A Stationary Odyssey

2011-12-02T21:04:00.003-05:00

It has been almost a full year since I posted, which is surprising in some ways and not so surprising in others. I've completed my three-year term at Ithaca College, and am now teaching at SUNY Cortland. The faculty, students, and facilities are great, and there may be on-going work there, which would be nice. I'm also taking pictures of cuneiform tablets at Cornell, which is an interesting job if a bit outside what I've been doing for the last, oh, twenty years. At Cortland, I've been working in the ceramic studio with Jeremiah Donovan again, which is fabulous. I've made a few pieces, and the kiln was just fired yesterday with a number of pieces of mine. I'll try to get a picture up after they are out of the kiln.

We've been making some cheese, and tried a "white-mold" cheese, this one based on a chevre-style goat cheese. It took a while for it to develop, but wow, was it good. I'll make some more soon, but cow's milk since I just picked up a gallon from Jerry Dell Farm.

2010-12-12T10:02:00.002-05:00

A couple of years ago, I started writing a play titled "In the Court of the Sea King." It was written on a small pad (5x8 or so), and was up to 28 pages (single side). Then it got packed away in a box and I didn't see it for a while. While looking for something else, I found it again. This morning will be used to type it into the computer and then backing it up so I don't have to hunt for it again.
I had almost given up on finding it, and wrote out an outline of it so I could start again. I was very happy to see that the outline and the written draft were more or less the same.

2010-11-21T08:13:00.002-05:00

Time for my semi-annual update here, it seems.

Yesterday, there was a party for my for boss, Karen Hartgen, in Albany. She retired from running the business she started 37 years ago. Through a combination of things, I found out on Friday, but went anyway. Nothing like 7 hours of driving for a 3 hour event. But without Karen giving me a job and letting me open an office in Ithaca, I would not be in the house I have or probably even have the job I love teaching at Ithaca College. I got the job because I was in the right place at the right time, and the right place was Ithaca. Laurie and I would have stayed in East Greenbush and gone on with life there. Working for Karen also made me a better archaeologist and got me experience working on a remarkable set of sites. The people I worked with and met because I worked for Karen are some of the best folks around, so for many reasons I am where I am today because Karen offered me a job.

Otherwise, life is doing well. Classes are going well, with some great students this semester. We had a good season of gardening, and have a cupboard filled with tomatoes, applesauce and a few other goodies to last at least into part of the winter. We've even planted some things for the spring, specifically winter wheat and garlic. The wheat may have been planted a little later than ideal, but at least it went in.

2010-03-17T21:36:00.003-04:00

It has been almost a year since I posted here, which is surprising to me in some ways and not others. It has been a very busy year.

The summer vanished between working, field work, and class prep. In the Fall, I taught Experimental Archaeology, which was a great class to teach. This spring, I'm teaching Medieval Archaeology and World Archaeology. This smmer, I'll be teaching Field Methods in Experimental Archaeology, which is a much more focused, hands-on course than the regular semester course. The first week will be making a series of mock sites or activity areas, to be followed with stone tool making, pottery making, cooking, then excavating the sites we made at the beginning of the class.

I'll try to post some pictures soon.

2009-04-25T17:53:00.003-04:00

After a long absence, I'm back! It has been a busy 4 months! We've moved into the new house, and Emma had her 2nd birthday. Here's a selection of photos:

Here's Laurie and Emma sitting at the kitchen counter in the new house in the new chairs we bought just after we brought them home. They are really a nice place to sit.

Emma wanting to get the flowers. She does spend a lot of her time standing on the chairs at the counter.

A slightly older view from the living room back toward the kitchen.

I'll get some more recent photos up soon.

2008-12-19T20:19:00.002-05:00

Emma in her secret lair. She has been hiding in the cupboard now and again, sometimes grabbing one or both of the portable phones with her.

And the house is coming along really well. This is actually from a few days back, but the exterior is done with the siding and the windows. The railing for the porch was added just in time for the deeper snow, so I don't have a great picture of that. The insulation is going into the attic, but we're a little delayed on getting electric service. The line crews have been called off to around Albany to deal with the ice storm, and they hit rock (big surprise) and that seems to have thrown them entirely off. At least one of the three poles is in place.

2008-11-27T08:27:00.003-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

The house has made amazing progress in the last two weeks since I posted. The interior framing is in for all the rooms. We went over with a couple of friends and gave a tour the other day. Emma had a great time running around.

The exterior of the house is fully enclosed with windows and doors, and the gable-end detail is in. We really like the houses in the area with the stick-style details, so we had some built for ours, too.

2008-11-12T07:51:00.002-05:00

A roof! Its been less than a month, and it went from a plot of ground to a basement, walls, and a roof.

I got this great picture of Emma in what will be the living room. She likes running around in the house but doesn't really know what it is yet.

2008-10-29T11:24:00.002-04:00

Ground has been broken on the new house. More than ground, rock. We hit bedrock three feet down. This pile of rock is most of a rock shelf that was ripped up by the backhoe. Emma is very interested in the whole thing.

Once the hole was ready and we got the building permit, the basement walls came in by truck and lowered into place on the gravel. They were then bolted together. When that was done, the floor joists were put on top, then the concrete floor was laid.

Once the subfloor was down, the exterior walls could go up. This was Monday, when we still had good weather. This view is of the dining room, showing the window openings.

They're out there again today, even with the wind and snow showers.

2008-09-17T15:59:00.003-04:00

Emma indicating that the cat is asleep. Here's Emma showing she's really bright - the cat is sleeping in the sun, and wouldn't play with her. So, she "said" using one of the few baby sign-language signs she knows that cat is asleep. The outfit was a gift from my sister-in-law, and chosen by Emma to wear today. She pulled it out of the drawer and snuggled it because it is so soft.

2008-08-19T19:32:00.002-04:00

Tomato season is in full swing here. Here are a couple of pictures:

The tomato Emma is carrying weighed in at 1 3/4 pounds.

This is a relatively small harvest from early on. We filled the basket with cherry tomatoes the other day, and then had big ones, too.

2008-06-28T18:39:00.002-04:00

We bought this Moroccan shirt for Emma at Disney when she was three months old. Now, at almost 15 months, she can wear it. This would be fun for her to wear if we went to the ren faire this summer, which I hope we can do.

The last month has been very busy. First we went to Maryland. This is the home of Thomas Stone, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

This is Schifferstadt, a Palatine German house built around 1756 in Frederick, Maryland. If you have a chance to go, definitely visit this house. It is one of the best house museums I've been to as the house itself is so well preserved, and has some remarkable features including a vaulted cellar.

Then we went to Massachusetts, where I made a trip to Maine because I could. The lupine were in bloom, and here they are.

