Friday, July 14, 2006
Couple admiring the "Great Picture"
By Albert Bierstadt. A fictional representation of the Sierra Nevada.
American portrait museum
I came downtown today for a breakfast meeting a workout and a lunch meeting My lunch meeting cancelled so I had a quick lunch with a friend from aarp and now I'm at the newly opened portrait museum. This mujseum has been closed for six years during its remodeling. It opened again to the public on july 4th. Its pretty nice so far. I'm going to meet some friends for happy hour after this and then home with Nicole like old times.
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
For those interested, I'm home. My flight was a little late but we finally got here and I'm tired. I spent the day touring all the new sights in Downtown Minneapolis with my Mom, Dad and Jeff. We went to the new library where I took this picture. It's a nice building. Had lunch in St. Louis Park at Bunnys which was fun and flew home. It was a nice trip but I missed the boys something fierce.
Ok, so I've tried to moblog a couple times since I've been in Minnesota and the darn things aren't posting for some reason. I've been having a good time playing golf and visiting with the family the last few days and just got back from having a few drinks with my friend Melissa. I played golf with my Dad and Dan last couple days and saw the movie Click with Jeff on Monday night. It's been a fun few days and I'm heading home tomorrow night.
I really haven't taken any pictures while I've been here and it's a shame. Minnesota is a very pretty place in the summer and is only matched by it's winter look. I'm looking forward to the Wisconsin trip later this summer. The upper midwest has a whole different feel from the east coast and I'm eager to get a really good long dose of it when with travel in the family truckster on our family summer vacation. I think I miss the simplicy of all the summers I spent here as a child and young adult. It can't be brought back to life but I'm pretty sure I can capture it in a moment or two if I pay attention.
I really haven't taken any pictures while I've been here and it's a shame. Minnesota is a very pretty place in the summer and is only matched by it's winter look. I'm looking forward to the Wisconsin trip later this summer. The upper midwest has a whole different feel from the east coast and I'm eager to get a really good long dose of it when with travel in the family truckster on our family summer vacation. I think I miss the simplicy of all the summers I spent here as a child and young adult. It can't be brought back to life but I'm pretty sure I can capture it in a moment or two if I pay attention.
Sunday, July 09, 2006
Lake Minnetonka
Rachel and I had a drink on wayzata bay and are now heading out to look at houses for fun. Lots of nice houses on the lake for tons of cash. Nice to look anyway.
Friday, July 07, 2006
Drumsticks
The boys had drumstick ice cream cones for desert tonight. They seemed to enjoy them quite a bit. In fact, I had one too and it was quite delicious. They are asleep now and we have soccer practice in the morning. It actually stopped raining so we should be able to go outside and not get wet.
The boys had drumstick ice cream cones for desert tonight. They seemed to enjoy them quite a bit. In fact, I had one too and it was quite delicious. They are asleep now and we have soccer practice in the morning. It actually stopped raining so we should be able to go outside and not get wet.
Sleepy heads
They are getting big now, so when they wander into our bed in the morning, they take up a good chunk of space.
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Fun with colored sugar
The boys and I watched the Johnny Depp version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory tonight. Sam like it more than the original and Dylan thought the original was better. I agree with Dylan on that one. I missed the original songs and frankly, the first one has a better story. Here they are showing off their funny colored tongues. Btw, if you are confused. Sam left, Dylan right.
The boys and I watched the Johnny Depp version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory tonight. Sam like it more than the original and Dylan thought the original was better. I agree with Dylan on that one. I missed the original songs and frankly, the first one has a better story. Here they are showing off their funny colored tongues. Btw, if you are confused. Sam left, Dylan right.
The boys loved the fireworks last night. This year we actually parked ourselves on the lawn of the local Lee District Park and got up close and personal. We watched them from a warm hotel room in Berkeley last year and we were glad we did. It's cold on the San Francisco bay in summertime. Anyway, the boys loved them and said things like "this is great" and "they are beautiful". Lee District Park isn't that big so we were right on top of where they were launching them. I have video of the whole thing if you want to see it next time you drop by the house. The park is only about a mile away too, so it was easy to get home.
