Happy Halloween!

Random Links

How doctors die.

The dog with the world's strangest allergy.

Chocolate-covered candy corn is a thing.

Possibly the coolest plural in the English language.  (Thanks, E!)

Do you know what a tittle is?  (It's not what you think!)

Marcel makes his return!

Uglies -- Take 2

This is almost as bad as the Twilight series.  But that doesn't mean I don't need brain candy every now and then.

What I Watched -- The Big Kahuna

As he so often does, C came into my office the other day to ask me if I had ever seen whichever movie was currently on TV.  This time, it was The Big Kahuna.  (He knows I like Kevin Spacey.)  I had not.  "I'm leaving for a meeting, but I'll leave it on in my office if you want to watch it."

He left and I forgot about our conversation until I had to go raid the supply room on the other side of the floor about an hour later.  C was still gone; the movie was still playing.  With my pile of post-it notes, pens, and binder clips, I sat down at the table to watch a few minutes.  For those of you who have seen it, the bit I saw was where Larry (Kevin Spacey) is laying into Bob (Peter Facinelli) for talking about Jesus at the sales meeting.

It was intriguing enough that I rented it so I could see the whole thing.  Not much more happens in the entire movie than in the clip I had seen in C's office.  It's a little bit like The Station Agent in that way - the movie is about the characters, not about the plot.  Because there is no plot, just a skeleton on which to hang the dialogue.  Here, there are two seasoned salesmen (Larry and Phil, played by Danny DeVito), and the greenhorn (Bob).  Bob happens to meet the target of this particular sales conference (and discusses Jesus with him).  Larry and Phil wait around for Bob's return after they send him out to see if he can close the deal.

That's it.  That's the whole story.  And even in terms of characters, there are really two scenes of note: one is the dinner conversation between Larry and Phil while Bob is away, and the other is the talk between Phil and Bob upon Bob's return. 

Bottom line: this movie is strange.  Unless you're a big Spacey or DeVito fan, you should probably skip it.  But if you are a fan of either of theirs, it's worth seeing, because it probably wouldn't have worked with anyone else.

Goal #43

Goal #43: CDs.

How many times has picking through my CDs been a goal?  Lots I think.  But over the weekend I took a shelf and radio to my office.  So the CDs are the next logical step, right?

Recap of goal #42: I wasn't so good during the week at getting sleep, but this weekend was much better.  I slept in on Saturday until about 9:30, which was delightful.  Then, after a full day of running around doing errands, I went to sleep around 10:30.  All was well until a car alarm started going off around 2:30 in the morning, and it wasn't until after 3 that I was finally able to get back to sleep.  (See, that's the one downside to not being sleep deprived.  You can't sleep through stuff like car alarms.  Or, you can't get back to sleep immediately.)  On the whole though, I'd call it a success.

Bruce Hornsby

Fact: Bruce Hornsby is a damn good pianist.

I learned this a few nights ago at the Sheldon, where he played a solo concert.  I couldn't find anyone who wanted to go with me, so I snagged a great seat in the first row of the balcony, just left of center, and took myself to the show.

But first things first.  I arrived with enough lead time to check out the very neat, if small, exhibit on architectural drawings: American Buildings: Architectural Drawings from the Collection of Kyrle Boldt III.  I have no idea who Kyrle Boldt is, why he has such a fancy name, or why he has so many nice drawings, but it was kind of him to share them.

Once I saw the entire gallery (that's right, one whole gallery!) of  architectural drawings, it was time to head for the concert.  (Note: if you have a seat in the first row of the balcony at the Sheldon, especially if you're near the center, do not plan on leaving  your seat during the show.  There are no aisles, so you have to get all the way to one side or the other in order to escape!)

There was a Steinway in the center of the stage, and out came the man himself.  He started with "Preacher in the Ring," and the crowd went wild.  Feeding on the energy, he played one of his high-energy songs, "Where's the Bat?"  He followed with his solo version of the Don Henley classic, "The End of the Innocence." As it turns out, it's not a Don Henley song.  It's a Bruce Hornsby song.  Who knew?

There was lots of talking between songs, very casual and easy.  And riffing on the piano between phrases too.  At one point, Bruce started tapping out "Friend of the Devil," but forgot the words and just went back to talking, probably about his years with the Grateful Dead.

He played a number of requests, including "Sugaree" (another Dead number), "Lost in the Snow," and "Pastures of Plenty."  Bruce started chatting again, and mentioned, "my old friend, the
Cincinnati Bengal," and someone in the audience shouted out, "Mike Reid!"  Sure enough, he was introducing the Bonnie Raitt song "I Can't Make You Love Me," which Bruce played piano on when she recorded it.  A couple of songs later, another reinvented classic showed its face, this time his own: "Mandolin Rain."

