Writer, Coder, Avid Reader
A very big HAPPY BIRTHDAY goes out to bigblu4 , who is spending his big day on the East Coast this year. Looks like he even got a present from the weather. While it’s overcast and a little rainy, it’s nearly 60 degrees in NYC at the moment. In fact, the weather is eerily like the weather in Southern California.
Hope you have a great birthday!
Sarah came over and the three of us decorated our Christmas tree today. Here’s a picture. Simon is sitting under the tree. In the background are two bookshelves containing, almost exclusively, Isaac Asimov books. (Click for a larger image.)
A big Happy Birthday goes out to my niece, Ruby, who turns 5 years old today. (Whenever someone turns five years old I can’t help but think of the opening line to Harlan Ellison’s story, "Jefty was five. He was always five.") Hope you have a terrific birthday!
And a quick note: I was offline for much of the holiday weekend. Backdated posts covering the weekend should be up soon.
Great Thanksgiving dinner at Sarah’s this evening. Early in the afternoon, I set about making my stuffed mushrooms. I made two kinds, a spicy, seasoned kind and a more bland kind. The spicy, seasoned ones came out really good. I surprised myself. We headed over to Sarah’s just before 3 PM.
All told, there were nine of us there, Sarah’s family, plus some friends. We sat around talking, and munching and watching football and finally, eating a huge Thanksgiving feast. Lots of turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, and all kinds of yummy sides to go along with it. I had 1-1/2 plates full of food. Afterward there was dessert, and I sampled three of the desserts that were put out. By the time we headed home, we were both stuffed to the gills.
I mentioned the odd sleeping patterns we’ve fallen into. I went back to bed at about 1 AM and tossed and turned and slept fitfully until about 2:45. Then I fell asleep and slept pretty well until 7 AM. Kelly got up and I started reading the latest issue of NEW SCIENTIST in bed until just before 8 AM, when I got up and showered.
Skies are clear blue today. Even the temperatures are a little warmer. It’s supposed to be close to 50 today. I made a quick run to the grocery store to pick up a few things we needed and fortunately the store was mostly empty so I was in and out quickly. Now I’m back home and we’re sitting in front of the fire, watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Later, I have to make stuffed mushrooms (two different kinds) for Thanksgiving dinner this afternoon at Sarah’s.
Happy thanksgiving, everyone!
Happy birthday wishes go out to kruppenheimer this morning. Congratulations on finally being able to run for president. Welcome to the ranks!
Can you believe it’s been one month since our wedding already? Time has zoomed by at an incredible rate! I had to work late today but on the way home, I picked up a dozen roses for Kelly in celebration of the special day. (Kelly had Veterans Day off.)
The cats were hungry early and so I was up at 5:30 to feed them and then decided to stay up. I was in the office at 7 AM and didn’t head home until 6:30 PM, making it the longest day in a while. At lunch, I finished reading Einstein: His Life and Universe. What a great book! It was definitely a five-star book. I thought I knew the general Einstein mythology, and I learned a great deal more. His life story was well told and kept me turning the pages, even when I had to stretch my imagination at some of the descriptions of relativity and quantum theory I don’t give books 5-stars very often, but this one was well deserving.
(See all my 5-star rated books here, 20 of them out of nearly 400 read.)
I then immediately started in on Conrad Black’s immense (1,200 page) biography of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Kelly has unwittingly inspired my reading of these last two books. She was watching the movie I.Q. one evening, and that reminded me that I had the Einstein book sitting on the shelf, unread. Then a few weeks later, she was watching Warm Springs and that reminded me that I had started the Roosevelt biography years ago and never finished and it was time to start over.
When I got home from work, I dashed out to the mailbox, eagerly awaiting NEW SCIENTIST. The box was empty. Duh! Veterans Day!
I got through another dozen thank you notes this evening. Spoke to he11o_sunshine on the phone this evening. Spoke to Dad briefly earlier today. Feeling better today. I got a flu shot this morning. That means I’ll either get the flu, or I won’t.
Just wanted to wish Kelly a super-big HAPPY BIRTHDAY! She gets to work from home today which means we get to spend the entire day together (even though she really does have work to do).
A big HAPPY BIRTHDAY goes out to Andy today! Hope you have a great day, buddy!
It’s that time again, Patriot’s Day, according to my calendar. Right across the street from my office is the unveiling of the new 9/11 garden at the Pentagon, so there were all kinds of road closures this morning, none affecting us however.
The police were out in force, giving people tickets who were making illegal left turns onto 26th street, just outside our house. They are out there often (you can’t make a left turn onto the street between 7-9 AM), but this morning was like a turkey shoot. There was a line of cars pulled over. People trying to avoid traffic on 395, I guess.
On the news this morning, they had a traffic report and reported the backup on 395 right around Glebe Road. I jumped up from the couch excitedly when the traffic-cam picture they had showed our townhouse building in the background. Kelly thinks I over-reacted.
It doesn’t feel like 9/11 felt a few years back. It’s amazing to think that it has been 7 years. But at least for me, the somber tones of the day are not as obvious as they once were and I think that’s a good think. We are healing.
Just wanted to wish Doug and Rachel a very HAPPY ANNIVERSARY. I hope you guys have a great day.
…On the birth of Claire and Grace last night. I passed out sometime around 9:50 PM, but I checked my phone as soon as I was up this morning and saw that the twins were born right about the time I was falling asleep. Glad to hear they are all healthy and can’t wait to see more pictures. Congratulations, guys!
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