Oh yeah, I bought the boys some lick em sticks candy. It turned their tongues different colors, which they were happy to stick out at me. I have more colored tongue pictures I?ll post later.
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Busy day at the pool
Been to the park, had a nap, now swimming with everyone else still in town. Its hot today and their is a good chance the fireworks will get rained out but we are keeping our fingers crossed.
Monday, July 03, 2006
So we got wacked again by another freakish storm last night. This time it include hail. I went out on the deck after it passed at 7pm and checked my improptu rain guage (open cooler) and found another 2 inches of rain. The lights flickered a couple times but we never totally lost power but this morning when we pulled out of the driveway, we found this. Yes, one of our trees lost a huge branch and fell on the power lines, cutting off power to everyone on our block to the left of us (looking at the house) I don't know how we kept power but it must have been hot for everyone else. I offered Dave my generator but he had faith in the power company coming soon. I think they got it repaired by 2 or 3, but I did finally un-box that 5000 watt engine. Now I need to buy gas.. The storms seem to be sticking around.
Friday, June 30, 2006
All Star Wrestling
I got back from NYC around 3pm today and found the boys just waking up from their nap. We wrestled on the bed for a while, then they were off to the pool. New York was good and I had really good meetings but I'm glad to be back in the suburbs. The city kind of engulfs you after a while. Adam's flat is in a perfect location and I walked to most everything I did there but it's just, city, city, city, all the time. I actually wish I would have spent more time in the apartment because it's so nice. I took some pictures of the new lawn he had installed in the great room. Complete with teak furniture and plenty of light from the windows. It's pretty funny. Anyway, in case you don't read Nicole's blog, Dylan stuck something up his nose last night and they had to go to the emergency room to get it removed. Read all about it here. http://nikabolid.blogspot.com/
I got back from NYC around 3pm today and found the boys just waking up from their nap. We wrestled on the bed for a while, then they were off to the pool. New York was good and I had really good meetings but I'm glad to be back in the suburbs. The city kind of engulfs you after a while. Adam's flat is in a perfect location and I walked to most everything I did there but it's just, city, city, city, all the time. I actually wish I would have spent more time in the apartment because it's so nice. I took some pictures of the new lawn he had installed in the great room. Complete with teak furniture and plenty of light from the windows. It's pretty funny. Anyway, in case you don't read Nicole's blog, Dylan stuck something up his nose last night and they had to go to the emergency room to get it removed. Read all about it here. http://nikabolid.blogspot.com/
Thursday, June 29, 2006
East village irish bar
I had a good time with scott, then ran over to Mr. Denaheys in the west village for a bite. Swift is a couple blocks from Adams place. Had a quik pint and now I'm heading home. Good times.
Doin email and watchin CNN
Had a great lunch with Phil Terry and have a bunch of good ideas to work on My dinner with Heather was a lot of fun last night and I got great ideas from that meeting too. I'm just about to leave and go to Cedars and have a drink with Scott from yahoo. Then who knows, maybe a drink with Dan but he's been working hard on his screen play today.
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
New york
Adam's friend Dan is staying in Adam's loft while Adam is on tour. He suggested I stay in Adam's wing. Much better view on this side of the building Off to network.
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Brain Age
So I took the gamer plung and bought a new Nintendo DS Lite game player and a copy of Brain Age today. This is the newest portable game player from Nintendo and the game is aimed at aging Baby Boomers. I picked it up to help me with my mobile device, health and older adults research I'm doing with the Persuasive Technology Lab at Stanford. This game is actually suppose to keep you sharp by testing your brain on a regular basis. I've only just begun playing with it but the first quick test involves looking at the screen as colored words come up and speaking the color of the text and not what the word says. For instance, if Yellow comes up on the screen but the letters are blue, you need to say "blue". It's harder than it sounds. It also made me do 25 quick calculations. The screen will show 3x8 and you need to write the answer on the screen as quickly as possible to get a better score. It's very interesting.
