Like the “Stuff I Thunk” series, the “Stuff I Seen” series relays information from my brain into my blog, only the SIS series is narrowed down to thoughts provoked by stimulus from my visual cortex. Let us begin, shall we?
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Not so much thunk as overheard on American Dad:
Heisenburg‘s wife was unhappy because when her husband had the time, he didn’t have the energy. And when he had the position, he didn’t have the momentum!
Not a lot of quantum physics sex jokes out there, I’m guessing…but then I don’t work at CERN.
You know you’ve been thinking too hard about parenting when…. I dreamt that the entire human population was preparing to switch over from a “bad behavior is punished and good behavior is ignored” system of government and law enforcement to a “bad behavior is ignored and good behavior is rewarded” system. I was a senior member of the team that was outlining guidelines and getting everyone ready. I was in charge of the department dealing with traffic laws. For some reason, because this was such a huge paradigm shift, we were all changing the side of the road we drove on. Sounds like the doings of Supreme Leader Obama and his fascist communist regime.
I wonder what percentage of YouTube videos are still viewed using a cathode ray tube, the technology that the video sharing site took its name from. If it’s higher than 2%, I’d be surprised.
The Flickr iPhone web interface is absolutely outstanding! It should be used as an example for anyone designing a website for handheld devices. I am consistently impressed with the simplicity and intuitiveness of using Flickr on my iPhone. There are several Flickr iPhone apps and none of them come close to the ease of Flickr’s own web interface in Safari for browsing photos. The native apps are only good for (and are required for) uploading.
One thing I learned when I moved to Europe is that I really, really suck at foosball. The pub culture in Denmark, England and Spain has resulted in a very high average foosball skill level of any 20-40-year-old you find in a bar. I can probably beat the majority of ten-year-olds, but any older than that and you should bet on my opponent. This one foosball table at my in-laws social club always attracts my eye. I love the worn look of the wooden players. What better subject to play around with aperture and depth of field?
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Nora continues to look faaaa-bulous in all her new clothes. Today she hit a milestone: she had her first real laugh. She’s been smiling a lot more lately, but this was an actual "ha ha" giggle. Needless to say, her mother and I were overcome with joy. I think the reason that it’s so difficult to capture a laugh or smile in a photograph or video is that, aside from pleasure gained from digestive tract pressure release, she requires a true eye-to-eye human connection to smile at the moment. The camera breaks that connection. Not to mention the Pavlovian punishment of a big flash in the face whenever she comes close to a smile…
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Today is a big day. First of all, it’s Saint John’s Day (San Juan), which is a holiday in many, many Spanish towns and cities, including León, Mondragón and Colindres. San Juan is a thinly veiled pagan solstice celebration including local witch-burning bonfires. So all the shops are closed and everyone (except me) is off work today.
Secondly, later today there will be a fútbol match between Spain and the United States of America. I plan on taking my miniature American flag to a local bar to get ridiculed. Nora, being half-Spanish and half-American, will have allegiance issues. I’ve already made a bet for a beer with a friend, and he gave me a one-goal spread. Sounds expected to leave my mouth this afternoon: USA! USA! USA! Awwww…
Thirdly, Nora turned three months old today. Naturally we had another party. This time she was fully awake, but no where near fully aware. At her three-month checkup the other day she was only at the 10th percentile of weight. This means she needs to start eating more or risk getting beaten up by the other kids on the playground. (more…)
According to the laws of my native country, the United States of America, I will never be eligible for dual citizenship. If I apply for Spanish citizenship, I will automatically lose my US citizenship. This is not true, however, of my daughter. She has Spanish citizenship by birth, and can apply for US citizenship as the child of a US citizen. Because she did not actively request her non-US-citizenship, but acquired it automatically, she is allowed to hold both Spanish and US citizenships. While I do not know exactly what legal ramifications this will have on her banking or taxes, I think that in the long run many more things in her life will be facilitated by having dual citizenship than hindered by it. So, on June 1, 2009, we visited the US Embassy in Madrid and registered her to be a US citizen.
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Baby bath towels are pretty doggone cute. We have one that’s a monkey, another that says "Nora" on top, and this one that’s a giraffe. When she started smiling the other day after her bath, I ran to get the camera, but with the big machine in front of my face, the smiling stopped and the contemplation began.
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Last Sunday, after a meal which was preceded by almost an entire bottle of wine and sirloin steak, I chose to not disguise my sleepiness, like the other gentlemen, on the sofa in front of a boring Sunday movie about 90′s American suburbia, and actually lie down on a bed. After a short time, my sister-in-law entered the room and placed a little white slumbering monkey on my chest. As I lay there, I composed a haiku. To not forget it, I recorded it with my new iPhone 3.0′s voice memo system. Thus I present it to you now.
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My father emailed me back in February to tell me that he’d written a song for his friend, Tom’s, surprise sixtieth birthday party, and he needed some melody and rhythm help from me. I pulled out my guitar and recorded three videos, with three different chord patterns, invented on the spot, for him to choose from. He wrote back saying that, while they were all good, he liked the more bluesy rhythm best. He explained how many verses and instrumental interludes there should be, and I recorded a video, beginning with a "Hey Tom! Happy birthday!" message to try to fool people into thinking that I was being beamed in live over video conference. After I finished, I smiled and said goodbye. Three days later, at the party, my father downloaded the video to Tom’s computer, invited everyone at the party to gather around, and the three of us, me on guitar, my father on vocals and harmonica, and my mother on harmonizing vocals, performed the Old Man Blues for our dear friend, Tom. He loved it, of course.
One month ago today, my father turned sixty years old. He was visiting us at the time and he, my mother, and I performed the Old Man Blues, a song about getting old, for my grandmother, wife, and daughter. This time I recorded it. Keep in mind that we had never rehearsed together and I’d only played the song once three months earlier.
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This video is great. The shit that companies try to get away with in business-to-business relationships wouldn’t stand a chance with business-to-consumer relationships. Tip o’ the hat to Marigoldie for pointing me to it, and to Scofield Editorial for making it.
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