We drove down and had a nice family Christmas. The kids were excited to see me and were really happy to meet Leslie. My 3 year old niece really liked having another "girl" around and wanted Leslie to sleep in her bed. I managed to be good and didn't put on any weight (I've lost 12lbs since November) even though I drank beer every day. We both ended up very sick though from some kind of bug and Leslie has been sleeping all day. I hope she is feeling better for tonight's activities.
I turned 40 today and it's actually feeling like a big relief. I was more upset when I turned 39. I think that it's because that was the last year of my 30s and now I feel like I'm starting something new. Hurray for 40.
12/20/2005
A Winter Sigh
Dear Leslie is sleeping, curled up under blankets as warm as a bundle of fresh laundry. She is lovely even as she dreams.
12/15/2005
Leslie Day
Im off to the airport soon to meet Leslie who is in O'Hare right now waiting for her flight to Ottawa
or as they say at the Denver airport Oh Tawaugh. Speaking of which she just called. A little bit closer. Her flight however has been delayed half an hour. Well what's 30 minutes when you've waited 3.5 months. Forever that's what it feels like at least. There's alot of snow called for this evening so I'm glad she has a clear day for flying. At least it's clear on this end. Now I better go walk Luna.
or as they say at the Denver airport Oh Tawaugh. Speaking of which she just called. A little bit closer. Her flight however has been delayed half an hour. Well what's 30 minutes when you've waited 3.5 months. Forever that's what it feels like at least. There's alot of snow called for this evening so I'm glad she has a clear day for flying. At least it's clear on this end. Now I better go walk Luna.
12/14/2005
Whoo Hooo!
Like it says above, tomorrow is the big day. To say that I am excited is an understatement. In fact I am too full of energy too focus long enough to write anything here. So I'll just say this. Whoo Hooo!
12/13/2005
The Grin Who Stole Christmas
It was cold outside this morning. So cold that the wires on my walkman (doesn't that sound dated) were as stiff as a coathanger. The sun shone from behind a panel of cut glass blue sky. I woke up a bit later than a normally would having stayed up late finsihing The Haunting of Hill House, a novel from 1959 about strange manifestations in an isolated and unamed location. I've have been reading it roughly following the structure of one night in the story as one nights reading. It is eerie but fun in that way.
The bright day was invigoratingly at odds with the dreary and sullen tones of the novel. I awoke fresh and lively and excited. I love the cold brisk days just before Christmas. This year is extra special. In fact I haven't been so happy in years. What a nice thing to be able to say. I swear as I walked Luna down the street everyone I met gave me a grin. I guess I was grinning first. I must have been, because I checked to make sure my fly wasn't open and it wasn't.
The bright day was invigoratingly at odds with the dreary and sullen tones of the novel. I awoke fresh and lively and excited. I love the cold brisk days just before Christmas. This year is extra special. In fact I haven't been so happy in years. What a nice thing to be able to say. I swear as I walked Luna down the street everyone I met gave me a grin. I guess I was grinning first. I must have been, because I checked to make sure my fly wasn't open and it wasn't.
12/12/2005
Tis the Season to Be Healthy
I've had to change my diet and adopt an exercise regimen recently following doctors recommendations and I have to say it's been a good thing. The results more energy and a loss of 12 lbs of excess body weight over the last month. It hasn't been a difficult switch but that's only one month the hard part will be sticking to it long term. However with Leslie arriving in a few days I will have a good partner to help me stick to my guns through the myriad holiday temptations that await.
12/11/2005
12/08/2005
7 Days
We are now in the final week of the countdown until Leslie arrives. It's going to be "the Best Christmas Ever!" She has a new down filled coat and she's going to need it. It's c-c-c-c-old.
The kind of cold where the exhaust from smokestacks looks almost solid. Only 7 days but it is this last stretch that feels the longest.
The kind of cold where the exhaust from smokestacks looks almost solid. Only 7 days but it is this last stretch that feels the longest.