It's still raining but the electricity has been on and the pumps running. The pumps only need to run when large quantities of water come down but with the ground is so saturated, an inch in a hour will get things pumping. It's suppose to end soon and a few sunny days are in the forecast. It turns out that this is the wettest June on record and beats the 1972 Anges Hurricaine floods that killed hundreds in West Virginia. If we get another inch, it will be the 2nd wettest month in this area on record ever. It's enough already...
So I took the gamer plung and bought a new Nintendo DS Lite game player and a copy of Brain Age today. This is the newest portable game player from Nintendo and the game is aimed at aging Baby Boomers. I picked it up to help me with my mobile device, health and older adults research I'm doing with the Persuasive Technology Lab at Stanford. This game is actually suppose to keep you sharp by testing your brain on a regular basis. I've only just begun playing with it but the first quick test involves looking at the screen as colored words come up and speaking the color of the text and not what the word says. For instance, if Yellow comes up on the screen but the letters are blue, you need to say "blue". It's harder than it sounds. It also made me do 25 quick calculations. The screen will show 3x8 and you need to write the answer on the screen as quickly as possible to get a better score. It's very interesting.
It's still raining but the electricity has been on and the pumps running. The pumps only need to run when large quantities of water come down but with the ground is so saturated, an inch in a hour will get things pumping. It's suppose to end soon and a few sunny days are in the forecast. It turns out that this is the wettest June on record and beats the 1972 Anges Hurricaine floods that killed hundreds in West Virginia. If we get another inch, it will be the 2nd wettest month in this area on record ever. It's enough already...
Monday, June 26, 2006
Lighthouse Sound
These are a couple shots from the course we played on Friday in Ocean City. It's a really nice track and as you can see, we even got a little sun by the end of the round. It's still raining here and we now have 14 inches in 5 days. We just got another two and I think we have more on the way tonight and tomorrow. This is getting depressing.
These are a couple shots from the course we played on Friday in Ocean City. It's a really nice track and as you can see, we even got a little sun by the end of the round. It's still raining here and we now have 14 inches in 5 days. We just got another two and I think we have more on the way tonight and tomorrow. This is getting depressing.
Bad Place to Park
Here's a picture from the Washington Post of a car that was parked at the Courtyard Marriott about a mile from our house. The whole intersection of Telegraph Road and the beltway was flooded last night when we got 6 inches of rain in about an hour and a half. Camaron Run went over the banks and closed 495 for 8 hours and swept a bunch of cars from the Marriott and other businesses away. I tried to drive Nicole to the Metro this morning at 7 but couldn't make it. We had better luck at 10. It's raining again.
Here's a picture from the Washington Post of a car that was parked at the Courtyard Marriott about a mile from our house. The whole intersection of Telegraph Road and the beltway was flooded last night when we got 6 inches of rain in about an hour and a half. Camaron Run went over the banks and closed 495 for 8 hours and swept a bunch of cars from the Marriott and other businesses away. I tried to drive Nicole to the Metro this morning at 7 but couldn't make it. We had better luck at 10. It's raining again.
Sunday, June 25, 2006
Tons of Rain
It has been raining in these parts for 5 days now and it could continue for three or four more. We've gotten over 10 inches of rain in that time frame and the pumps in the basement are working overtime tonight. Everything is dry down there but any prolonged power outage and another 3 inch downpour and I'm going to have some problems. I bought a generator a few months ago but it's still in the box and I don't have any gasoline so that won't do a lot of good.
On Wednesday, I measured 4 inches of rain in 45 minutes. It came down in sheets. Really quite amazing. We were in a the beginnings of a drought a week ago. I think we've made up the yearly deficit.
It has been raining in these parts for 5 days now and it could continue for three or four more. We've gotten over 10 inches of rain in that time frame and the pumps in the basement are working overtime tonight. Everything is dry down there but any prolonged power outage and another 3 inch downpour and I'm going to have some problems. I bought a generator a few months ago but it's still in the box and I don't have any gasoline so that won't do a lot of good.
