Stephen Thrasher, CS

Do a little dance.

2012-01-09T13:36:00.003-05:00

Hazel has discovered her shadow.

And she's gettin' jiggy with it.

On Her Real Birthday

2011-12-29T15:04:00.000-05:00

Marlee received some fun new presents.

Now she says she wants Woody, too. Happy Birthday, Big Girl!

Merry 4th Day of Christmas!

2011-12-28T15:08:00.005-05:00

On Christmas Eve, we made, frosted, sprinkled, and tasted some sugar cookies.

Yum.

The following morning, we opened some stockings!

The Loot. (Note the amazing Christmas morning hair.)

Aunt Hannah snuggles.

Presents abounded

What joy. Merry Christmas to all. And a Happy New Year.

Cake

2011-12-17T21:36:00.002-05:00

Yum! Pumpkin Mush!

2011-12-12T14:09:00.002-05:00

Hazel has decided that she would like to feed herself.

Oh, Christmas Tree!

2011-12-11T21:48:00.005-05:00

We finally put up our Christmas tree this year - and it's one that the girls can decorate, un-decorate and re-decorate all season long. Thanks to all the people on pinterest who pinned this idea, and this person for putting it online in the first place.

The girls haven't seen it yet. We'll see what they think in the morning!

One

2011-11-19T20:06:00.003-05:00

Props to auntie H for the cupcakes.

Synonyms

2011-11-10T10:05:00.001-05:00

Mama: I don't know what to do. I need to change Hazel's diaper but I also want to finish my breakfast. I'm so torn!

Marlee: Mama! Mama! Mama! Are you ripped?

Self Portrait

2011-11-03T10:01:00.002-04:00

Steppin' Time

2011-11-02T09:58:00.001-04:00

Happy Halloween

2011-11-01T21:55:00.002-04:00

P.S. If you can guess who we are, then you win all our love and affection.

Splash!

2011-10-26T12:56:00.003-04:00

It's nice to see physical progress, even if it's not yet the actual orbiter. See more, including a video, at nasa.gov.

Homemade

2011-10-21T09:22:00.000-04:00

Homemade whole wheat honey oatmeal bread topped with homemade Greek-style yogurt mixed with homemade slow cooker apple butter, and to drink, homebrewed hard apple cider.

Soon, we'll be keeping goats so we can spin their wool into yarn and make sweaters!

Tantrum

2011-10-20T09:00:00.004-04:00

We didn't think she'd get started throwing tantrums this early, but then learning to walk can be downright frustrating. It seems, some days, as if Hazel is either walking (with our help) or screaming, and there is no in-between.

Apple Picking!

2011-10-19T20:42:00.002-04:00

We went apple picking on Saturday! There were plenty of attractions - petting zoo, pumpkin patch, ice cream, apple cider donuts, delicious roasted corn on the cob and grilled burgers, clam chowder - the works.

First we visited the animals. Marlee was comfortable with the small birds in cages - she thought the larger chicken looked "just like Chanticleer". But she worried the sheep and goats were going to eat her.

Hazel was a bit more daring.

After that, we had lunch and then traipsed out to the apple orchard for some yummy apples.

Even Hazel enjoyed gumming up an apple or two.

Cheers!

Happy Fall

2011-09-19T13:43:00.003-04:00

The first hot cocoa of the season. In our new teacups. Yum!

Naptime Fail

2011-09-12T19:44:00.004-04:00

Meet the culprit.

Isn't she cute? This cute little girl found a Sharpie during her nap today. She crawled off Aunt H's bed (against nap rules), brought the Sharpie back into bed and proceeded to uncap and draw on everything. You can see some marks above on her arms. She also decorated her legs, toes, face, and belly button. But she didn't stop there. She attacked her "family" with the pen as well - Wolfie and Daddy Bear saw the worst of it.

She further tried her artistic skills out on both pillows, a pillowcase, the fitted sheet and a magazine on the bedside table. Yikes. What do we do with this kiddo?

Below - a snapshot of Marlee's future co-conspirator. We are in trouble.

