Mike Lee

Mike Lee
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

Ran into Mike Lee at the chop tonight. This is him and Nicole in a mike lee type pose. Mike blogs a lot and has many face shots with different people. He is actually the reason I started this blog, I'm glad I did.

Portrait Gallery

Portrait Gallery
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

Had a nice couple happy hours last night with the local cec folks and some of the jacks I used to work with. This is the newly reopened east entrance to the national portrait gallery. Walked by it on the way home last night.

Thanksgiving Pictures



I uploaded a load of pictures to flickr from our 6 days in New York along with the above video clip. We did a ton of stuff including a trip to the MET, a ride on the Statin Island Ferry, a visit to Grand Central Station, shopping in Soho, a ride on a carousel in Bryant Park and of course the fantastic house seats Adam got us all to Mary Poppins. Pictures of all these things are in the photo collection along with some other random shots of Washington Square Park and Broadway holiday lights.

This week has been back to work and other home chores. We hope to do the parade of lights in Old Town this weekend while fitting in to 5 year's birthday parties. Ahhh, the holidays.

Handsome Boys

The boys loved their handsome jackets they worn to Mary Poppins on Wednesday. They wore them again for Adam's party on Friday too. Today was rather low key, we took them to a skating lesson, Nicole and I skated as well. Tomorrow, back to work.

Looking up Broadway

It's been a jam packed couple days with a big group for Thankgiving dinner and a bigger group for a party last night. I've been eating way too much and still feel stuffed this morning. Thursday's warm weather turned into blustery cold on Friday. We took the boys up to Grand Central to see some model trains and then over to Bryant Park to watch some skating and take a ride on the Carousel. Nicole and Grandma did some shopping along the way. We then took a bus, yes a bus because Dylan was begging to take a bus down to Soho for lunch and a little shopping for me. We packing up now and should be on the road in a couple hours. It will be nice to get home and chill for a bit.

Lady Liberty

Seen from the Staten Island Ferry. Really the best bargin in New York. It's a free ride past the this and Ellis Island with great views of lower Manhatten to boot. The boys liked it quite a bit but jumped out of their skin when the boat blew it's horn when it left South Ferry. Lots of cooking still going on and I'm getting a little hungry.

40 Bond Street

40 Bond Street
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

A new funky building in noho. The sun is out and no one is on the street this thanksgiving morning. I'm at the gym getting a little sweat in before I eat like a pig. Nicole, adam and grandma have been cooking up a storm for a couple days now. Grandpa has been washing dishes and have mostly been on boy duty, oh yeah and I rearranged and put away a ton of wine in the wine room. Good responsibilities in my book.

Oppenheimer at the Mecury lounge

Oppenheimer at the Mecury lounge
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

This is the band I saw in soho in August and they still rock. Nicole and I are enjoying.

Mary Poppins

Mary Poppins
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

Waiting for the show to start. Rode the Staten Island ferry this morning and then we were off to the matinee.

Hangin with the Mummys

We made it down to the MET today to seemummies and some arms and armour. Not much more for the youngsters there but we wanted to give it a shot. On the way home we stopped off at FAQ Schwartz on 5th Avenue for some toy shopping and quawking at really big stuffed aninmals. Tonight it was pizza and the start of some major cooking. We are seeing Mary Poppins tomorrow and then home for more cooking I suppose. I'm going to steal away tomorrow night to see Oppenheimer at the Mercury Lounge in Soho at 10pm. Those guys rock.

Bleecker Street Window


Bleeker Street Window
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

Good dinner and a little window shopping in the village.

Mr.Dennehy's

Mr.Dennehy's
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

Made it to nyc in reasonable time. Got into town at 4 and got ourselves situated and are having a pint of Harp and waiting for dinner. Its a dark picture but that's dylan and gil.

School Pictures are Here

We got the school pictures yesterday during our first Parent\Teacher conference at the new school. Both boys are doing great and are turning out to be class leaders. Yesterday was the last day of work for 10 days are we are off all week for Thanksgiving. It will be a nice break.