I also went to the Saugus Ironworks, where my friend Neil Trubowitz is working as a guide. I found this out when I saw him walking up the path, so that was a nice surprise. The park has been recently refurbished, and is really nice.

Naturally, I have about a thousand pictures from my two trips, mostly of colonial sites. I've been preparing for my course at Ithaca College this fall, which has been both rewarding and educational even though I've been studying colonial society for a very long time.

2008-05-25T16:15:00.002-04:00

A trip to the park.

Today we went to Taughannock Falls Park for a picnic and a walk up the gorge to the high falls. It was a beautiful day.

Emma liked running around, and liked seeing the gorge, but didn't really want to be in her stroller.

We also went to Farmer's Market, where my dad sells plants and organic veggies.

We missed my brother's concert in Cortland, though.

2008-04-13T10:29:00.003-04:00

Emma and her birthday cake.

She did really well eating it, not being too messy, and even used the baby-sized fork for a bit.

She got lots of presents, whic she opened herself.

The bear was requested when she finished dinner, which was in the living room but she could still see it.

This outfit and the stacking toy were both popular, and she made sure everybody was at least offered one of the pieces.

All in all, a very nice day.

2008-04-12T10:21:00.001-04:00

Happy Birthday Emma! Emma turns one year old today, and we're having a little party later. I'll post more pictures later. But this was the smiling face I saw this morning.

2008-04-03T18:21:00.004-04:00

I've been laid off due to lack of work. The economic downturn has come home. And while there is some possibility I could be rehired if things improve, I'm not very hopeful on that.

I'm not really in the mood to post much in the way of pictures today.

I do have some good news, though. I've been asked to teach a course on Colonial Archaeology at Ithaca College in the fall. It won't pay a lot, but it should be satisfying and fun. It will certainly be work, too, but work I'll like to do.

2008-02-15T13:00:00.002-05:00

First tooth. Finally, 2 days after her 10-month birthday, Emma's first tooth is finally breaking through the gumline. We noticed a small rough spot in the afternoon, and then at dinner the tooth became apparent. It is just breaking the skin, so its not visible yet (she doesn't really show it off, either, more the opposite), but you can feel it.

This picture is from lunch today. Far too cute not to post.

2008-02-12T20:00:00.000-05:00

Ten months. Yep, we're in trouble. We've had to block some of the cabinets and rearrange a few things.

Emma and the Boss. We spent last week travelling back to both our home offices, mine near Albany and Laurie's outside of Boston. This is Emma with my boss Karen.

We also got to see some good friends who live in Western Mass, and we went out for pizza. Emma particularly liked the menu.

On the way back, we stopped in Saratoga. Here's Emma with Laurie's aunt Pam. I wish we could see them more often.

2008-01-22T19:16:00.000-05:00

Standing. Yep, that's Emma standing on her own. It doesn't last long now, but that will come shortly I'm sure.

She's also playing on her own, though sometimes I wonder at what she's playing.

And, just so you don't think we have a life of our own, we went out to dinner for Laurie's birthday, courtesy of her parents. They took Emma for the evening, and we went to Laurie's current favorite sushi place. We had pirate sushi, though I had to provide the pirates. :-)

2008-01-12T14:05:00.000-05:00

Emma's truck. For Christmas, my brother and sister-in-law gave Emma a cute little farm truck. She's liked it well enough as a toy to push around and watch zoom by, but today I put her in the back and pushed her around in it. She thought that was absolutely great.

She also got a balloon earlier in the week, which was also plenty of fun.

But of course, she also likes to play with the dishwasher and its contents...

2008-01-03T13:39:00.000-05:00

Just after Christmas, we went to Philadelphia for a friend's wedding. Of course, my pictures of Keith and Kate didn't come out, but here are a few pictures from the trip.

Here's Laurie in front of Independence Hall. The tickets for the day were sold out by the time we got there, so we didn't look at the inside at all.

Emma enjoying her new stroller and warm coat. She loves watching the scenery pass by.

And here we are at the wedding. The little gifts on the table were Christmas crackers, which are colorfully wrapped tubes that go "pop" when you open them. Mine had the paper crown and a kazoo, which Emma is trying out in the picture with Laurie.

2007-12-26T08:06:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas!

Emma enjoyed her first Christmas, and has been playing with her new toys. The rattle and the blocks are quite popular. (Lots of pictures today.)

We had a wonderful day yesterday, but this morning we received our gift from Emma: a full night's sleep. I awoke this morning to little sounds emanating from the crib, "meh...buh...deh." I listened for a few moments, then Laurie woke up and said, "She's not crying," then, a moment later, "Its light out." I put on my glasses and looked at the clock. "Its seven-thirty." We couldn't have asked for a nicer gift from our daughter.

Here are a few older pictures, since its been so long since I posted.

The seven-month smile.

Her new high chair is a hit!

Standing! This is the first time she stood up without being held. She grabbed the edge of the couch and pulled herself up. She does it all the time now.

2007-11-11T16:12:00.000-05:00

Halloween! Here's Emma in her Halloween outfit (Yes, I'm late posting this, but we all had a cold for the last week). But, as the net picture shows, she already knows what Halloween is all about.

Give me the candy! And no, we didn't let her have any this year.

2007-10-25T09:13:00.000-04:00

Belly time. Emma is now happy to lay on her tummy, and she's making progress getting toward crawling. She will roll around to get places, though she sometimes finds things like the couch that get in her way. At her check-up on Tuesday, she was 14 lbs 3 oz and was 27" long. In a development that does not necessarily bode well, she realized in advance that she was going to get her shots. But she only cried out when they were actually injected, and then settled down pretty quickly afterward, so it seems all may be well.

2007-10-14T21:28:00.000-04:00

Half-birthday. We decided to have a little party for Emma for her half-year birthday party. Of course, this required a half cake.

2007-10-13T08:05:00.000-04:00

Six month smile! Here's Emma on her six-month birthday. My dad had been away visiting family, and Emma was very happy to see him when he came back. With a little encouragement from Laurie and I, she got very smilely, and I caught this one on camera.

2007-10-12T13:56:00.001-04:00

Six months old. Emma is six months old today. But, rather than posting pictures form today, here are some images from the summer that I just got from my dad.

Emma and her grandfather.

Emma, her cousin (my niece) Maria, and me.

2007-10-10T09:26:00.000-04:00

Breakfast! Emma is getting more solid food there days. She started on baby rice a while ago, and now is eating avocado, applesauce, pears, carrots, peas, and sweet potatoes, plus some other things in the cupboard. She loves applesauce and avocado! She also, for the first time, drank from a cup, though not very much. She's been playing with a cup for a while, mostly treating it like any other toy -- pick up, stick in mouth. But she's been watching us eat and drink, and when I offered it to her, she took it as you'd drink from it. I put in a little water, and with plenty of help from me, she drank probably a teaspoon of water. Now, its not much, but a remarkable advance in my opinion. Then she went on to play with it, as you can see in the picture.

