tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57406292011-10-14T21:24:07.966-07:00I'm growing a beardJeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.comBlogger2391100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-60381900406486499422010-09-03T22:00:00.000-07:002010-09-03T22:10:24.140-07:00

I'm claiming a four month paternity leave.And now for my thirtieth birthday, I've compiled a list of my top 30 most significant/influential* non-Christmas song. These aren't necessarily my favorite 30 songs, though, that list would probably overlap this one a great deal. And for diversity's sake, I'm also limiting myself to one song per artist. In autobiographical order:Feels So Good - Chuck

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-9555498211606432312010-04-18T20:59:00.000-07:002010-04-18T21:23:26.873-07:00

Did you know that Fresno has a public aquarium? It's got a tide pool animal collection and a SCUBA exploration program for kids and the only problem is that it doesn't exist. Yet, anyways. Supposedly they just need a few more years and a lot more dollars. You know what would really bring in the cash? An annual 5k race with a $20 entrance fee! You get a couple hundred people out there and

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-37020104178888770282010-04-14T16:55:00.000-07:002010-04-15T08:50:13.195-07:00

In email discussions with some friends I recently began writing lengthy observations/defenses/synopses of the weekly episodes of the sixth season of Lost. They're by no means exhaustive or well organized, but it's the most writing that I've done in a while. If you hate Lost, well, there are only a couple of weeks left. If you've never seen it, then now would be a hilarious time to start, though

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-31597978726945454972010-04-12T22:13:00.000-07:002010-04-12T22:23:08.768-07:00

Craigslist post I spotted today:

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-83889788266326338062010-04-11T09:14:00.000-07:002010-04-11T15:27:47.725-07:00

I just taught Tiny how to play Ring Around the Rosie. She's very good at it. She falls down a lot harder than I can and she doesn't get dizzy. It's a good morning.Also, ran a 7.5 mile loop this afternoon. I think that's the longest since November. It started raining on the way home and it occurred to me that wet asphalt is a lovely smell. Not freshly laid asphalt, as Cassidy can attest to,

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-28946672753499600922010-03-20T20:05:00.001-07:002010-03-20T20:47:13.105-07:00

I had dinner tonight with a friend from an old bible study. Friend is a 21 y/o senior in college who is contemplating life, love and his infinite future. And he looks at me as though I'm 100 years old. I'm married. I've got a child and another on the way. I own a kitchen table. I own a house. It has a garden. With automatic drip sprinklers. These things are unimaginable to him. He may

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-58609055827717951882010-02-28T17:14:00.000-08:002010-02-28T17:19:22.828-08:00

Ran my favorite home-to Fig Garden 8 mile loop today and was wiped when I finished. I kinda can't believe that it was only a couple of months ago that I did that same loop while pushing Maddie and when I got home, I'd turn around and do it again. I'm nowhere near that level of fitness today, but on the upside, Leslie is very happy to have me home in the evenings and weekends more.

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-45707921496941463252010-02-13T14:52:00.000-08:002010-02-13T15:05:06.835-08:00

I am stoked about the Olympics. I love that they're made up of sports that people basically know nothing about - the Sports Center freaks and stat-nerds have no advantage over the casual viewer. I love the Parade of Nations and the athletes named Jorgen Bjorn Jorgensen. I love the one-man delegations representing an entire nation . I love that there are sports where the difference between

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-56664728710266596602010-02-07T14:13:00.000-08:002010-02-07T14:16:39.102-08:00

I offered a handful of cherrios for the whole lot, but I guess that wasn't crazy enough for them.

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-2765531852004232692009-12-30T19:50:00.000-08:002009-12-31T10:55:46.226-08:00

I ♥ best-of lists. This year is double the fun with best-o-the-decade lists in addition to the yearly offerings. PASTE magazine has been hours of fun. So, like last year, I've compiling a list of my favorite things from the year. Like last year, not all of these items are new, they just have to have been new to me.Favorite Fiction Book: The Penultimate Peril (A Series of Unfortunate Events,

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-91942970112964093322009-12-12T10:38:00.001-08:002009-12-12T10:42:17.452-08:00

Maddie's got a book of Objects. Each page features items grouped in a theme. On the Transportation page is an airplane, a helicopter, a wagon and roller skates. On the Clothes page there's a tie, pants, shoes, a shirt, a skirt and a vest. Etc, etc. One of the pages has this unusual collection: pie, nuts, umbrella, rope and a barrel. I have no idea what the connection is. It's like a brain

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-62568197627608149442009-12-11T10:28:00.000-08:002009-12-18T16:00:57.301-08:00

I never got my prize winnings from my 3rd place victory at the Fresno Fair photography exhibit. I just called the Fair office not only are they mailing a check today, they said they had been contacted by someone wanting to purchase a print. Really? Who does that? Man, what an ego-boost.Thanks, local Art Patron! Call me!UPDATE 12/18/09: Hot dog! It all worked. I sold the print to a lady who's

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-48284612445555286102009-12-07T21:38:00.000-08:002009-12-07T22:05:12.165-08:00

Yesterday we were having lunch at the park and needed to drive around to the other side of the park to meet a friend. It's a big park and the drive would literally take like 60 seconds. We didn't bother to strap Maddie in her seat. I've never done this. I buckle Maddie in if I'm just backing the car out of the driveway to park on the street. But we were in a hurry and like I said, it's a

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-75614275491018605762009-11-09T08:06:00.000-08:002009-11-09T09:27:22.590-08:00

Summary: 4hours and 25 minutes and 27 seconds later, it's over! Many thanks to everybody. This morning I'm walking very slowly and gingerly.The stats:Chip time: 4:25:27Rank: 354 out of 683 (250th out of 430 men)Splits: 10K - 56:56 (9:11 min/mile)1/2M - 1:04:07 (9:18 min/mile)20 mile - 1:10:04 (10:09 min/mile)10k - 1:14:17 (11:59 min/mile)The story:The folks at Eye-Q put on a really great race.