Oregon: the rest of the story

2011-09-07T10:00:00.000-04:00

This post is full of pictures, so just sit back and enjoy. We had some golden days outside in Oregon's beautiful summer weather.

A rare family portrait.

Outside playtime.

Legos with Papa.

Cuddles with Gaga.

Oregon: Children's Museum

2011-09-06T10:00:00.000-04:00

In Oregon, we took a day to head to the Children's Museum in Portland. The Museum had a little something for everyone. Exhibits included a construction corner, a play grocery store, a veterinary clinic, a baby play space, several different hands-on art activities and an area to experiment with water, among other things.

Weighing some apples.

The Construction Site.

Even Hazel had a blast!

More from North Carolina

2011-09-05T09:21:00.000-04:00

In addition to camping with the cousins and other extended family, we spent some quality time with Granddad and Nana at their house, as well as at Aunt K and Uncle J's place.

Soaked in the sprinkler.

Crawling on the patio with a BIG smile.

Swimming in K and J's pool.

Trampoline with Daddy.

Nana and Hazel.

Playing Legos with Granddad.

Bathtime

2011-09-04T10:19:00.000-04:00

I've been waiting for this day ever since we found out we were pregnant with Hazel.

Family and Make-Believe

2011-09-03T09:49:00.000-04:00

Meet Marlee's family: (clockwise from left to right) Daddy Bear, Marlee, Marlee Bear, and Monkey (Wolfie was missing from this photo shoot).

Marlee has been very interested in family relationships lately. Currently, she has three kids: Marlee Bear (the big sister), Wolfie (the boy), and Monkey (the baby sister). Recently she added Daddy Bear as her husband and the daddy of these kiddos.

She pretends everything with these guys. She feeds and diapers the babies, puts them down for naps, puts them in "carriers" to carry them around house. She had a wedding the other day (in which she asked me to sing the A,B,C's) and she danced around the living room with Daddy Bear. She tells me to be quiet when the babies are sleeping and gives me instructions for their care when she has to go "to work" or "to church" or somewhere else.

She also decided this week that Stephen and I are the Grandpa and Grandma for her three kids, Didn't think I'd have grandkids this soon!

Below are some classic action shots:

Wolfie and Monkey down for naps with their (play-doh) pacifiers.

Monkey and Wolfie, potty training.

Fun Tie Friday

2011-09-02T09:31:00.002-04:00

Daddy and Aunt Hannah, getting ready for work.

On a related note, Stephen spent breakfast brainstorming how Batman would quickly reduce a country's Gini coefficient. And that is why I love nerds. Or at least this nerd.

NC Cousins

2011-08-22T21:35:00.005-04:00

We started our summer with a weekend in Virginia with lots of extended family and especially, these lovely cousins.

Vacation: Oregon-style

2011-08-10T22:36:00.004-04:00

As usual, we have a back log of photos, etc., to post from some of our adventures this summer. For now, we will whet your appetite with a couple of videos from our time with "Gaga and Papa" in Oregon.

Inside Adventures

2011-07-25T21:49:00.002-04:00

Hazel is crawling now. Today she decided to crawl UNDER our bed. Didn't know she could fit down there.

Marlee, getting to ready to go "on a short trip".

On The Move

2011-06-19T09:44:00.001-04:00

Go get'em girl!

Updates

2011-06-05T19:15:00.005-04:00

My little ballerina.

Hazel. Getting ready to move.

Bye Bye, Bottle

2011-05-13T19:29:00.005-04:00

Bye-bye.

Hello!

This week, Marlee said "bye-bye" to her bottle, and "hello!" to her new sippy cups with straws. I admit I may be mourning this transition even more than she is. My baby girl is growing up!

Ain't she cute?

In other news, Hazel has discovered . . . FOOD!

Yum.

Sitting, Rolling

2011-04-25T21:23:00.000-04:00

Two Brothers Laughing

2011-04-13T19:08:00.003-04:00

She's rolling over now, too, but she's nude in the video we got, and I refuse to post that, so we'll have another video soon.

Would you care for some tea?

