That's all

I guess I will officially retire this blog now.  I don't post any more, anyway.  

Lenny, I hope one day you can look back on it and see how much we loved you even before you were born.  

Ariane, I hope this will always serve as good memories for you, too, of us bringing this incredible child into the world.

I love you both more than you will ever understand, and I always will.

Things I do when I'm bored

I'm boooooooooooooooored. I'm in New York now for good. I've got no internet in my apartment. I've got no TV or DVD player. I've got no job to do (my boss and I discussed comic books for at least an hour today). I've got no 11 month old to follow around. I've driven something like 5,000 miles since mid-February, so I'm not really feeling just up and driving somewhere - and NY's toll roads aren't helping that feeling.

I promised not to go to New York or Buffalo/Niagara/Toronto or Montreal or Boston without Ariane. Basically, I'm waiting for Saturday so I can go crib and mattress shopping then go to a UAlbany lacrosse game at night. Highlight. of. my. week.

If I would have gotten here in January, I could have at least signed up for a math class or something. There are lots of those I'd like to take.

I miss you both

It's Portland, Round II for me now. The city is nice, this whole area is so pretty. Does it rain a lot? Yeah, I guess so. Is it cloudy a lot? Sure. The alternative is to be buried under five feet of snow which then builds up in dirty piles for six months a year.

But it's nice. I've always found rain relaxing. Unfortunately, we don't seem to ever get thunderstorms here.

It's just a lot harder to be away than I expected, and it gets harder every day. It'll be worth it, though, in the end.

Look who started walking a month or so ago...


And I believe there's a little tooth coming in on that cute little jaw...

A hard year on the horizon

Ahoy ahoy! I'm not dead!

I've just been out and about. For example, celebrating Lenny's first Christmas (version 2) in Germany. Then I flew back and had two more interviews in (wait for it) Portland and Albuquerque. And I got the Portland job. But it's in Albany, New York. Until it's in Portland. Although it starts in Portland.

Huh?

Well, I am going to Portland for four weeks of training starting Feb. 15... because my job and the Albany branch both don't exist yet. Then I'll come back to Austin, maybe for a week but no longer, then head to Albany full time for a few years. (Then full time in Portland is the plan.)

That sounds fine and dandy, we'll have some time to explore an area that's new to both of us, hopefully frequently visiting New York City, Montreal, Boston, Buffalo/Niagara Falls, the Adirondacks, and Cooperstown. Plus, Toronto, Philadelphia, DC, beaches in New Jersey, Ottawa, and Wilmington, DE, are all also within weekend-trip distance, if a bit further away. (Just kidding about Wilmington. Nobody wants to visit Delaware.) I think it will be fun to watch lots of lacrosse (UAlbany and Siena are both local and apparently good, Army and Syracuse are close, too), and I'd hope to go see an Army football game at West Point.

But that's a ways out, because Ariane and Lenny will be in Austin for the bulk of the year. She's determined to finish her degree, and I'm 100% behind her. I can't wait to be down here for her graduation in December. When she sets her mind to it, she can be Superwoman. I've seen it before - specifically Fall semester '08, carrying a full load and working every day while dealing with morning sickness and the insane exhaustion of the first trimester and Spring semester '09 taking a full load while having a rapidly expanding tummy and swollen feet. We're talking about the same woman who was ready to go to regionals last year just days before, you know, pushing a small human out.

There will be family in and out while school's in session, and I'll try to take some trips back here and there where I can, although I expect the work load to be heavy (but interesting). It's going to be hard for all of us for a variety of reasons. I miss them so much when they're gone, it's going to be nothing short of major suckitude to be apart from both of them for such a long total time, and I'm kind of worried that Lenny will forget who I am. By the time she's 1 1/2 years old, I'll have been away from her for something like 9 or 10 months. Makes me feel bad, man. But I know that this is for the best.

So what's going to happen with the ol' Kinderbloggen? I dunno. It's not like I've been typing up a storm here anyway. Life's just a wee bit more important. Maybe it will just become dispatches from south of Quebec (the location sounds more attractive if you can refer to it as "southern" and block out the long, cold winters with 5' of snow). Maybe I'll try to teach myself Mohawk or Quebecois French and post some donde esta la biblioteca-type entries. Maybe I'll post daily updates on how much weight I've lost (since I'm too lazy to cook and don't plan on having TV to distract me from working out) and how much I can military press. Maybe I'll just miss my wife and my daughter and come on here to bawwwwww! about it.