One Laptop Per Child

The Nick Negroponte OLPC project is off and running and you can now order your own $100 laptop that actually turned out to be about $200 but it was close. For the next couple weeks you can pay $400 to get one and send one to a child is a developing nation. You get to write off half the price on your taxes and you will also get a one year subscription to t-mobile's wireless service found in many hotels and starbucks all over the world. I ordered mine on Monday morning. It's not a replacement for a full featured computer but it is designed more for children and the boys will love it.

I saw a couple prototypes of the laptop a couple years ago. Mike Lee and I discussed it with Nick at SFO waiting for a flight to Monterray where Nick talked about the project at TED 2006 and Nick brought a model of the laptop to AARP for a discussion shortly after TED in 06. Mike has continued the MIT and OLPC relationship since I left AARP and has blogged about the development. He was a serious alpha tester.

Check out all the details and buy one here. http://www.laptopgiving.org/en/index.php

It's a good cause.

Old Dave

Old Dave
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

Wacky dave is 52 today and doesn't look a day oer 51. He's off to Springsteen tonight, I'm heading home in a few.

Scooter Boys

Here's the video I was referring to below.

Razor Boys

It has been a pretty mellow weekend considering the last few. We opened up Grandma and Grandpa Carpenter's birthday presents and took them out for a few rides on Saturday and Sunday. The boys are already scooting along pretty well and love them. Dylan choose the purple one and Sam the green. We watched Ratatouie and ET with the boys on Friday and Saturday and watched Sicko after they went to bed. All in all, ET is still the best movie. I'm going to try to post some video of the Razor fun later if I get a chance.

No More Parties for a While

Adam, Florence, Elaine and Linda joined us for the official birthday party for the boys last night. Nicole made her 3rd and 4th cakes in the last 3 days and the boys loved them. A 9 car train and an airplane this time around. They got lots of great gifts and will be sending out thank you notes at some point. I'm terrible at that but Nicole will make sure it happens. Btw, thank you to everyone who every gave me a gift that I forgot to thank you for. The halloween party and multiple birthday parties have worn us out and we need to go to bed early tonight and do a lot of nothing this weekend. Maybe a hike on Sunday, the leaves are peaking. More soon....

Birthday Week

Had a busy weekend of hikes and pirate birthday parties. The weather was great for both but I was tired by last night. Nicole has been baking cake after cake and planning party after party and I'm sure she will be happy when the boys are five already. Nicole and the boys are coming downtown to have lunch with me tomorrow and then one more party with lots of gifts I'm sure. I've taken a lot of pictures in the last few days and have posted a couple of collections on flickr. I'm sure I will have more tomorrow.


Mason Neck Hike
http://www.flickr.com/photos/homerclees/sets/72157602946392801/

Pirate Birthday Party
http://www.flickr.com/photos/homerclees/sets/72157602946837437/

Fall Hike

It was boys day as me and the boys went to the gym and for a hike at Mason Neck while Mama and Grandma got ready for the birthday party tomorrow. I picked up a new camera yesterday, a Canon SD 750. It's the third compact Canon I've purchased and is perfect to bring along for all occasions. I handed the SD 300 down to Nicole and the SD 110 is for the boys. The new camera is a nice alternative to the big Nikon D70 when you don't want to carry around a big body and lense. I'll probably upload a few of the picture to flickr later today or tomorrow. The boys actually got some nice shots today, partly by trying and partly by just hitting the shutter button and not knowing what they were doing. Either way, it was fun.

Looking up the Charles

Looking up the Charles
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

Great view from Endeca's office in Cambridge. We got out of the meeting about 2 hours early so we got on the 5pm shuttle instead of the 7. I should actually be able to spend a little time with the kids tonight. Major bonus.

Cambridge

Cambridge
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

Near the mit media lab where I used to spend a lot time. Beautiful day in the greater boston area.

Sunrise over Long Island Sound

Sunrise over Long Island Sound
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

On the six thiry shuttle flight to Boston after a couple hours of sleep. The show last night was good but I didn't get home till late and the cab to the airport morning showed up at 5:15. Yes, I'm whining. Heading back to dc later this afternoon, I'm already looking forward to it.

More Van Halen

More Van Halen
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

Van Halen

Van Halen
Originally uploaded by homerclees.

Yes, its true, I'm at a Van Halen concert and its really loud. Makes me feel like I'm in high school back in Minnesota. Good times.