2011-02-19T11:57:00.003-05:00

Marlee got a tiny porcelain tea set for Christmas from Granddad and Nana. She loves it. Here you see Monkey and Wolfie (newly dubbed this morning) partaking of some delicious tea.

As you can see, it's marked for a slightly older child, but then, we think Marlee is mature beyond her years.

Even though she still tries to eat Play-Doh if left unattended.

Our Big Girls

2011-01-21T11:31:00.004-05:00

Hazel at two months:
Mastering tummy time.

Marlee at two years:

Best. Outfit. Ever.

Hooray!

Hi, New Baby!

2010-11-18T08:08:00.007-05:00

Hi world. Meet Hazel.

Hazel Anne was born on Monday at 11:07pm at 6 lb 7.2 oz and 19.5 inches.

She's tired.

But we know she's doing alright. She passed her hearing test.

But she's a little pale, so we started her off on a strict tanning regimen.

Her big sister is thrilled.

And now we are four.

Crown

2010-11-08T10:28:00.003-05:00

Today is very rainy and windy, so we decided to try a craft project. It didn't take quite as long as I would have liked, but the results were nice, and I think Marlee had fun.

The companion in her lap is the ever-present Monkey ("Yunkey").

Vacation Post, Delayed

2010-09-27T10:45:00.002-04:00

I apologize in advance for the sheer volume of photos in this post . . . but here is a brief overview of our vacation this July. Marlee had so much fun "meeting" her extended family again, for the first time. We can't wait to see you all again!

Stephen's view from the airplane: Crater Lake.

Down at the "crick" with cousin N and Uncle B

Meeting our very first real horse: Barbie

Lunch with Great Grandma.

Sprinkler Time!

Sprinkler time with the whole family

Naptime for Pop and Daddy

Playing guitar with Papa

Posing for pictures with cousin N

Vacuuming with Granddad

At the campground with GG

Playing in the river with Aunt S

Snacks with cousin D

Time with Granddad

Feeding Nana

Sitting with Granddad and GG

Reading with cousin E and GG

The New Bed

2010-09-06T19:58:00.003-04:00

As I type, Stephen is sleeping - no, snoring on the couch after a long day. If we had a family competition for the hardest worker, Stephen would win it today, hands down.

Today, on Labor Day, we built Marlee her very first big girl bed. We used these plans (thank you, Ana) and Stephen did almost all the construction himself. Marlee was also a trooper today, as we kept her inside almost the whole day. Poor little girl. With an awesome new bed.

(the bed frame)

(the bed frame with side and front rails and front legs)

(the headboard)

(upholstering the headboard)

YAY!

My Pants

2010-07-04T21:42:00.002-04:00

I just hemmed my pants.

All by myself. With a sewing machine.

I just want to thank Becca, for giving me the machine in the first place, the Sewing and Vacuum Store in Davis Square for fixing it, my mom for listening to me and trying to help over the phone, my sister for dealing kindly with my impatience, Amanda and Tyler for coming over at the last minute to re-align my expectations about sewing machines, and Stephen for being there for the final project. I couldn't have done it without you.

Female(?) Number Two

2010-07-01T20:06:00.002-04:00

It's a girl! Maybe. Seems like the radiologist is about as sure of this one as they were of Marlee. But then, they got it right last time. And we think that's her foot in the far left corner.

Likes

2010-06-17T12:12:00.005-04:00

Marlee likes a lot of things.

Wearing Mama's clothes: my sweater, my belt and a pair of shorts (worn here as a cape).

SHOES! I'm pretty sure she put at least one of these on all by herself. "Shoes" is often the first word out of her mouth in the morning.

Flowers. It may look to you and me like she is wearing a tu tu, but to Marlee, she has become a flower.

And of course, doggies. This video from a while back shows Marlee at a library event with baby animals. Yes, that is her laughing.

Our Budding Railfan

2010-06-09T20:41:00.003-04:00

Marlee and N were on a play date, and they're pretending to be in a train. Marlee is trying to get him to shake the crib, but he's not picking up on it. She likes trains as much as she likes dogs and flowers.