If you don't recognize the seat, it is called a Bumbo. Anyone with a baby should get one, since they are invaluable. I can feed her by myself with no trouble, rather than trying to get her to eat while holding her on my lap which is exteremely difficult. We bought ours at Babies-R-Us (in Syracuse, near Carousel Center and the Terminal Market). She can't sit up on her own, but the Bumbo holds her up and helps her figure out this whole sitting thing, and she can keep using it till she's over a year old. She loves being up and able to see, and we can do things like mix up her rice cereal while she's sitting in it, which is a huge improvment over holding a wriggling baby in one hand and trying to measure anything with the other.

2007-10-08T18:53:00.000-04:00

October. The fall is beginning in a remarkably mild fashion. Its been in the 80s during the day, and in the 50s at night. One evening it was a little cooler, so we brought out the footies. This picture was from the next morning.

Emma is finally paying attention to the cat. Today, she almost twisted out of her seat to get a good look at Sienna. We'll need to keep an eye on that.

I harvested the one and only Macoun apple from our tree over at the farm. It will probably do better when it is actually in the ground.

2007-09-25T13:35:00.000-04:00

Happy Autumn! Sadly, the image above is from two years ago, and there were no fringed gentian to be found this year. I didn't see any at Cornell's land, either, so something in the winter weather two years ago seems to have killed off the gentian, probably a warm spell followed by record cold. We sold the house where this picture was taken, but I did save some seed from the last year things bloomed. We'll see if the seed is still good.

Today, we close on the parcel of land at the farm!

2007-09-18T20:23:00.000-04:00

Five months. Emma turned five months old last week, but I've been working furiously on a project for the last two weeks so I didn't get the picture up on the day. The picture on the day is below; the picture above was today, with her first dress. She is doing remarkably well, and is trying to sit up but without much success yet. She is lifting her head and looking around, so it can't be that long before she starts.

Today, we spent an hour down at Myers Point, the town park on Cayuga Lake. Emma napped through most of it (yay!), and it was beautiful. The sun was out, there was a light breeze, and it was in the low-mid seventies. This is one of the reasons to live around here.

The water was brilliantly clear, with very light waves. I caught a wave in motion with the pebbles below, and the glittering lines of sun casting stripes on the lake bottom.

2007-08-28T09:22:00.000-04:00

Nineteen and a half weeks. No, she isn't actually sitting up on her own, but is propped up against the arm of the couch. She had her 4 month check-up on Friday, and is now 25 1/2 inches, and 12 lbs 2 oz. She got another round of shots, and then Saturday had a slight fever. Of course, it was also 96 degrees and humid, so she was really unhappy. She got two baths and two rides in the car to cool off. Sunday was much better, after the fever had gone away and some massive thunderstorms coold things off (we lost power for 5 hours on Saturday night, from 8:30 pm to 1:30 am).

We've also been working on getting her to nap, which is something of a challenge but we're making progress. We've seen some improvement already, with her able to get herself back to sleep at night on her own, which is a huge plus.

2007-08-21T20:46:00.001-04:00

Baby rice. Today, Emma finally had some baby rice, her first real solid food (or at least semi-solid). She screamed when the spoon wasn't in her mouth, but liked the rice cereal. This was not the case before when we tried this before (photos below).

These photos were followed up by horrible screaming in terror, like we were trying to poison her. The cereal was a national brand (not recalled), and we tasted it and the flavor was bad, with a distinct taste of vitamins. The version we gave her today, and that she liked, was a national organic brand. We tasted it first, and it was fine, if a little bland, but I guess that's reasonable for rice.

In other news, we've had a lot of visitors, including the Krauses from Oklahoma:

And my brother and his family in from Michigan (they have been in Uruguay for the last year, so we haven't seen them for a while)

2007-08-07T21:04:00.000-04:00

The elusive smile. I finally got a picture of Emma smiling when we were in Orlando.

Orlando? Yep. I went to a conference (why else do I travel anywhere?), and we all went. Here she is on the plane in her carseat, happily sleeping. Or perhaps we were happy she was sleeping. Except for a little fussiness on the first leg of the trip, she was great everywhere, on the planes, the bus, and at the hotel room. She even slept during the day.

Most of the time I was in the conference, but they had a special deal for conference goers for discounted tickets after 4:00 pm. So, we went to Epcot on the last day of the sessions when things ended by 4, and had a very nice time. We ate at a fabulous Moroccan restaurant, and heard the fireworks but didn't see them, which was ok given how loud they were even inside a masonry building fairly far from the launch site. We also got a little time at the pool, which was nice.

2007-07-19T20:28:00.000-04:00

Fourteen weeks. This first picture was really funny - I was eating pizza, got to the crust, and she took hold of it and started sucking on it. She really liked it.

Kerplunk baby.

Emma and Laurie. We've been showing lots of pictures of Emma and other people. So, here are two pictures to fix that.

2007-07-16T09:47:00.000-04:00

The odyssey was a little less stationary than usual this weekend. We got a truck on Saturday, and with the help of our firends and family, moved the big stuff (like couches, bed, etc) over to the house on Ryan's Way. There's still a bunch of stuff at the old house to mess with (like my work computer), but as the phone and internet gets moved over we'll vacate more thoroughly. Pictures will come soon.

2007-07-08T17:28:00.000-04:00

Emma and Grandpa. My dad just got back from visiting my brother in Uruguay. It took a moment, but Emma smiled at him at the bus station (and no, he didn't take the bus to Uruguay, just back from NYC). By the time we got my dad home, everything was back to normal.

2007-07-08T09:23:00.000-04:00

Emma at 11 weeks. This is a usual pose for her. The bluish cast is because its in natural light, where she loves to look out at the leaves.

And this fellow is Geoffrey Plantagenet, one of Emma's ancestors. She is related to him through his illegitimate son, Hamelin. Geoffrey had a daughter named "Emme" who married a Prince of Gwynedd, who would be Emma's great x20+ aunt. I haven't been able to find much about her yet except that she dies about 1214.

2007-06-29T15:47:00.000-04:00

Mmmmm, tasty! Emma was watching us eat dinner, and decided to try out my thumb for practice.

2007-06-28T10:07:00.000-04:00

Peeping Emma. Emma is now getting tall enough to see out over the top of the carrier we have. As usual, we took her down to Farmer's Market, and she was looking at everything.
On Monday, she was measured at 24" and a bit, and 10 pounds 14 ounces. By today, at 11 weeks old, she should be 11 pounds. She is healthy, hungry, and alert, and got her latest round of immunizations.