On Wednesday, I measured 4 inches of rain in 45 minutes. It came down in sheets. Really quite amazing. We were in a the beginnings of a drought a week ago. I think we've made up the yearly deficit.
21st Street
For some reason my post last night didn't work so here's a recap. We ate at the same restaurant as the night before and went way downtown to fish tails. We took the 2 dollar bus per usual and found it just as freaky as usual. No reason to drive in oc when the bus costs two bucks a day and runs constantly up and down the main drag. I reallly think their should be an oc drunk bus reality show. Its really quite amazing. Anyway, I'm home now and with the boys at the pool.
Saturday, June 24, 2006
The OC
The water was cold, but refreshing. Its getting close to dinner time and I'm hungry. We may just go back to Liquid Assets because its that good. I'm sure I will have some stupid picture later.
casraways
We played a fast round of golf and are havine a few cocktails on the bay. We need to get a little rest before dinner then home to the boys in the am.
Friday, June 23, 2006
Dinner
We got a dry 9 holes in at the course and actually got a little sun on the last two holes. We are at our favorite restaurant in oc right now and will probably hit some redneck bar shortly after. Its suppose to rain some more tomorrow but we have a tee time at noon anyway.
One rainy round
We are playing lighthouse sound and it has been raining non stop. It seems to be breaking a tad. Wish us luck.
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
snack
A little late night chilli dog. Good times with jimmy t and a number of other jacks. Ben's is a dc institution.
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Golf at Andrews Airforce Base
Played with Curt Moore who is retiring from AARP in 13 days. He's ready to go. We played the south course, which is really hard, made harder by every kind of military aircraft buzzing around you. The Prez's plane was no where in sight. He must have been off doing something really important. Or not.
Monday, June 19, 2006
Academic Gig
I've been talking with my friend BJ Fogg about working with his lab at Stanford the last few weeks and I think we have a topic. http://credibility.stanford.edu/captology/notebook/archives.new/2006/06/mobile_health_o.html
We both agree that this topic could yield some interesting findings and should spark interest in the mobile device and health industries if done well. More when we get things moving.
I've been talking with my friend BJ Fogg about working with his lab at Stanford the last few weeks and I think we have a topic. http://credibility.stanford.edu/captology/notebook/archives.new/2006/06/mobile_health_o.html
We both agree that this topic could yield some interesting findings and should spark interest in the mobile device and health industries if done well. More when we get things moving.
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Alexandria Waterfront Festival
Another year and another festival. I think we went to our first one with Thom and Jen while Nicole was prego. It's a lovely little festival but I must say, no one was watching the band. I don't think they booked any popular acts this year and things were a little slow. Anyway, the boys loved the rides and Joseph and I had a few beers while Kumie tried to stay out of the sun. We all had dinner at Austin Grill after that and then came how to watch Herbie, Fully Loaded with Lindsey Lohan. Very hot. I've posted a few pics of the event here. http://www.flickr.com/photos/homerclees/sets/72157594168922915/
We went to the pool this morning and now it's time for the boys to nap so papa can watch some US Open Golf.
Another year and another festival. I think we went to our first one with Thom and Jen while Nicole was prego. It's a lovely little festival but I must say, no one was watching the band. I don't think they booked any popular acts this year and things were a little slow. Anyway, the boys loved the rides and Joseph and I had a few beers while Kumie tried to stay out of the sun. We all had dinner at Austin Grill after that and then came how to watch Herbie, Fully Loaded with Lindsey Lohan. Very hot. I've posted a few pics of the event here. http://www.flickr.com/photos/homerclees/sets/72157594168922915/
We went to the pool this morning and now it's time for the boys to nap so papa can watch some US Open Golf.
Friday, June 16, 2006
Boys love the car wash
Why do I feel like I'm always here. I do have some clean cars these days. Blanca is off today so its just me and the boys. We went to the gym, got some bagels and got the car washed so far. We are off to the pool soon and then to the train station. I had a great time with a bunch of the wso gang last night at the chop. Good times.