Soon is Now

2010-05-20T20:59:00.002-04:00

We're Here

2010-05-01T19:09:00.004-04:00

We moved into our new place. After a heroic effort from our friends, we got moved and mostly unpacked a week ago. This week, we finished off a Crate & Barrel gift card and a Walmart gift card from our wedding (!). Now we want to spend all our time in the bathroom.

We'll post more pictures soon.

Our Rug Choice

2010-03-23T17:52:00.006-04:00

I know we asked for your opinions (thanks, kika!), but... we went with a completely different rug. This one isn't as far out as some of the others, but it's still fun. Unfortunately, there was no picture of the round version, so we don't quite know what it looks like, but I GIMPed (Photoshopped) the picture of the rectangular version on the rug's page on Overstock to get this:

Rethinking and Rugs

2010-03-20T20:35:00.011-04:00

The exercise we did for our last post was beneficial. We got to see what our ideas actually look like, and they look stupid. I guess it's better to put those ideas out there than to have buyer's remorse.

After tallying up what all the little changes we planned would cost (4 rugs, 2 slipcovers, pillows, shades, curtains, etc.), we decided that we needed to change our plan a little. Instead, we'll buy just two rugs: one for the living room and one for our bedroom. Our current living room rug can go in Marlee's room for now.

Since we're not trying to make everything work together at once, we want to revisit our rug choice. We'd like to get a colorful 8' round rug. Below is what we like from overstock.com (many of the pictures are not round, but we would order the round version). What do you think?

Rust

Lucine Green

Leuven Green

Hiroshi Contemporary

Genesis Collection

Dasa Pink Stripe

Dasa Blue

Dasa Orange

Hiroshi wave

Playing Interior Designer - Living Room

2010-03-19T22:23:00.003-04:00

So, we don't have our condo docs, and something could still go wrong with the buying process, but that doesn't stop us from playing interior designer. Here's our vision for the initial living room design. We want your input.

We're keeping the same couch and chair that we already have, we would just add the pictured slipcovers. The lamps, side tables, and coffee table we already have. The brown pillow is ours, but the other one is only similar to something we have. The rug and curtains we would buy. We'll paint eventually, but we want to spend some time there first.

Gotta Dance

2010-03-17T22:08:00.001-04:00

When dance-walking becomes an Olympic exhibition sport, Marlee will be ready.

A walk down the street

2010-03-06T10:24:00.005-05:00

Marlee and I went on a walk a few days ago.

Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Edsall for the cable knit sweater, and to GiGi Nan for the handknit hat.

(We call this her hippo smile.)

What a big girl!

Finally, House

2010-02-25T20:16:00.005-05:00

You might remember we were buying a house. That was a false alarm.

Here's the condo we're really buying, the first floor unit of this triple-decker. It has high ceilings and lots of windows and doesn't need any work before we move in. It's near Foss Park in Somerville. Click to see more pictures.

Here's a rough floorplan.

Some Marlee Joy

2010-02-10T22:36:00.001-05:00

Like a Polaroid Picture

2010-01-23T09:56:00.000-05:00

New Year's Resolution

2010-01-01T20:05:00.002-05:00

Little Miss Laugh Track

2009-12-28T22:08:00.000-05:00

Happy Birfday!!

2009-12-23T20:16:00.001-05:00

Marlee had a birthday party last night, where we ate homemade pizza for dinner and cupcakes for dessert.

She is four times bigger than she was one year ago, when she was born yesterday.

Do

2009-12-09T15:22:00.003-05:00

I apologize in advance to photographers everywhere for what follows. I just had to capture this look and I didn't have time to get the lighting, etc., right.

I'm calling it "sportin' the Nora".

House Photos

2009-11-24T11:46:00.005-05:00

This was a HUD foreclosed home. We bid on it and won, and we can't back out without losing our deposit. So it's pretty much ours!

Click to see photos from our walk-through.

House

2009-11-23T16:30:00.002-05:00

We're buying a house in East Boston near the Wood Island stop. It's a 130-year-old rowhouse. It needs work.