We'll see, but I've got no plans of going away entirely.

An interesting conclusion

So I read this today, and it really got me thinking. Just a couple days ago, there was that video of the octopus using a coconut shell, which is one in a long line of recorded tool use by animals. It's amazing that humans and octopi can still be so similar on such a fundamental level, yet seemingly so differentiated. We are not special.



And we still have idiots who think evolution is "just a theory," which makes them look doubly dumb since they don't understand what "theory" means. I'm not sure what the proper way to react to those people is, other than weeping for humanity, especially since I'm referring to many Senators and aspiring Presidents.

Kinderbloggen, Year 1

It's hard to believe I started writing this (garbage) blog a year ago. I know it's cliche, but it seems like it was yesterday. Really. Even harder to grasp is the fact that Lenny is now already almost seven months old. If we were in a more stable situation (i.e. I had a job and Ariane wasn't still in school) it's possible that we could be thinking about kid number 2. It'd still be way to early, and we're not insane, so we aren't, but we could conceivably be doing this.

As it is, we've been lucky. Lenny has been perfectly healthy so far, she's an absolute sweetheart; I mean, 10/10: would have baby again! I'll get to spend probably another couple months here in Austin (at least) before I have to leave for my still-hypothetical job. In its own right, this job pursuit has taken a turn for the comical. Before October, I had never been to Oregon. I had been to Alaska, California, Washington, BC, and Yukon (not technically Pacific, but whatever), but with the next upcoming trip* I will have been to Portland thrice in the span of three months. So fingers crossed for this one. (Actually, really it's two interviews in one, one job in Portland, one in Albany, NY, so we'll see what happens. If I miss out on this one these two, I'll probably just learn to farm and raise goats.) Pros and cons in both locations. That's for another day. At least this company didn't advertise its jobs by talking about how stressful it is and how everybody spends a lot of the time yelling at each other. (Note: this is actually how Intel described themself all day during my 2nd interview with them; they were proud of it. The second group also told me 1/3 of the employees quit in the first year, which I no trouble believing, and former employees have openly thrown around the term "365 day-a-year slave pit that will have no trouble calling you in on Christmas." I still would have liked the offer. Meanwhile, the next company I'm interviewing with shut down for a week at Thanksgiving and is shutting down for 2 over Xmas/New Years. Very nice.)

It's probably time to start baby-proofing the apartment. Won't be too long before Lenny is mobile one way or the other. We're going to remove the coffee table (read: junk accumulator) in the living room so she has a space to play, but we'll have to seal off the kitchen, train ourselves to keep the bathroom door closed, anchor furniture, cover corners, etc. This is one of my top priorities when we get back. The nice thing about being unemployed is that I'll have the opportunity to do whatever needs to be done. I'll get a lot of quality time with Lenny while Ariane is in class. Not sure how we're going to pull it off, exactly, but we'll figure it out. In the meantime, I present Clarence and Leonard.




*So this second opportunity has bubbled up right quick. I interviewed over the phone before Thanksgiving, never got word as to whether they wanted me to fly up despite my inquiring a couple weeks later, then got a call out of the blue a couple nights ago from the same company for a different position. This time, the interviewer said they wanted to move quickly, and at the end of the interview he told me he really liked me and would let me know the next day. So naturally he called me at 1:00 pm the next day and I was still asleep (because I am roughly on the same level as a sack of garbage right now), said he'd like me to fly up to Portland to interview for both job the Portland and Albany jobs (the Albany job doesn't exist yet, so they were going to do it in Portland regardless) on Jan. 8, and asked if I had any requests for the flight. Since I didn't want to be like "Give me a chance to wake up" at 1 pm, I just said (in my most not-just-woken-up voice possible, "No, none"), so they booked the flight for me. I leave on Jan 7 at 3:00 pm Austin time, fly through San Jose with no plane change, then arrive in Portland at 7:15 pm Pacific. Also, this. I'll be lucky to catch any of it. This is decidedly not full of win. In fact, the amount of win contained in this is quite low. Plus I'm going to miss the Mizzou game unless I can watch from Germany. At least that one is at a reasonable hour (9:30 pm Central European Time).