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Driveway Art
I just got back from the gym and found this on the driveway. Somehow I don't think the boys wrote it but who knows. Nicole is home sick again. Sam was up all night with some mystery pain in his teeth? He seemed fine this morning.
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Movie
Well, we won't be going to another movie for a little while. They weren't totally bad but they kept screaming at the screen and didn't really use inside voices much. The theater probably only had 20 people in it and half of them were under 5 so no harm done. The boys are not ready for a prime time movies yet but that's what DVD's are for.
Joe Jackson was good last night. Just him, Graham Maby and Dave the drummer. No guitars for this show so it was pretty mellow. Still didn't get home till 1am so I'm a little tired today. Not as tired if I had to get up and go to work so I've got that going for me.
Well, we won't be going to another movie for a little while. They weren't totally bad but they kept screaming at the screen and didn't really use inside voices much. The theater probably only had 20 people in it and half of them were under 5 so no harm done. The boys are not ready for a prime time movies yet but that's what DVD's are for.
Joe Jackson was good last night. Just him, Graham Maby and Dave the drummer. No guitars for this show so it was pretty mellow. Still didn't get home till 1am so I'm a little tired today. Not as tired if I had to get up and go to work so I've got that going for me.
Cars
So we took the boys to their first movie today. We'll see if they make it through the whole thing. A bold experiment but its a 3pm matinee so it shouldn't distrurb too many people.
Monday, June 12, 2006
Astronauts don't wear pants
I've been watching the Tom Hanks series "earth to the moom" over the past week or so as I've been unpacking all the stuff from my office. It's a 12 part series on 5 dvd's and I'm only on part 6. I've been watching it on the big plasma in the basement. Sam came dow today after his nap without pants on. He wanted to know what the astronauts were doing and I told him they were going to the moon. His first question was, "to get cheese?" refering to a wallece and gromit episode. I said yes of course but then notice he had no pants on. I told him to go get some pants and he told me that "astronauts don't wear pants" I couldn't prove otherwise. Off to see Joe Jackson tonight at the 9:30 Club. Should be fun.
Sunday, June 11, 2006
Joy Line Railroad
Well, we made the trip into West Virginia and made it out alive. No banjos or funny lookin guys with straw hats or anything. We also didn't stop at Kumie's favorite casino. Didn't think I should buy the boys smokes and give them a cup full of nickels for the slot machines. We did however stop at the Joy Line Railroad and model train museum. The boys loved the little train that went in a circle and really loved the hand carts. Many pictures of both in the flickr collection.
We had lunch in Harpers Ferry and then headed across the Potomac into Maryland to see a Train Museum in Brunswick and then down to White's Ferry for an old fashioned ferry ride back across the Potomac into Virginia. This journey took about 6 hours and was a good test for this summers longer trips. The boys did well and watched Shrek while rolling through some beautiful country roads in Maryland. Oh well, they loved the trains and Sam was awake for the ferry ride.
Pictures here...http://www.flickr.com/photos/homerclees/sets/72157594162947082/
Well, we made the trip into West Virginia and made it out alive. No banjos or funny lookin guys with straw hats or anything. We also didn't stop at Kumie's favorite casino. Didn't think I should buy the boys smokes and give them a cup full of nickels for the slot machines. We did however stop at the Joy Line Railroad and model train museum. The boys loved the little train that went in a circle and really loved the hand carts. Many pictures of both in the flickr collection.
We had lunch in Harpers Ferry and then headed across the Potomac into Maryland to see a Train Museum in Brunswick and then down to White's Ferry for an old fashioned ferry ride back across the Potomac into Virginia. This journey took about 6 hours and was a good test for this summers longer trips. The boys did well and watched Shrek while rolling through some beautiful country roads in Maryland. Oh well, they loved the trains and Sam was awake for the ferry ride.
Pictures here...http://www.flickr.com/photos/homerclees/sets/72157594162947082/
Saturday, June 10, 2006
Mop Heads
As you can see, the boys got their hair cut today and it was much needed. I've added a pre and post shot of them below.