A Hard Day's Work

2009-11-18T21:59:00.005-05:00

5:25am Get up.

6:00am Observe Shuttle/ISS rendezvous from the Mission Control back room.

12:00pm Fly Shuttle simulations in the crew motion base trainer.

4:30pm Play back nine of new disc golf course.

Here's Tom landing the Shuttle after a return-to-launch-site abort (RTLS).

Family Photos

2009-11-05T11:01:00.005-05:00

A few weeks ago we headed out to New Hampshire for our annual church getaway. On Saturday afternoon we thought we'd see if Marlee would enjoy the playground. The proof is in the pictures.

. . . a rare family photo . . .

Apple Picking

2009-10-04T22:00:00.002-04:00

The Hardys invited us to go apple picking in Bolton, and there was a pumpkin patch.

Yay, a Jungle Gym!

2009-10-02T16:20:00.001-04:00

On the Move

2009-09-15T22:35:00.001-04:00

Toothy Crawler

2009-09-12T16:28:00.003-04:00

She loves her new bib.

Cheerios! Or rather, Tasteeos!

She's really moving now.

Yay, Marlee! You're such a hard worker!

Uh Oh

2009-08-29T20:39:00.000-04:00

Launch Scrub

2009-08-25T09:46:00.001-04:00

Discovery's launch was scrubbed due to weather. Most of us moved our flights back one day to see a second attempt.

T Minus 4 Hours

2009-08-24T18:14:00.003-04:00

Discovery is all fueled up and set for a 1:36 AM ET launch. NASA says there is an eighty percent chance of the launch going forward, but there are rain showers in the area.

Space Coast Lightning

2009-08-23T23:44:00.002-04:00

The tour is tomorrow, and the launch is scheduled for tomorrow night, though weather like this could cause a delay.

Now That We All Agree

2009-08-21T14:00:00.002-04:00

I predict this "yes" phase will be short compared to the coming "no" phase.

Strobist Boot Camp Two, Week Two

2009-08-11T17:00:00.002-04:00

Week two: food. Specifically, David Hobby (author of Strobist) says, "photograph a gastronomic subject so well that it will cause me to go off the wagon." Here's how you take photos of food.

First, I started off the day the assignment was announced by taking a photo of my lunch on top of my dresser.

Then I contacted my aspiring chef friend Elizabeth and asked if I could take some photos to liven up her blog. First up, scones.

Then, southwestern salad.

Finally, peach brown betty. This is the photo I submitted for the assignment.

Konstantin was going to take a photo for a chef in our cafe at work, but the chef worked two jobs and couldn't meet with us. But he did give Konstantin a recipe for a steak tip plantain sandwich. We literally spent an hour taking photos of this thing, and we were very happy with the outcome.

So, what won? Three peppers in a cast-iron pan. It's a great photo, but it's not exactly gonna make someone "go off the wagon." In fact, none of the finalists really fit that bill, either. I feel like we somehow lost our chance by following the directions. Oh, well.

Right now, we're in the middle of assignment three. Expect a post in a few days.

Come and Sit at the Table

2009-08-10T17:00:00.003-04:00

Her new seat.

It's nice to have her at the table instead of on the table. Also, her Bumbo is getting a little tight. It wasn't always that way.

Now she has room to grow again.

Strobist Boot Camp Two, Week One

2009-08-09T17:00:00.004-04:00

Strobist is a blog about off-camera flash, a technique that gives photographers a lot of flexibility and control. It can be difficult to master because besides the technical side of things, learning the art of lighting just requires a lot of hands-on experience.

Enter Boot Camp Two, a series of assignments to help photographers improve their off-camera flash skills. Week one's assignment was to take a headshot. I've been teaming with my coworker and fellow photo club member Konstantin. This is Konstantin helping me get familiar with my rented camera before I shot the Holley wedding in March.

Konstantin and I went to a parking garage in Boston to photograph a headshot of his sister in front of Boston buildings. After we had some trouble with the high wall around the top level, he chose this photo as his entry for assignment one.

