In an earlier post, I neglected to mention that Uncle Fishy and RMD engaged a party bus to transport revelers to and from the dinner at Blue Hill at Stone Barn. Conditions on the roads were icy and treacherous, which means the trip took longer than it might have. Also, there was a wine pairing for each course of the dinner.
So, on the way back, there was singing on the bus. A lot of singing. There were folks on the bus who knew every word to Christmas songs I didn’t even know existed. For example, “Dominic the Donkey”:
Category Archives: Passing thoughts
Metamorphosis.
The elder Free-Ride offspring drew this picture (on two sides of the same piece of paper).
I think I detect some M.C. Escher influence here.
How I spent last weekend.
Blogging has been light for a while owing to the fact that the Free-Ride family was in transit to the wilds of New Jersey in order to celebrate Uncle Fishy and RMD getting hitched.
The inner workings of the North Pole.
I was presented with this picture by the younger Free-Ride offspring.
I’m not entirely sure whether it’s more accurate to describe it as a map or a process diagram. However, this being December 24th, it is timely.
Here is what I can glean from the various pieces of the diagram:
Year-in-review meme 2008.
Blogging, philanthropy, and commerce. (Oh my!)
I realize that I forgot to mention here that I’ve been writing posts on the Invitrogen-sponsored group blog What’s New in Life Science Research. The blog is hosting discussions about stem cells, cloning, biodefense, and genetically modified organisms. (The cloning discussion just started yesterday.) As you might guess, I’m primarily blogging about the ethical dimensions of these biotechnologies. We’d love to have you get involved with the conversation.
In other news:
Hippo Thanksgiving.
The younger Free-Ride offspring offers this drawing of a hippo exhorting you to remember Thanksgiving.
Some Thanksgiving recipes (part 1).
Having posted what I’m making for Thanksgiving, I am happy to accede to your requests for the recipes. Of course, I encourage you to violate the recipes at well (since that’s how I was taught to cook).
I’m posting these in two batches, so if you don’t see the recipe you were looking for here, it will be posted in the next recipe post, which should be up by tonight.
Thanksgiving.
Back when I was a college student, Thanksgiving meant getting myself home to Northern New Jersey from metropolitan Boston.
Before my parents entrusted me with the fire engine red ’77 Chevy Impala station wagon my junior year, this involved inviting another student who hailed from the West Coast and who had a car on campus to spend the holiday with my family. Once I was in possession of the station wagon, it was an occasion for me to provide a ride home to another denizen of Northern New Jersey who was car-less at school. But once I was home, it was the typical holiday meal with parents and siblings, the Friday spent at a high school football game (not to actually watch our team lose, but to say hi to other classmates home from college), the hope that the pull of It’s a Wonderful Life or King Kong or whatever other classic movie the local stations were showing on TV would be stronger than the siren song of the malls. Then laundry, packing up, and driving back to school to finish the semester.
When I moved out to California for grad school nearly two decades ago, going back to New Jersey for the Thanksgiving holiday was pretty much off the table. Luckily, a bunch of my friends from college migrated to the Bay Area at about the same time I did, so we began a Thanksgiving potluck that has become our traditional holiday feast.
Five things meme.
Zuska tagged me; I am helpless to resist it.
5 Things I Was Doing 10 Years Ago:
- Suspecting I was pregnant (I was)
- Drafting thesis chapters
- Walking 5-10 miles a day
- Taking dance classes (Argentine tango and big band swing)
- Playing Snood
5 Things On My To-Do List Today: