tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-286652522011-12-15T20:35:03.082-05:00Commentary on daily life - for my family and friends! - and random musings; with luck and more time, also some neuroscience and brain metabolism.Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.comBlogger631100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-19569748534366285552011-12-15T20:32:00.002-05:002011-12-15T20:35:03.092-05:00

...at the demolition of a key plank of the Bill of Rights; a thing I truly believed could not come to pass, the assaults on liberty of the past few years notwithstanding.Well, I was wrong; and Obama's failure to veto and at least make good on that threat mean, I think, that I am done with one of the very few politicians to whom I ever gave actual cash. I'm sad in a small way for that, and in a

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-54790189116949566482010-03-24T00:23:00.002-04:002010-03-24T00:26:42.268-04:00

Yes, OK, mea culpa.It's been a year since this was updated anything like sensibly; not dead, just busy, gee surprise.Still: in an attempt to be timely, one of my favourite political commentators gives the best summary yet of the recent healthcare (apparently synonymous with health insurance in US political life, at least thus far; credit the insurance companies' PR folks) legislation:http://

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-16637265869052998562009-07-08T23:49:00.003-04:002009-07-08T23:52:50.862-04:00

Yes, yes, I know: I have a large backlog of posts and every intention of attacking it Real Soon Now.This evening, though, Aidan was sitting at dinner and made me proud enough that I wanted to post right away :-).A: "Dad, why are brothers and sisters not allowed to marry one another?"me: explanation; he gets genes and DNA at least a basic level, so the concept of recessive etc. was no big deal.A:

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-9159776386545278402009-04-01T16:42:00.005-04:002009-04-01T16:55:24.383-04:00

We had a week in the UK, with a couple of days in Paris inserted in the middle (primarily for Aidan to see the Eiffel tower - see next post); not much tourist stuff this trip, almost entirely visiting family. Those of you - are there any? - not related to me will wish to skip the following photo barrage...Incidentally, the rather large young man with a naked Keiran on his lap is only 5 (I think!

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-33715394144499748672009-04-01T16:15:00.003-04:002009-04-01T16:32:30.832-04:00

We have a local food/restaurant blogger and reporter, Steve Barnes, whose writing I like and whose taste has generally proven good. In a recent post, he gave a recipe for Salmon Wellington. I'd been meaning to make Beef Wellington - mmm, steak AND pastry! - for a long time, and this was a version that also appealed to Jenny, so I made it for a fancy-guest-dinner. I thought it came out really

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-17310651191851220312009-04-01T15:59:00.002-04:002009-04-01T16:15:15.682-04:00

We are slowly finding good places to eat here. Yono's is one of the oddest, in an entirely good way!The location put Jenny off initially: it's in the downtown Hampton Inn. The front bar area has a casual brasserie, and the chef - Yono - was out there socialising and enjoying his wine list :). But the formal dining room is through a further door, and leads to a cozy, very elegant room that

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-81782048204086785702009-04-01T15:46:00.001-04:002009-04-01T15:57:48.376-04:00

The local YMCA has - among many virtues - an extremely enthusiastic hike/bushwhack/outdoors leader, who recently acquired Y accreditation to be allowed to lead groups. The first of these was a gentle snowshoe trip, and seemed like an excellent opportunity to get Aidan and Jenny some new snowshoes and play in the snow. Oh, and Keiran came, too :-).We all had a blast; special thanks to Alan (the

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-35081587553079741762009-04-01T15:37:00.002-04:002009-04-01T15:46:43.821-04:00

...and no, nothing here is an April Fool's post. I seem to have skipped March entirely, and am hence once again catching up.This will swiftly end as I try to hit the various grant opportunities available from the stimulus funds in the next, um, 2-3 weeks or so... but for now, let's throw up some more pics and so on.First up: me being somewhat silly and attemptedly arty in self-portrait mode.