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-4722306093846093412009-11-06T16:37:00.000-08:002009-11-06T22:19:59.827-08:00

People keep asking me if I'm ready. I tell them "No." And then they laugh and I don't laugh.I'm don't think I'm ready to run 26.2 miles.Physically, I'm not ready in that I've never run more than 75% of that distance and haven't had a good pain-free run in like three weeks.Logistically, I'm not ready because I still need to pick up my packet and buy some vita-chews and organize my music playlist

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-60610442548331600562009-11-02T10:51:00.000-08:002009-11-02T10:57:51.198-08:00

I am extremely disappointed by the lack of leftover Halloween candy that's been brought into the office this morning. Other friends are reporting similar deficiencies in their offices. Look people, if you're not going to bringing in leftover candy, how am I supposed to recoup the approximately 3 bags worth of chocolate-based named-brand candy that we handed out on Saturday?

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-21461558940793021192009-10-17T17:09:00.000-07:002009-10-17T17:28:47.600-07:00

I dragged my sorry bones 19.25miles for my longest training run. I had hoped to hit 20miles even, but it turns out that running that far is really really hard. In fact, "running" may be overstating what I did. I felt good for the first 15 maybe and then sort of flopped around for a mile and then got into a good rhythm for a mile and half and then imploded and crawled back to the car quietly

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-32510132402170442642009-10-15T20:49:00.000-07:002009-10-20T21:46:16.590-07:00

Went to the Big Fresno Fair and was pleasantly surprised to see that one of my photos had won third prize (and $20) in the Cityscape category. I'm thrilled. I might as well have won Best in Show. Which I didn't. Because there were some really really really great photos there. I think the key for me is to stick to the unpopular categories. I don't have a prayer in Landscape, Architecture,

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-82928750155002751622009-10-09T10:45:00.000-07:002009-10-17T17:34:11.962-07:00

Sunday's the SLO City to Sea Half Marathon. I'm using it as a trial run for the marathon next month. I'll be paying attention to food and water intake, good form and maintaining a reasonable consistent pace in a race environment.I've been thinking lately about how I do almost all of my running alone. During the week, I often don't get out of the house until 9PM which is too late for most

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-30802989021663206862009-09-25T10:32:00.000-07:002009-09-28T11:40:10.390-07:00

I entered the following photos into the Big Fresno Fair Photography Exhibit. They were taken from my second trip to Guatemala, in 2004. That's Leslie in the red raincoat in the second shot. They're in the Still Life and Cityscape categories, respectively. Judging was last weekend and supposedly the Fresno Bee will run a list of the winners on Sunday.I'm not a fan of fairs, but when Les drags me

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-17999586132528277722009-09-21T08:28:00.000-07:002009-09-21T08:38:00.672-07:00

Lance Armstrong congratulates me on completing my longest workout yet. 15 miles on Saturday. One problem (among others) is that 15 miles is a really long way to go. I don't even know where to go. Out and back on the canal is 12 miles. Out and back to Fig Garden is 8.5. Maddie and I did the Fig Garden run and I dropped her off at home and still had a 10k to go. At that point I think I just

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-5379315802862644782009-09-15T15:52:00.000-07:002009-09-15T16:03:32.921-07:00

This fall, Les and I decided that we wanted to lead a Small Group at church based on the book, Never Mind the Joneses by Tim Stafford. We got signed up and got our info into the Small Group directory and ... waited. After the Big Push for Small Groups (hey, I just made that up. It's pretty clever, no?) we got one sign-up. That's ok, we'll roll with that. We emailed the couple to get them the

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-22365714103411311382009-09-06T14:53:00.000-07:002009-09-06T15:01:49.704-07:00

It occurs to me that "passing the time away" is a terrible reason to work on the railroad. Take up a hobby, read a book, check failblog - I get that. Perform back-breaking work in the relentless sun in pre-OSHA conditions, all the ever-loving live long day? Get out of here.

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-6999657787994467842009-07-31T22:24:00.001-07:002009-07-31T22:27:05.741-07:00

I just registered for the Fresno/Clovis Two Cities Marathon. I feel sick to my stomach. That's what courage usually feels like, right?

