Sunday, April 30, 2006

Something Old, Something New


This series of photos is of Matt and his dad and a dulcimer. (You can click on it to make it bigger for easier viewing.)




These photos are of Eleanor and Matt and a dulcimer.

Monday, April 17, 2006

Easter Sunday


Easter Sunday
Originally uploaded by bendblock.
Look, we are wearing pretty clothes. I have to admit that I conformed to the culture and dressed Eleanor up in a lacy dress with lacy socks and shiny shoes. My only consolation was that her dress was in the style of Jackie O.

In other news, it's hot. When we were in Indonesia, it was hot. I probably complained about it more than I remember, but I don't remember complaining that much. We expected it to be hot. Cars didn't have "air cons." When we got too hot, we would retreat to our nice climate controlled bedroom and watch movies on our laptop.

Now it's hot again. This time we didn't expect it. Not because it's April and in the 90's, but because we live in a climate controlled world. Our lives consist of moving from one cooled box to another. The box where we eat and sleep is at this time not cooled. I've been complaining about it almost non-stop. Last summer I complained to the management no less than ten times about the lack of coolness. Each time the (insert adjective here) maintenance man would “re-charge” the unit, meaning he refilled it with some form of Freon. That ozone-depleting chemical would leak out into the environment, killing small woodland creatures in its path and make its way up into the air where it would eat away at the ozone layer. I’m sure that’s why it’s 92 degrees in April.

Eleanor now has four teeth, but not the four you would expect. She has her bottom front teeth that have been there for three months or so, and two top non-front teeth. She is toying with the idea of mobility. Strange baby. She’s been reading quite a bit lately and is a pro at turning pages. She really likes to turn the same page back and forth. We took her to an amazing Good Friday service featuring Waterdeep (or at least Don and Lori Chaffer). Eleanor sang along with Lori on one song and thoroughly enjoyed the music. We did too.

You can see more pictures of our darling and other people and things of interest by clicking on either the picture in this post or on the "Flickr" link on the right side of the page.

Thursday, April 06, 2006

Pod ----------------------------------------------cast




Matt's Favorite Podcasts (in order of most anticipated and listened to):*

They Might Be Giants Podcast
Everyone's favorite Nerd Rock band discovers the ideal venue for their blend of creative sounds and paranoia. Don't miss an episode!

Electronic Periodic
30 minute mix of new, interesting, ambient to trance music, great for studying, writing or chilling, and the host is a robot!

Religion and Ethics Newsweekly
Audio of the weekly PBS program reporting on religious and ethical issues in the world. A little dry and a little detached but nobody else is really doing this kind of journalism well.

Digital Planet
BBC World Service radio programme on technology stories from around the world. Tech isn't just for the rich anymore. Interesting stories you won't hear on CNet or ZDTV.

Various NPR Podcasts :
NPR: All Songs Considered
All Thing's Considered's Director, Bob Boilen, sifts through the thousands and thousands of CD's folks send him to use as between story music "buttons." An abbreviated version of one of the web's best source of "new" music from a myriad of genre's.
NPR: Music - Stories about music.
NPR: Religion - Stories about religion.

The White House Presidential Podcast
When he speaks, they podcast it. Great if you need audio samples of religious rhetoric invoked to support political and military action.

What are some of your favorite Podcasts?

*Note: I've provided the url addresses for the respective sites about these podcasts. You'll need to find and click on the "XML" or "Podcast" buttons or paste the URL ending in .xml into iTunes or whatever podcast aggregator you use in order to subscribe.

Monday, April 03, 2006

Happy 2/3 Birthday!


Rice
Originally uploaded by bendblock.
Today Eleanor is eight months old. We celebrated by going to the library. We met a librarian named Eleanore. Eleanor chatted with all the books.

Eleanor prefers feeding herself to being fed. She joined in the Chinese food with us. All she ate was steamed rice, but she enjoyed it quite a bit.