I'm very excited by the fact that my blog has international visitors - aside from the Germans and Canadians my first non-American visitor was Danish so I want to give the Danes a special mention. Aren't Danes great?? Great Danes!! I found this out by using Web Counter Stats and you can, too: statsNovember 13, 2008
Web Counter Stats
I'm very excited by the fact that my blog has international visitors - aside from the Germans and Canadians my first non-American visitor was Danish so I want to give the Danes a special mention. Aren't Danes great?? Great Danes!! I found this out by using Web Counter Stats and you can, too: stats
Letter to the Editor
I just wrote a letter to the editor:
Let's Repower America: America faces some big challenges but has already shown a willingness to learn and change with the recent presidential election. In order to solve our economic, environmental and security challenges we need to get away from dependence on dwindling fossil fuels. Let's follow Al Gore's plan to repower America with 100% clean energy in 10 years. Other cities and countries that have followed this course are thriving economically, breathing clean air, not to mention saving money on fossil fuels. WE can do it, too. Yes, we can.
You can too: goforit
For more information about the We Campaign (started by Al Gore) go here: wecansolveit
Let's Repower America: America faces some big challenges but has already shown a willingness to learn and change with the recent presidential election. In order to solve our economic, environmental and security challenges we need to get away from dependence on dwindling fossil fuels. Let's follow Al Gore's plan to repower America with 100% clean energy in 10 years. Other cities and countries that have followed this course are thriving economically, breathing clean air, not to mention saving money on fossil fuels. WE can do it, too. Yes, we can.
You can too: goforit
For more information about the We Campaign (started by Al Gore) go here: wecansolveit
November 12, 2008
Do I actually like Facebook?
Last week I registered for Facebook in response to an invitation from one of my colleagues. It wasn’t the first invitation I’d received but I’m the classic late adopter – I tell myself that this helps me design great software because I’m designing for other late adopters. Anyway, by now virtually every person I’ve ever so much as shaken hands with is on FB so I went ahead and signed up. Then I spent two days almost exclusively on FB, looking around, trying things, seeing what works (for me, that is) and what doesn’t.
5 things I like about Facebook:
- Seeing what people are doing right now. For some reason I love knowing that Christine is moving an armoire or that Jenny just posted pictures. This is way more fun than Survivor or other reality shows because it’s not just random average-looking people off the street mugging for the camera, I actually know these people.
- It’s a great way to get information fast, like the ‘Machine is Us(ing us)’ video Michael posted or comments on Prop 8. In just 2 days I’ve learned more stuff than I ever get from chatting with people.
- Getting pinged – it’s almost as good as having real friends! Maybe even better, since I can take my time with those snappy comebacks, which you can’t do in face-to-face encounters.
- Having virtual contact with friends and colleagues way out here in Bavaria. And having an easy way to remind them I exist.
- The plug ins, like how compatible my movie taste is with Sandy Voypick. Run far, Sandy, we have nothing in common.
4 things I don’t like about Facebook:
- The search results list doesn’t show enough info the members to actually find the people you care about unless they’re already connected to you in some way – for example, maiden name, graduation year, etc., would be extremely helpful when I’m sifting through the 20+ Aaron Baars to find my Aaron. Classmates.com – which sucks in many other ways - does a way better job of connecting you to the people you’ve lost touch with that you’re actually interested in.
- I joined 2 groups I was once part of (The JET program and Judson School) and have no friggin’ clue if anyone I know is also part of those groups. Also when you view all you have no idea where you are in the list, no way to organize search results and by the time I got to # 7 in the Next list I was starting to see repeats.
- The overall usability isn’t that great. Sure, billions of people use FB every day, but who are you going to believe, them or me?
- It’s way too easy to spend too much time being virtual and not enough time being real. After only a day on FB I found myself shushing my very real daughter while responding to something someone wrote on my virtual wall.
I wanted to come up with even lists of 5 things I like and 5 things I don’t like but as it turns out I like more things than I dislike about one of the most popular and accessible Internet applications of our time. Facebook is a fun social networking tool and there’s no doubt it has shaped how people use the Internet to network. And I definitely think there’s a place for it in the workplace, where your success may well be dependent on your social connections.
But is it more than that? Does FB represent the future of business applications?
For example, could you use Facebook as a team management tool at work? Interesting idea, but challenging when you get down to it because it doesn’t seamlessly include the business applications your teams probably use, like document management, etc.