Last week, we had a tornado warning, with the storm predicted to pass very close to the airport. Since we live very close to the airport, we became very concerned. Sienna was looking for a place to hide for about an hour, even after the storm had passed. When I got out a pan to make dinner, she decided to try out that latest opportunity.

Last Sunday, my brother Steve did the latest Opera Cowpokes show, which was Emma's first concert. She seemed to enjoy it; we certainly did. He has also released his DVD, which is fun. I had a little trouble playing it on our older DVD player, but it turned out great played on the computer.

2007-06-16T20:34:00.000-04:00

Big Leaf Magnolia. This tree is in the gardens at Cornell Plantations. The flowers, as you see, are twice the size of my head. Emma is entirely hidden by the size of the leaves. These normally only grow in the south, but this is a protected spot at Cornell and so has grown taller than a two-story building.

2007-06-16T20:23:00.000-04:00

Two faces of Emma. The first is her inquisitive looking-around face. She uses it alot. The second is one she uses when she's happy and in the midst of smiling. It is fleeting, and blossoms into a full, glorious smile. Those pictures, of course, didn't come out.

2007-06-14T12:44:00.000-04:00

Fort Hardy. My current project is locating the French and Indian War fortification, Fort Hardy. The pictures here are of what is left of the earthworks of the fort. Last year, we went out and did Ground Penetrating Radar with Bodhi Rogers at Ithaca College. That allowed us to make an informed decision about where to excavate. We put in a small unit, and found not only the transition point of the rampart and ditch, but also three postholes from the wall that had been built at the top of the rampart. The first picture show a piece of the slope preserved in our excavation unit, and the second shows a profile of one of the post holes.

Admittedly, it doesn't really look like very much, but it really is an exciting thing to find. And an interesting point is that we found no artifacts with the earthworks, so there's nothing to draw looters to dig up the park to find "goodies."

2007-06-12T08:33:00.000-04:00

Bye-bye RAV. This is what happened to the RAV after the accident. The insurance company added up what it would cost to fix the car, it was more than 80% of the value, and declared it totaled. They cut me a check right there, plus one for a new car seat (they took away the old one). I went and bought a new car seat, then later we went and bought a Forester at Ridge Road Imports. We'll pick it up Saturday.

We also went to the planning board meting last night and got conceptual approval from the planning board. We'll need to bring them a drawing of the actual flag lot and the distance between the property line and the neighbor's house next month, and we'll also have the public hearing right afterward.

It was a pretty crazy day filled with big changes in what our lives will be like.

2007-06-10T10:04:00.000-04:00

A raft of pictures of Emma. The difference between now and just a couple of weeks ago is remarkable. She is smiling (a glimpse of which is in the first image), looking around, focussing on things, and being much more lively and active. In the last couple of days, she's been stringing sounds together in a way she hadn't before, in a form of proto-talking (yes, it will be a while before actual speech, but this is one of the early first steps toward speech). She's now eight weeks old, and will be two months old in the early part of next week.

On the accident and insurance front, we got called back and gave our statements to the insurance investigator so they can determine liability (which is pretty straight forward, but he needs all the statements before it can officially be determined). The local guy who will look at the car will be around tomorrow, since life never happens on weekends. We also won't get the rental car until tomorrow since it is reunion weekend and the rental agencies are out of cars.

2007-06-08T23:23:00.000-04:00

A lot has happened since I last posted, but tonight was tough. We were heading home from Cornell and were hit by a fellow driving too fast down a hill, in the rain, on a curve. We're all ok, but the RAV is pretty much trashed. The police cited him for failure to exercise sufficient caution under special circumstances, or something like that. Emma seems to have fared through this better than Laurie and I, probably because she has no idea what happened. Thank god for car seats.

I'll post more later.

2007-05-25T11:42:00.000-04:00

Its been a busy two weeks. I had a field project last week, the first time I've been away since Emma was born. I also sent a draft of the book based on my dissertation off to the editor at UofTennessee press. Over the weekend was the plant sale at the high school, and we helped my dad set up and take down for that. This week, Emma had an appointment to fix a little tongue-tie problem, and Laurie had a check-up with the mid-wife. Both are doing well, though Laurie is taking a while to fully heal from delivering a baby with a head size in the 90th percentile.

Yesterday, Richard and Madeleine closed on their new house, right around the corner from the farm. That was a grand thing, and then later in the afternoon we submitted our subdivision application to the town for the house lot we want to split off from the farm. We'll have a hearing with the planning board on June 11, then there will be a public meeting a month after that.

But the real reason anyone comes here is to see pictures of Emma, so here you go.

2007-05-12T22:48:00.000-04:00

Emma at one month. Two pictures that really show what she looks like now. She's up to about nine pounds (8 lbs 15 oz on Thursday), and is doing great all around. With the help of a lactation consultant, Laurie has had an easier time nursing, so we seem to be getting things somewhat under control here.

2007-05-09T10:09:00.000-04:00

More relatives. Laurie's Aunt Pam and cousin Joan came to visit on Monday. We had a very nice time, if too short.

We found out that soy-based formula does not agree with Emma. She gets horribly smelly gas and other digestive problems. It may be that it wasn't milk products but the soy in the regular formula we were giving her. On the advice of the doctor, we aren't giving soy to her any more.

At the moment, that means just breastfeeding with no supplement, which is a little hard on Laurie when she's sore or tired. We're going to see what we can find out about the dairy issue by reintroducing it to Laurie's diet. If that works out, we can go to a no-soy formula as a supplement.

2007-05-04T08:23:00.000-04:00

Sienna trying to assume her old position. This was a very funny moment. Sienna sniffed Emma very cautiously, then turned around and sat.

We had been getting concerned about the level of discomfort Emma had ben having from the gas, and when I mentioned it, Laura (one of the other archaeologists in Ithaca) said that she had had a similar problem, and she recommended that Laurie stop drinking milk to see if Emma was sensitive to milk proteins. So, instead of milk, Laurie started drinking almond milk. It worked. Emma has stopped having so much gas, and it seems much more comfortable for her.

2007-05-02T09:31:00.000-04:00

Just another picture a the farm.

2007-05-01T11:54:00.000-04:00

Emma amongst the flowers. These flowers are blooming at the farm, and we couldn't resist setting Emma down with them.

And, we have evidence that life does not come to a screeching halt with the arrival of a child, though there is some occasional screeching.

Here we are in the middle of making homemade pizza, and Emma was fascinated by the roasted red pepper. Of course, by the time I got the camera she was looking elsewhere, but that's the way it is sometimes.