---

On a completely unrelated note, since I've been by my lonesome for a while now, I've had the opportunity to investigate some new music. Generally, music isn't my thing (my hobbies are 1) raging at the news and 2) sports), so I'm pretty slow on the uptake - I'm the kind of guy who when I start liking a band hipsters will then accuse them of selling out or being so mainstream... don't worry hipsters, I hate the Dirty Projectors and Animal Collective! But lemme tell you what, I just discovered Mastodon through Crack the Skye, and hoo boy is that band (and specifically that album) awesome. Of course, those pretentious dicks at Pitchfork only give it an 8.0/10.0 (album reviews to 1 decimal point, FTW, Pitchfork!).

My faith in the ability of some people to make metal that is actually good has been restored. Moreover, it's a concept album. I love concept albums, if they're well executed. What's the story? Let's take it from Wikipedia:

"There is a paraplegic and the only way that he can go anywhere is if he astral travels. He goes out of his body, into outer space and a bit like Icarus, he goes too close to the sun, burning off the golden umbilical cord that is attached to his solar plexus. So he is in outer space and he is lost, he gets sucked into a wormhole, he ends up in the spirit realm and he talks to spirits telling them that he is not really dead. So they send him to the Russian cult, they use him in a divination and they find out his problem. They decide they are going to help him. They put his soul inside Rasputin's body. Rasputin goes to usurp the czar and he is murdered. The two souls fly out of Rasputin's body through the crack in the sky(e) and Rasputin is the wise man that is trying to lead the child home to his body because his parents have discovered him by now and think that he is dead. Rasputin needs to get him back into his body before it's too late. But they end up running into the Devil along the way and the Devil tries to steal their souls and bring them down…there are some obstacles along the way."

OMFG that's awesome. And another album of theirs was based on Moby Dick. Jeebus. This is officially in my #3 favorite concept album of all time, behind Red Headed Stranger (#1) and OK Computer (#2), (look, Ma! I've got eclectic taste in music!) and now ahead of The Downward Spiral, which has been hurt by the fact that Trent Reznor no longer owns the most emotional song on the album (and maybe in the entire Nine Inch Nails catalog for that matter, this would be "Hurt," which now forever belongs to Johnny Cash; sometimes someone just comes along and Jimi Hendrixes your "All Along the Watchtower"). I haven't had time to swallow Leviathan or any of their other albums, but I am looking forward to it.

Happy Thanksgiving

Note: Look at this draft I started around Thanksgiving that I saved but never published. I am such a committed writer.
---
Without question, the best holiday of the year is Thanksgiving. And today, Lenny ate her first "solid" food, some rice cereal mixed with Mommy's milk.

There's a video associated with this, but apparently we haven't uploaded it to the computer yet, so that's coming later.

Playing with Claire and Uncle Zack

I couldn't upload this to YouTube, so apologies for the crappy Blogger embed. There's a 2nd video (my battery died at the end of this one) that is too large to upload now, but will be up soon.

Still unemployed

It's a "No" from Portland. Hrmmmmmmmmmm.

Lenny is 5 months old today

And happy early Halloween.


Poor Lenny, nothing but skin and bones.

Lenny G

Respek!

Oh, October's almost over, you say?

I really ought to post more. So much is happening with a quickly growing Lenny, who can now readily roll onto her stomach... in her crib... which is terrifying. And she roars and growls, she sings when Ariane sings. She's awesome. The days flow into one another at this point. By now I've lost all my regular readers, so I might as well write nonsensical things, like anything Tracy Jordan says. I'm at work less than I should be, that I know.

