On the Metro, heading to the National Zoo
Making friends wherever she goes (human and animal)
She was very interested in the dinosaur, even when there were big cats right over her shoulder
There weren’t many perfect photo ops, but this was one of them.
Seriously, how do women vote for Republicans? How is that even possible? I know God and guns and taxes are important to conservatives, but I’d be more concerned about opinions on reproduction that date back to the 18th century.
“The interesting thing here is that this is an individual who sits on the House Committee on Science and Technology but somehow missed science class,” Mr. Obama said at a fundraiser in New York City Wednesday night. “But it’s representative of a desire to go backwards instead of forwards. And fights that we thought were settled twenty, thirty years ago.”
File this under When I Get Some Play Money: CD Changer Interfaces and Conversion Kits for Jukeboxes and Wallboxes. The installation instructions look remarkably easy.
Another Buckaroo Banzai post on Metafilter. Because it’s awesome.
There’s a lot happening around here, and not enough time to write about it all.
- We are 3/4 of the way through the second season of Game Of Thrones, to the detriment of our sleep schedule. HBO On Demand is awesome. Now we need to find an inexpensive way to get it up to our bedroom.
- After a flight of test drives, we’re pretty much settled on a 2009+ Honda Accord; it has the right balance of size, options, economy and resale value for our family. We’re just waiting for a manual transmission with ~40K to appear somewhere within 75 miles of here. Midsize sedans were just too small to fit all of us and two carseats; my intent is to use this car as a commuter and summertime vacation transport to lighten the load on the CR-V. And, to our surprise, the 2007+ CR-V (fourth generation) turned out to be bigger than we though it would. Our 2006 is optioned much better, and the fit + finish is superior, but we were very impressed. Next time…
- My batch of Surly Cynic has settled down to the point where it’s ready for secondary fermentation. Hopefully I can get to it this weekend…
- Jen found an awesome thrift store down in Columbia which seems to carry a ton of major-label clothes in very good condition; it’s clean, well-lit, and organized, which is a refreshing change. Even though most thrift merchandise is skewed towards the XL+ range (which tends to sit on shelves longer) I found a few things that fit very well, for a total of about $10.
- Finn’s summer camp has come to an end, which means she’s home for the next month before preschool starts up again. We’re still working out the details for fall daycare, but hopefully we can find a good solution.
From my father via email: Is this really the best beer in America? There are lots of good brews to sample here. I must go find my debit card.
I was a Piers Anthony fan in Junior High School, so I found this episode of This American Life fascinating: a 15 year old fan traveled 1,000 miles, alone, to meet his hero, who didn’t know he was coming.
I’ll write a little more later. For now, a picture of the Scout with spare tire mounted, temporarily. I need to find some lug nuts.
→ This is a syndicated post from my Scout weblog. More info here.
Wow, we were social butterflies this weekend. Friday night we hosted Dan and Elena for an evening of food, brewing, and storytelling on the front lawn. Dan got a batch of saison in the can to ferment in our basement (the climate is much friendlier to beer down there). Saturday afternoon Finn stayed awake through naptime to attend a birthday party across town, where swings were swung, bubbles were blown, capes were worn, and laughter was had. When we got home she stayed awake with Mama while I brewed my beer—a partial mash recipe which took longer than a standard extract kit. I chilled it a little too cold so it had to sit overnight to warm up before adding yeast, but the starting gravity is within .002% of where it should be.
Sunday we drove up to my boss’ house for a pool party with the whole office, where the adults may well have been outnumbered by the kids. The water was 85° so Finn was happy to get in, and within about 30 minutes she was paddling around by herself. I was lucky enough to win one of several games and walked away with $50, which was a happy surprise. At 2:30 we scooped Finn out of the pool and headed home, where she crashed out until 5:30. Our neighbors invited us over for dinner, so while Mama was out shopping Finn and I walked down the street and played until almost 10PM. When Jen and I headed back upstairs for the evening, Finn’s light was shining under the door, and this is what we found after tiptoeing inside:
