Tagged

I don't normally do these sorts of things, but what the heck, why not. Holly, this one's for you:

* Eight Things I am Passionate About:
My family
Affordable student family housing
Politics
Gender equality
Music
Child literacy
Astronomy and science in general
Learning

*Eight Things, Words or Phrases I Say Way Too Often
"Wow, nice job!"
"Please don't jump on that."
"Eat more of your dinner first."
"Go wash your hands."
"Did you flush?"
"Pick up your toys before the Toy Monster eats them!"
"Whew, Benji-boy, you stink!"
"No, this is not the Neely residence--they moved out three years ago. Yeah, no problem, bye."

*Eight Things I Want to Do Before I Die:
See my children grow up and come into their own
Snuggle my grandchildren and maybe my great-grandchildren
Own a home
Publish a book
Have a thriving career
Change the world, or at least my community
Improve the odds for disadvantaged youth
Feel secure that all my family members are going to be fine

*Eight Things I Have Learned from my Past:
You can always find a way to make money if you really want to.
Motherhood = the ultimate multitasking job.
Playing first chair is more work than glory.
Someone has to play first chair.
Deadlines are good motivators.
Journalists don't understand statistics.
You only have five settlement markers in Catan.
In a crunch you can always eat Ramen straight from the bag.

*Eight Places I Would Love to See:
The southern hemisphere night sky
Lego Land
Boston
Colorado
New Zealand
Scandinavian fjords
The top of Half Dome after hiking it
Absolutely anywhere on January 20, 2009

*Eight Things I Currently Need or Want:
Sleep
Sleep
Sleep
New glasses
Sleep
A dishwasher
A maid
A cook

*Eight people I tag:
Barack Obama
Dick Cheney
Jon Stewart
Sarah Palin
Dr. Horrible
Bad Horse
Laura Roslin
Joe Six-Pack

Conversations with Benjamin

Following in the family tradition, Benjamin has lots to say. He shares his opinions about life, the presidential race, the financial crisis, and the ever-controversial Huggies vs. Pampers debate. Here he is talking about his day.

An Excellent Explanation of the Financial Crisis and the Bailout

As an aspiring economist, I have been asked of late to share any thoughts and insights I might have on the present financial crisis. The truth is, I don't know all that much about macroeconomics, and I know even less about financial economics. (My research interests are much more humble in scope.)

Before the afternoon session of General Conference today, Maile and I listened to This American Life on the radio. This week's episode, "Another Frightening Show About the Economy," is dedicated to the recent financial events, their causes, and their implications. To date, we have not read or heard a better, clearer explanation of the truly complicated and quickly changing situation in any newspaper, news program, online article, or magazine (including The Economist).

Download or stream the show at:

www.thislife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=365

Or download it at:

podcast.thisamericanlife.org/podcast/365.mp3 (27.8 MB)

What exactly is going on? Why do we have to worry about it? What is at stake? Whose fault is the crisis? What, if anything, could have been done to prevent it? Is the bailout good or bad? Now that Congress has passed the second version of the bill, what's next? The show gives engaging and understandable--yet worrisome--answers to all of these questions. If you're interested in learning more (and everyone should be), take an hour to listen to it.

Three years later, now four of us

We've been in the East Bay for three years now. We moved in August 1, 2005, and the photo on top was taken that day or in the next couple of days. The second photo shows that the front of the apartment is pretty much the same, but now Ellie is a whole lot bigger, and she has a baby brother, little Benjamin. Here we are together in what may be the only picture of all four of us together so far.

The new kid

Here he is! Our new son was born this morning at 12:21am, weighing 7 pounds, 9 ounces, and measuring 21 inches. He and Maile are both doing very well.

A lot of bowling

Due to the exorbitant holiday price at Albany Bowl today, I only bowled a single (inglorious) game. Still, it was noteworthy occasion. I've been keeping track of my bowling scores (and those of some of my bowling buddies) since August 2003--almost five years. 256 weeks to be precise. As veteran users of Excel (2003 or earlier) will now, each worksheet has up to 65,536 (2^16) rows and 256 (2^8) columns. With each week inserted in a new column, the oldest week has now finally hit the rightward wall: Column IV.

Where to go from here? I've known for quite some time that this day would come, but I haven't been looking forward to it. I now have to completely revamp my bowling spreadsheet, which in addition to storing the scoring data also graphs the games and averages and outputs the relevant statistics for my bowling website. The most likely solution is to store weeks vertically instead of horizontally. It will take a bit of work to reprogram the macros, but there will be an upside.

With 65,536 rows, I won't have to overhaul the new spreadsheet for another 1251 years. :-)

Potty Story

Today Ellie told me a story while she was sitting on the potty:

"Once there was a kitty who didn't have a daddy, so she was all alone and lonely when her mommy went to a meeting. But then, the babysitter showed up...and she was a bride who was just about to marry the prince, but then the prince was actually a bum, so they didn't get married after all. Instead she and the kitty danced at the ball, but then the clock struck twelve and she ran and ran until she got to her house and she was so, so sad because her stepsisters ripped up her pink dress. Then, when the clock stopped, her beautiful dress and the coach and the coachmen and the wheelchair and her glass slippers disappeared. The end."

No, that's not a paraphrase. That's EXACTLY what she said. I know, because I repeated it back to her and she corrected me on everything I got wrong...including the wheelchair, which was apparently integral to the plot line. What a bizarre and fascinating make-believe world my daughter lives in!