My subject was Rachel. Not too creative, I know, but she was in need of a more professional headshot for publications and such. We went to the MIT brain building, which has a multitude of potential headshot backgrounds. I settled on a simple one, the floor.

For the curious, David announced the finalists and winner for assignment one about a month ago. Right now we're in the middle of the third assignment. I'll give an update on assignment two soon.

They're Coming

2009-08-08T20:23:00.003-04:00

I can feel them.

Vacation, Part II

2009-08-01T20:04:00.002-04:00

In reverse order, our first couple of vacation weeks were spent with my side - where Marlee met her cousin who is closest in age - just four days! Here is documentation of their first meeting:

There are really so many good shots of them . . . here are a few

Stargazing . . .

"You stay here, I'll take care of this one"

And one last shot to remember her by . . .

P.S. Thanks to D. for making that delicious blueberry puree.

Vacation, Part I

2009-07-29T18:59:00.004-04:00

We recently took an extended vacation to visit family - here are some pictures of our time with Stephen's side. More photos to follow.

Marlee really enjoyed playing with her cousins.

Like father, like daughter.

On a very windy day

Swimming, Week Two

2009-06-27T14:12:00.003-04:00

Well, as promised, Stephen was able to take some action shots of our swim class this week. Enjoy!

blowing bubbles . . .

posing for the camara . . .

getting our ears wet . . .

A Few Late Photos

2009-06-20T12:49:00.003-04:00

Here are a few great shots that Stephen has taken of Marlee more recently. Sorry for the delay!

Overhead shot of playing with our favorite toys.

Getting a taste of apples and rice cereal. Yum!

Swim, Swim

2009-06-20T12:29:00.003-04:00

We did it! Marlee and I went to our first swim class today, thanks to our friend, Beth, who taught the class. She seemed to enjoy all the movement and the warm water. She especially liked watching me blow bubbles and trying to get a taste of her own! Unfortunately, Stephen had music rehearsal and couldn't be there to take action shots, but at least we have some nice post-class photos!

Whew! That wore us out!

I Like to Eat, Eat, Eat

2009-06-02T20:26:00.005-04:00

Apples and bananas . . .

Well, apples anyway. In an effort to shamelessly copy my sister-in-law (thanks, D!), I decided I would give Marlee a piece of an apple and see what she did with it. And well, the next one I call, "Before and After."

Let's just say that apples may be her second-favorite food.

Below are some other photos of favorite activities:

Meet the Feet.

Delicious toys.

Witness the desire . . .

Curly

2009-05-30T11:37:00.001-04:00

Baptism

2009-05-23T11:28:00.001-04:00

Roly Poly

2009-05-20T19:27:00.002-04:00

A Day in the Life

2009-04-23T19:08:00.001-04:00

Four Months And Counting

2009-04-23T16:37:00.002-04:00

Wednesday we celebrated spending four months with Marlee. I think she was worn out from four months of growing, and she slept much of the day. Below are a few recent pics from her activities: working on photos with her daddy and watching mommy do dishes in the kitchen.

Happy Easter Sunday!

2009-04-12T21:37:00.004-04:00

Look Who's Talking

2009-04-09T09:12:00.008-04:00

Marlee has started using her words.

Also, Rachel's sister visited a couple of weeks ago, and took some great photos of our beautiful girl.

Right Back At Ya

2009-03-26T21:59:00.003-04:00

The view from the other direction, at the rehearsal dinner.

Time Does Fly

2009-03-23T12:14:00.006-04:00

Yesterday, Marlee turned three months old. She's still small, but is trying very hard to catch up! The picture is from last weekend and shows Stephen, his camera and his favorite subject. Last Saturday we watched our good friends get married. Stephen was photographer while I was matron of honor.

Two Months of Marlee

2009-02-21T20:23:00.003-05:00

Belated Christmas Card

2008-12-31T09:40:00.005-05:00

I made this "card" quickly and didn't send it to many people. It says Marlee is coming home on the 27th, but she's actually not home yet, and the latest word is tomorrow at the earliest. Merry Christmas!