We've had a pretty domestic day today. Gym in the morning, a trip to the drug store for all the new meds they have to take now and then a haircut and shopping. Tomorrow, we are off to a model railroad museum in Harpers Ferry WV. It's a short ride but it has a miniture railroad we can ride on as well. Should be fun and the weather is right for it.
I posted a few images from the pre-school graduation ceremony on Friday. The boys had singing roles in the whole thing and Dylan actually got into it. Sam was in a mood. You can find them here. http://www.flickr.com/photos/homerclees/sets/72157594161814162/
As you can see, the boys got their hair cut today and it was much needed. I've added a pre and post shot of them below.
We've had a pretty domestic day today. Gym in the morning, a trip to the drug store for all the new meds they have to take now and then a haircut and shopping. Tomorrow, we are off to a model railroad museum in Harpers Ferry WV. It's a short ride but it has a miniture railroad we can ride on as well. Should be fun and the weather is right for it.
I posted a few images from the pre-school graduation ceremony on Friday. The boys had singing roles in the whole thing and Dylan actually got into it. Sam was in a mood. You can find them here. http://www.flickr.com/photos/homerclees/sets/72157594161814162/
Friday, June 09, 2006
Pre school graduation
Waiting for the big event to start. Dylan and Sam are suppose to sing as part of the festivities. Should be entertaining.
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
My niece Mae is show here in her first modeling job for a Room and Board advertisement. If Sam and Dylan were in this ad, one would be diving off the chair and the other climbing into the selves. Girls are much more relaxed. Rachel and Brandt are going to have to learn how to be stage parents. Maybe they can just send Mae out to live with Tony and Bill in LA and let them handle her career. Wait, I guess we don't want her to turn into Drew Barrymore.
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Kumie's Few Days in Key West
Kumiwa just posted her pictures of Key West. Nice shots in all. She's not bad for a youngster.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/79347576@N00/sets/72157594156911313/
Kumiwa just posted her pictures of Key West. Nice shots in all. She's not bad for a youngster.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/79347576@N00/sets/72157594156911313/
A Few Days in Key West
I finally got the flickr collection of photo's from Key West up. I got a few pretty good pics and in fact, I like a bunch of the pictures I took with my little Canon elf more than the Digital SLR. You can see for yourself here http://www.flickr.com/photos/homerclees/sets/72157594157642788/
Got to the driving range today between errands and working out. Never enough time to do everything even when you are job free. Jimmy T is right. The boys are looking better and not coughing as much. They went to school today and got to run through a sprinkler. Good times...
I finally got the flickr collection of photo's from Key West up. I got a few pretty good pics and in fact, I like a bunch of the pictures I took with my little Canon elf more than the Digital SLR. You can see for yourself here http://www.flickr.com/photos/homerclees/sets/72157594157642788/
Got to the driving range today between errands and working out. Never enough time to do everything even when you are job free. Jimmy T is right. The boys are looking better and not coughing as much. They went to school today and got to run through a sprinkler. Good times...
Monday, June 05, 2006
Nebathon
So Sam left and Dylan right have been back on the nebulizer the past week or so. Three times a day to kick the latest hack they picked up. Here they are enjoying the treatment while watching Thomas the Train videos. I haven't posted the key west pictures yet because I'm still tired from the whole weekend. It took a long workout before I felt human again and then I had to catch up with all the e-mail and phone calls, not to mention the other chores that have piled up. As my friend Jimmy T says, being job free is hard work. He should know, he's still in Key West.
So Sam left and Dylan right have been back on the nebulizer the past week or so. Three times a day to kick the latest hack they picked up. Here they are enjoying the treatment while watching Thomas the Train videos. I haven't posted the key west pictures yet because I'm still tired from the whole weekend. It took a long workout before I felt human again and then I had to catch up with all the e-mail and phone calls, not to mention the other chores that have piled up. As my friend Jimmy T says, being job free is hard work. He should know, he's still in Key West.
Sunday, June 04, 2006
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)