There was a lot more talking, jamming, humming along while he played, just generally having a good time.  The concert ended (supposedly) with a piece called "La Grive Musicienne," inspired by Olivier Messiaen's classical pieces inspired by bird songs.  He stood to leave the stage and got a standing ovation.  He smiled, bowed, got about halfway through the door to leave the stage, and changed his mind.  "Normally we do this dance where I leave the stage, but we're just not gonna mess with that.  More music?"  We got a three- or four-song encore, including "The Valley Road."

I didn't realize how many other great musicians Bruce Hornsby has played with.  I mentioned Bonnie Raitt, the Grateful Dead, and Don Henley.  But there was also Ornette Coleman, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Robbie Robertson, Phil Lesh (independent of the Dead), and loads of others.

In a nutshell, it was a great show!  (But I'm not going to link all those songs and other bands, because it would take forever.)

The Song I'm Loving Today

Song for Zula (Phosphorescent)

I first heard a snippet of this song on my favorite pop culture podcast, Pop Culture Happy Hour.  My first several dozen listens were to the studio version (linked above), which may still be my favorite.  However, the live version from Pitchfork Music Festival (linked here, with a video below) is also wickedly good.  There's a radio show version here, although I'm not as impressed with it.  I do like that you can see the many, many musicians, but the song loses the slightly haunting quality that the studio version has.

And beware, this song is not a happy one.  It's not sad, exactly; melancholy is probably the best word I can come up with for it.



Some say love is a burning thing,
Say it makes a fiery ring.
Oh but I know love as a fading thing
Just as fickle as a feather in a stream.

See honey, I saw love,
You see, it came to me.
It put its face up to my face so I could see.
Yeah, then I saw love disfigure me
Into something I'm not recognizing.

You see, the cage it called,
I said, "come on in."
I will not open myself up this way again.
Nor lay my face to the soil, nor my teeth to the sand.
I will not lay like this for days now upon end.

You will not see me fall,
Nor see me struggle to stand,
To be acknowledged by some touch from his gnarled hands.
You see, the cage it called,
I said, "come on in."
I will not open myself up this way again.

You see the moon is bright
In that treetop night.
I see the shadows that we cast in the cold, clean light.
My feet are gold, and my heart is white,
And we race out on the desert plains all night.
See honey, I am not some broken thing.
I do not lay here in the dark waiting for thee.
No my heart is wild and my feet are bright,
And I am racing out on the desert plains all night.

So some say love
They say it's a burning thing,
They say it's makes some fiery ring.
Oh but I know love as a caging thing,
Just a killer come to call from some awful dream.
Oh, now you folks, you come to see,
You just stand there in the glass looking at me.
But my heart is wild and my bones are steam,
I could kill you with my bare hands if I was free.

What I Watched -- LA Confidential

I finally got around to seeing LA Confidential.  For a long time, I thought I had seen it.  I'm not sure what movie I was thinking of, but it wasn't this one.

I've mentioned before how much I like Kevin Spacey in House of Cards.  Really though, I think what it comes down to is just that I like Kevin Spacey.  He's so good!  In everything!  The Usual Suspects, anyone?  American Beauty.  Se7en.  I just saw about 10 minutes of The Big Kahuna on TV the other day, and he looked pretty good in that too.

And he's good in this.  As is the whole cast, really: Guy Pearce, Russell Crowe, Kim Basinger, David Strathairn, Danny DeVito, James Cromwell.  Aside from Kim Basinger and Danny DeVito, all those other actors play cops in LA in the 1950s.  Each has his own style of law enforcement, but strange bedfollows are created when corruption surfaces.  As the investigation continues, things get ever more dangerous.

I don't want to say more, lest I spoil anything!

Bottom line: a must see, but a dark one.

What I'm Reading Now -- The Man Who Loved China

One lovely side benefit of all this work I've been doing around the house is that it gives me lots of time to listen to my books on CD.  (Have you noticed there have been tons of book posts lately?  That's why.)

The Man Who Loved China is another one that Mom sent me.  I daresay that I know nothing about it, although I will take a stab in the dark and assume it is a biography of a man with an unusual affinity for all things Chinese.  I'm not a betting person, but that seems like a safe enough one to be worthy of exception.

Goal #42

Goal #42: sleep!

I have a pretty busy week ahead of me this week, so I'm going to take a break from the pressure of working on my place and instead just try to make sure I get sleep.  Hopefully I will also make some progress, but it'll be whatever I want it to be.