It's been so long since I posted that in the meantime I have:
Had an article published in Microelectronic Engineering (nerdy title!)
Had two (two!) more accepted (one in the Journal of the Electrochemical Society and one w/o revisions, awesome sauce, in the Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology A [super nerdy title, awesome])
Killed one before finishing
Finished my dissertation (first draft, excellent)
Been politely turned down by DuPont (your questions were ridiculous!)
Not heard back from the first interviewer (didn't want to work in the Mojave Desert)
Had another campus interview (still waiting)
Visited Oregon* for an interview (nervously waiting... very, very nervously)

(Quick aside: I left for the interview on Monday morning to return Wednesday - can you believe there are no direct AUS-PDX flights? I know!, so I sent an email to my boss, the building manager, and the other guy on my project [i.e. the guy who now owns the system since I am DONE, BUDDY] saying, and I quote: "I will be out until Wednesday, I am heading to the Oregon Country. Don't worry, I won't ford any rivers. I've lost too many oxen this way." My boss emailed back: "Don't waste too many bullets shooting buffalo along the way." I've always liked my boss.)

You might notice that "have been offered a job" is not listed. Right now, all of my eggs are in the basket for the job in Portland. Got to feed the baby some way.

So that this isn't just about me, here's some pictures (makes for an easy post). As always, click to embiggen.

Lenny's preferred sleeping position once she learned how to get up on her side and rotate her entire body. Her feet are sticking out.


Somebody got a highchair so she can join dinner conversations. She likes to talk politics, and I am trying to teach her that is a faux pas, but since she doesn't speak French she goes on and on about it. She's got interesting ideas and opinions (End Mommy's monopoly on breast milk! It violates antitrust laws!). Still no solids.


And a play thingy. Which has sounds! Loud ones! That's going to be such a regrettable decision!


Hoodies: get them started early.


Sometimes you don't have a free hand when you are walking from one room to the other...



*As obnoxiously noted earlier this week via phone, I have now defeated Zack in the race to visit all the west coast of the US and Canada. He didn't know we were competing, but you snooze you lose. That puts Alaska (Inside Passage + Denali + Fairbanks), BC (Vancouver + Fraser, which isn't a city), Washington (Seattle), Oregon (Portland... but really just Hillsboro), and California (San Diego) under my belt, with Yukon (Carcross) thrown in for good not-quite-Pacific-coastal measure. TAKE THAT, ZACK. Also, I think I'm probably beating you in airports: Fairbanks, Seattle, Portland, LAX, San Jose, San Diego, Anchorage, Dallas-DFW, Dallas-Love, Houston-IAH, Houston-Hobby, El Paso, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Harlingen, Little Rock, STL, Indianapolis, ORD, Minneapolis-St Paul, Detroit, Atlanta, Toronto, Newark, JFK, Albany, Memphis, DC-Dulles, Zurich, Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Split, Heraklion, London-Heathrow, Austin, Cincinnati, Raleigh-Durham
Oops: Forgot Vancouver, Calgary, and Cancun.

Blog neglect

I wish I were writing way more frequently, if only to record things like Lenny's first tummy-to-back roll, or our morning walks spotting all the deer. I apologize to all the regular readers (all three of you). Lenny made it to her first tailgate last weekend, though.


Hook 'em!

The walks are the best. It's amazing how close we really are to the hills, and some of them are killers. I plan to take the camera one morning to document some of the sweet views you can get here.

Alas, it appears our time in Austin (this time around?) is running short. Where to? Who knows as of yet. I've dpne one interview complete for a position in California, either Ventura County or... uh, well, the middle of the Mojave Desert. Next week we'll interview with another unnamed company (not NASCAR, on the hood...), which is on the other side of the country in Delaware, maybe elsewhere, because they do everything. Others who have indicated any level of interest are in San Jose, CA; Niskayuna, NY (essentially Albany); Portland, OR; Houston, TX; NYC exurbs; Amsterdam, Netherlands (only after years in Houston, though); here in Austin; Phoenix, AZ; San Diego, CA; Japan (no thanks!); and wherever the hell Frito-Lay is located (I'm too lazy to look it up). No one even pretended to be interested in shipping me to Dresden. Still looking anywhere.

No time, just vids

DFH alert

Can't. Get it. Out of my head. Consider this my Song o' the Week.




I swear to the FSM, I can't remember the last time I had such problems getting a song out of my head.

The pathetic existence that is my life

First off, let it be known that I generally hate Facebook. Of course I have an account, though. I dislike myself for that, though. One thing that drives me crazy are the Facebook memes that bubble up now and then, like "25 things you don't know about me" or whatever. I loathe those. Loathe. LOATHE.