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-65656476179192571272009-02-23T15:41:00.001-05:002009-02-23T15:52:26.520-05:00

BBC Book List: Apparently (and as currently infecting the blog world) the BBC reckons most people will have only read 6 of the 100 books here. I fgured this would be a good first step into blog memes!Instructions:1) Look at the list and put an ‘x’ after those you have read.2) Add a ‘+’ to the ones you LOVE.3) Star (*) those you plan on reading. I think frankly I can assume that anything on here

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-65767881930326598172009-02-10T16:00:00.002-05:002009-02-10T16:58:36.958-05:00

No, really :).I have been pondering teaching. Class this semester is (as least to me!) going really well: I have a critical mass of students who are unafraid to speak up and who are willing to suggest tangents to which material may be related. The material is largely prepared and those parts which are not, I have the pile of sources assembled (read: have not been up until a.m. the night before

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-39944050946573272962009-02-01T22:46:00.005-05:002009-02-01T22:53:19.624-05:00

Pretty up-to-date: here's Keiran as he looks (well, as of a day or so ago) perched up on my shoulders. Both photo and video, no less :-).

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-12776332312918616232009-01-29T15:15:00.001-05:002009-01-29T15:16:47.377-05:00

Brief note: Blogger seems to apply a dusty haze to all pics uploaded. They start out much clearer: if you want a better copy of one for some reason, drop me a line!

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-23723991837839516662009-01-29T15:08:00.003-05:002009-01-29T15:15:19.262-05:00

Am I *sure* this is my kid?Aidan has recently developed very strong interest both in 'looking spiffy' and in what exactly constitutes same. Here's his most recent 'getting dressed up for school hat day' ensemble:Not as obvious, but equally considered, is the outfit he wore to have a couple of my lab members come take care of him and Keiran last weekend while J and I went to her company's annual

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-27949979035483026212009-01-29T15:02:00.004-05:002009-01-29T15:08:37.418-05:00

We spent a fun couple of days up in VT with friends recently. Getting there, no problem, although the Golf had one refusal at their steep, twisty, dirt road.Then it snowed.Getting *down* said road in the absence of traction control, snow tyres, chains, >2-wheel drive, or other accoutrements was a tad tricky. I left Jenny and the boys at base camp (with the snow-tyred Subaru!) while I tried to

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-80916746385043342092009-01-29T10:20:00.003-05:002009-01-29T15:02:06.247-05:00

A random Saturday morning with matching yellow-clad boys.You can have 'sweet' version:or Aidan-preferred 'lunatic' version::-). I think Keiran is still getting used to his elder brother's antics..

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-32554894087659201532009-01-27T22:00:00.005-05:002009-04-01T15:58:42.739-04:00

This past Sat, Jenny and I went down to CT for her company's annual bash. That meant that we had to get sitters - plural - for the boys. Luckily, I have a lab full of folks willing to help out (yes, we paid them, despite protests. I'm really not that evil. Mostly).[Thanks, Melanie, Vickie, Scott!]Apparently Aidan was again enjoying digital self-portraits:That kid is far too cute for his own

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-32816594725363719402009-01-27T15:55:00.002-05:002009-01-27T16:13:52.647-05:00

Following the recent panning of SweetWood Grill here, I thought I should rapidly post a review of our favourite local(ish) restaurant up here in Albany. One of the concerns on moving here 6 months ago was that we'd be missing out on good restaurants, and there's *some* truth to that. However, there's a very strong local foodie scene - I should note in particular the restaurant review column of

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-42821499246031967232009-01-27T15:53:00.003-05:002009-01-27T15:55:28.141-05:00

- as in the recent book by Charlie Stross, possibly my favourite current author. I was about to launch a post in praise of this, which I read over the weekend, when one came out. So I put the guts of my intended post into a comment there; the discussion will undoubtedly be more energetic over there, anyway, so go read.

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-27450310284524403612009-01-21T10:22:00.003-05:002009-04-01T15:59:11.680-04:00

I somehow (OK, I bit a Bushie lure, mea culpa) got embroiled in a small Facebook tiff (to which it is I think impossible to link directly): a commentator suggested that Obama would be likely to govern a la Ronald Reagan. As I noted there:***From the Guardian today:"Obama's conservative style – the fact that he invented a new tradition this year, by speaking at inauguration eve dinners in honour

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-38409945292592867872009-01-21T09:50:00.003-05:002009-01-21T10:17:52.346-05:00

I used to have a bunch of restaurant reviews on my old UVa web page, now long since defunct; with the move to Albany, I thought that it would be useful to start that up again.The proximal spur for this, though, was a really poor meal and bizarre experience up in Vermont last week. We'd gone to visit friends, I'd just finished a big grant, so we wanted a nice meal. Our hosts chose the SweetWood

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-956590842986091092009-01-20T12:20:00.002-05:002009-01-20T12:26:19.994-05:00

Welcome, President Obama. May you not only do better than your predecessor - now *that's* a low standard! - but also maintain the hope, optimism, and calm with which you start.If you could do something about our 401k and the national debt, too......thanks :).