Oh, and Happy May Day everyone!

2007-04-27T18:21:00.000-04:00

To celebrate Emma's two-week birthday, Laurie and I had a nice dinner of Morroccan Chicken and "Forbidden Rice," a deep red, naturally wine-colored rice with a delightful flavor. We followed it up with dessert from Sarah's Patisserie. But mainly, this is an excuse to put up another picture of Emma. Those are our orange trees in the background, which are just starting to set fruit.

2007-04-26T19:40:00.000-04:00

Emma had her second check-up yesterday, and she's back up to her birthweight, has grown a bit more, and is doing well all around. We don't need to take her in again for two months. Today, the bit of umbilical cord finally finished shrivelling up and fell off, so she has an actual belly-button.

Changing the subject entirely, this is a picture of me holding a bar of silver from the Atocha, one of the Spanish treasure fleet that sank in 1622. This bar is about the size of a loaf of bread, and weighs 77 pounds. How did I get my hands on it, and why am I holding it in a pizza joint in New Jersey?

On Monday, I had to go to a meeting with members of other firms our company is on a team with for an Army Corps project we bid on. The meeting was set up so the team members would have actually met before we went and talked to the Corps, which seems reasonable. The president of the firm who set up the meeting liked the restaurant and was friends with the owners, thus the choice of venue. His firm specializes in underwater survey and drilling, and has a lot of specialized equipment for finding things like underwater cables so they don't get caught during dredging operations. They also have been developing other equipment to find metal objects buried more deeply in sediment, such as unexploded ordinance for military contracts, and other metal things. In this case, the firm was working with Mel Fisher, the guy who found the Atocha, to find more of these silver bars, plus some that fell off a barge in New Jersey a hundred years ago. The bar in the picture was used to calibrate the new equipment, and it was brought to the meeting to show it off because its really cool. Thus, I end up holding a 17th-century silver bar from a Spanish shipwreck in a pizza joint in New Jersey. The bar is now safely back under lock and key (and was pretty safe during the meeting, given there were 4 uniformed police having lunch in the pizza place).

2007-04-21T15:02:00.000-04:00

A Trip to the Farmer's Market. Emma made her first trip out today, going to Farmer's Market. She slept through most of it in the sling Laurie had, so mostly it was a trip out for Laurie and I. It was a beautiful day, so it was like a day in late summer with huge crowds. The food vendors were selling out, and the lines were really long at the places that still had lunch items. We had a great time, though it was a little tiring for Laurie, and saw lots of our friends.

One thing that several people commented on was how long Emma's hair is. I've been thinking about it for a little while, and observing how her hair falls, which I need to watch as I'm combing her hair to prevent cradle cap. It appears that all her hair falls so it provides lines from the crown, and there are little tufts of hair on the tips of her ears. I also noticed that she had a tiny bit of hair on her shouder at birth, but it was gone in a couple of hours. Putting this all together, it looks like this hair is growing to make birth happen more smoothly by holding fluids as a lubricant and to prevent skin-to-skin friction between mother and child during birth. Her birth hair is supposed to fall out around 14 days after birth and her "normal" hair should grow in to replace it. Its a remarkable adaption to make birth easier, which given the size of a human baby, makes a lot of sense from a biological standpoint. [Ah, the things an anthropologist will notice.]

2007-04-20T08:16:00.000-04:00

Emma at one week. She actually sleeps peacefully quite a bit, which is wonderful.

2007-04-18T18:28:00.000-04:00

Emma had her first check-up today, and she is doing great. Her color is excellent, she's eating well, and if the meaurements are right she is an inch longer and her head is half an inch bigger around. Her weight is going up, too, and should be back to birth weight on a typical schedule.

2007-04-16T19:53:00.000-04:00

Home at last. Emma is wearing a shirt from the Farmer's Market, given to us by Jeanne, my sister-out-law. It works so much better than the various gowns given us at Laurie's baby showers since Emma is so wriggley.

2007-04-16T14:50:00.000-04:00

We're home. Its nice to be here. Our cat Sienna immediately recognized something different was going on. Emma, of course, was oblivious.

2007-04-15T10:40:00.000-04:00

Laurie had a fever last night for a short period of time, so they are going to keep her here until Monday. Except for that episode, she's been doing great, as is Emma. This child is remarkably strong, as she is already holding her head up a little when you try to burp her on your shoulder.

2007-04-14T18:44:00.000-04:00

A contented baby. Here's Emma with me, just after she finished nursing and is really happy and content. Of course, a few minutes later she had some gas pains and was really unhappy about that, but we didn't take a picture of that.

2007-04-14T12:14:00.000-04:00

Its been almost two days, and everything is going amazingly well. Emma is sweet and quiet, only fussy when there's a reason. She's eating well, had all her tests (hearing, blood work, etc) and has passed with flying colors. She had a little stomach irritation which the doctors wanted to make sure was nothing more serious, and it wasn't. A bit of attention and she's doing great. Laurie is recovering, looking better every day, and will head home tomorrow. As you'd expect, she's got some discomfort, but it is receding and she's doing just fine. Our family doctor has stopped in, checked us all out, and all are doing just great.

I took a little time this morning and went down to Farmer's Market and told everyone down there, and the joy in everyone's face is just a mirror to my own. Its so great to see everyone else as happy as we are. I also ran into an old friend from years ago, Linnie, and met her husband and two daughters. She moved back to Ithaca a little before we did, and has been here since. She's good friends with our friends Mike and Jean, proving once again that Ithaca is a wonderful place that it is. This is why we came back, and now we have even more of a reason to be happy to be here since our daughter can have the same kind of friends and fun that we have.

Oh, and the nurse that helped with the delivery is the wife of one of my archaeologist friends from Cornell.

2007-04-12T20:06:00.000-04:00

Emma, Laurie and I have been spending a sleepy couple of hours together. Emma is as sweet as you could hope for, with barely a cry once she settled down. There was one minor spit-up episode, and when I carried her to the bathroom to get a towel, I set off the alarm (the babies have a sensor that triggers when they get close to the door, and we're near the end of the hall). Oops. The nurse came within seconds, showing how excellent the staff is here, followed by another in less than a minute.

Looking at Laurie holding Emma, I see right there a reason to change the world. I can't imagine letting this precious soul live in a world as some people have described the future. She carries the name of my grandmother and my mother, two of the most important women in my life (the others are Laurie and Emma), and I can only hope I do as good a job with Emma as they did with their families. I think about the life I want for her, and it should be as wonderful as possible. I'm going to do what I can to make that happen.

2007-04-12T14:18:00.000-04:00

At 12:49 pm EDT, Emma Carol Stull was born at the Cayuga Medical Center. She is 8 pounds, 3 ounces, and 20 inches long. Her first picture was taken when she was two minutes old.