[Aside: What?!? There are only 10 more weeks in the year?  That can't be right.  Oh, but it is.]

Recap of goal #41: I cannot honestly say that the miscellaneous mess has been cleaned.  I did make progress, though it may not look that way to an outsider.  But it's true!

Random Links

A fascinating article on how lightning strikes affect brain chemistry.

Little Hermione is all grown up.

A few things you might not have known about The Princess Bride.

Technology is going to the birds.

Happy birthday, Internets!

What's your state's best beer?  (Warning: this list seems to heavily favor dark beers.)

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore -- Take 2

I'm not quite sure what all the hype was about with Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore.  Maybe people who read books just liked the idea of a book about a bookstore.  But it was okay at best.

I listened to the audio, and it had the narrative feel of Ready Player One, though it was significantly shorter.  And I admit that I did find it more interesting in than RPO in that it was about books rather than video games.  Through the middle of Mr. Penumbra, I wanted to keep listening, so that was at least a partial success.

However, I wasn't disappointed by the end of RPO the way I was with this.  I just asked myself, "That was it?" when the last CD ended.  (The fact that I loaded everything only my iPod rather than listening to the actual CDs probably contributed to that element of surprise, because I had no idea how close to the end of the story I was.)  It felt abridged, like someone had hacked off the second half of the story, even though it wasn't and they didn't.  Skip it.

What I'm Reading Now -- Uglies

Uglies is the first in Scott Westerfeld's series of the same name.  It's teen sci-fi/fantasy, yet another dystopian future story where everyone is becomes a Pretty when they turn 16.  Prior to that, they are an Ugly.

Honestly, I'm not really in the mood for this book right now; I'm pretty tired of this genre.  But I ran out of podcasts and finished my other book, so this was all I had left to listen to on the long drive out to Chesterworld and back.  (And c'mon, I needed something for that drive!)

The Mysterious NYC Sailboat

Cyclocross!

As if I needed a new activity to fill my time, right?  Well I finally got the entree I needed to cyclocross, or just cross, for short.  This is something I've been wanting to do for a couple of years, and I kept hearing about this clinic put on by one of the local bike clubs.

Cross is a weird sport, and probably requires more technical skill than most types of biking - bike handling skills are important, but any rider can pick those up with enough practice.  But all the mounting and dismounting and carrying and running takes some instruction or you'll just hurt yourself.

Because of that, I've been checking this group's website regularly, but there was nary a mention of the cross clinic.  Months go by.  Nothing.  More months.  Nothing.  Then, after almost two years of just peddling around on my bike without really knowing what I was doing, the clinic arrives!

It started early on Sunday morning, and it was cold.  But the instructor and assistants did a good job of keeping us all moving, and within an hour or so I was stripping layers (though there were a lot of layers).  The clinic itself covered some basic techniques and what you need to know to get through the course: dismounting, remounting, getting over barriers, proper carry technique both in your hand and on your shoulder, and hairpin turns.  It was so much fun and I seemed to have a decent handle on some of the skills, though there are a couple on which I will have to fight bad habits - I can tell already.

After the clinic there was a race, and folks who took the clinic were invited to attend.  The sun was coming out and it was turning into a nice day, so I decided to hang around for the race.  There was a girl named J who had been there for the clinic.  She looked like a biker, tall and thin.  She was clearly in better shape than me, and she started out ahead of me during the first lap.  But every time we came to an obstacle, I made up ground on her.  So that was my secret.

I hung with her for the first lap and a half, then passed her.  We ended up doing six laps (the lap count is strange - I may get around to explaining that later), and on the last lap, I fell!  It was a completely dry spot, but a hairpin turn that was dry bordering on dusty.  My tires were caked with mud from the wet portions of the track, and I hit that dry dirt just a little too fast.  J gained some serious ground on me, and ended up passing me.

But we had one more obstacle, followed by a huge uphill, and I closed some of the gap.  Lucky for me, J really wasn't paying attention, and didn't push all the way to the finish line, and I passed her with about 10 feet to go.  Whew!

Battlegrounds Mud Run

On a very cold Saturday morning just over a week ago, L and I braved the cold weather and faced down the Battlegrounds Mud Run.  Her firm had put together a team, and thank goodness they let me join!  I've been trying to convince someone to do a mud run with me for some time, but the answer was always no, until now!

And boy did we pick a day!  It was cold and windy, and we went anyway, despite knowing we'd be in water and mud all morning.

Brrr!