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-45919770296677022922009-07-31T08:42:00.000-07:002009-07-31T09:18:04.462-07:00

Sometimes at dinner Madeline insists on playing with whatever interesting thing happens to be at the table. We want to encourage her curiosity so sometimes we let her. Last night it was a bottle of Tapatio. Inevitably she had a taste. Not bad. So she had another. Moments later the burn kicked in. You remember those Looney Tunes where the bad guy gets tricked into drinking a bottle of XXX Inferno

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-77973986928348996892009-07-20T22:01:00.000-07:002009-07-20T22:24:07.563-07:00

It's unclear to me why this is called the Jennie Lakes Wilderness. There are several lakes, but only one of them is the Jennie Lake. It can be seen below. Jennie Lakes is squashed between Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks and is run by the National Forest Service. Two buddies and I headed out for a long weekend of hiking and camping. None of us have much experience backpacking so we

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-16651371061575921852009-06-22T16:35:00.000-07:002009-06-28T21:08:32.949-07:00

We did it. We took a toddler camping and lived to tell about it. I love the outdoors. Specifically, I love sleeping in a tent and walking through a forest and eating hot food from the fire. I like the smells and sounds. I like seeing bears and deer and marmots. Also I like the gear. One of the great surprises of my marriage is that Les loves to camp, too. I didn't know that when we got

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-11220189049096960512009-05-30T15:47:00.000-07:002009-05-30T16:03:09.430-07:00

One of my favorite things about Fresno is that we have really extraordinary produce here. The only thing better than great produce is picking great produce (uhm, for fun. If I had to pick it for my livelihood, I realize that my views might change). Today we found a U-Pick cherry orchard at Mountain Brook Ranch just outside town. Head north on Auberry Rd off of Copper and after ~6.3 mile you

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-64428012145480844972009-05-30T15:37:00.000-07:002009-05-30T15:47:33.253-07:00

Just picked this giant zucchini from the garden. If I remember my Biblical studies correctly, the squash is almost one cubit long (elbow to fingers, yeah?). I've never tried growing zucchini before. It's going like gangbusters. Also new to the garden this year is garlic, onions, green onion, corn, cucumber, jalapenos and mystery chilies.

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-44614019335079837212009-05-05T08:06:00.000-07:002009-05-05T08:10:21.697-07:00

"You will have gold pieces by the bushel."Could be awesome. Could be some Monkey's Paw trick where I end up working in a bead and sequin factory.

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-81841987932880938902009-05-02T07:11:00.000-07:002009-05-02T20:05:28.188-07:00

I'm so excited. Today is Christmas morning. When I woke up a ran from window to window looking to see if the package had arrived. And there in the driveway I spotted it. It was beautiful. Green and brown, fresh, smooth, clean. Two large pallets of folded up grass. Ready to be laid out in the backyard. It's sod laying day. After months of cracking through broken cement, digging up old

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-62785948626526285902009-04-27T21:52:00.000-07:002009-04-27T22:02:50.401-07:00

I know that I haven't posted much lately, but that doesn't mean that I don't write. I've written maybe a half dozen decent posts in the last month but I just can't bring myself to edit and post them. I find that whenever I write a meaningful, vulnerable post I get all verklempt and cancel the post. Someone reads over my shoulder or something snaps me out of the zone and realize what I'm doing.

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-59335095048881439592009-04-27T20:32:00.000-07:002009-04-27T20:34:37.432-07:00

Just put the kiddo back to sleep by singing the Alphabet Song over and over. Big accomplishment. Lately I haven't been effective putting her to sleep with anything weaker than ibuprofen.

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-38975634275455272212009-03-31T16:12:00.000-07:002009-03-31T16:29:44.439-07:00

After the race two weeks ago, all the runners were given foody bags of fruit and almonds and raisins as a post-race recovery/pick-me-up thing. The almonds were a variety of Blue Diamond sampler packs with flavors like Smokehouse, Jalapeno Smokehouse and Wasabi & Soy Sauce. They were amazing. Now I'm eating a leftover bag of the Wasabi & Soy Sauce almonds and my senses are offended by the

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-41631972790829630232009-03-15T17:40:00.000-07:002009-03-19T19:49:15.038-07:00

Yay! Today I ran the big Sacramento Shamrock'n Half Marathon. My modest goal was a 2 minute improvement from last November (1:57) and my push goal was 1:50. But Rob and I had a great start and I held on to that quick pace as best I could and finished up like this:Finish Time: 1:45:58.9Pace: 8:05/mileRank: 470th overall 51st in my age groupI am really excited about that time because it's

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-47244062466152172692009-02-27T21:16:00.000-08:002009-02-27T21:41:23.755-08:00

Star Wars as told be someone who has never seen Star Wars. Video here.

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-45425429306561894912009-02-27T21:14:00.000-08:002009-02-27T21:16:41.546-08:00

Noticed a license plate frame in the parking lot at work today. It said I AM A WHALE LOVER. I thought it'd be great prank to add an 'S after the WHALE.

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-71763353489160816152009-02-13T09:27:00.000-08:002009-02-13T09:34:19.668-08:00

300,000 objects measuring between 0.4 and four inches (one and 10 centimeters)in diameter and "billions" of smaller pieces orbit the Earth.From the article.

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-19355759176975979042009-02-10T16:52:00.000-08:002009-02-10T17:02:06.404-08:00

Somebody hit my car last night. I was parked on the street, which was my first mistake. Now the driver's side door has a sizeable dent and chipped paint that indicates that this was not a high speed collision. The dent is exactly the kind of dent that you would expect if someone pulled out of the driveway directly across the street and backed their bumper into my car. There was no note left.

