night, I noticed she was reading Marvel's X-Men encyclopedia. Question: can anybody think of a classic X-Men tale that's appropriate for an 8-yr-old girl?

Sneax & Elaina Emboo, Chapter 8

Our story so far: Having defeated the evil Russitan Lassiter and escaped from the clutches of Drax the Fire Elf, Sneax has finally agreed to go live, at least for a time, with Melanie McGonagall, the priestess in charge of the House of Apollo.       And now...  Chapter 8: Life Goes On.

Triathlon Diary: 2/18 to 2/24 (Week 2)

The Stratford YMCA Sweetheart Race was this week, and that made coming up  with a training schedule kind of a challenge.  I train on a four-week schedule, three working weeks followed by a rest week, and this was a scheduled Week 2, and given that the Sweetheart Race was more Sally's thing than mine, I didn't want to throw my whole schedule off just for that one four-miler. But I still tried to arrange things to put as much of the week's work as far up front as possible because, let's face it, when you enter a race, you still want to give yourself a chance to do well.  Luckily, I had the first three days of the week off.

Sunday Comics: Bronx Angel--Politics By Another Method (Page 20)

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Bronx Angel: Politics By Another Method , page 20. Click here to view the page at full size .

Dan's Movie Recommendations

My boss is going in for surgery next week, and he asked for some movie recommendations for while he's recovering.  My list was: They Live .  Starring "Rowdy" Roddy Piper.  Sci Fi classic. Point Break .  Starring Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves.  This one's probably my all-time favorite movie. Enter the Dragon .  Starring Bruce Lee.  More because my boss is fixated on Chinese culture than because I personally love "Enter the Dragon". Red Dawn .  Starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey before they did "Dirty Dancing," as well as a young Charlie Sheen.

Friday Mad Science: The PRC’s Asymmetric Response

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“The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.”  --Sun Tzu, from  The Art of War I don’t usually like to quote  Sun Tzu  because he’s one of those authors whose work is quoted out of context a lot by folks who really don’t understand what it is that he’s trying to say.  But how to else to start this week, the week  we learned in the open press that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has been behind a majority of the overseas hacking that’s hit American companies and governmental agencies  since 2006 !

At Two Roads Brewery

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We had some of Sally's family in town yesterday, her niece Monique and Monique's beau Jorge. So naturally I took them to Stratford's new brewery, Two Roads. The place just opened, but already they have a winter seasonal, a very nice, hoppy pilsner, a white IPA (called "Honeyspot" after the road my kids' school is on & my personal favorite of their beers), and their signature beer, Road 2 Ruin Double IPA. Needless to say, we got the sampler and tried them all. I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Our Trip to the Norwalk Aquarium

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Sally and I took the girls to the Norwalk Aquarium yesterday.  The Aquarium is dedicated to teaching about marine life in Long Island Sound, although they also have animals from other areas.  We went specifically to see the penguins, but there was lots to see, and I took pictures.

Sneax & Elaina Emboo, Chapter 7

Our story so far: Sneax owes "rent money" to Russitan Lassiter, a dangerous thug from the Docks District of the port city of Wanderhaven.  Desperate to avoid getting her ears cut off for failing to pay, she volunteers to help Lassiter with a shady deal up at the Old Church, only to discover that the deal involves a Fire Elf!   Sneax and her best friend, the apprentice mage Elaina Emboo, were put on lookout duty while Drax the Fire Elf and Lassiter finish their deal over a valuable alchemical substance called Distilled Tiger Essense.  But when the Tiger Essence is stolen, Sneax has no choice but to go after it at the City Guard Headquarters.  But she comes up empty, and then runs into Lassiter himself!  Soon, Sneax and Elaina are headed for the Docks--and a showdown with Fire Elf Drax.       And now...  Chapter 7: Showdown!

Triathlon Diary: 2/11 to 2/17 (Week 1)

Got back in the saddle this week after last week's lethargy led me to take a Rest Week.  This week wasn't what I'd necessarily call normal, but it gave me time to do my longest workout of the season so far on Saturday, and that worked out nicely.

Sunday Comics: Bronx Angel--Politics By Another Method (Page 17)

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Bronx Angel: Politics By Another Method , page 17. Click here to see this page at full size .