Announcing Marlee Joy Thrasher

2008-12-22T19:55:00.002-05:00

5 lb, 0.5 oz, 18"
10:50 AM EST, 12/22/08 (due 1/31/09)
Mount Auburn Hospital, Cambridge, MA
Mom and baby are in good health!

Snow

2008-12-21T15:02:00.001-05:00

It has been snowing for the past 48 hours.

MIT Sailing's Bluewater Boat

2008-05-01T00:09:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, as part of my sailing class post, I mentioned that MIT has a bluewater boat, meaning an offshore boat. I found details on the MIT sailing wiki. The boat is a Tartan 37 cruising sloop called the Nevermore. It requires a crew of at least 2, can hold around 9 people comfortably, and has 6 beds for overnight trips. You can buy a used one for $60,000. The bluewater skippers sometimes organize summer trips to Martha's Vineyard or Maine. This is what's required to become a bluewater skipper:

"be approved by the sailing master
have a US Coast Guard OUPV (6-pack) license [pdf link]
participate in at least two work parties per year
teach or help teach at least 4 MIT sailing courses per year"

Sailing Class

2008-04-30T22:30:00.001-04:00

We went!

Tonight Rachel and I took the first of a three-class series to get certified to sail at the MIT sailing pavilion. Once certified, we will be able to take people out in a Tech Dinghy - one of the many perks that comes with our new gym membership. With time, we may even be able to take larger groups of our friends out in the Rhodes 19 or even a blue water sailboat, which rests in the Boston Harbor. Usually, though we'll just be puttering around on the Charles River as part of the Boston skyline.

sailing.mit.edu

Back in the Saddle Again

2008-04-29T22:39:00.000-04:00

Last April, I purchased an annual membership to the gym. A few weeks later, I fell off the fitness horse after spraining my ankle while playing soccer and did not go to the gym at all for an entire year. Oops. Despite that experience, Rachel and I decided to sign up for a family membership. I will give her a tour tomorrow.

This gym is huge. Here are the facilities, off the top of my head:

Olympic sized swimming pool with diving area
Two floors of workout equipment, including Olympic lifting platforms
Gymnastics room with rings, springboard floor, pommel horse, trampolines, ropes course
A bazillion basketball courts
Ice skating rink
Indoor and outdoor tracks
Indoor and outdoor tennis courts
Squash courts
Indoor soccer court
Wrestling room (I use it for the climbing ropes)
Sailing and crew boathouses on the river

Last time I worked out, I followed CrossFit. There are two main ideas with CrossFit:

Fitness is a well-rounded thing, involving speed, endurance, agility, power, balance, accuracy, etc.
Shorter, higher intensity activity is better for you than longer, lower intensity activity.

Those are obviously a matter of definition and opinion, but I think they're sound ideas with a lot of weight behind them.

I hope exercise and stretching will help get rid of my RSI. My RSI surfaced not too long after I stopped going to the gym last year.

Jobs

2008-04-28T22:18:00.004-04:00

Stephen is out again. We hope that the right combination of mechanical anti-inflammatories (a.k.a. ice) and chemical anti-inflammatories (a.k.a. ibuprofen) will soon start to work. Thanks to my new orthopedic doctor for that new vocabulary.

Tonight, though, Stephen has allowed me to post something of my own.

I need a job. Not "need" like I need sleep every night or food every day, but I need a job. I've been looking for about three months - networking, submitting applications, checking websites for job availability, and there's not a whole lot out there. Part of my problem is my current skill and interest set. I'm a licensed attorney, with a whole lot of experience researching and writing about international trade and investment agreements.

Sound boring? You should read the agreements.

But the policy implications and economic theories fascinate me. And those skills and interests probably would not be problematic, except for the second part of my job quandary: location. Unfortunately, to the extent that legal jobs in international relations are available, they are NOT available in Boston. And we're not moving.

So, in order to make this work, I've gone several different directions. I've looked into working for local non-profits doing work internationally (there are about three: ACCION, Oxfam, and RootCapital - and they're not hiring). I've tried to make connections in the world of immigration law (a BIG legal issue here in Massachusetts). And I've made a few attempts to contact government agencies in the area, such as the Massachusetts Office of International Trade & Investment. I've also got myself a short-term, part-time fellowship writing on (guess what!) the policy implications of international trade agreements for long-term development.