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-5562225389715396112009-01-19T23:51:00.003-05:002009-01-20T00:02:22.086-05:00

Snow delayed the travel for Christmas, but the eventual trip was just fine - the only downside was that I knew I had to come back up on Boxing Day to begin my grant purdah!From which there are few photos, other than one in passing from Jenny, on the trip back, of the VP-in-waiting's home... and so ended 2008. At least the grants got in on time!

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-82481096071523490842009-01-19T23:47:00.002-05:002009-01-19T23:51:01.584-05:00

OK, back to the catching up. Did I mention that I had been shovelling snow? I actually quite like this picture - I think it would make a good icon some place :).

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-25743672147692862992009-01-19T22:34:00.003-05:002009-01-19T23:47:25.149-05:00

We're rapidly approaching the final day on my '385 days until the moron is GONE!' calendar, and every commentator known to man has pointed out the delightful apposition of MLK Jr.'s day of remembrance, today, and tomorrow's inauguration. [OK, it *is* pretty cool.]I just hope that we don't have the same buyer's remorse that hit the left of the UK Labour party with Blair. There are parallels -

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-55035086252278228472009-01-19T22:28:00.003-05:002009-01-19T22:34:44.324-05:00

Yes, more photo fodder. We got the first snow of the season - I calculated a week or so ago that I have shovelled about 5 tonnes thus far this winter, and we have a short driveway! - and Keiran was being cute. That's all ;-).

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-64297091872833634132009-01-19T21:43:00.005-05:002009-01-19T22:27:55.354-05:00

We were lucky enough to have house guests the first weekend in the house (that's not even slightly sarcastic; Margot and Steve are pretty much the first people that Jenny and I ever made friends with as a couple, and some of our very favourite people in the world. Gush, gush.) - so a total of four small boys (and their accompanying adults) enjoyed each other, some early Christmas presents, a

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-80125876304129215962009-01-19T21:41:00.004-05:002009-01-19T21:43:18.857-05:00

...let's try this again: does the new storage in fact work to allow me to upload a picture of the shower? ;-)Well, yes. Good!

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-23671869571274811312009-01-18T14:53:00.005-05:002009-01-18T15:09:22.550-05:00

You should come visit. Yes, YOU.[Seriously. We love guests, and the chance that you're reading this and *don't* know us seems pretty minimal :)]This is the moving-in day; the number of boxes has decreased (but not yet to zero) since then. Keiran is enjoying the new fire: - we had a long debate over whether we should have a wood-burning 'real' fireplace or the gas imitation, with Jenny arguing

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-34849590585237985482009-01-18T14:33:00.005-05:002009-01-18T21:55:47.551-05:00

As I write this - Jan 18th - I just opened our 401k and realised HOW much money has vanished this past year. About 50%.No, that's not a typo :-(. Picking smallcap and international stocks has been good in the past; not this year.Which is one of many reasons that I'm glad we moved to a place where we could afford to buy a house that we *really* like without killing ourselves financially. Here

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-47887932990566327782009-01-18T14:31:00.003-05:002009-01-18T14:32:42.227-05:00

..yeah, yeah, I know. OK, time for another burst here.[The planned updates here, as well as construction of a real homepage were scheduled for the vacation break. Until I got both my grant white papers accepted and spent the entire time working 20-hour days chained to the laptop. Argh.. but some hope, and at least I get brownie points for tenure even for just applying.]