I’ve also heard rumbles about using FB as a core system of record for business applications but I don’t see it – the information that, say, a global HR system needs isn’t there and even the information that is there is spotty. For example, if my company wanted to get my employment history from FB it would look like I only ever had one job.
So, as a business application I don't think FB is quite there, at least not in its current form. But it is definitely meaningful for business. Which means that the question ‘Do I like FB?’ that I started this posting with is the wrong question because the answer doesn’t matter. Somehow this little application that allows you to ping and poke people you seldom speak to in person has scratched a deep collective social itch.
Business is about people, after all, so business can't dismiss anything that has captured the imagination and mindshare of so many people.
And I think that the journey of collective intelligence/networking/thinking/sharing has just begun.
Thought for the Day: How does he stay so tan?
This is not my thought for the day - credit must go to Italy's top statesman Berlusconi, who observed that Obama is handsome and even has a nice tan. Good eye, Sylvio!
November 11, 2008
Thought for the Day: Working Mom
You know you're a working mom when you have to shake sand from the playground out of your high heels every morning.
November 10, 2008
Living on the Edge
We were in Sudtirol this weekend, which is the Germanic part of Italy next to Austria. It’s gorgeous there, a perfect example of what is possible when fabulous mountainous land meets industriousness and cultural pride. We had two wonderful days at a family B ‘n B we really like joined by some Italian friends with three kids of their own and did all kinds of hiking and wine drinking and that sort of thing.
On the last day we stopped for lunch at a tiny prosperous hamlet called ‘Graun’ and drove up to what seemed like the top of the world to eat. It was so gorgeous I wondered if God feels like this when he looks down. Of course there were perfect apple trees and grape vines that you could eat off the branch, and an old church, and a tree house. So we wandered around a bit before lunch with an easy, rambling pace.
I fell back a bit with L, who is smaller and was tired from all her hiking the day before. The others were following a narrow path that led a bit down, and when I got to it I saw that it ended on a cliff. Yes, a real cliff. Two adults were there with six children, one of them mine, and I almost ruined the serenity of the day by screaming when I saw K picking her way carefully toward the others less than 5 feet from the edge of eternity.
Of course nothing happened. Ralf caught up to us and got K away from the edge and we all went back to eat. But later I had some vivid reflections about this. The first thing that occurred to me was that this would never happen in the US, at least not with the people we call friends. Those kids would have been shepherded back from the edge so quickly you would heard the air popping. American adults are preoccupied with what might happen to children on their watch, whereas the European attitude is more like, “Why should anything happen?”
Of course nothing happened. Ralf caught up to us and got K away from the edge and we all went back to eat. But later I had some vivid reflections about this. The first thing that occurred to me was that this would never happen in the US, at least not with the people we call friends. Those kids would have been shepherded back from the edge so quickly you would heard the air popping. American adults are preoccupied with what might happen to children on their watch, whereas the European attitude is more like, “Why should anything happen?”
Who’s right? Possibly the Europeans, since the child mortality rate isn’t higher here than in the US. And yet. . . if K had tripped and gone over that edge that would have been it, no second chance, no more K, an unbearable thought that will continue to keep me awake nights until the next near miss.
What occurred to me later once I had calmed down a bit is that you can’t personally prevent everything bad that might happen to your children. Sometimes you’re not right there and your child has to cope, whether on a cliff face or crossing the street on the way home from a friend’s house. And it is at these times that the lessons you have imparted to your children will be tested. K passed this particular test – she was calm and careful on the edge of that cliff and came away from it quietly. So I guess I have come around a little bit to the European way of thinking, although if we ever find ourselves in such a situation again I will of course stick to K like glue and screw those crazy European notions.
A guy I studied with in graduate school was a single father raising two kids on his own. He once shared with me that he had a gun and was teaching his youngest daughter, who was seven, to use it responsibly. I, childless, was horrified and asked him if he wanted her to grow up and join the NRA? No, he said, I want her to be competent. That stuck with me and I feel like I finally understood what he was talking about.
So the moral of this story is that I will be gun shopping next time I’m in the States.
Not. ;-)
What occurred to me later once I had calmed down a bit is that you can’t personally prevent everything bad that might happen to your children. Sometimes you’re not right there and your child has to cope, whether on a cliff face or crossing the street on the way home from a friend’s house. And it is at these times that the lessons you have imparted to your children will be tested. K passed this particular test – she was calm and careful on the edge of that cliff and came away from it quietly. So I guess I have come around a little bit to the European way of thinking, although if we ever find ourselves in such a situation again I will of course stick to K like glue and screw those crazy European notions.