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-57529362117456203602009-01-31T10:09:00.000-08:002009-01-31T10:23:17.926-08:00

If you're looking for something to do between Super Bowl commercials this weekend, let me suggest this awesome awesome awesome flash game, Fantastic Contraption. Highly rated for you spatially-minded/engineery/mechanical peoples. Also, if you want to see how other people's solutions, check out the comments at the bottom of this site.

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-30106042233071757462009-01-26T16:13:00.000-08:002009-01-26T16:44:27.357-08:00

Walking the local mall with the wife and child (in the stroller), I begged pardon to move through a group of skater teens gathered in the walkway. One kid mumbled "Oh sorry, sir" as he moved out of the way. Sir? How about a dude or a bro or even a man? I appreciate the half-assed manners, but do I look like I'm buying a #3 Value Meal Deal? Am I your pre-algebra teacher? I guess that

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-22938909415534809072009-01-24T13:40:00.001-08:002009-01-24T17:18:09.421-08:00

One of my earliest memories as a child is of me standing on the kitchen counter screaming and backed into a corner trying to get away from my parents who are coming at me with a spoonful of pink stuff.I was reminded of this while holding down our kiddo and jamming a plastic syringe into her clenched mouth to deliver a first dose of amoxicillin to treat her ear infection. I guess every parent

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-21934300950583662932008-12-31T16:25:00.000-08:002009-01-04T20:34:57.157-08:00

On the last day of the year, I give a listing of my favorite things from 2008. Note that books and music, etc. that are on this list are not necessarily new this year, but they were new to me.Favorite Fiction Book: Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna ClarkeFavorite Non-Fiction Book: Gang Leader for a Day by Sudhir VankateshFavorite Children's Boardbook: Jamberry by Bruce DeganFavorite

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-33098416601141937502008-12-05T08:11:00.000-08:002008-12-05T08:14:32.343-08:00

May you find a chocolate letter or an orange in your shoe this morning and not a bag of salt, or worse, find you've been taken to Spain by the Swarthy Petes.

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-65313175527844193262008-11-24T19:23:00.001-08:002008-12-07T21:51:32.329-08:00

A couple of weeks ago, as fall turned into winter, we began running our central heating at night. Last Wednesday, Leslie said she heard some noises late at night, coming from the ceiling. I knew what was happening. They were coming for me.Let me back up. We bought our house a year ago and it hadn't been lived in for a while. At least, not by humans. While the evidence wasn't initially obvious, as

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-25823407467810867832008-11-13T08:06:00.000-08:002008-11-13T08:21:37.075-08:00

That's what one spectator yelled as I trudged by. I don't know that I'd call my run glorious, but it felt pretty good. Like Rob, I ran my first Half Marathon on Sunday.Time: 1:57:15Pace: 8:57Overall Place: 309 out of 1391Age Group: 32 out of 71I had tried to convince myself that this was "just another run" and that it wasn't any different than what I had done in training. But it was. First of

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-42700509638382828782008-11-13T07:45:00.000-08:002008-11-13T08:22:27.045-08:00

While driving the Little One to sleep last week, Iheaded out to the south west of Fresno and into the farmlands near Mendota. There I happened upon Kearney Park, which is a large open, relatively-undeveloped park located on the historical estate of M. Theo Kearney, the Raisin King of California. A wealthy land baron, he established a colony of vineyards and orchards in Fresno county in the late

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-41451354056338690562008-11-05T09:45:00.001-08:002008-11-05T13:37:39.370-08:00

I'm not sure why I feel compelled to write an overtly political post now, after the election, after the fact, when I've been so deliberate to avoid them for the last two years, but here I am.First, Barack Obama. As I noted when I wrote about The Audacity of Hope, I saw Obama's message of Change, Hope and Unity as a hollow one. When I read the book and listened to speeches like last night's

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-53596163546750975302008-10-16T19:39:00.000-07:002008-10-16T19:54:19.689-07:00

Recently we've been having some neighbor kids to the house. They come over in the afternoons and play games and read books and hang out and see Maddie. The kids are like 5 to 10 years old and we haven't really met their parents, so Leslie went over to say Hello to their Mom.They had a pleasant conversation but then the Mom asked what I do for a living. Leslie said I was an engineer of some

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-6236740033133217032008-10-15T12:22:00.000-07:002008-10-15T13:02:18.042-07:00

Went hiking in Kings Canyon this weekend. I haven't been since before the kiddo arrived back in May so it felt good to be back. There's a valley off of the General's highway, a couple of miles from Grant's Grove, called Redwood Canyon. It's the largest collection of Giant Sequoias anywhere. They might not be as big as some of the marquee trees in the park but they're still huge and they're

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-37350553889727113502008-10-12T08:17:00.000-07:002008-10-12T08:22:59.375-07:00

At the Kings Canyon Grant's Grove station.Mom with a pre-teen daughter to the Ranger: My daughter found something and she wants to know what it is.[Daughter presents a brownish black mass of something held together with sticks and string and beads.]Ranger: That appears to be somebody's dreadlock.Mom: Really? It's not an Indian artifact? It's got some bits of bones in it.Ranger: Maybe it fell