Then I saw this one today, and as I naturally answered along in my own head, I realized how unbearably pathetic my existence is right now. I could blame my lameness on the oppressive heat this summer, but it's mostly because when I am alone two things happen: 1.) I work about 12-16 hours a day, sometimes 24+ (several times, plus one a-comin' up on Sunday), because I can and what would I do at home? and 2.) I immediately go onto vampire schedule. Get to work at 2 pm or so, stay til 4 am or so. Drink blood intermittently. You know, normal things.

Anyway, here are my woefully, cringe-inducing answers to some stupid Facebook meme. Whatever, it's my blog. Ariane still hasn't posted jack squat.


1. What time did you get up this morning?
Morning? What am I, Superman? 1:30 pm

2. How do you like your steak?
Medium rare

3. What was the last film you saw at the Theater?
I don't know, maybe Ratatouille? I don't go to movies.

4. What is your favorite TV show?
I don't have a favorite TV show since I gave up on LOST

5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?
Pacific Northwest, I think. Physically the most beautiful area on Earth, IMHO, plus politically close to my (apparently) radical liberalism (for the US, elsewhere I am considered "centrist" or even "right-of-center") and (best part) lots of non-religious people, which after being surrounded by the loonies here in Texas, is kind of like Shangri-La. (Not that they don't exist up NW, but they probably aren't being appointed to the state BOE or, you know, the governor.) San Diego and I are not political matches, but I think I could make an exception. If I were still single, I'd do a year in Fairbanks and/or Whitehorse and/or Yakutsk, just to see what it's like. I would hate it.

6. What did you have for breakfast?
V8 and jambalaya. Basically the only things in the fridge right now.

7. What is your favorite cuisine?
Tex-Mex. Next question.

8. What foods do you dislike?
Black licorice. That's about it. Oh, and now Schweinshaxe. Never again.

9. Favorite Place to eat?
Home

10. Favorite dressing?
Don't have a favorite

11. What kind of vehicle do you drive?
'98 Ford Explorer, because I am a huge hypocrite

12. What are your favorite clothes?
T-shirt and jeans.

13. Where would you visit if you had the chance?
Siberia. Fr srs. Or Namibia. Also fr srs.

14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full?
This is a stupid question that does not merit an answer

15. Where would you want to retire?
Where's Lenny going to be living? I'll hunt her down and become a drain on her.

16. Favorite time of the day?
What does this mean?

17. Where were you born?
Beautiful Baton Rouge, LA. Thank FSM I got moved out of the hellhole that is the Deep South... to beautiful, progressive Missouri. Ah, that's the ticket.

18. What is your favorite sport to watch?
Oh, hey, finally a good question. In person: baseball (preferably college). On TV: college football.

19. Who do you think will not tag you back?
I don't do this crap on Facebook

20. Person you expect to tag you back first?
ibid.

21. Who are you most curious about their responses to this?
ibid.

22. Bird watcher?
WTF? I'm not Ike Sanchez.

23. Are you a morning person or a night person?
Asked and answered previously

24. Do you have any pets?
No

25. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share?
Of course not. That's kind of insulting at this point.

26. What did you want to be when you were little?
Define "little." I don't recall. Not an astronaut though... Andy.

27. What is your best childhood memory?
I don't recall

28. Are you a cat or dog person?
Cat people have problems

29. Are you married?
Duh

30. Always wear your seatbelt?
I can't believe this question would require being listed

31. Been in a car accident?
A few, but never my fault. Dora's* holding up well still.

32. Any pet peeves?
Oh god, infinite

33. Favorite pizza toppings?
Whatever is on a pizza

34. Favorite Flower?
I don't know

35. Favorite Ice cream?
Whatever is in front of me

36. Favorite Fast Food Restaurant?
Taco Bell. I don't care that it is disgusting garbage.

37. How many times did you fail your driver's test?
1

38. From whom did you get your last email?
My boss. Aren't I cool?

39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card?
I don't have a credit card and find this question to be irresponsible, much like #30

40. Do anything spontaneous lately?
Jeebus no

41. Like your job?
I love my job so much I'll stick around as long as they'll have me - not sarcasm

42. Broccoli?
Yes

43. What was your favorite vacation?
Caribbean with Ariane. Hands down.

44. Last person you went out to dinner with?
My mom I am so pathetic

45. What are you listening to right now?
Nothing. I am sitting here in complete silence filling out a stupid questionnaire that no one is interested in.