A guy I studied with in graduate school was a single father raising two kids on his own. He once shared with me that he had a gun and was teaching his youngest daughter, who was seven, to use it responsibly. I, childless, was horrified and asked him if he wanted her to grow up and join the NRA? No, he said, I want her to be competent. That stuck with me and I feel like I finally understood what he was talking about.
So the moral of this story is that I will be gun shopping next time I’m in the States.
Not. ;-)
Willowy Weasley
Is that tall girl my 5-year-old? Can it be? How did I produce such a willowy child? I’m not bad looking or anything but no one has ever called me willowy – picture Cybil Shepherd in her Moonlighting years with a generous dash of Mrs. Weasley and that’s me. K, however, is the first person in my family to resemble a gazelle.
K turned 5 in September and in so many ways she’s all grown up now. She’s gotten more self-sufficient, she remembers things I’ve forgotten (like where my keys are) and sometimes she’s the one to reassure me when I’m worried about something. For example, last weekend we biked down to the lake with our neighbors, K’s BFF Kaye and her mum Annette. It was a gorgeous day and the kids played for a good hour before L started getting tired. Annette offered to watch K and bring her home later. It was the first time I’d left K anywhere public with anyone besides her grandparents and she was on her own bike so I wasn’t totally sanguine about it all, even though I was looking forward to an afternoon nap myself. So I started lecturing K about all the things she should be careful of (strange men, strange women, anyone at all she doesn’t know, cars, the lake, etc.) when she calmly broke in. “Don’t worry, Mommy,” she said kindly. “I’m Kaye’s best friend now and Kaye would be sad if anything happened to me so I’m sure her Mommy will take care of me.”
Well, now. What could I say to such a well-reasoned response? I had to laugh at the idea that our neighbor would only guard our child against predators, traffic and the elements for fear of Kaye being a bit put out by the loss of her best friend, though.
In other ways she is still a very little girl. If things aren’t just so she cries bitterly and has been having a rough time of it in the morning because she believes that her socks don’t fit her perfectly enough. Or her sleeves aren’t rolled up symmetrically. Or her shoes aren’t tightened quite right. I like to call her ‘My Little German’ when she behaves like this. Of course, she doesn’t get it. Ralf also doesn’t quite see my point and wants to know what I’m implying.
Her latest bit of adult wisdom (when I praised one of L’s scribbly pictures): ‘Mommy, would you still like L's picture if she hadn’t come out of your tummy?’
K turned 5 in September and in so many ways she’s all grown up now. She’s gotten more self-sufficient, she remembers things I’ve forgotten (like where my keys are) and sometimes she’s the one to reassure me when I’m worried about something. For example, last weekend we biked down to the lake with our neighbors, K’s BFF Kaye and her mum Annette. It was a gorgeous day and the kids played for a good hour before L started getting tired. Annette offered to watch K and bring her home later. It was the first time I’d left K anywhere public with anyone besides her grandparents and she was on her own bike so I wasn’t totally sanguine about it all, even though I was looking forward to an afternoon nap myself. So I started lecturing K about all the things she should be careful of (strange men, strange women, anyone at all she doesn’t know, cars, the lake, etc.) when she calmly broke in. “Don’t worry, Mommy,” she said kindly. “I’m Kaye’s best friend now and Kaye would be sad if anything happened to me so I’m sure her Mommy will take care of me.”
Well, now. What could I say to such a well-reasoned response? I had to laugh at the idea that our neighbor would only guard our child against predators, traffic and the elements for fear of Kaye being a bit put out by the loss of her best friend, though.
In other ways she is still a very little girl. If things aren’t just so she cries bitterly and has been having a rough time of it in the morning because she believes that her socks don’t fit her perfectly enough. Or her sleeves aren’t rolled up symmetrically. Or her shoes aren’t tightened quite right. I like to call her ‘My Little German’ when she behaves like this. Of course, she doesn’t get it. Ralf also doesn’t quite see my point and wants to know what I’m implying.
Her latest bit of adult wisdom (when I praised one of L’s scribbly pictures): ‘Mommy, would you still like L's picture if she hadn’t come out of your tummy?’
November 5, 2008
Amazing Salmon Chowder
I made this based on a recipe in Jolynn Spinelli's 'What's the Soup' and it is amazingly delicious and pretty easy. I adapted it a bit because 3 cups of cream is a bit much.