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-23161615217923802442008-10-10T22:05:00.000-07:002008-10-10T22:52:53.201-07:00

[Sung to the tune of I've Been Working on the Railroad or some variation thereof]Get Wildroot Cream Oil, Charlie,It keeps your hair in trim.You see, it's non-alcoholic, Charlie,It's made from soothin' lanolin.You better get Wildroot Cream Oil, Charlie,Start using it today.You'll find that you will have a tough time, Charlie,Keeping all the gals away!Hiya Baldy!Get Wildroot right away!Can't get

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-65744925170994815982008-09-27T20:46:00.000-07:002008-09-27T20:52:06.713-07:00

Leslie: Maddie is almost asleep in her crib. I'm going to the store. Don't be mean to her.Me: What do you mean don't be mean?Leslie: Be nice. Don't be mean.Me: Like no monkey bumps? No noogies?Leslie: No letting her "cry it out."Me: I'm a terrible father.

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-34972890737338708972008-09-20T20:15:00.000-07:002008-09-20T20:55:01.098-07:00

If I were to judge this book by its cover, I would suspect that Robert R. McCammon's Boy's Life was a 1980s middling Dean Koontz knock-off about a magical, sentient (possibly haunted?) bicycle that lives in a swamp and either befriends lonely teenage dorks or eats them. I would scoff at the uninspired title (though perhaps fondly remember getting the eponymous magazine as a kid) and garish gold,

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-59172394690222498782008-09-16T12:47:00.000-07:002008-09-17T13:24:43.787-07:00

A double book review *POW*POW* double punch hit cha one-two. This is probably unfair to Mr. Max Barry because he deserves two separate but equal reviews, but he's not going to get them because I will take forever to get around to that. Jennifer Government and Company were both recommended to me after reader R. Miller read my review of corporate-culture fiction Then We Came to the End.Jennifer

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-12875481958553414582008-09-14T16:14:00.001-07:002008-09-15T10:18:03.554-07:00

I wanted to write a post about beloved childhood fictional characters being named after US Presidents but all I had was Garfield, (Grover) Cleveland and possibly Arthur. That doesn't really seem like enough for a trend.UPDATE: Does the Teddy Bear count? Plus more in the comments.

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-47989949584431797852008-09-05T20:56:00.000-07:002008-11-24T20:19:17.796-08:00

Last year I read and reviewed and really liked Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma. In it, Pollan investigates the what it is that we eat and where it comes from. While he doesn't refrain from making moral judgements about the foods we choose to eat, it seemed to me that the drive of the book was descriptive: an exposé on the what and the how of industrial, organic, local and gathered foods. In

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-35803202131119895292008-08-24T21:53:00.000-07:002008-08-24T21:57:02.994-07:00

Maybe the connection is that they both suck?

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-16340578791245912122008-08-22T14:58:00.001-07:002008-08-22T15:03:19.743-07:00

Earlier this week I began to design a new product at work. I had a question about sizing requirements so I asked my boss about it. He forwarded the question to the Director of Inside Sales who forwarded the question to the Regional Sales Manager who forwarded the question to the Distributor who forwarded the question to the Sales Representative who, now four days later, forwarded the question

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-30383259842665721482008-08-14T23:14:00.000-07:002008-08-15T08:52:09.370-07:00

I just realized who Bela Karolyi reminds me of: Peter Sellers as Inspect Clouseau as the Salty Swedish Sea Dog in Revenge of the Pink Panther.

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-20634115940467211942008-07-31T17:49:00.000-07:002008-07-31T17:49:01.432-07:00

In 1959, two men entered a Kansas farmhouse, tied up and murdered a family of four, stole $40 and a toy radio and left virtually no clues. The killers then fled the state heading to Florida and Mexico before being apprehended in Las Vegas only six weeks later. They were eventually prosecuted and executed. None of what I just wrote is a spoiler.The murders were big news in western Kansas and

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-75408248955361052812008-07-29T22:10:00.000-07:002008-11-24T20:19:17.797-08:00

Back at the end of March I posted some pics of my new garden. This is a little follow up. So far we got two harvests of beans from the bush bean bushes, then pulled them; we got a couple heads of bibb lettuce and some spicy rocket from the mesclun mix (unfortunately, the kale dominated everything else and then we picked it waaaaay too late); we've picked a half dozen peppers; we've collected

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-74391840621696512672008-07-26T21:59:00.000-07:002008-07-26T21:59:25.156-07:00

In the wildly popular Freakonomics, there's a chapter called "Why do Drug Dealers Still Live with Their Moms?" and it's based on research by and an interview with, Sudhir Venkatesh. So this might sound familiar. Sudhir Venkatesh, a sociology grad student armed with clipboards and surveys with questions like, "How does it feel to be black and poor: very bad, somewhat bad, neither bad nor good,

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-47021278296500192192008-07-17T12:52:00.000-07:002008-07-17T13:58:24.112-07:00

This past weekend I went on my first backpacking trip. I love hiking and I love camping, but it's always been limited to "car camping" with the option of packing up and driving home if things get dull or uncomfortable or if the rain really starts coming down on and into the family tent and Dad just says, "Mooooove to the center!" and we huddle in closer but we're still getting wet at like 4 in