46. What is your favorite color?
Yellow. I'll fight you.

47. How many tattoos do you have?
1 or 2, depending on your particular definition.

48. How many are you tagging for this quiz?
NO!

49. What time did you finish this quiz?
10:40 pm

50. Coffee Drinker?
Diet Coke is my drug of choice thanks.

And there you have it. I would have loved to have seen my answers to this back when I was 22. It'd still be pathetic, but at least in a "got drunk and struck out with a girl(s)" kind-of-at-least-making-an-effort-to-be-fun type of pathetic.

I can't wait til I hit my 30s.

*Dora is the unofficial name of my car. Kiwi named his car Jimmy... because it was a Jimmy, so I figured I had to one-up the stupidity of naming cars.

Why not: I just checked into groups to see if there was a "Dirty Fucking Hippie" group I could join. There is. I did (don't forget that the DFH's were right all along). Then when I checked which groups I have joined, I saw that years back I joined "I sit down to pee," which (stunningly) has only 17 members. All of whom were my college friends. So pathetic. "I sit down to pee" is related to the group "I deny wearing a diaper. Oh that? Yeah, that is a diaper." and "Creed is almost as TIGHT as Nickelback." Boy, weren't we funny? /sarcasm

Best. Right wing. Idiocy. Ever.

Sure it's hilarious that some wingnut opposing a "government takeover of healthcare" (or as non-morons refer to it, a public health insurance option) protesting in St Louis (who was probably just sitting around screaming NOBAMA! and LONG FORM BIRTH CERTIFICATE!) got "injured" and is suing everyone and begging for help paying his "medical bills" because he doesn't have insurance, because now Republicans are the lawsuit-crazy welfare queens...

But Investors Business Daily wins today's Internets with this anti-NOBAMACARE! (SOCIALIST FASCISM WHAT?) editorial, featuring this incredible paragraph:

People such as scientist Stephen Hawking wouldn't have a chance in the U.K., where the National Health Service would say the life of this brilliant man, because of his physical handicaps, is essentially worthless.

I won't be the first to say HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAA cough cough cough HAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. /tears running down my face

Also, you know who would really benefit from easily available insurance that won't deny you for pre-existing conditions? Trig Palin. Weird, huh?

Topical follow-up: Stephen Hawking:

"I wouldn't be here today if it were not for the NHS."

Plus: John Cole:

[F]requent commenter Redkitten’s (aka Krista) water broke, so presumably she is in labor as we speak. Due to the horrible delays and long lines associated with the Canadian system of socialized medicine, she was required to wait almost nine months for this procedure, so let’s hope everything works out ok.

Probably an old, recycled joke, but: Ha.

Got to be a joke, right? RIGHT?: Youth in Asia will kill your grandmother. Just jokes, not real Morans, right?

Good idea/Bad idea

I was looking for a particular post on the BabyNameWizard for Drew, who is back in Austin by the way, and came across this one regarding names that had fallen out of the US top 1000 for the first time in a long time.

Reading it, I focused on one that I thought would sound cool if we happen to have a boy in the future.

• Karl. Karl was one of the true stalwarts, a name that had made the top 1000 every year on record (since 1880). This year marked the end of that run, as Karl – like Brad – suffered for its 3-to-1 consonant-vowel ratio.

Karl Henderson. That's a strong name.

Then I remembered my daughter's name is Lenny.



As someone who was cruelly named Luke in 1982 (see the dates here and here) and was given another untimely last name (which had the added bonus of striking back when I was about nine), I'm not sure I could do that to them. Although, nobody would "get it" unless they were together, and the person "getting it" would have to be a Simpsons fan, and instead of laughing at me, I'd probably get a high-five.

But then, of course, we all know that only black people have names like Karl.

ALSO: Drew and Melissa are not having a child as far as I know. Not intending to give that impression.

I'll try to slink back into this with no one noticing

Little Baldo is getting so big.



I miss holding her so much.

Going dark for a while

I've nothing to write about and too much to chew on. Not sure when or if this will come back.