Despite the near-freezing temps, we headed out into the muck, and the maze of obstacles which awaited us.

Being in the muck and water wasn't quite so bad as having to get out of it again, and stand there waiting for the rest of the group in the bitter wind.  That was cold.

Once it was all said and done, and I was in dry clothes, I realized that I had had a lot of fun. I might even be crazy enough to do it again!

Goal #41

Goal #41: miscellaneous mess.

In all of my reorganizing and digging through boxes, I've ended up with a lot of little junk all over the place.  It's starting to make me crazy, and this week I should have a fair amount of time at home to deal with it.  So I will!

Recap of goal #40: did I get rid of all the furniture I intended to? No, I did not.  But I did get rid of some of it, so it's a big step in the right direction (and I say "big step" because now I can take big steps in my apartment without fear of running into something!

The Shaved Duck

Uncle P was in town a couple weeks ago, and he too A and me out to dinner at The Shaved Duck, which I've heard so many good things about and have been dying to try!

On the way there, I was pretty sure I had taken a wrong turn.  I was driving the little roads of a South St. Louis residential neighborhood, and not a particularly lovely one, at that.  But sure enough, about 2 corners past where I was sure I had gone wrong, there were the sidewalk tables, and a parking space right in front!

I was just getting out of my car when A pulled up, and we found P sitting inside at the bar.  We headed to our table right away, and I got one of their seasonal beers to wet my whistle.  As I recall, we all got the two meat combo platter for dinner; mine was burnt ends and brisket, with Brussels sprouts as a side.

Straight up delicious!

What I Watched -- Gone Girl

It had been some time since T and I saw a movie.  After much gnashing of teeth, we settled on Gone Girl.  I had already read the book (and, as you might recall, disliked the ending), and T is a fan of movies over books, so it worked for both of us.

This was the perfect role for Ben Affleck as Nick: smarmy, smug, trying to act nice even though you know he's not.  It's exactly how I imagine him in real life (though for Jennifer Garner's sake, I hope it's not true.) Rosamund Pike as Amy was also a good choice.  She's lovely, but in a way that can look downright evil, which she needs for this role.  (And she can do ugly surprisingly well also.)

As with the book, I don't want to say too much about the plot, for fear of spoiling it for anyone who hasn't seen it.

Bottom line: if you liked the book, you'll probably like the movie.  If you didn't, you probably won't.

New York!

Settle in, this is a long one.

A week and a half ago, I readied myself for my latest (and long overdue) trip to NYC.  I was headed up to visit L, and we had planned quite a weekend for ourselves.  And, as per usual for me, it started out with a delayed flight.  Dad: "I will never fly with you."  Honestly, I can't blame him.  But I spent the delay as any good traveler should: at the bar!

Despite my delayed landing, we rose early on Friday morning to head up to Hunter for our zip lining adventures.  We had gone back and forth about whether we would zip line or sky dive; I had been zip lining but not skydiving; L was the other way around.  Eventually, because these misadventures were her idea, we went with zip lining.

So we headed out Friday morning and picked our way through the traffic and arrived at Hunter with about 10 minutes to spare.  We were fitted for our harnesses and helmets, signed away our lives, and hopped on the ski lift which would take us up the hill.

L (hiding in the shadows) and me

The lovely view (and what happens if a zipper doesn't make it all the way to the end of the line)

We had a blast!  The first line was the longest, at over 3,000 feet.  It's a little too bad it's the first one, because you're thinking so hard at all the things the guides told you you had to remember, so you do a little less enjoying of the view than you otherwise might.  Each of the five lines in our tour was a little bit different in setup: some you had to cannonball on the way down to pick up speed, some you wanted to spread out to slow yourself down, one you got to spin around and do whatever you wanted, because the end point was in the middle, so you just slid back down the other side and climbed down a ladder, rather than worrying about slamming into the ending platform.  And on top of it all, it was a stunning day, and being outside was the best place to be.

Although afterwards, L did say we should have gone sky diving.  Next time!

We made it back to Jersey City and picked up L's boyfriend J, then headed off to Park and Sixth Gastropub for dinner.  I have known L for a long time, but I had no idea she had such an obsession with fries!  We got an order of garlic fries as an appetizer for the table, and she couldn't keep her hands off the fries that came with J's entree.  For my part, I had the salmon special (a variation of the salmon on the menu) and a Moscow Mule to sate my thirst.  The verdict: tasty and reasonably priced.