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-57752417693181859722008-07-04T13:17:00.000-07:002008-07-07T08:17:21.396-07:00

Just in time for the 232nd anniversary of our nation's founding - David McCullough's 1776 tells a the story of the early stages of the Revolutionary War and really does confine itself to the events in that calender year.In case you don't have a real strong grasp on your 8th grade history text, the 60 second synopsis goes like this. Before 1776, British and colonial elements maintain an uneasy

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-9069152548368102822008-06-13T12:33:00.000-07:002008-06-13T14:56:46.031-07:00

Without warning a man at a stoplight goes blind, he is helped home by a man who then steals his car and subsequently becomes blind himself, the wife of the first blind man later is stricken with blindness as is the doctor who examines the eyes of the first blind man, there is no cure, there is seemingly nothing wrong with the eyes of the blind men and women, they simply cannot see, or rather they

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-20041535945988045172008-06-04T21:28:00.000-07:002008-06-05T21:01:33.722-07:00

Tuesday was Election Day in Fresno. Being Maddie's first election day ever, we wanted to introduce her to that most democratic of all civic duties: we had her vote by letting her roll around on the sample ballot and whichever candidate got the most drool, got her vote. She picked Swearengin for Mayor, Write In for County Supervisor and couldn't decide between props 98 and 99 so slobbered them

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-70375129347182351062008-05-31T19:05:00.000-07:002008-05-31T19:27:15.398-07:00

The idea was to list (and photograph) 1000 things worth seeing within 20 miles of home. This first item on the list is not within 20 miles. It's closer to 30 , but 20 miles is a REALLY small area, so deal with it.In 1954, the Army Corp built a dam on the Kings River to capture some 1 million acre-feet. That's huge. It's got a hydroelectric plant that generates 165 MWatts. Interesting!At the

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-76557332935159213952008-05-27T10:59:00.000-07:002008-05-27T11:05:29.307-07:00

I'm back in the office doing half-days for the rest of the week. Lots of Congratulations and Oohs and Aahs over the pictures I brought. Words of wisdom I received included:"It just keeps getting better. My daughter is 38, well-educated, works for IBM, travels the world but she still calls me for advice."and"This is the really fun time. In a couple of years she won't be very interested in you,

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-27956325261954815252008-05-23T16:34:00.000-07:002008-05-23T16:52:33.557-07:00

This could have gone either way. When my daughter was born, I could have blogged the delivery and the recovery and the hospital stay and the homecoming and the first feedings and the first sleepless night and the first nasto diaper and the first bath. Or I could fall into a parenting black hole and not come out into the light of blog for a week. Obviously we know how that went.Without

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-31261339889347893742008-04-30T12:45:00.000-07:002008-04-30T13:55:05.590-07:00

I love knowing about food. I like cooking tips and tricks and I like to how recipes are put together. I like the experimentation and the chemistry of food. But mostly I like the food themselves and I realize that I don't know where much of my food comes. Like, where geographically the food comes from. A rancher friend told me that in April, 99% of the country's lettuce comes from the Fresno west

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-49771393421123753252008-04-09T16:50:00.000-07:002008-04-10T11:52:43.324-07:00

I got an email today from my past self, sent exactly one year ago today. The highlights include:Not enough vacation time. I'm hoarding it like gold. We've got Seattle in May and Guate in July.This is still true. Those were great trips but now I'm hoarding it for paternity leave. (Huh, what? Hey, surprise! Jeremy's gonna be a Daddy!)I play too much Mario 64. I've got 70 Powerstars.This is not true

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-51431319885242021042008-04-08T12:51:00.000-07:002008-04-08T13:16:32.579-07:00

In this rendering of the early years of Jesus, Anne Rice (Interview with the Vampire, Queen of the Damned, etc) envisions our Lord as a precocious young boy with a penchant for hanging upside down from the rafters and sucking the blood goats and avoiding all garlic-laden matzo ball soups.Not really.She actually imagines him as quiet, studious and introspective with a crying problem and mother

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-53716393601739197712008-03-31T22:51:00.001-07:002008-11-24T20:19:17.799-08:00

This is my garden. It's still March and I'm tempting the fates to give a final winter frost and kill the couple tomato plants and pepper plant hugged down in the back. There's not much to see from up here and it's small and it's sad.But oh ho! What's this?! If you get on your knees and look closely you can see a bush bean pushing out of the dirt. It's like a vegetable volcanic eruption.This

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-14626304854790070622008-03-19T17:09:00.000-07:002008-03-19T16:37:21.489-07:00

Usually I don't finish books that I don't like. I don't finish them and then I don't review them and they disappear off of the Book Hopper as though they never happened. But as a mystery novel, Gillian Flynn's debut was too gripping to not finish but I should have gone with my instincts. Sharp Objects is a nasty little novel with numerous villains too monstrous for it to matter who actually dun

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-6021713184453986792008-03-17T16:02:00.000-07:002008-03-17T16:07:34.073-07:00

I have no image for this book as it's in the public domain (download&print it for free here) and because, more than usual, this book deserves to have its characters imagined fresh rather than as ghosts of Ethan Hawke and Gwenyth Paltrow.I'm not a fan of Victorian era England and in all honestly, I bought this book several years ago because a) it seemed like a book I ought to read b) that line "