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-90930825561053119002008-11-28T00:28:00.007-05:002008-11-28T00:50:13.822-05:00

Last of the catching-up posts, I think. It's getting late ;).He's really been a superb big brother. One of my favourite episodes thus far was when he decide that Keiran must want a little house of his own, and started walling him in with magnatiles:...but in general, he's really good at caring for Keiran, and Keiran really seems to like him, too.Other stuff that happened to Aidan this month:

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-32411138528436735292008-11-28T00:11:00.007-05:002008-11-28T00:28:11.004-05:00

We *almost* had a real Guy Fawkes' night - a holiday that is my favourite but which is sadly unknown over here. Melanie, from my lab, graciously offered to host, and we had a reasonable fire......but apparently fireworks are **illegal** (!!!) in New York, and everyone felt the need to be law-abiding. Bah ;).So instead, we had the modern US version of Hallowe'en: costumes and candy.(Aidan is

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-49263186738244869432008-11-27T23:14:00.008-05:002008-11-28T00:10:34.706-05:00

While the house was going up, our boys - boyS. Plural. Yeah. - were of course doing other stuff.Aidan has been in a cute phase of wanting to draw maps for things, and especially of making multiple maps into a treasure-hunt sequence. So I made a slightly more complex one for him to follow - big hit! (Sorry for potential poor quality - the original file is over 200MB :). Keiran has been a

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-84522325654476075572008-11-27T22:44:00.008-05:002008-11-27T23:13:42.752-05:00

OK, this covers both pre- and post-Keiran, and is maybe redundant now that we're almost at closing - sorry.[I'm also skipping some stuff - for example, the security system details!]We got to see the kitchen cabinets and wood floor for the first time Oct 16; the floor guys - as honestly all of the craftsmen we met - were extremely pleasant, seemed happy to answer our uninformed questions, and look

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-69199804759177870652008-11-27T22:35:00.004-05:002008-11-27T22:44:17.667-05:00

- which was Keiran's foetal name. Here he is trying on clothes for size :-) two days before he arrived.[What was Aidan doing? Playing with colour-mixing in the bath. He's been learning recently about hypotheses, observations, predictions and experiments. Moulding? Me? :)]

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-58859195030171986212008-11-27T22:29:00.002-05:002008-11-27T22:35:38.599-05:00

Sorry, "soccer." [This is one of the Americanisms that annoys me most :). Why the need to use the word football to describe a game played with the hands (and body armour)? Argh. Oh well :).]It was good to see Aidan's skill developing this year - he's still one of the smallest kids on the field, but now more willing to get involved and able to control the ball. He's very proud of the trophy

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-87362756331638752712008-11-27T21:58:00.006-05:002008-11-27T22:29:46.675-05:00

So: this time around much more so than with Aidan, Jenny got great ante-natal care (hat-tip, Upstate ObGyn here in Albany!); this included lots of ultrasounds. Here's the final one we have of Keiran, taken Sept 30.[As I just went through the summer's photos, it's clear that I need to do a much better job of keeping on top of this! Lots of stuff went unmentioned - the Highland Games,

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-82500346607511091142008-11-27T21:27:00.003-05:002008-11-27T21:58:21.220-05:00

OK, so Keiran arrived and posting went to the proverbial handbasket.Now he's almost six weeks old, and it's Thanksgiving, and I have a lot of catching up to do... here goes. Backlog of photo posts should arrive shortly...[Will I get to putting actual science content up here? Well, I hope so, but it's not yet the major reason for the blog. We'll see.]

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-59599179774770163452008-10-18T17:10:00.005-04:002008-10-18T17:37:40.554-04:00

OK, I have been remiss in posting. Not that anyone is reading anyway :-). Class stuff, house stuff - I need to put up another set of pics there for sure - but mostly trying to get ready for what turned out to be yesterday: our second son was born.Keiran Rory Liam McNay. October 17th, 2008, 1620 EST. 49cm and 2.95 kg.It was honestly a wonderful day: glorious autumn weather and colours, Jenny

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-86272062023508022282008-09-21T16:55:00.004-04:002008-09-21T17:01:41.071-04:00

Emilie was kind enough to come up and stay with Jenny while I drive 11 hours to and from Baltimore tomorrow; *unlikely* that she's going to give birth right now, but she'd rather not take the chance :-).So we went on a gentle hike to Thacher Park, bought more apple cider doughnuts (there was almost a 2-hour line behind us when we bought ours - amazing!), and went to Aidan's school picnic. A very

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-47297172143688439882008-09-21T16:50:00.003-04:002008-09-21T16:54:43.475-04:00

...and this is the second set, fully up-to-date. Some of the pics we took are intended to give us at least some idea of where wiring is, should we ever need to go back in to the walls :-).I am finding it amazing how much my perception of the house changes at the various stages; the drywall especially is really altering how I see room sizes. Which is fun but scary: worry about whether we're