The NYC skyline from Jersey City (and a little teeny sailboat that's hard to find even if you know what you're looking for)

Saturday we did the most touristy of all things: went to the top of the Empire State Building.  In all the times that I've been to NYC, and for all the years that L has lived there (and she works just two blocks from the Empire), neither of us have ever been up to the observation decks!  Well we took care of that by taking in the stunning views on a stunning day, with stunningly few lines!

Did you know there are 40 miles of NYPL book stacks underneath Bryant Park?

Each bracket is stamped with identifying letters.  Apparently this one has changed locations.

The lobby

The lobby ceiling, which took I think a month two do originally, and two years to reconstruct later

We didn't really have a plan for the remainder of the afternoon, but we did have an early dinner reservation, so we just started wandering south.  We came to Madison Square Park, which was hosting Mad. Sq. Eats.  We both got deliciously refreshing drinks and kept wandering . . . until we found more food, in the form of the Union Square Greenmarket!  I got another refreshing drink (all that walking will make a gal thirsty), and L got a tasty chocolate bergamot muffin.  We found a shady bench and watched the people go by until we felt like wandering some more.

Root vegetables at the greenmarket

And boy, we were unprepared for what we found in Washington Square Park.  There was a guy set up with a piano, but we walked past as we entered because he wasn't playing.  But then he started Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, and how can you not listen to that?  We turned back to find a spot on a bench, and wandered down a side walkway.  Oddly, in the middle of the afternoon, there was a rat in the middle of the walkway.

We sat and looked, and it became clear that the rat was sick or injured.  Its breathing was very shallow, and flies were swarming all around.  It had a bloody foot.  We weren't there more than 30 seconds, trying to figure out what to do, when my new girl crush came by.

She was dressed like she was straight out of the 50's: a navy romper with white polka dots, wedge espadrilles, a curly bob, bright red lipstick, and a structured handbag.  She saw the rat, put her purse on the ground nearby and started digging through it.  Then she went over to the nearest trash can looking for something.  Whatever she was looking for, she didn't find.

"Does anyone have a plastic bag?"  One guy was out walking his dog, but the - ahem - doggie bags were too thin for her purposes.  Another guy happened to have a couple of plastic grocery bags, but he held them hostage until she answered his questions:

"What do you want them for?"
"I'm going to break his neck."
"You're what?"
"He's suffering, and he's going to die.  I'm going to put him out of his misery."
"How do you know what to do?"
"I work in a lab with rats, and I've had to do this before when something goes wrong."
"What do you do?"
"I'm a neuroscientist."

Of course she is.  I love her.

Eventually, he gave her the bags, and she did just what she said.  She layered the bags, grabbed the rat, let him stop squirming, got a firm grip, and twisted -- hard.  We were all transfixed.  L shed a few tears.

Needing a change of pace, we decided to have our palms read by the elderly Japanese woman sitting near the arch.  Things I was told about myself:
- I'm stubbornly independent;
- I'm a good communicator (?);
- I'm fated for two chances at love -- both at ages that already passed.

Well.  So much for my neuroscientist.  Or anybody else, for that matter.

Upon the completion of my palm reading / dream crushing, we had to get moving to dinner.  L wanted to go back to a place called Aldea that she had been to once before.  It was an excellent choice, because everything about our meal was spectacular.

We had an early reservation (5:30) because we had an evening engagement, so we were the first customers when they opened.  But they were ready for us, warm bread, cold cocktails, and all.  Speaking of cocktails, I had the Penny Lane, and it was delightful.

First, we were treated with an amuse bush: a toasted rice cracker with cucumber chutney (mine had yogurt, L's was dairy-free).  For dinner, L and I split the Alaskan king crab appetizer.  It was delicious, with a couple of little candied flowers on top that opened up your sinuses so you could really taste the delicate crab.  My entree was the arroz de pato, and L had the Colorado lamb ribs and braised shoulder.  It was all quite tasty, but the braised shoulder probably won the evening.  We skipped dessert (although I would have loved to try the yogurt and almond cake), but did get little tasters from the kitchen: an egg custard tart for me, and a gluten-free passion fruit jelly for L.  The verdict: worth every penny.

Then, to the ballet!  We hopped the train uptown and disembarked at Lincoln Center, which is a busy place on a Saturday evening!  Our show of choice was the Stravinsky & Balanchine production, and it was a stunner.  I especially loved the Monumentum Pro Gesualdo and the Duo Concertant, the latter of which told an amazing story with lighting.  Prior to the show and during the two intermissions, we explored Koch Hall and took in the view of the rest of Lincoln Center from the balcony.

