So this is my new blog layout. Let me know if you think it sucks.
I had a full day today. With the removal of 3 trees and 2 large branches, the sunshine profile of my side yard has changed dramatically this year. What was once a shady corner is now ripe for a garden bed or two.
I'm thinking two raised beds, one will be 8' x 6', and the other will be 6' x 6'. To that end, I spent the morning at Home Depot picking up the cedar necessary for the first bed. I then cut the wood to the required dimensions:
After a late lunch, I assembled the pieces into the box you see below. It was a pretty easy project. I just need to determine the final location of the box, then dig the holes for the anchor posts:
Eric and Diego came by in the afternoon to help me flip the box and move it to it's temporary location. I think it looks pretty good.
I finished off the evening at the Black Star Co-op with Pete and Glenn and stories from their UK and Italy trips. Nothing like sharing a cold liquid dinner with friends after a long hot day in the sun.
Today was a rare summer day in that I could actually enjoy my convertible (at least in the morning):
Nothing screams mid-life crisis like a guy cruising to work, top down, with the Allman Brothers' "Jessica" turned up to 11 (the obligatory "Spinal Tap" reference to prove my middle-aged cred).
Hope you all have a good weekend. It's ROT Rally time in Austin, so be safe out there.
I stepped on the scale this morning and noticed I've lost 10 lbs in the past 3 months (I'm down to my preferred weight of 175). I credit most of that to running more and biking some. Thankfully, Betsy likes to be active and outdoors.
I've also been trying to eat better. Recently, that consists of making lots of chicken and cheese sandwiches for dinner (it's quick, easy, and I'm a bit lazy after work). But I ran out of chicken a couple of days ago. So last night I made sauteed spinach and portobello mushrooms to go with my ribeye (the red wine sauce never reduced enough to be considered a sauce - more like a red wine bath):
Yesterday, I also sent off my passport to be renewed. It's been 14 years since my last passport picture. The old picture is from my Houston days when I was a supervisor for a ginormous (sorry, that should be GINORMOUS) engineering company - hence the shirt and tie and smug expression. Happily, times have changed. And it seems, so has my tan:
I needed a break from writing a white paper last night, so I went and saw the new Terrence Malick film, "The Tree of Life." I wish I could say I liked it, but I didn't. The underlying theme of a stern/abusive father/husband and the helpless/enabling mother/wife and coming to terms with your past I get. It's the presentation that bothered me. The film felt like a 2 hour Calvin Klein commercial. Judge for yourself:
And really, do you need the voice-overs of each character's inner conscience spouting rhetoric that actors like Brad Pitt and Sean Penn should be able to convey with their craft? "2001: A Space Odyssey" didn't need it, and "Blade Runner" was a much better film without it. The director should give his audience credit for being somewhat intelligent. And I really didn't like the last scene - I'm sure the characters are suppose to be confronting and making peace with their inner demons, but it feels more like they are all trapped in Limbo, waiting for Purgatory. Yeesh...
A better presentation would be what I had for lunch yesterday. Betsy surprised me with the following bánh mì sandwich, homemade cookies and strawberries in a personalized meal delivery device:
And Monday night we made a bread salad with chicken sausage for dinner. Again, when I say "we," I mostly mean her - although I did chop up the bread:
I won't show you what we had at Mozart's on our Sunday ride, but this is a nice picture:
I have another bout of insomnia, so I thought I'd share some articles I came across recently while researching data mining. Seems like data mining for dating is big business nowadays.
Online dating is tough. The chief scientist at Match.com quit recently because of overpromising and underdelivering. He admits, " No computer can accurately predict whom you should be with. The function of the math will make vastly more false predictions than accurate ones."
That said, Match.com recently paid $50 million for competing dating site OKCupid.com. True, OKCupid is seen to attract a younger, more tech savvy audience, but most business types believe Match paid all that money for OKC's data - basically, responses to all the questions answered by users and used by OKC to deliver potential matches.
OKC was started by 4 mathematicians from Harvard, and they admit to mining their user's data to provide recommendations for their OKTrends blog (helpful articles to help maximize your dating experience). However, as one independent researcher noted, "These are not necessarily statistically reliable findings." Maybe not, but they are entertaining.
Some gems of advice from OKTrends include:
Ask about your potential soul-mate's taste in Wes Craven flicks, Albanian backpacking and life on the high seas.
Subtract 2 inches from whatever height your potential date claims to be. Knock 20% off the reported salary too.
Women, show off your décolletage, especially if you're not so young. (Just don't expect erudite discourse in return.)
Of course, the independent researchers counter:
What you're measuring is what psychologists call "openness to experience," or the O Factor, says David McCord, a clinical psychologist and head of the psychology department at Western Carolina University. But here's the rub: If you're "high O" and drawn to similarly wild-and-crazy types but are seeking a successful long-term relationship, you may be asking for trouble. "Sensation-seeking and 'openness to experience' predict infidelity," says David M. Buss, psychology professor at the University of Texas at Austin and author of "The Evolution of Desire: Strategies of Human Mating."
For men, this makes sense. "Height suggests health, good genes and social dominance," McCord says. Rich is hot too. Notes Buss: "As I've shown in my study of 37 cultures, women universally value men with resources. Men deceive about their status and income in order to make themselves seem more desirable to women."
But maybe button up if you're looking for something serious: To men, Buss says, revealing too much flesh may be a sign of promiscuity. "Promiscuity is something men don't mind at all in short-term mating but really don't like in long-term mating, for obvious evolutionary reasons."
Hmmm... the above all seems like common sense. Maybe I should get a PhD in psychology.
And finally, if you are out on a date, and you decide to go to the Alamo Drafthouse, be sure not to text during the movie:
When I lived and worked in Detroit, I visited Grand Rapids just once. If you picture Michigan as your left hand or mitten (palm down), Grand Rapids is located at the base between your pinkie and fourth finger. It's a nice town. Apparently, it's fallen on harder times since my visit years ago. Newsweek recently rated GR as number 10 of America's top-10 dying cities.
This video has gone viral, but it's so positive and uplifting (and it's good to see a city united) that I wanted to share it also. Besides - I like the song.
Btw, for you car buffs, those are Chrysler 200 convertibles featured around the 5'45" mark.
As I watched "Blue Valentine" tonight, I reflected on what makes relationships work. You'd think I'd have a better clue at my age, especially when I'm surrounded by successful examples. But the truth is, I don't really know. I'm certain common goals, laughter, growth, passion and dedication form parts of the equation - although that seems overly simplistic. Then again, perhaps I'm over-thinking and it's an even simpler quadratic, and I just have too many variables.
Regardless, it's an uncomfortable film - especially if you'd had the good fortune of being in a relationship long enough to grow apart.
I'm not a movie critic, but Mick LaSalle is. And I thought his review of "Blue Valentine" in the San Francisco Chronicle was the best I'd read - you can find it here.
The story behind the soundtrack song, "You and Me", is also an interesting one. Enjoy.
Btw, Ron's birthday was yesterday, and today is my sisters' birthdays. Salud!