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-61606392532994827322008-09-21T16:45:00.003-04:002008-09-21T16:49:43.829-04:00

A couple of recent visits to the house; things are really moving along, we think. Brick is complete, the insulation looks pretty complete and drywall is going up - that should be finished this coming week, and is the trigger for a bunch of activity (kitchen is ordered, ditto lighting, ditto appliances, and we're looking at paint and so on). Still behind schedule, but with *luck* we're still

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-35521959969187548582008-09-18T10:59:00.003-04:002008-09-18T11:05:30.626-04:00

One of the biggest lies being told in the current US political campaign - at least that I've heard - is the McCain campaign attempting to assert that Obama would raise taxes and they would not; usually this is phrased as 'raising taxes on the middle class' which is where most people see themselves.The graphic below is the most accurate representation I've seen of the *actual* impact of the stated

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-30026209003104566102008-09-14T21:21:00.006-04:002008-09-14T21:32:24.607-04:00

A revealing graphic from the Washington Monthly, putting into graphic form the (trustworthy) Tax Policy Center (sic) report on the likely impact of candidates' proposed tax policy.So how can it be that some non-rich folk still believe that they are better economically served by a Republican administration? Beats me. Back-of-the-envelope math suggests (if my numbers are close) that the McNay

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-29750971777212180672008-09-12T12:00:00.003-04:002008-09-12T12:04:36.000-04:00

Marbury is a British commentator on (primarily US) politics; I generally find the content sensible.His take on last night's Sarah Palin interview is the same a mine: this - which, ye gods, she had to *know* was her one chance to appear credible? - just confirmed that she is way out of her depth as Alaska's governor, never mind as a VP for a near-dead President.And yet... this election appears to

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-67552258753854080602008-09-10T18:01:00.002-04:002008-09-10T18:03:24.329-04:00

This was back in May, at the end of a family trip the pics from which I need to post. But I was looking for a family pic for Aidan at school, and this jumped out: from the left, that's Aidan's great-grandma Ed, me, Aidan, and his great-aunt Val (my mother's sister, Ed's younger daughter). Cute pic.

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-42959514215134383452008-09-08T16:51:00.003-04:002008-09-08T16:53:47.581-04:00

[You've seen the bumper stickers, yes? "Cthulhu in '08. Because why vote for the lesser of two evils?"]Still, as presidential candidates go... well, speaks for itself, really.

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-90108072654243904942008-09-08T10:38:00.003-04:002008-09-08T10:46:30.584-04:00

OK, one more (hurried!) post. Last Wednesday was Aidan's first day of 'real' school, in first grade. He's been looking forward to this excitedly for a *long* time now, and I'm happy to say that he seems to be enjoying it and happy; even the bus-riding after school, which was stressing him, has not been an issue.We have yet to meet his teacher - although we have an appointment set up to do so -

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-91945247917230207772008-09-08T09:58:00.003-04:002008-09-08T10:37:52.943-04:00

No, this is not *really* a post about the existence of titles; but it *is* a further step in maybe, perhaps, understanding what I am doing here.This post is really about this past weekend - which means that I am giving up on trying to catch up in chronological order on nascent posts from the summer, but they will/should/might appear in a random order......highlights of the weekend:* raspberry

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-65317156733008554892008-09-04T13:34:00.000-04:002008-09-04T13:47:37.578-04:00

Mostly for grandparents :-). Bleep is at 33 weeks now; all systems go (and almost 5 lbs, apparently). Photos from yesterday's visit: yeah, looks like a baby, huh?I will refrain from putting into print my own immediate comment on these images ;)

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-58695397318136636942008-09-04T13:30:00.000-04:002008-09-04T13:34:06.078-04:00

I have to start getting my news from The Daily Show.Seriously. Take this as just one example of some of the most pointed analysis seen anywhere on mass media:Kudos, Jon Stewart..

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-34738386847484125072008-09-02T00:53:00.001-04:002008-09-02T00:54:38.487-04:00

It will be obvious that I'm new to blogging; and also - gee, surprise! - short on time to make substantive posts. There are a bunch in my head, most regarding new faculty concerns and academia in general, but also regarding impending baby, amusing cats, and joyful five year-old. I'll try to catch up! But right now it's 1 a.m. and I'm prepping tomorrow's lecture...

