so if you happen to be an interested reader of this site, take a look along the right side at the backyard wildlife. it'll change from time to time as i catch a good pic of some interesting critter here in the yard. it's a common enough occurence. just this morning, a redtail hawk with a 40" wigspan (est) slammed his face into the front window. left a streak of spit. flew away instantly. crazy. he had just missed a young squirrel who looked to die of a heart attack. there are a dozen insolent, indolent squirrels in the yard, and i don't begrudge such a magnificent bird a furry meal.
there's a pair of cooper's hawks that call this end of the street home, which can be rough on songbirds. still, there are jays and cardinals, orioles and juncoes, grackels and crows and house sparrows. there are resident wrens, so bold as to nest by the front door. one cold winter night i saw an owl on a limb over the driveway.
there's a herd of deer that come by here from time to time. ones and twos this time of year, threes and fives in the spring and summer. i haven't seen the big 12 pt buck since the developers clear cut the 40 acres of woods that used to abut our yard, but the does can still be seen almost daily.
so when the yappy little dog (puppy e) points out a new invader in the night-time yard, we're not surprised to see a young opposum hoping that we're not interested in making a meal of him, as he's really got no outs. he was good enough to sit quite still while i snapped a dozen shots of him trying to get a decent one. and there it is, the latest backyard wildlife.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
trivia
so lately i've developed a trivia habit. for years, mama x and i have gotten out when we could to play pub trivia. the x family team is called the damn (damned, damn the) yankees. we are a respected trivia team here in the nc wilderness, for what that's worth. still, with mama x working so damned much, and little baby d being sickish, and baby sitters so hard to come by we just don't get out much.
i've been feeding my trivia jones by trying to pen questions for the local trivia game . i've been surfing the net absorbing random knowledge, and trying to distill it into interesting and informative questions. i've played against these same teams for 5 years now, and i've got a pretty good feel for the depth and breadth of knowledge of teams like mad dog, chris and ann, the corner lunatics, and uranus. i came up with 30 or so questions, set them up with rhythym and meter, and submitted them to the guy who reads the trivia on saturday nights. and he rejected them. said they were too hard. really, i was a little heartbroken...:(
so i decided to let you, dear reader, determine for yourself whether these trivia questions are outrageous. bear in mind that i'm aiming to make the winning score 15 or so. answers follow.
Q: What element is indicated by Rn on the periodic table?
2) Q: Who was the 1st tourist in space?
3) Q: Which two Presidents signed the US Constitution (bonus: 1 pt. for each) ?
4) Q: What is the name of the protagonist in the classic "Catcher in the Rye"?
5) Q: Who is the #2 leading scorer in NHL history?
6) Q: What is the world's largest freshwater lake (by volume)?
7) Q: How many Academy Awards has Brad Pitt won?
8) Beer Question!! Q: If you are the airport designated "WAT" what city and country are you in?
9) Q: Where did the future king David reportedly slay the giant Goliath?
10) Q: According to Billboard magazine, what is the #1 selling album of all time?
11) Q: Who was the first man to win 3 consecutive NASCAR cup titles?
12) Q: Who played "Gopher" on The Love Boat?
13) Q: What kind of gun, specifically, did John Wlikes Booth use to kill President Lincoln?
14) Q: Who was the 1st US President to have a Christmas tree in the White House?
15) Q: How many games did each team play in the 1982 NFL regular season?
16) Q: What language gives us the word "candy"?
17) Q: What is the name of the Native American tribe who shared the 1st Thanksgiving with the Pilgrims?
18) Q: What two teams played the longest professional baseball game in history? (bonus: how many innings? bonus: what was the score?)
19) Q: What year was the Alaska Pipeline finished?
20) Q: What classic rock anthem is honored with a sculpture in Montreaux, Switzerland?
21) Q: What historical event occurred on July 16th, 1945, at what is now White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico?
22) Q: You thought you'd never have to do this again, didn't you? But here it is - algebra. 3x+34=2x+89. Solve for x.
23) Q: What is the common name for the constellation Cygnus?
24) Beer Question!! Q: What is the capitol of Madagascar?
25) Q: What is the smallest member of the family Camelidae?
26) Q: Who wrote Winnie the Pooh?
27) Q: Which indigenous people were decimated and displaced after the 1675-1676 King Phillip's War?