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-84228013016307154092008-03-13T09:36:00.000-07:002008-03-13T10:28:28.487-07:00

Cal Poly Engineering in the news. Plans are underway to start an engineering department at a Saudi Arabian university and it's causing a bit of controversy with regard to human rights issues.Over five years, Cal Poly would receive $5.9 million from the Saudi government to create an engineering curriculum, build labs and train teachers in Jubail, a sprawling oil center on the Persian Gulf. Only

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-37112759928197942582008-03-07T12:09:00.000-08:002008-05-31T19:27:24.581-07:00

Althouse, a blog I frequent, was criticizing a recent publishing trend of lists of 1000 Things to Do (or See, or Read, or Eat, or Places to Go) Before you Die. She writes:"Maybe everyone should a list of 1000 things that you've found worth seeingwithin 20 miles of your home. And it's not a list for other people to do andcheck off. It's an exercise to teach yourself that you are completely in

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-27398158710125727962008-03-04T14:17:00.000-08:002008-03-04T16:58:52.411-08:00

Good times up at Shaver Lake & Sierra Summit this weekend. I hadn't been skiing since the winter of 2000 and was apprehensive of my non-skills and tumbling down the 2.25 mile beginner run.But then my friend Adam told me about Snowblades. And my life has never been the same.Snow blades are these little shorty skis. They're great for beginners and rusty skiers cause it's easy to get up, stay up,

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-17620930128911530082008-02-29T12:52:00.000-08:002008-02-29T13:13:27.802-08:00

Man, I used to think SLO had its share of crazies. I think this has been making rounds on talkshows but here goes.Match the identities with the pictures.1. Beast from X-men2. Arrested Development's Tobias Funke3. Papa Smurf4. A dude from Madera who drank too much colloidal silver.ABCD Answers: 1-B, 2-D, 3-A, 4-C

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-87532816670544021852008-02-27T13:01:00.000-08:002008-02-27T13:02:30.024-08:00

I meant to post this last week.I went to the World Ag Expo in Tulare last week. It's the world's largest gathering of all things Ag-related. It's like an Ikea for farmers. If you had a nothing but a big enough checkbook, you could walk in and get yourself absolutely everything you could possibly need to build and run a farm. In fact, forget the checkbook because there were several Ag Lending

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-46880227017470772472008-02-21T16:03:00.000-08:002008-02-21T16:09:08.882-08:00

There's a scene in Tom Wolfe's I Am Charlotte Simmons in which a slim geeky guy goes to the universerity gym in an effort to bulk up and impress a girl. He wears largish clothes to disguise his physique. He admits to himself that he's not willing to commit to the daily work required to truly bulk and instead focuses his energy on those exercises he deems most likely to give the greatest results

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-60554576571612019132008-02-07T22:44:00.000-08:002008-02-07T22:51:40.360-08:00

The Onion has a selected portion of it's Our Dumb World Atlas online. Hilarious. See Russia and Nicaragua.

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-88977858521460196122008-01-28T21:18:00.001-08:002008-01-29T13:13:14.892-08:00

On a recommendation from the Sister-in-Law we bought a cheese kit. The kit contains:rennet tabletscitric acidcheese salt - I don't know what this ischeese clotha thermometerSupposedly this is all you need to make a lot of basic cheeses but the instructions are for mozzarella, so that's what we did. You gotta use a whole gallon of milk to get a 3/4lb ball of cheese, but clearly we're not in this

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-56181322961491719312008-01-21T11:17:00.000-08:002008-01-21T12:18:31.675-08:00

In the summer of 2005, four Navy SEALs on a reconnaissance mission were stumbled upon by three Afghan goatherders in the Hindu Kush mountains. The obviously unfriendly (but unarmed) goatherders are quickly captured and the central ethical question of the book becomes "what should be done with them?" Do the SEALs kill them in cold blood and face possible criminal charges at home or do they let

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-3588649554645107992008-01-13T13:28:00.000-08:002008-01-13T13:38:59.455-08:00

Play the Tall Stump! Awesome side-scrolling flash game. Simple, clean design; really clever ball physics; great music; super silly hats (collect all 15)!And if you need a walkthrough (you don't) you can see here.

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-71560622400047744982008-01-11T13:35:00.000-08:002008-01-11T14:02:44.124-08:00

This guy rates the asthetics of every country's flag. Clever methodology and funny, though he appears to have lost some steam making comments by about the Grade B's.I can't agree with all of his picks. I like Bosnia's, Georgia's, Palau's and South Korea's, but don't care fro South Africa's.

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-84380200963481553452008-01-09T12:40:00.000-08:002008-01-09T13:27:33.281-08:00

Woo. And boy am I tired after all that running.Mini book-reviews:The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon: A pleasent story of the Jewish experience of during WWII as two cousins living in Brooklyn fight their demons by proxy by way of their comic book creations. In a recent interview I heard an author, Alan Cheuse, talking about reading and he said this: "Reading is as much

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-4324287477606572212007-11-25T15:33:00.000-08:002008-11-13T08:07:04.273-08:00

On a very very brisk Thanksgiving morning at 8AM, almost a thousand runners/walkers lined up in Woodward Park for a charity 5k to benefit Fresno's Food for the Hungry or Feeding the Homeless or something like that. This is the first organized run I've done since 10th grade. That's like 12 years! I came in 16th in my Males 25-29 division (216th overall) with a not-too-shabby time of 25:36.