The Life of an Elite Cyclist

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I saw this and start laughing my ass off.   Sally saw it and started sobbing. Needless to say, we've had some trouble in Paradise lately.

Friday Mad Science: The Return of the Bomb

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North Korea tested another, larger nuclear device this week, and when one considers that they’ve also recently tested orbital satellite technology, it seems reasonable to assume that the Hermit Kingdom is close to developing intercontinental ballistic missile technology that could target the United States.  That by itself is scary enough and probably worthy of comment on its own merits, but  what really makes the story interesting, at least according to the  New York Times , is the effect it’s likely to have on China’s new leadership . Flag of the People's Republic of China You will perhaps recall that  Xi Jingping  is China’s newly elected leader, and that prior to North Korea’s recent test, he had warned the country strongly against conducting it.  But now, with the North Koreans having defied him, Mr. Xi finds himself in a rather precarious position.  

Daily Confession

I really like Google+. The site is organized much more effectively than is Facebook, and because of the way you can arrange your Circles, it's safe to add strangers. Also: the Community structures are terrific. But. Practically NO ONE I know is in Google+, and it's really annoying. So. Your assignment today, should you choose to accept it, is to join Google+ and add me to your Circles. If you want, you can make an "Assholes" circle and stick me in it. But add me because right now it's just me and Steve from ASJ41 and a bunch of strangers, and as much as I like Steve, we need some company.

Friday Hair Metal: Bringin' on the Heartbreak

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Because yesterday was Valentine's Day.
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To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time

Because its Valentine's Day. GATHER ye rosebuds while ye may, Old Time is still a-flying: And this same flower that smiles to-day To-morrow will be dying. The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun, The higher he 's a-getting, The sooner will his race be run, And nearer he 's to setting. That age is best which is the first, When youth and blood are warmer; But being spent, the worse, and worst Times still succeed the former. Then be not coy, but use your time, And while ye may, go marry: For having lost but once your prime, You may for ever tarry. I think that says it all, right?

Ash Wednesday

Yesterday was  Ash Wednesday , and to celebrate my boss sent me a poem in the middle of the day, right out of the blue.  The poem was  T.S. Eliot ’s “ Ash Wednesday ”, originally published in 1927, and it hit me like a rocket propelled grenade.  Not so much because it’s a profound poem, although it certainly is, but because up until that point in the day, I’d been doing pretty much pure engineering.   Besides me, my boss--also named Dan--was the only one in the office, meaning that basically all of the office’s routine tasks fell to me, and I’d been more-or-less happily noodling away on them for hours while listening to first  NPR’s Marketplace  podcast and then a few recent episodes from  The Economist ’s all audio podcasts.  So, yeah, my attention was split a bit, but the split was decidedly left-brained--between engineering and economics--so that when the poem came in, it was such a jarring shift that my mind threw a track and stopped dead.  It was a decidedly weird experience.

Triathlon Montage

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I don't know where this came from, but I think it is way cool.

Sneax & Elaina Emboo, Chapter 6

Our story so far: Sneax owes "rent money" to Russitan Lassiter, a dangerous thug from the Docks District of the port city of Wanderhaven.  Desperate to avoid getting her ears cut off for failing to pay, she volunteers to help Lassiter with a shady deal up at the Old Church, only to discover that the deal involves a Fire Elf!   Sneax and her best friend, the apprentice mage Elaina Emboo, were put on lookout duty while Drax the Fire Elf and Lassiter finish their deal over a valuable alchemical substance called Distilled Tiger Essense.  But when the Tiger Essence is stolen, Sneax has no choice but to go after it--at the City Guard Headquarters!       And now... Chapter 6: Coming Up Empty .

Triathlon Diary: 2/4 to 2/10 (Rest Week)

This week started with a whimper, but it ended with a bang.  The question of the day is, "How many aerobic points do you get for an hour of shoveling snow?"

More Dispatches from Ice Planet Hoth

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Sally & I finally finished shoveling. Now it's time to relax and have a couple of beers.

Sunday Comics: Bronx Angel--Politics By Another Method (Page 16)

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Bronx Angel: Politics By Another Method , Page 16. Click here to see this page at full size .