28) Q: The NC state motto is " Esse Quam Videri". What does it mean?
29) Q: What year did the Dow Jones Industrial Average first close above 1,000?
30) Q: Who is known as "the father of modern Astronomy"? .
Tie Breaker, in three parts, each worth 1 pt:
1) Multiple choice- What year was the 1st postage stamp issued?
a) 1760 b) 1840 c) 1910
2) What country issued it?
3) What is depicted on it?
Answers:
1) Radon
2) Dennis Tito, a Californian businessman
3) George Washington & James Madison
4) Holden Caulfield
5) Mark Messier
6) Lake Baikal in Siberia. It contains more water than all of the Great Lakes combined.
7) None. He was nominated in 1995 for his supporting role in Twelve Monkeys.
8) Waterford, Ireland
9) The valley of Elah.
10) Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
11) Cale Yarborough
12) Fred Gandy
13) A derringer pistol.
14) Franklin Pierce.
15) 9
16) Arabic "qandi" is derived from the Persian "qand" (sugar). Arabic & Persian both acceptable.
17) The Wampanoag. (about whom, dear reader, there are sure to be future posts..)
18) The Pawtucket Red Sox hosted the Rochester Red Wings on April 18, 1981. The game went 33 innings. Sox won, 2-1. (a game, dear reader, that daddy x attended with his uncle, an avid baseball fan. the child x became cryingly tired and was turned off of baseball for a good many years afterward)
19) 1977
20) Smoke on the Water, by Deep Purple.
21) The Trinity test, 1st test of of a nuclear weapon.
22) x=55 (ok, maybe this one was really just sadistic, but i intenede it to be a reminder to us all how we let things we used to know just slip away...)
23) The Swan.
24) Antananarivo. (look, if the beer question is too easy, the owner doesn't invite you back)
25) A: The South American vicuna.
26) Alan Alexander (A.A.) Milne.
27) The Wampanoag. (this was both ironic and predictable. anyone who got #17 could probably intuit the answer here as well)
28) "To be, rather than to seem". (did i mention that we live in nc? i assumed, perhaps mistakenly, that schoolchilden would be taught this motto, and it was a creampuff question.)
29) 1972
30) Galileo Galilee
i've been feeding my trivia jones by trying to pen questions for the local trivia game . i've been surfing the net absorbing random knowledge, and trying to distill it into interesting and informative questions. i've played against these same teams for 5 years now, and i've got a pretty good feel for the depth and breadth of knowledge of teams like mad dog, chris and ann, the corner lunatics, and uranus. i came up with 30 or so questions, set them up with rhythym and meter, and submitted them to the guy who reads the trivia on saturday nights. and he rejected them. said they were too hard. really, i was a little heartbroken...:(
so i decided to let you, dear reader, determine for yourself whether these trivia questions are outrageous. bear in mind that i'm aiming to make the winning score 15 or so. answers follow.
Q: What element is indicated by Rn on the periodic table?
2) Q: Who was the 1st tourist in space?
3) Q: Which two Presidents signed the US Constitution (bonus: 1 pt. for each) ?
4) Q: What is the name of the protagonist in the classic "Catcher in the Rye"?
5) Q: Who is the #2 leading scorer in NHL history?
6) Q: What is the world's largest freshwater lake (by volume)?
7) Q: How many Academy Awards has Brad Pitt won?
8) Beer Question!! Q: If you are the airport designated "WAT" what city and country are you in?
9) Q: Where did the future king David reportedly slay the giant Goliath?
10) Q: According to Billboard magazine, what is the #1 selling album of all time?
11) Q: Who was the first man to win 3 consecutive NASCAR cup titles?
12) Q: Who played "Gopher" on The Love Boat?
13) Q: What kind of gun, specifically, did John Wlikes Booth use to kill President Lincoln?
14) Q: Who was the 1st US President to have a Christmas tree in the White House?
15) Q: How many games did each team play in the 1982 NFL regular season?
16) Q: What language gives us the word "candy"?
17) Q: What is the name of the Native American tribe who shared the 1st Thanksgiving with the Pilgrims?
18) Q: What two teams played the longest professional baseball game in history? (bonus: how many innings? bonus: what was the score?)
19) Q: What year was the Alaska Pipeline finished?