Metropolitan Opera House

Avery Fischer Hall and the fountain

 Inside Koch Theater

Sunday morning I finally went for the run I promised myself I would take, and it's a good thing I did because then we went to Shopsin's for brunch.  Shopsin's, folks, is unlike anywhere I've ever eaten.

It's hard to find.  It's actually inside the Essex Market hall, way at the south end.  And if you're looking for a restaurant, you're probably overthinking it.  Look for a couple of tables instead.  Plan to wait.  We were the second group in line and waited about 45 minutes.  Remember, they don't seat parties of more than four, so don't even think about inviting all your friends.

That time in line is not wasted, however.  Despite having all that time (less my run to get a cup of coffee) to review the extensive and insane menu, none of us had decided what we wanted to order by the time we were seated.  (J came alone, as did one of my former coachees.)  I ended up getting the #12 Silvercup Breakfast Stack.  I didn't really know what to expect.  Here's what I got: all those things actually come in a giant silver cup, which is plopped down in the middle of the plate.  Even once I had it, I wasn't totally sure how to eat it.  I ate out of the top of the cup for about 1/3 of the volume, then just upended the entire thing onto the plate.  It seemed like a good idea at the time, and frankly still does.

The one waiter who was working the six small tables and three bar stools was the quintessential angry New Yorker, with a black bandana on his head and a Megadeath t-shirt.  Heaven forbid we ask for a clean fork when someone dropped one on the floor, or a refill on the coffee!  The verdict: overpriced, but fun to do on occasion.

And that (as if that weren't enough) was it.  Time to head home.

Let's Go Cardinals!

I super lucked out this series and got to go to both of the Redbirds' games against Los Dogers in St. Louis -- and got to see the Cards head off to their 4th NLCS in a row!

The only picture of a batter awaiting a pitch I took on Monday - and Yadi's double started it all.

 

The rain, which lands on the seats in front of us, but not ours

The only picture of a batter I took on Tuesday - Matt H. starting it all.

The mob

The moon over the scoreboard -- a view you only see when your game starts at 4:07!

The stadium in celebration

And can I please get a shout-out for Carp, who is teeny and awesome?

Quote of the Day

"I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers."
  -- L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

Goal #40

Goal #40: get rid of some extra furniture.

I planned this whole apartment redesign all wrong, in that I got the new furniture from Mom before I got rid of anything.  So now my little place is super packed.  I have a few things (rug, desk, shelving unit) which have a home waiting for them, and this week I hope to clear those items out of here and make a little bit more space to move around.  It will feel so luxurious after being jammed in for several weeks!

Recap of goal #39: just under the wire, I made it to Goodwill for the dropoff.  More space freed up!

Japanese Festival, with Legos!

Over a month ago now, T and I headed off to MoBot for the annual Japanese Festival.  Luckily for us, it coincided with another MoBot special exhibition we wanted to see: Legos!

First: the festival.  The day was hot and sunny, just about what you'd expect at the Japanese Festival.  We started out by heading to - you guessed it - the Japanese Garden, to see what there was to see.  There were the usual shows, though we had just missed the Taiko drummers.  There was a fashion show starting, but we didn't feel the need to stick around for that.  Instead, after completing our stroll around the lake, we headed back for some festival food.  We had a lovely chat with some folks who were there for a family reunion weekend, then decided to try our luck with the cooking demonstration.

Back across the park we went, only to discover that there was already quite a line for the cooking demonstration, and it was limited to 70 viewers.  T had run ahead and jumped in line, so I waited near the entrance to the venue to see if he (we) made the cut.  We did not.

Instead, we headed for the air conditioning in another building, and enjoyed the bonsai and ikebana displays.

And that, folks, was that.

Now, the Legos. Tucked into the middle of the festival, mostly inside the Climatron, were the Legos.  It was so much fun to see these wacky kids' toys all tucked back in little corners.  Anyone who knows me knows I love Legos (and still have some!).

The Gardener - 34,340 Legos

Praying Mantis - 42,167 Legos

Monarch - 60,549 Legos

The Sundial - 27,869 Legos

An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth -- Take 2

I've had a couple of trips lately, so I've had some time to get through my audiobooks, and I really enjoyed this one!  I'm going to go through chapter by chapter and try to boil it down for you, but I really think you should listen to this one!  I'm not quite sure I got all the chapter titles right, since I was listening and don't have the book to reference quickly, but they're close enough.

Chapter 1: The Trip Takes a Lifetime
Col. Hadfield opens with a fairly brief history of how he came to be an astronaut.