Size Matters
A while ago I was reading up on the construction of skyscrapers and in particular a history of the Chrysler Building in New York. I got to wondering what the tallest buildings in the world were at the present. As it turns out 5 of them are in China and a total of 8 are in the far east. This made me think about the realtionship between power and architecture. The skyscraper was indeed developed not only to eek the greatest value out of the smallest amount of real estate but as a visible symbol of status and physical embodiement of wealth.
There is a certain irony in this comment of Chrysler Building contemporary, Arthur Dewing, "Just as the rulers and great nobles of Europe, the princes of India, and the long line of Chinese dynasts, used architecture to exalt themselves in their publics' eyes, and as the surest monument to their achievements, so do our industrial rulers act today." North American Review (no.231, 1931: 591-6).
I wouldn't be the first person to note the symbolic intentions of the men who brought down the World Trade Center. Not only did their target cause intense physical destruction and emotional pain it hit at what was perhaps the most tangible representation of a nation's preeminance. In bringing it down there was also psychological shock. Neither is it a matter of chance that the proposed redevelopmet of the former WTC site would be dominated by the Freedom Tower which would stand taller than any building today at 1,776 feet high. The symbolic message that height conveys is clear one (1776 should be a significant number to anyone familiar with American history).
The skyscraper is one of the quintessential American symbols. The great cities of America are decisively recognizable sihoulettes of spires. Aggregates of skyscrapers literally create new landscapes that challenge the natural scenery with messages of the nations towering wealth, American technological know-how and sheer power (I haven't even delved into the phallocentricity of the structures). So what does it say to the world that 8 out of ten of the tallest buildings are in Asia, while wealth and production find themselves centered there to a greater extent than ever before? Is it simply that the buildings go up where the money is, or are other nations speaking the American language of status back to America? Are they too competing, as the Chrysler corporation put it in a promotional booklet on its famed building, to reach "into the empyrean... seeking to pierce the ever- unfathomable blue above".
There is a certain irony in this comment of Chrysler Building contemporary, Arthur Dewing, "Just as the rulers and great nobles of Europe, the princes of India, and the long line of Chinese dynasts, used architecture to exalt themselves in their publics' eyes, and as the surest monument to their achievements, so do our industrial rulers act today." North American Review (no.231, 1931: 591-6).
I wouldn't be the first person to note the symbolic intentions of the men who brought down the World Trade Center. Not only did their target cause intense physical destruction and emotional pain it hit at what was perhaps the most tangible representation of a nation's preeminance. In bringing it down there was also psychological shock. Neither is it a matter of chance that the proposed redevelopmet of the former WTC site would be dominated by the Freedom Tower which would stand taller than any building today at 1,776 feet high. The symbolic message that height conveys is clear one (1776 should be a significant number to anyone familiar with American history).
The skyscraper is one of the quintessential American symbols. The great cities of America are decisively recognizable sihoulettes of spires. Aggregates of skyscrapers literally create new landscapes that challenge the natural scenery with messages of the nations towering wealth, American technological know-how and sheer power (I haven't even delved into the phallocentricity of the structures). So what does it say to the world that 8 out of ten of the tallest buildings are in Asia, while wealth and production find themselves centered there to a greater extent than ever before? Is it simply that the buildings go up where the money is, or are other nations speaking the American language of status back to America? Are they too competing, as the Chrysler corporation put it in a promotional booklet on its famed building, to reach "into the empyrean... seeking to pierce the ever- unfathomable blue above".
New species are discovered all the time but often they are insects. A new mammal species is a very rare event. This creature presently dubbed the "cat-fox" was recently discovered in Borneo.
12/05/2005
Who Said It?
Chronic remorse, as all the moralists are agreed, is a most undesirable sentiment. If you have behaved badly, repent, make what amends you can and address yourself to the task of behaving better next time. On no account brood over your wrongdoing. Rolling in the muck is not the best way of getting clean.