20) Q: What classic rock anthem is honored with a sculpture in Montreaux, Switzerland?
21) Q: What historical event occurred on July 16th, 1945, at what is now White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico?
22) Q: You thought you'd never have to do this again, didn't you? But here it is - algebra. 3x+34=2x+89. Solve for x.
23) Q: What is the common name for the constellation Cygnus?
24) Beer Question!! Q: What is the capitol of Madagascar?
25) Q: What is the smallest member of the family Camelidae?
26) Q: Who wrote Winnie the Pooh?
27) Q: Which indigenous people were decimated and displaced after the 1675-1676 King Phillip's War?
28) Q: The NC state motto is " Esse Quam Videri". What does it mean?
29) Q: What year did the Dow Jones Industrial Average first close above 1,000?
30) Q: Who is known as "the father of modern Astronomy"? .
Tie Breaker, in three parts, each worth 1 pt:
1) Multiple choice- What year was the 1st postage stamp issued?
a) 1760 b) 1840 c) 1910
2) What country issued it?
3) What is depicted on it?
Answers:
1) Radon
2) Dennis Tito, a Californian businessman
3) George Washington & James Madison
4) Holden Caulfield
5) Mark Messier
6) Lake Baikal in Siberia. It contains more water than all of the Great Lakes combined.
7) None. He was nominated in 1995 for his supporting role in Twelve Monkeys.
8) Waterford, Ireland
9) The valley of Elah.
10) Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
11) Cale Yarborough
12) Fred Gandy
13) A derringer pistol.
14) Franklin Pierce.
15) 9
16) Arabic "qandi" is derived from the Persian "qand" (sugar). Arabic & Persian both acceptable.
17) The Wampanoag. (about whom, dear reader, there are sure to be future posts..)
18) The Pawtucket Red Sox hosted the Rochester Red Wings on April 18, 1981. The game went 33 innings. Sox won, 2-1. (a game, dear reader, that daddy x attended with his uncle, an avid baseball fan. the child x became cryingly tired and was turned off of baseball for a good many years afterward)
19) 1977
20) Smoke on the Water, by Deep Purple.
21) The Trinity test, 1st test of of a nuclear weapon.
22) x=55 (ok, maybe this one was really just sadistic, but i intenede it to be a reminder to us all how we let things we used to know just slip away...)
23) The Swan.
24) Antananarivo. (look, if the beer question is too easy, the owner doesn't invite you back)
25) A: The South American vicuna.
26) Alan Alexander (A.A.) Milne.
27) The Wampanoag. (this was both ironic and predictable. anyone who got #17 could probably intuit the answer here as well)
28) "To be, rather than to seem". (did i mention that we live in nc? i assumed, perhaps mistakenly, that schoolchilden would be taught this motto, and it was a creampuff question.)
29) 1972
30) Galileo Galilee
Bonus:
part 1): b) 1840.
part 2): Great Britain (England).
part 3): Known as a "Black Penny", it sported an austere portrait of Queen Victoria.
so if you happen to be somewhere in nc saturday night, playing trivia at your local pub, maybe you'll hear one of these questions...
but likely not because the trivia reader says they're too tough, creampuff.
Friday, November 14, 2008
sick
family x is sick. i had thought that mama x had brought a bug home from her last business trip, but it turns out that a nasty strain of bronchitis/sinusitis is going around here lately, so i don't suppose it's all her fault. mama came down with it last week, starting a a sore throat, and progressing to a nasty cough, an intermittent fever, raging sinus headaches and general exhaustion. she tried bravely to fight through it, but it's worn her down, and for the first time in years, she actually missed work for being ill.
and then baby d got it. he spent three days with a face full of snot, a mild fever, lethargy and a generally crappy mood. the poor thing spent days so congested that he was forced to breathe through his mouth, looking like a fish out of water. there were some nights with fever, and we considered dragging him into the ped's office. in the end, we were more concerned about exposing the boo to a roomful of sick kids than we were about his fever, and we got by with an infant analgesic. still, his misery led to several mostly sleepless night for daddy x, with the natural result...
