Sailing

Two weeks from now I hope to take my brother on a short cruise on the 56-foot yawl Mariner before his wedding. The boat was a labor of love for Robert and Elizabeth Teidemann, who parlayed their love of boats into a boat restoration and executive training business. Apparently, they spawned a mini industry in Narraganset Bay taking people on charter cruises of boats in the 12 meter racing sloops formerly used in the America's Cup.

Miscellania

Not much blogging in recent weeks for many reasons. I've been busy both at home and at work, but my free time has also been directed elsewhere. At some point, I mean to post at length about my readings on the Peloponnesian War. I've also picked up the first volume of Dewey Lambin's naval series: a little raw but generally rewarding. At present I am reading about Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812.

In addition, I have been playing with Linux. I finally abandoned Fedora and installed SUSE 10.1 instead, whch has worked remarkably well. I still have some work to do to get SAMBA working so that I can share files with my wif'e's Windows machine, and I spent some time configuring spam filters, but generally the configuration process has not been overly painful.

Relationships

I heard Keith Ferrazzi speak at a conference this past weekend, and he made the point that relationships are like muscles; they grow stronger when you exercise them and atrophy when you do not.

Living Is Dangerous to Your Health

Serious Riders, Your Bicycle Seat May Affect Your Love Life - New York Times

The link between bicycle saddles and impotence first received public attention in 1997 when a Boston urologist, Dr. Irwin Goldstein, who had studied the problem, asserted that "there are only two kinds of male cyclists - those who are impotent and those who will be impotent."

Great. Just as I was congratulating myself on the health benefits of my new bicycle, the New York Times tells me too much bike riding leads to impotence. Then again, avoiding bicycle induced erectile dysfunction won't help me much if I keel over young from a heart attack.

Then and Now

Why did riding a bike seem so much easier when I was a kid?

A Man And His Toys


  • Most useful kitchen implement: cast iron frying pan

  • Second most useful kitchen implement: rice cooker

  • Third most useful kitchen implement: chef's knife

  • Most exciting new kitchen implement: burr coffee grinder

  • Favorite ingredient: olive oil

  • Most exotic kitchen implement: ibrik or couscousiere (a tie!)

  • Most interesting recent cooking show: Alton Brown's Good Eats on making sushi

Where is SuperNanny When You Need Her?

Bedtime battles: How to nip them in the bud

If you're like most parents, you're all too familiar with this scenario: You put your 2-year-old to bed at 8 at night, hugging and kissing him and wishing him sweet dreams. It's been a long day, but still the dinner dishes await, you have bills to pay, the dog needs to be walked and the cat fed, and you haven't had a spare moment to put your feet up. But instead of spending the rest of the evening catching up on your chores and clocking some precious time with your partner, you're in and out of your child's room, cajoling him to sleep. He finally nods off — about three hours after he first went to bed.

It is no wonder that SuperNanny is so popular.

New Arrival

Talia Nicole was born at 11:15 a.m. yesterday at seven pounds nine ounces. Mother and daughter are both well.

Sentimental Moment

I always feel sentimental when I hear Shostakovich's music for the Gadfly. During the summer of 1986, I lived with my grandmother in Washington. In the evenings, we would watch Mystery and Masterpiece Theatre together. Masterpiece Theatre was showing Reilly: Ace of Spies, and, appropriately in light of the series' Russian theme, the music in the credits was the Gadfly. Whenever I hear it, I think of my grandmother and our summer together.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Tax time, a two-year-old, and an office move — complete with Internet blackout, storage reorganization, and tempermental Local Area Network — have spelled all work and no blogging. Further comment will have to wait until after midnight on April 15.

Death with Dignity

The life and death of Pope John Paul II were remarkable. The calm and fortitude with which the Pontiff apparently met his end served as a model for all of us. However much I disagreed with his policies and his doctrine, however retrograde his Church, I admired his strength of character and personal integrity. Even at the end, he was blessed with dignity in death.

Dignity in death. It is sobering to think how few of us will actually receive a similar blessing. Death is unpredictable and often messy, and few of us are really prepared when it comes. The circus surrounding another recent death, that of Terri Schiavo, makes this point all too clearly. Schiavo's life was effectively over years ago, but she became a vehicle for right-wing Christian extremists and cynical politicians like Tom Delay and Bill Frist to stoop to new depths in exploiting the passions of their intolerant and obscurantist followers. While the passage of the Pope was an uplifting moment, the hypocrisy of the crowds who affected to adopt "Terri" as a close personal friend — though they never knew her — in order to push their own intolerant and life-denying agenda was truly nauseating.

A long hard fight.

Ron Keniston, a friend of our family, is suffering from Multiple Myeloma, a cancer of the blood plasma. His family is rallying to support him as he confronts this little discussed but very serious disease. Any help is much appreciated.

Railroad Blues

The trip from Washington to Richmond and back on Amtrak was the worst rail voyage I have experienced since I rode a third-class Moroccan coach from Rabat to Nador in December 1988. On the way to Richmond, a defective switch extended our trip from two hours to six. It would have been reasonable to expect the return trip to be faster, but our train was over an hour late and remained sidelined on the tracks for at least another hour. Upon arrival in Union Station, the wait for my checked baggage took another forty-five minutes.

In Richmond, there was no doubt that we were in the South. Coming and going, the cab drivers warned us about how strict law enforcement was. One of the major roads is named "Powhite Parkway." And the United States District Court is housed in a building that was formerly the treasury of the Confederate States of America.

Night Lights

The reflections from the new fallen snow and the low hanging clouds give the night a soft luminous beauty. It is easy to overlook such moments. How much we lose when we do.