Chapter 2: Attitude
Good attitude is required in space and on land. In space, control your ship. On land, control yourself.  Have goals, but realize that if you are constantly working to be prepared for those goals, the ends might just be the preparation.  You may never reach the goal itself, but you're better for having bettered yourself in the pursuit of it.  Never stop learning.

Chapter 3: The Power of Negative Thinking
Lack of knowledge leads to sense of helplessness, which in turn leads to fear. Plan for the worst and be competent in the worst situations; that way you'll be ready for whatever comes your way.  Attack the problem head on; work it until you find your solution. Confidence comes from solid preparation.

Chapter 4: Sweat the Small Stuff
Everything matters. You don't know how or when it will matter, but it will.

Chapter 5: The Last People in the World

Promote your colleague's interests.  It may be counter-intuitive, but it helps everyone, helps the program, and helps you stay competitive.

Chapter 6: What's the Next Thing That Could Kill Me?

Make sure you have operational awareness.  See the big picture, and do it quickly. Prioritize what matters now, and take action.

Chapter 7: Tranquility Base

Be well prepared.  If you are, you'll be ready to go and calm before the big day, whatever that day might be. Plan ahead. Thank those who help you, every day, in big ways and small.

Chapter 8: How to Get Blasted and Feel Good the Next Day

This chapter is a bit more of his own history, especially about his Soyuz mission.  Remember to sweat the small stuff, but don't anyone know you're sweating.

Chapter 9: Aim to Be a Zero
In any situation, you can be a -1, 0, or +1. In a new situation, aim to be a zero.  When you're the least experienced person in the room, you don't yet know what you don't know.  Be in student mode: eyes and ears open, mouth shut.  Try to help everyone around you, because you never know who will have a say in where you end up or what your next assignment is.

 

Chapter 10: Life Off Earth

More stories.

Chapter 11: Square Astronaut, Round Hole

Stories, with this general moral: work hard, and eventually whatever you are working at will become a good fit.

Chapter 12: Soft Landings

The last thing you do in any context is as important as the first - perhaps more important, because you're tired.  Act deliberately so that you do it right.

Chapter 13: Climbing Down the Latter
If the big, showy accomplishments are all that matter, a lot of time and a lot of life will go unappreciated. Relish the everyday, by applying what you learned in working towards and snagging those big accomplishments to the rest of your life.

I said earlier that I recommend listening to this book.  I'm sure it would be entertaining to read, but I really love it when an author reads his or her own book, and it's probably especially wonderful when that author isn't an author by profession.  There's something very natural and conversational about listening to Col. Hadfield read his work, and he's put together a nice balance of stories/autobiography with excellent advice.

Random Links

A phenomenal story about the history and architecture of Rome.

The fading art of diagramming sentences.

Best family tree ever.

A dog lover's ad campaign.

Appalling.

NASA, my favorite government agency, does it again.

Chronicles of Jury Duty

I have been summoned for jury duty three times.

The first time was when I lived in another state, and they had a system which allowed potential jurors to call the night before they were supposed to report.  You could punch in your juror number, and a recorded voice would tell you whether or not you had to show up the next morning.  I didn't have to show up.

The second time was several years ago, when I lived in St. Louis County.  I received a summons from St. Louis City.  The summons was mailed to my address in the county.  Really?  I called them.  I was informed that I could be excused for not living in the city, but I would need to provide proof of my address.  "How about the fact that you mailed this summons to an address in the county, and I received it?"  Apparently that was not good enough.  But I did as instructed and again avoided having to appear in person.

Third time's a charm.  I was summoned recently, again in St. Louis City, but this time I actually live here.

Day 1, 8:00 a.m.

Dutifully, I showed up at 8:00 a.m. on my appointed day.  I was given a clear badge holder and told to separate my Juror Badge from the summons and insert it into the badge holder.  For the next 5 hours, I would be known as Juror 286.

I waited about 45 minutes in the Jury Assembly Room of the Civil Courts Building.  Then my row was called to the front for check-in.  The woman at the desk scanned my summons, added it to her large stack, said, "looks like we have everything," and sent me back to my seat.

I discovered later that what she was looking for was accurate address information and a completed questionnaire, which arrived with the original summons.  (Technically, this is the fourth time I have been summoned.  The third was a couple of months ago, but I already had plans to be out of town on vacation on the day I was assigned to report.  I filled out the above-mentioned questionnaire, and sent it back along with a letter requesting a postponement, which was granted.)  Being the good citizen that I am, I returned the questionnaire on time and completed, so there was nothing more for me to do at the check-in desk.