Mother and baby are both doing just fine. We left for the hospital at 2:30 am, and pushing started at 10:00 am, so that part took almost 3 hours. This part was pretty tough, but everything worked out in the end. Emma is already active and nursing, though she seems to like putting her hands in her mouth which tends to interfere with nursing. She's been looking around, quiet and pleasant, and didn't even cry when she got her state-required Vitamin K shot (a blood coagulant).

So, all is well. We'll be here at the hospital till probably Saturday morning. She has already met her grandparents, so that's all good.

One more picture, at 1 hour old.

2007-04-12T01:32:00.000-04:00

On our way.

We're about to leave for the hospital. Laurie's contractions are pretty close, about 3-4 minutes, and are lasting 30-60 seconds. They are also much more intense, making her unable to talk through them. That is the sign we've been waiting for. I actually got about 2 hours of sleep, too.

More later.

2007-04-11T14:15:00.000-04:00

Eight out of eight. The biophysical untrasound showed that the baby was in excellent condition (8 out of 8 points examined), so there is no immediate need to induce. So, we're back to waiting again, and Plan B is to induce on Monday morning. Plan A, obviously, is to go naturally before that, but we'll just wait and see. There was something of an adrenaline surge when it was mentioned possibly today, but at least we have the finality of an end date.

But, having said all this, the signs are still promising for much sooner than that.

2007-04-11T09:52:00.000-04:00

We just came back from a visit to the midwife. The contractions Laurie has been having have had an effect, but she's scheduled for a biophysical profile in a little while for an ultrasound of the baby. The results of that will determine whether Laurie will be induced shortly (i.e. today) or tomorrow.

I'll post again later.

2007-04-10T20:59:00.000-04:00

Potato Pancake. As a change from the endless waiting, here's a picture of the potato pancake I made for dinner. The sun actually spilled across the stove this evening while I was cooking, but the other pictures had a light splash because it was so bright. I waited to get this picture for a couple of minutes while the pancake was cooking.

2007-04-09T10:09:00.000-04:00

It seems a clean kitchen is what we have.

2007-04-08T21:05:00.000-04:00

Early labor?

Laurie has been having short but fairly intense contractions for the last couple of hours. This is more than we've seen before, so things are looking promising for "soon." I've tidied up the kitchen, watered the plants, set some food down for the cat, and we're getting ready for an early bedtime just in case we need to get up in the middle of the night.

It may not be tonight, but at least the kitchen is clean.

2007-04-07T00:29:00.000-04:00

The fetal monitor showed the baby is doing just fine. All we need is for it to decide to make its debut.

In other news, I was enticed to play in a Shadowfist tournament, which I haven't played in about 10 years. I lost. I lost so much I was the king of losers. But it was fun and a pleasant social occasion, and unlike poker, when you lose playing this card game you don't lose any money. Plus, I got some nice consolation prizes (more cards, of course).

2007-04-05T22:22:00.000-04:00

Still waiting. It seems like everything is on hold while we're waiting for the baby to decide its ready. This almost seems to be the worst part of it, since we've been ready for almost three weeks, and nothing seems to have really changed much in that amount of time. Tomorrow Laurie will have a test with an external fetal monitor to make sure everything is still ok.

2007-04-04T11:39:00.000-04:00

Here it is. This is the house my in-laws are going to buy. The grass is still brown from the winter and the weather went from beautiful blue sky to grey clouds, but its a very nice place.

2007-04-03T21:49:00.000-04:00

I've just been elected president of the local chapter of the New York State Archaeological Association. It should be fun.

2007-04-02T08:36:00.000-04:00

Still nothing. We have an appointment with the midwife tomorrow, and it seems we'll make it. Laurie is really getting ready to be done with the pregnancy and move on to being a mom.

2007-04-01T10:34:00.000-04:00

Today is a day when no news is actually news.

But there is news from earlier in the week: Richard and Madeleine have found a house, made an offer, and made it through the inspection. Unless something remarkable happens, they'll be moving to Ithaca in July (closing on the house in the end of May). Apparently, the guy that inspected the previous house is notorious for scaring off buyers with his inspection reports. The realtor they're working with said that the folks who have used that inspector have failed to close on every house he's looked at for her clients. This inspector was much better and didn't scare the stuffing out of my in-laws.

Also, if you have old but decent computer equipment, take it to Babbage's Basement in Ithaca. They take all kinds of stuff, and the money for selling it goes to the ScienceCenter. And, if you need old computer stuff, check them out.

2007-03-18T14:04:00.000-04:00

My in-laws are back on the house hunt. After getting the inspection report, they were concerned about the cost of making changes to the house, and the seller decided not to accept their revised offer. So, they are looking again. Ah, well.

The weather has been crazy the last few days. Last week, it was 60 degrees F, last night we got almost a foot of snow, and it will be 60 again next weekend. At least the new sump pump is working well.

In other news, we were given a TiVo machine and subscription by our friends John and Jane. Its really fun, and you can walk away from the TV and come back and watch the show again from where you left off. You can also record movies and shows that are on in the middle of the night, and watch them when you feel like it.

2007-03-12T19:52:00.000-04:00

Laurie at 37 weeks.

Earlier, I posted the first picture from the ultrasound. That was at about 11 1/2 weeks. You couldn't hardly tell Laurie was pregnant. This is the other end of things, with the baby due officially in three weeks. The midwife said that it could really come at any time and be considered full term. Looking at her, you'd believe that. We have our car seat and all the recommended supplies, so we're ready. We only need to wait for the baby to decide its ready, and that's fine.

2007-03-11T12:13:00.000-04:00

The weather is finally beginning to warm up, and snow is starting to melt. The early switch to daylight savings time took me by surprise, and it wasn't until I saw my brother's blog that I remembered.

I've been making some more progress on my genealogy research. One branch of Laurie's family seemed to like living on French tropical islands. This distinguished lady, Elizabeth Boisson De La Rousseliere, lived on Reunion, in the Indian Ocean near Mauritius. She was the Major's great grandmother. Others lived in the French Antilles, including one that was an early French explorer of Martinique, Domenica, and Guadeloupe. His name was Guillaume d'Orange, and he was sent on his exploration by the French governor in about 1631. I'm going to try to find a book about the colonization of Guadeloupe and see if I can learn more.

2007-03-07T13:07:00.000-05:00

News Flash!

Laurie went to see the midwife this morning, and the baby is starting to drop. Everything is right on schedule. For all those things we said, "We have time, so we'll do it later," its now later.

2007-03-07T13:02:00.000-05:00

My in-laws' new house.