The big question is: now what? Now that I've networked until I met everyone in the entire city doing work in these areas, now that I get depressed pretty much every afternoon about my inability to acquire gainful employment, now what? I keep thinking I need to revamp my job search strategy - be willing to "sell out" and just get some experience (assuming a law firm would even hire me now) or be willing to work in a job that doesn't use my law degree or my interest in international relations just to have a paycheck. But broadening my search that much seems overwhelming. Any ideas? I'm open to suggestions.

~Rachel

Memory

2008-04-27T20:45:00.000-04:00

Stephen is out sick today; his RSI is really getting to him. So today I am writing as he dictates about his new excitement over memory-assisting software.

Stephen says:

A few years ago, my friend Shane introduced me to the idea of spaced repetition in learning. The other day I read this article on wired.com about a guy who wrote a program called SuperMemo, which facilitates spaced repetition learning. Then I found an open-source program called Mnemosyne, which does a similar thing. Rachel helped me download Mnemosyne and plug in an example flashcard with an equation on it. It may have a few bugs, but it seems to work alright. Once my hands get better, I plan to write a script to format some Bible verses as flashcards. I apologize to all of you who are on the edge of your seat waiting for my new Bible memory system. Unfortunately, Rachel refuses to write the script for me.

Rachel says:

Thanks for your patience.

RSI

2008-04-26T23:55:00.002-04:00

I've been working some long hours the past few weeks, and my wrists and hands are having trouble. I get pain in several different spots, mostly along the back of my right wrist, from a repetitive strain injury. Rachel went to the doctor recently for this, too.

Here's what I do to help out:

Workrave — Computer program that keeps tabs on keyboard and mouse use and forces breaks, suggesting exercises during the longer breaks.
Cold packs — The blue gel kind you put in the freezer. Apply three times daily, though I haven't done that much.
Ibuprofen — Fights inflammation.
Ergonomics — I set my chair at the recommended height and use a keyboard tray.
Launchy — Computer program for launching computer programs. Helps to avoid using the mouse. I hear it's similar to Quicksilver for the Mac.
Mouser — Use the keyboard to control the mouse, in case mousing is the problem.
Stretching — Nerves could be impinged at my shoulder or neck, so I stretch those ... from time to time.

Really what I need to do is stop using the computer as much as possible. I also wonder if strength exercises would help.

What's to Come?

2008-04-25T23:41:00.001-04:00

I'm nearing the end of my month of blogging, and lately I've been looking for short and sweet topics so I can get to bed at a reasonable time. This short and sweet post is about what happens after April, when I don't promise to post every day. Here are a few ideas for the coming months:

Work through the exercises in Light, Science and Magic with set-ups, process, and final photos.
Dig unprocessed photos out of my archives and make them presentable.
Record some music and post MP3s.
Travel around Boston and document some interesting out-of-the way spots.
Read some chapters for Librivox, the free audiobook resource.

What say you? Is there anything in particular you would like me to write about?

Photo Club Expo

2008-04-24T22:54:00.000-04:00

My photo club at work is having an exposition. That's what it's called when we print up some photos and put them in a conference room for a few hours. The nice thing is that I end up with a print after it's all over.

Tomorrow, I will submit this photo of Guatemala's Lake Atitlan with volcanoes Atitlan, Toliman, and San Pedro (left to right). Today I enhanced the contrast of the volcanoes. For the first time today, I made the connection that the cloud at the top of Toliman might be a lenticular cloud, though it doesn't quite look smooth enough. Here it is, closer in.

Sam Davis Has a Cow

2008-04-23T22:08:00.001-04:00

On April 11, I talked about my guitar lessons with Sam Davis. I mentioned that he has a giant cow. The other day I was in Porter Square, and Sam's cow was in the window of the Cambridge Music Center. The cow's name, Darla, was written on her side, along with instructions to search YouTube about Darla.

So here we go - Darla on YouTube.