..daddy x is sick. i got a raw, throaty cough, intermittent fever, stuffy head...the usual suspects. this morning i couldn't manage more than a hoarse croak. worst of it might be this: the congestion seems to have invaded my ears. i seem to have half my hearing in my left ear, and a third in my right. i'm talking too loud, which hurts my throat more, and saying "what?" often. mama x is also hoarse from coughing, and it pains her to speak up as well. she can't talk, i can't hear, and our troubled communication is compounding the days of illness and exhaustion. fortunately, we're both too damned tired to fight about it.
baby d was the first of us to get over it. i suppose that he's had more rest than his parents, so it shouldn't be a surprise. he's gone back to being the bright, active, inquisitive little boo that we know and love, while we shuffle around like sniffling zombies. of course, this frustrates him, as he's accustomed to a certain amount of parental interaction. as i lay on the couch, dying by degrees, he's pestering me for a story. i fear that if i get down on the floor with him i'll be unable to get back up.
i don't know how to end this post, dear reader. i don't know when we'll feel better, but i pray it's soon. send kind thoughts and chicken soup recipes...
and then baby d got it. he spent three days with a face full of snot, a mild fever, lethargy and a generally crappy mood. the poor thing spent days so congested that he was forced to breathe through his mouth, looking like a fish out of water. there were some nights with fever, and we considered dragging him into the ped's office. in the end, we were more concerned about exposing the boo to a roomful of sick kids than we were about his fever, and we got by with an infant analgesic. still, his misery led to several mostly sleepless night for daddy x, with the natural result...
..daddy x is sick. i got a raw, throaty cough, intermittent fever, stuffy head...the usual suspects. this morning i couldn't manage more than a hoarse croak. worst of it might be this: the congestion seems to have invaded my ears. i seem to have half my hearing in my left ear, and a third in my right. i'm talking too loud, which hurts my throat more, and saying "what?" often. mama x is also hoarse from coughing, and it pains her to speak up as well. she can't talk, i can't hear, and our troubled communication is compounding the days of illness and exhaustion. fortunately, we're both too damned tired to fight about it.
baby d was the first of us to get over it. i suppose that he's had more rest than his parents, so it shouldn't be a surprise. he's gone back to being the bright, active, inquisitive little boo that we know and love, while we shuffle around like sniffling zombies. of course, this frustrates him, as he's accustomed to a certain amount of parental interaction. as i lay on the couch, dying by degrees, he's pestering me for a story. i fear that if i get down on the floor with him i'll be unable to get back up.
i don't know how to end this post, dear reader. i don't know when we'll feel better, but i pray it's soon. send kind thoughts and chicken soup recipes...
Friday, November 7, 2008
the morning parade
in the still, dark hours of the morning, a small noise wakes me. baby d is up and bouncing in his crib. i reach for my glasses. the tiny, familiar sound rouses the dogs, who add the clatter of their paws to the "ah-ah-ah" of the baby in the next room. i slide out of bed and my feet touch the cold wood floor. i throw on my robe and shuffle to the baby's room.
baby d smiles a squinty smile as i turn on the changing table light. i freshen the little boo's diaper, and carry him out to the kitchen. i plop him into his highchair and give him a handful of cheerios to occupy him for a moment. the dogs stand by the back door, their nervous prancing speaks of night-full bladders. outside, the cats meow frantically , eager for their breakfast. i open the door and a melee ensues as the cats and dogs wrestle past each other. i go to the cupboard where the pet food is stored. the cats, purring, weave dangerously between my feet. a cat never loves you so well as right before it's fed. i prepare four bowls of food, then return to the backdoor, where the dogs, relieved, wait to come back in. they head to their bowls. the dominant old spitz digs right in while the younger sheltie waits patiently until the other is finished.
by now, the baby is out of cheerios, so i give him a bottle of milk. i clean yesterday's grounds out of the sleek black coffeemaker. i pour in 6 cups of water and enough whole beans to make a glossy, opaque brew. while the coffee brews, i prepare the baby's breakfast of yogurt and rice cereal. he watches intensely. he knows which cabinet has his bowls, his food, and he knows that what i'm making is for him. i sit down and fasten a bib on him. i can't shovel the food in fast enough to suit him at first, but have to coax him to finish the last few bites. i clean him up, and bring him down to the livingroom to start his day of play. he immediately heads to the toybox and begins strewing around bits of brightly colored plastic. he seems to take a special joy in finding his toys all neatly arranged, like an endless christmas morn. while he dumps out his alphabet blocks, i turn on the laptop and pour myself a cup of coffee. i have, finally, a moment to myself.