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-39110157984641944452008-09-02T00:51:00.000-04:002008-09-02T00:53:01.820-04:00

Incidentally (sorry, this is just a p.s.): if *I* were a Republican delegate - yeah, now *there's* an alternate universe! - I would right now be working out how I could in fact _not confirm_ that Palin nomination.

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-37954711571412026412008-09-02T00:37:00.000-04:002008-09-02T00:45:50.032-04:00

Shark? Jumped.At least, I have to believe so: that is, that with the choice of Sarah Palin as McCain's VP ticket-mate, the election just ended and Obama (along with Joe Biden, from whom I am only two steps* in Bacon terms, likely the closest I am going to get to a US presidential candidate!) won. I just don't see ANY way for the electorate not to see this as a cynical, frankly desparate, poorly

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-58825822745566162342008-07-30T15:32:00.000-04:002008-12-13T08:28:41.809-05:00

...and part 2. This set is from the past weekend; you can see Jenny trying to get rid of a *little* of the water, and what looks horribly like some mould. I will be checking back on that now that we've had some sun, to make sure that it goes away! In the background of the view from the house towards Aidan playing on hay bales, you can see a ranch (=bungalow) home which is the most recent

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-1505817449336892982008-07-30T15:27:00.000-04:002008-12-13T08:28:42.601-05:00

More house pictures, bringing progress roughly up to date; part 1...

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-53398165675830675092008-07-30T15:15:00.000-04:002008-12-13T08:28:42.960-05:00

As many of you know, we recently moved to Albany; one of the fun - but stressful! - parts of the move was trying to find a new home. In the end, we gave up on existing houses (a variety of reasons, one of the least expected being a high number that had pools which we do *not* want)and decided to build our own.This has been generally very positive; our builder (Swift Builders, a smallish family

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-30443507747468025862008-07-23T16:09:00.000-04:002008-07-23T16:11:21.849-04:00

This was prompted by a (fairly typically mildly ranty) suggestion over at Young Female Scientist, where it was opined that faculty candidates were commonly not being shown the space included in their position offer.None of this corresponds at all to my experience, frankly, during the search process last cycle (i.e. I just started my new job).At each interview site, I was shown the space on offer

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-54332488418263336462008-07-18T23:09:00.000-04:002008-07-18T23:13:58.128-04:00

Aidan* is just a delight to be around these days. Favourite quote from the past week: on deciding that he didn't want to do something after all (I forget what): "Because it's so undignified."He's been at Camp Nassau, an Albany YMCA camp of apparently long tradition and ubiquity, this week; neither one of us is impressed, really. It's fine, just not inspiring nor very personal. As Aidan

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-52248830316344042262008-07-18T09:22:00.000-04:002008-07-18T09:44:21.409-04:00

Coffee. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways......perhaps a little extreme. Although I do like the Creed of Coffee (a parody of a mantra in Dune:It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion, It is by the beans of Java that thoughts acquire speed, The hands acquire shaking, the shaking becomes a warning,It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion. Anyway. A friend in my

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-87347715607063302222008-04-29T23:28:00.000-04:002008-04-29T23:35:52.397-04:00

Past, present, future......prompted by a post from Jenny F. Scientist (http://naturalscientist.blogspot.com/2008/04/from-definite-to-definitely-vague.html) that caused me to note ease of timing.Ten years ago: had just proposed to my wife, was happily wandering through grad school, life seemed joyful and defined. one of the best years and periods of my life, certainly.Five years ago: had just

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-74368581915425568002008-04-15T12:04:00.000-04:002008-04-15T12:07:47.046-04:00

[An actual post: really just a holder for the comment made over here: http://scalzi.com/whatever/?p=631]I was tickled to see the page header today: I'm one of the folks paying US taxes but not getting to vote. As a Brit, the irony is that bit greater.Allocation of taxes by the payers has always seemed to make sense to me. I suspect that one needs, though, at least one override (for the IRS!)

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28665252.post-1152552811477714612006-07-10T13:32:00.000-04:002006-07-10T13:33:31.490-04:00

Content? Hah.That would require me to have time for work other than grants and manuscripts. Haven't seen a rat in months. Ah, the joys of untenured, soft-money academia......and not even any hassle from my boss to ensure that stuff gets done well ;-/.

Ewanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15587749873205076612noreply@blogger.com0