Richard and Madeleine have made an offer on this house which has been accepted. Its over in Community Corners, walking distance to shops, restaurants, banks, a florist, a barber shop and a salon, and all that, plus is very close to the mall (but not really walkable). Its got a nice big living room and three bedrooms, so it should work out really well for them.

2007-03-01T08:06:00.000-05:00

Saratoga Springs in winter.

On the way back from Boston, we stopped and saw Laurie's aunt in Saratoga. This is one of the springs in High Rock, either the Governor or the Peerless. One is said to be "mild" or some other innocuous description, but they were both pretty nasty and sulfurous. Laurie tried one once several years ago, and refuses to ever drink from it again (for good reason). But, the ice on the fountain looked great, and I always like to take a litle sip when we go by.

2007-02-21T15:48:00.000-05:00

Woodman's of Essex.

While out taking pictures of old houses, I stopped for lunch at Woodman's of Essex. We used to live less than 10 miles away, and would head over once in a while when we felt like splurging. Now, this picture is about as close as Laurie should come to eating there until her allergy to mussels is better understood and we know for certain it doesn't extend to relatives like clams.

This is the clam dinner, complete with both french fries and onion rings. The clams are whole, with the bellies, not just the clam strips you get outside New England. I've had fried clams on Cape Cod, and these are simply better. I suspect it has something to do with what they eat.

But its been a beautiful day, and I have the power cord to the laptop so I can post again. Thanks for sending it along, Dad. Now I just need to organize my photos so I can use them.

2007-02-19T11:52:00.000-05:00

Boston.

Laurie and I are in Boston this week. The power cable for my laptop didn't make it into the bag, so this may be a rare posting. My dad is looking after the house, but he had a pipe break and the water made the hallway ceiling collapse. Its all still getting sorted out, but when I talked to Steve it was in the process of getting fixed.

2007-02-15T11:31:00.000-05:00

President Bush and Geoffrey Chaucer.

Ancestry.com has a feature called "find a famous relative." I did that, and discovered that President George Bush is my 8th cousin. My 8x great grandmother was Grace Heaton, which is through the Stull-Sullivan-Ing line, and that was his 8x great grandmother, too. That same line also goes back, much further, to Sir Isaac Newton, but also includes Rutherford B. Hayes and a few other folks. A different branch, Stull-Sullivan-Smothers, shows that Geoffrey Chaucer was my 17x great grandfather.

2007-02-13T19:18:00.000-05:00

The Major.

With more genealogy research, I was looking into Laurie's family. This is Major Augustus D. Blanchet of the 27th New Jersey Volunteers. I found this photo on the New Jersey Archives site. He was Laurie's great-great-grandfather, on her mother's side. He lived in Morrisville, New Jersey. Going beyond the Major has been tricky, since family names change quite regularly, but it appears the family descends from French colonists on Guadeloupe and a collection of knights and similar nobility from Normandy and Brittany, and probably more than that. I'll try to get it all sorted out.

2007-02-12T22:10:00.000-05:00

Fulk the Rude.

I've been doing some geneological research, and I have found a remarkable line going back to the 11th century (and more). Through my grandmother's family, we are related to the 11th century Count of Anjou, Fulk the Rude. Now, the link is pretty small - my grandmother's great grandmother was Jane McDonald. Today, I found some more information about Jane McDonald. Her mother was Elizabeth Brownlee, and the Brownlee's go back far six generations and their name was Browne, specifically Thomas Browne, born in 1575. His great-great-grandmother was Margaret Warren, born about 1374. Her great-grandfather was John De Warenne, born 1286. His great-grandfather was William Plantagenet, born 1166. William Plantagenet's great great grandfather was Fulk the Rude, Count of Anjou, born 1042 and died in 1109. Fulk was a contemporary of William the Conqueror, and he is also one of William Plantagenet's great-great-grandfather's, so I'm also descended from William the Conqueror. He's my great x25 grandfather or thereabouts. But so is Fulk the Rude, which is much funnier. I'm going to see what I can find out, but my first foray didn't say how he got the name.

2007-01-31T12:19:00.000-05:00

The Bluebird of Happiness?

Today, we were visited by four bluebirds, perching in the ash trees outside our front windows. The sky was overcast and bright, which made getting a decent picture difficult, but this one came out ok, enough that you can see what it is.

We were really happy to see the bluebirds. Neither Laurie nor I have seen them here before, so seeing two pairs was really encouraging. We should look at the bluebird boxes at the farm, and possibly replace them if they have gotten old or weatherbeaten. I know we'll need to do double boxes due to the large number of tree swallows at the farm.

I'm not sure we have the best environment for bluebirds, but maybe they'll nest on the far side of the yard and then go eat in the big fields at Cornell.

2007-01-30T20:07:00.001-05:00

A clean bill of health.

Laurie and I went to meet our new doctor today. Our health insurance company changed, and my doctor changed from general practice to specialized research, so it was time. The doctor listened in a way that was rare for what I've seen from doctors, and he was excellent. The main thing I had done in terms of an actual check-up was a screening for melanoma or suspicious moles on my skin. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary, and we got some tips to wach for: Asymmetry, Border (irregular), Color (2 or more), Diameter (more than 0.5 cm), and Elevation (raised moles with an uneven surface). None of the moles I have exhibit these, so all is well. The rest of the check-up went fine, with the not-to-surprising advice of getting more exercise.

This exam was very encouraging for me, since I got a note from my boss that her husband, another archeologist, has been given a prognosis of 3-4 months to live after a long fight with melanoma. I know how hard this is going to be, and all my best goes out to them and their family.

2007-01-25T21:21:00.000-05:00

Hello Winter!

Winter has really arrived in Ithaca. The snow is coming down at about a half-inch or more an hour, and the low tonight is forecast for 3 degrees F, and a windchill of potentially -20. The advisory says exposed flesh could freeze in 30 minutes or less, causing forstbite.

And to think, I used the barbecue to cook Christmas Eve dinner...

2007-01-24T08:14:00.000-05:00

Appalled but not surprised. The Harvard news service has just released a study of the nicotine content of cigarettes from 1997-2005. The nicotine content has steadily risen by 1.6 % each year to a total of 11% more nicotine. I really dislike smoking, and I think the tobacco companies are among the most unethical corporate entities in the world.
I am really happy to see that over half the American population lives in places where smoking is banned in public places (bars, restaurants, etc), and hope at some point the tobacco companies are regulated out of business. Some people will complain about the economic impact and the loss of jobs that will result. The government also tries to put marijuana dealers and other criminals out of business, and people don't make an economic argument against that. With over 400,000 tobacco-related deaths every year, these guys should go out of business. Yes, I know there are lots of regular folks across the south that grow tobacco as a cash crop to supplement their income. I'd be happy to have the U.S. Department of Agriculture help them grow something else to replace it.