crap. i forgot to feed the fish...
baby d smiles a squinty smile as i turn on the changing table light. i freshen the little boo's diaper, and carry him out to the kitchen. i plop him into his highchair and give him a handful of cheerios to occupy him for a moment. the dogs stand by the back door, their nervous prancing speaks of night-full bladders. outside, the cats meow frantically , eager for their breakfast. i open the door and a melee ensues as the cats and dogs wrestle past each other. i go to the cupboard where the pet food is stored. the cats, purring, weave dangerously between my feet. a cat never loves you so well as right before it's fed. i prepare four bowls of food, then return to the backdoor, where the dogs, relieved, wait to come back in. they head to their bowls. the dominant old spitz digs right in while the younger sheltie waits patiently until the other is finished.
by now, the baby is out of cheerios, so i give him a bottle of milk. i clean yesterday's grounds out of the sleek black coffeemaker. i pour in 6 cups of water and enough whole beans to make a glossy, opaque brew. while the coffee brews, i prepare the baby's breakfast of yogurt and rice cereal. he watches intensely. he knows which cabinet has his bowls, his food, and he knows that what i'm making is for him. i sit down and fasten a bib on him. i can't shovel the food in fast enough to suit him at first, but have to coax him to finish the last few bites. i clean him up, and bring him down to the livingroom to start his day of play. he immediately heads to the toybox and begins strewing around bits of brightly colored plastic. he seems to take a special joy in finding his toys all neatly arranged, like an endless christmas morn. while he dumps out his alphabet blocks, i turn on the laptop and pour myself a cup of coffee. i have, finally, a moment to myself.
crap. i forgot to feed the fish...
why blog?
at first, the idea of me blogging seemed ridiculous. i'm an introvert by nature, prone to keeping to myself. i'm a stoic, tight-lipped and taciturn. while i can be very boisterous in my opinions, only people i'm close to are typically aware of it. furthermore, the are literally millions of bloggers out there, and i don't flatter myself that my musings have any chance of gaining notice in the white noise of the blogosphere. i don't have name recognition. i don't have a clever hook. i don't have any particular area of expertise that a targeted search would lead anyone here. god only knows how you found this site. so why make the effort? what do i hope to accomplish? honestly, who gives a rat's ass what i have to say?
in response to these doubts, i recall a conversation i had with my wonderful wife. she is a senior level HR professional, a top performer responsible for the personnel issues of hundreds of people, and struggles regularly with what she should delegate, what she should facilitate, and when she has no control whatsoever. those things which she can directly affect she refers to as her "circle of influence".
when one acts effectively within one's circle of influence, she tells me, one's influence grows. it's viral. touch one person who touches three more who touch nine more and the circle expands and one finds that suddenly dozens or hundreds of people are interested in what one has to say.
do i have anything worthwhile to say? that's not up to me to decide. certainly not in this inaugural post. honestly, i'm not much concerned either way. i'm not spending this life chasing wealth, power or influence. that path looks very stressful, and i treasure my peace of mind. i'm fairly certain, though, that my wife will read it (she's a bit of a blog groupie - really, it's adorable...). maybe she'll even suggest it to someone else. if anyone gains any insight or amusement at all from my scribblings, i'll consider it to have been a worthy excercise.
in response to these doubts, i recall a conversation i had with my wonderful wife. she is a senior level HR professional, a top performer responsible for the personnel issues of hundreds of people, and struggles regularly with what she should delegate, what she should facilitate, and when she has no control whatsoever. those things which she can directly affect she refers to as her "circle of influence".
when one acts effectively within one's circle of influence, she tells me, one's influence grows. it's viral. touch one person who touches three more who touch nine more and the circle expands and one finds that suddenly dozens or hundreds of people are interested in what one has to say.
do i have anything worthwhile to say? that's not up to me to decide. certainly not in this inaugural post. honestly, i'm not much concerned either way. i'm not spending this life chasing wealth, power or influence. that path looks very stressful, and i treasure my peace of mind. i'm fairly certain, though, that my wife will read it (she's a bit of a blog groupie - really, it's adorable...). maybe she'll even suggest it to someone else. if anyone gains any insight or amusement at all from my scribblings, i'll consider it to have been a worthy excercise.
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