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-47539341330733609212007-11-13T12:46:00.000-08:002007-11-13T13:25:04.735-08:00

As part of the Kaiser Permanente thrive campaign to get people to eat better and exercise more (and use Kaiser facilities less), there's this billboard I saw in a predominantly Latino neighborhood nearby.I admit it's funny, but I'm also a bit offended by it. I suppose it's better than "CRACKERS ARE SO CRACKER" but not by much.

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-61981117657179299142007-11-09T09:07:00.000-08:002007-11-09T09:37:36.680-08:00

For Adam: I've been raving to people about the concerts that I've been listening to on All Songs Considered. Recorded live at the 9:30 Club in DC, concerts usually last an hour to an hour and a half plus artist interviews with host Bob Boilen. My recent favorites include Jose Gonzalez (check out the cover of Teardrop), Stars, Arcade Fire and last week's Nickel Creek. Nickel Creek is a bluegrass

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-24763666989333554772007-11-01T22:48:00.000-07:002007-11-01T22:53:44.131-07:00

The wife baked a delicious pumpkin pie for me today without even reading this entry. It's spooky how well she knows me. She is wonderful and magical.

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-49281651221437814012007-11-01T22:44:00.000-07:002007-11-01T22:47:53.078-07:00

Me: What are you watching?Engineer: It's a dancing parrot. You know, parrots are much better dancers than people because they just dance and don't care what anybody thinks. They just do whatever they want.Me: So they dance like drunk people?Sales guy: Hey that parrot is dancing like I do!

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-80843690178227506142007-10-29T20:49:00.000-07:002007-10-29T20:53:45.606-07:00

There have been a rash of memoirs lately wherein the author undergoes a yearlong experiment doing X unusual thing. In Not Buying It Judith Levine gives up shopping. In A Year of Living Biblically A. J. Jacobs tries to live as strictly adherent to Biblical laws as possible. Barbara Kingsolver resolves to eat only locally in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and so on. I haven't read any of those,

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-55229508008177586692007-10-22T21:29:00.000-07:002007-10-22T21:28:34.092-07:00

Sometimes we read novels to escape ourselves and experience fantasy - a space opera, an old western, a romantic Victorian epic. Sometimes we read novels because we want to see ourselves. Joshua Ferris' Then We Came to the End is a story of us. We office-dwellers. We who sit within the confines of cheap felt-covered foam and aluminum partitions, starring at wide planes of flickering pixels

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-43771009577648876552007-10-22T20:14:00.000-07:002007-10-22T20:33:01.846-07:00

Now that we've moved, we're waiting for all of our mail to catch up with us. What we have found in the mail are these cards that say something likeWelcome to your new home!EHS has been trying to reach you. We have a parcel waiting for you. Please contact us at your earliest convenience.Please call Sandi to claim your parcel559-441-XXXXMon-Fri 8:00 am to 8:00 pmParcel # PXXXX We've gotten

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-68512847534732214012007-10-09T14:36:00.000-07:002007-10-09T14:36:50.182-07:00

I bet you're wondering what happened to the Book Reviews. Oh they're still here, I'm just playing catch up.When I want to read a comfort book, one of my fovorite things to reach for is a detective novel. Give me a Raymond Chandler novel and lock me in for the evening. I love the pace of the story, the cadence of the dialogue, the hardboiled characters - smoking, drinking gumshoes; helpless or

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-42156841133346787872007-10-08T12:21:00.000-07:002007-10-08T12:45:08.083-07:00

Many many thanks to the folks that helped move us: Noemi, Stephanie, Rob, Robert, Daniel, Amy, Micah, Christie, Ben, Kelly and Allie.Moving was awesome and easy. Done by 1:30.Then came the hard part. In setting up/cleaning the kitchen, it seems a mouse had made residence behind the cabinets. Thus the unpacking came to a screeching halt as we donned bandanna masks (for hantavirus), gloves and

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-76123888108815126012007-10-02T08:12:00.000-07:002007-10-02T08:19:46.450-07:00

The last flight (9:15PM) out of Fresno was canceled at 7:15PM. US Airways flight 2835 to Las Vegas. Next available flight leaves at 10:45AM tomorrow morning which gets me into my class at maybe 1:30 if traffic is good.Reason given? No crew. It's not weather issue. Not a mechanical thing. Just, no crew. Couldn't be bothered. Didn't wanna. Slipped our mind.There is no other industry as

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740629.post-85091619523357348312007-10-01T20:34:00.000-07:002007-10-01T20:41:48.665-07:00

Derek Webb (he, formerly of Caedmon's Call fame) is giving a free performance this Thursday (October 4, 2007) at 7:00 at Fresno Pacific. Doors open at 6:00. Location is the Encore Amphitheater on Hamilton between Chestnut and Winery. See map.How much is that again?Zero dollars.And can we pay that in cash or check?No. There's no money involved.What's shipping and handling?Still none.Can I get

Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135112906704619414noreply@blogger.com0