2007-01-21T10:43:00.000-05:00

Dinner at Pangea. Last night, Laurie's parents took us to Pangea for dinner for her birthday. As usual, the food was excellent.

Friday, we went to the Ithaca Ale House with JP, as another birthday-like outing. It was the first time I'd been there, and really liked it. I had a flight of their draft beers, and had 4 I'd never had before. That is something fairly rare these days, and they were all good, too.

2007-01-18T11:36:00.000-05:00

Back from Williamsburg.
We had a great time in Williamsburg. We got to stay in a colonial house, the Richard Crump House, built in the mid-1700s. The Williamsburg Inn has about 30 of these houses in the historic area that they use as guest rooms. For us, it was the same price as staying in the Lodge, so it was an easy choice. We had to go over to the main building to get Internet service, which made things a little tricky at points, but we managed.

The conference went well. I met with the new archeology editor at the University of Tennessee Press, and am going to send him an interim draft this week (which means by tomorrow). I still have more work to do, obviously, but things are looking promising. I also went to a number of interesting sessions and made contacts with people, so overall I think it went well.

On the way back from Williamsburg, we decided to take the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel, which was a nice drive. We also saw these interesting diving ducks, and when I went to look them up found out they are Long-tailed Ducks. Apparently, not much is known about their wintering range, but mostly have been seen in the great lakes, maritime Canada, and along the northeast coast. They weren't mentioned for this far south. I sent a note over to someone at the Lab of Ornithology, but haven't heard back yet (which is not surprising). I may go over and talk with someone when I get a chance.

When I got back, amongst my throngs of e-mail was a note about the American Anthropological Association meetings this fall, which are in DC. The theme is Difference, (In)Equality, and Justice, and the Archaeology Division was asking for archaeological papers that touch on it, including such things as class inequality and colonialism. My dissertation looks right at this, so I'm going to submit an abstract.

2007-01-08T10:13:00.000-05:00

Off to Williamsburg! The SHA annual meeting is in Williamsburg this year, and will include events celebrating the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown. I'll post some pictures once I get there.

2006-12-30T23:11:00.000-05:00

Drinking Liberally.

I found a mention of this group, http://drinkingliberally.org/, which has a chapter in Ithaca. It seems like a group that gets together at a bar and drinks and talks politics, and are liberal. It sounds interesting enough that I might wander in some time.

2006-12-18T10:59:00.000-05:00

Christmas Gingerbread House.

As we were getting ready for Thanksgiving this year, I found the gingerbread house mold I was given years ago, but only used once to make a chocolate house. We decided that we'd actually make the gingerbread house this year. Here it is in front of our Christmas tree (the first we've had in three years, mainly because we had been travelling for Christmas until this year). The gingerbread itself is quite strong and crisp, with no leavening at all, but tastes really good, like a molasses gingersnap.

Unfortunately, I forgot to mention the "molasses" part to Dan, who was part of the group that came over on Saturday for a little get-together. Molasses makes Dan's mouth tingle, apparently some kind of food sensitivity, and he tried one of the cookies. He knew immediately that it had a lot of molasses in it (organic molasses, of course), so stopped after biting off the head of the gingerbread man. He said it was probably OK, but had a couple of other things to clear the molasses out as a precaution.

The "smoke" rising from the chimney is a pair of meringue cookies put together with the same frosting that was used to assemble and decorate the house.

2006-12-14T22:46:00.000-05:00

Artisanal Food

http://www.cultureby.com/trilogy/2006/11/the_artisanal_m.html

My brother posted this link on his blog, which is another blog (blog, blog, blog - sounds like an ogre walking through mud in a fairly tale). It is about the rise of artisanal food, mainly in the U.S. with a mention of Europe but my brother also sees it in Uruguay.

As someone who has made his own cheese, bread, mead, beer, vinegar (though it was terrible and I threw it out), and more, and buys as much at the Farmer's Market as I can, I really believe I am part of this "movement." I think the original post is good, but leaves out some other issues such as food miles as part of the locality issue. I read about global climate change, see where it comes from (trucks bringing food from California to New York, for example), and say, "I want to help stop that." So, I don't buy California foods unless I don't have a choice. There's also issues like taste, nutrition (fresher foods have more nutrients), and the absence of rocket fuel or, hopefully, E. coli. I suspect Ithaca is a hotbed of this kind of thinking.

One interesting comparison would be the Arts and Crafts movement of 100 years ago, which I think is based on a similar ideology. Perhaps I'll follow up on that if I get a chance.

Here's a picture of our cheese making in progress, the "bag method" of draining the curd. Its hanging over the sink.

2006-12-14T16:07:00.000-05:00

The new laptop has a built in media reader, so I can directly read both the memory stick from my camcorder and the card from Laurie's digital camera. Here are some images from various places. I'll put more up as I go along.

This first picture is from Green Lakes State Park, near Syracuse. The lake has a reef-like formation, made of calcium carbonate around bateria. The lakes are very deep, and the marl creates a shelf just below the surface. A variety of unusual things, like fresh-water sponges, live below the shelf.

This is a view down the lake, which is a small glacial lake.

2006-12-13T13:34:00.000-05:00

Even in Texas, the GOP loses...

http://www.hillnews.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/121306/bonilla.html

2006-12-13T13:01:00.000-05:00

Upgrading technology.

Yesterday, we replaced a dozen incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescents (CFL), which, presuming average use, should save a ton of C02 production a year. Now, most of the lights are ones we don't use that much, but it should make a difference. We also replaced one desk light that had 2 40W incandescents with a larger light that has 3 20W CFLs for a net reduction of about 20W and a net gain of, oh, a couple thousand lumens. Its bright enough we don't need the overhead anymore except on rare instances. The new lamp also has the option to turn on and off each bulb independently, so we can cut it down as much as we like. The reports say that if each household replaces one incandescent with one CFL, the energy demand for the country will be cut by some enormous amount. I guess we've helped counter-act a few less-enlightened households since we did 12.

I also got a new laptop that is really nice, replacing the old one that came from our friend Florence. It has the fingerprint swipe sensor, which as much as it seems like something from Mission Impossible, is convenient. You swipe your finger and it logs you on. You can also use it for websites, so you don't have to worry so much about keyboard captures from spyware if those make it onto the system. The only problem so far is it doesn't seem to hold the wireless connection at home very well. It seems like the wireless connection disables itself after a little while being idle. I'll try updating the drivers and see if that helps.

In other news, we're having a holiday party on Saturday, so if I missed sending an email, you know us, are local, and see this in time, drop by. If you're not local and happen to be in the area, drop by too.