So I waited another hour before they started calling juror numbers.  Each group of numbers was a jury pool, and I was the second number called in the third group.  Ours was a big group - 84 jurors total - and I was the second number called, two and a half hours after I first arrived.  Our group was carted to our courtroom and given our assigned seats.  Because I had been called second, I was seated in the second chair in the jury box.  This is good and bad.  Seats in the jury box are a fair bit more comfortable than the wooden pews behind the bar, but it also means that, unless I was stricken from the pool, I would definitely be on the jury.

Once everyone was situated, we got some basic instructions and introductory questions from the judge, who then dismissed us for lunch.

After lunch, the voir dire began.  The prosecutor started off with general questions related to our experiences with people in this courtroom and people in the court system.  Here we got our introduction to the case.  It was a criminal case (which had already become abundantly clear) with a total of 54 counts, mostly robbery, attempted robbery, assault, and armed criminal action.  "Has anyone been involved in a violent crime of this type?"

We also went through a long list of potential witnesses, including victims and police officers.  "What about police officers in general?  Anyone related to one? Has a friend who is one? Had a particularly good or bad experience with one? Will this affect your ability to weigh the evidence fairly?"  Well, this is the city!  Everyone has an opinion about police officers.  Those answers took a while, then we broke for the day.

Day 2, 9:00 a.m.

I stepped off the elevator at exactly 9:00, as directed.  Then I waited about an hour until they allowed us into the courtroom.  However, I snagged a lovely spot at the east-facing window, which gave me a lovely view of Market Street in the morning sunlight, and also gave me a ledge on which to put my coffee and my reading material.  Could have been worse.

The prosecutor resumed his voir dire once we were all seated.  A few more questions about interactions with the police, and our direct interactions with the court system.  For me specifically (apparently I was the only attorney in the pool), "do you think you could set your attorney hat aside and just be a juror in this case?" "Yes," I answered honestly.

It was interesting to go back to criminal law, something I interned at while in college and law school, but never took it beyond that.  The burdens are different, the case is handled differently.  But yes, I thought I could set aside what I knew.  The prosecutor ended with the "Is there anything else I should know?" question.  I raised my hand and told him I had worked briefly at two different public defender's offices, but no, I didn't think that would influence my ability to weigh the evidence as presented.  We broke for lunch at 11:40.

I returned at 1:00.  I am never this prompt in my own life; maybe jury duty did something good for me!  We waited probably 15 minutes before the Sheriff gave us his spiel about cell phones and hats, then instructed us all to take our seats again.

This time defense counsel was up, and asked, in my opinion, some confusing questions.  The ideas he was getting at were good, and the answers were important to elicit, but some of the questions were very convoluted.  Regardless, after some explanation, I think everyone was able to follow him and we got through the next hour, which was all he took as most of the general questions had been covered by the circuit attorney.

We took a break at 2:20, with instructions to return at 2:45, after the attorneys had discussed their strikes.  Again, promptly at 2:45, I stepped off the elevator (I had been camping out upstairs where it was cooler and quieter).  After our shortest wait yet, about 5 minutes, the Sheriff ushered us all into the courtroom with instructions to sit anywhere behind the bar.  (So much for my cushy jury box seat.)

The attorneys were gone, their tables cleared of all papers.  The defendant was gone.

The judge informed us that she and the attorneys had discussed our answers at length, and were unable to impanel a jury at this time.  She thanked us for our service, and instructed us to wait out in the hall for the Sheriff to give us our "proof of service" paperwork.

Again, my juror number was apparently lucky.  I didn't get to go second, as before, but the numbers were in order, so I was probably 15th or so.  The poor guy sitting next to me for the previous two days had be 17xx, so I'm sure he was there 'til the bitter end.  What I got from the sheriff in return for my juror badge was a quarter-sheet of paper with my dates of service, juror number, name, ID number, case number, and a promise that I would receive a check in the mail for my service.  Famous last words!

All in all, it has been an interesting process.  I can't even say I disliked the whole thing.  Were there places I would rather have been? You bet.  Did I relish the opportunity to sit through a week of testimony and have to try to make a decision about someone's guilt on the other side?  No, I did not.  But it's a part of the legal system I've never seen first hand, and I was looking forward to it a little bit.  Oh well.  Maybe next time.

My list of goodies to bring with you if you are summoned (assuming your courthouse allows them):
- Phone or tablet
- Charger for same
- Snacks
- Tissues
- Coffee
- Water
- Chapstick and lotion (the air is dry in there)
- Reading material
- Sweater or jacket
- One of those sporting event seat cushions (in case you end up in the peanut gallery instead of one of the cushy(ish) seats in the jury box)
- Curiosity
- Patience, and lots of it.