Dispatches from Ice Planet Hoth

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I shoveled out a trench this morning so that the dogs could get off of the front porch and--hopefully--go pee.  But then I realized that we might be hit by Imperial Walkers at any time, so I came back inside.

The Yeti

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"The Yeti", by Philippe Semeria. File from Wikimedia Commons . This particular yet doesn't look like he wants to eat you.  But I'm betting that not all yeti are as nice as this one is.

Friday Mad Science: Keeping it Personal

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“The personal, as everyone's so fucking fond of saying, is political. So if some idiot politician, some power player, tries to execute policies that harm you or those you care about, take it personally. Get angry. The Machinery of Justice will not serve you here – it is slow and cold, and it is theirs, hardware and soft-. Only the little people suffer at the hands of Justice; the creatures of power slide out from under with a wink and a grin. If you want justice, you will have to claw it from them. Make it personal. Do as much damage as you can. Get your message across. That way you stand a far better chance of being taken seriously next time. Of being considered dangerous. And make no mistake about this: being taken seriously, being considered dangerous, marks the difference – the only difference in their eyes – between players and little people. Players they will make deals with. Little people they liquidate. And time and again they cream your liquidation, your displacement, you

Friday Hair Metal: The Blizzard of Ozz

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I wanted to do something with a snow or blizzard theme, but as it happens, that was a lot harder than I thought it was gonna be.  So here's a little 'tallica.  Enjoy!

I have no idea what to write today.

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Does anybody mind if I take the day off?

Shadow Drow Commander

In my online D&D campaign, my Players are trapped in the Shadowfell.  So I'm considering having a crew from the drow Cult of Shar attack them.  I therefore needed a leader for the attack. This is what I came up with.

Sneax & Elaina Emboo, Chapter 5

Our story so far: Sneax owes "rent money" to Russitan Lassiter, a dangerous thug from the Docks District of the port city of Wanderhaven.  Desperate to avoid getting her ears cut off for failing to pay, she volunteers to help Lassiter with a shady deal up at the Old Church, only to discover that the deal involves a Fire Elf!   Sneax and her best friend, the apprentice mage Elaina Emboo, are put on lookout duty while Drax the Fire Elf and Lassiter finish their deal over a valuable alchemical substance called Distilled Tiger Essense.  But then they see torches approaching.  This turns out to be the Wanderhaven City Guard.  But while Sneax and Elaina succeed in distracting the Guardsmen, by the time they get back to Lassiter, the Distilled Tiger Essence is gone!       And now... Chapter 5: Breaking In .

Triathlon Diary: 1/28 to 2/3

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This week was kind of a normal training week, and in fact, I feel like I’m starting to settle into a rhythm.  That’s a good thing.

Sunday Comics: Bronx Angel--Politics By Another Method (Page 15)

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Bronx Angel: Politics By Another Method , page 15. Click here to see the page at full size .

Track Practice Today

It's 7am, about 21-degrees, and in a couple hours, the Woodruff Family YMCA Triathlon Club is going to head out for some track work today.  Track really isn't my best thing, but I've done some research on the Internet, and I do fartlek intervals on the roads reasonably often in my own workout routine, so I suppose that I know enough to lead us through today's experience.

Friday Mad Science: The "What Gives?" Edition

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You’ve probably seen this by now, but I gotta say that I was astonished when I read that  the US economy actually  contracted  a little in the 4th Quarter last year , and when I read that, I felt sure that equity markets around the world were about to take a massive dump.  But then the markets surprised me by closing near even for the next few days, and was left wondering what the Hell was going on.  After all, this was supposedly the economy’s worst performance since 2009, and it came as a surprise--and the surprise was a nasty one considering that the 4th Quarter is supposed to show all the profits from the Christmas season. So what gives?

Friday Hair Metal: Eye of the Tiger (Live!)

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I feel like I need a little something extra today.  And since I don't happen to have any Deer Antler Spray handy, I guess this is the next best thing. Oh man, that's excellent! True story: a couple of years ago, I saw Don Cheedle standing outside one of hte Trump buildings wearing a pair of leather pants exactly like the ones my man wears in this video.   I soooooo want some.