1 tbs fennel seeds
2 tbs unsalted butter
1 med yellow onion
2 ribs celery (or I prefer fennel), diced
1 tbs rosemary
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
10 small red potatoes,cut into 1 inch cubes
3 yams, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
10 cups veg stock - or whatever you prefer, I think I used chicken
2 cups plain tomato sauce (I didn't have any so I used spaghetti sauce)
3 lbs salmon fillets, no skin or bones, frozen is fine
1 cup cream
5-6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
toast fennel seeds in frying pan then remove and set aside
Melt butter in large soup pot
Add onion and celery or fresh fennel, stir about 6-8 minutes until translucent
Add toasted fennel seeds, cayenne adn rosemary, cook another minute
Add potatoes, yams, stock, garlic and tomato sauce
Bring to boil, then simmer about 15 minutes until potatoes done
Add salmon and simmer at least another 15 minutes (I think I did 30 because I was bringing kids to bed)
Add cream and salt to taste
That's it!
1 tbs fennel seeds
2 tbs unsalted butter
1 med yellow onion
2 ribs celery (or I prefer fennel), diced
1 tbs rosemary
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
10 small red potatoes,cut into 1 inch cubes
3 yams, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
10 cups veg stock - or whatever you prefer, I think I used chicken
2 cups plain tomato sauce (I didn't have any so I used spaghetti sauce)
3 lbs salmon fillets, no skin or bones, frozen is fine
1 cup cream
5-6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
toast fennel seeds in frying pan then remove and set aside
Melt butter in large soup pot
Add onion and celery or fresh fennel, stir about 6-8 minutes until translucent
Add toasted fennel seeds, cayenne adn rosemary, cook another minute
Add potatoes, yams, stock, garlic and tomato sauce
Bring to boil, then simmer about 15 minutes until potatoes done
Add salmon and simmer at least another 15 minutes (I think I did 30 because I was bringing kids to bed)
Add cream and salt to taste
That's it!
Happy Birthday, Little Pea and Congratulations America
Yesterday was L's 3rd birthday. She was so excited to be the birthday girl and flirted with her guests and played with each of her presents for hours. Her grandparents also organized a spectacular Kaspertheater.
It was a bit of a crazy day. In the wake of the moving craziness last week, I had spent 2 days running around procuring enough ingredients to make cake for 25 children at Kindergarten, another cake for family and enough food to feed a dozen people. We ended up having a few drop ins so there I was baking cake, lasagne and chicken pepperoni for everyone in the kitchen while the doorbell kept ringing. I intentionally made too much food, thinking we could eat leftover for the rest of the week but I thought wrong - every crumb was consumed.
Unfortunately, now we have no food until Monday, which is my regular shopping day. So as I write this I am a bit peckish.
Yesterday was also an important day for other Americans besides L because that's the day America elected Barrack Obama as president. We explained to L this morning that she got a new president for her birthday but she was more impressed with her new Lego zoo. Ralf and I are terribly relieved, however. George's 2nd term in office was hard on us - Ralf was plunged into depression after the last election and although I was not a particularly political person at the time, I fumed inwardly at anyone I suspected of having Republican connections. See, it was the first time I had cared enough to vote and I was devastated that the election didn't go my way.
Looking back, however, I am grateful to George and all the idiots who voted for him because I think without him change would not have been possible. Of course, Obama is not the change but his election signals a willingness to change and perhaps a belated recognition that the Republican party no longer stands for the fine conservative ideals it used to stand for back in Eisenhower's day. Also I think nothing will pep up the US economy right now like a charismatic president.
So, thank you, George. And thank you, idiots.
It was a bit of a crazy day. In the wake of the moving craziness last week, I had spent 2 days running around procuring enough ingredients to make cake for 25 children at Kindergarten, another cake for family and enough food to feed a dozen people. We ended up having a few drop ins so there I was baking cake, lasagne and chicken pepperoni for everyone in the kitchen while the doorbell kept ringing. I intentionally made too much food, thinking we could eat leftover for the rest of the week but I thought wrong - every crumb was consumed.
Unfortunately, now we have no food until Monday, which is my regular shopping day. So as I write this I am a bit peckish.
Yesterday was also an important day for other Americans besides L because that's the day America elected Barrack Obama as president. We explained to L this morning that she got a new president for her birthday but she was more impressed with her new Lego zoo. Ralf and I are terribly relieved, however. George's 2nd term in office was hard on us - Ralf was plunged into depression after the last election and although I was not a particularly political person at the time, I fumed inwardly at anyone I suspected of having Republican connections. See, it was the first time I had cared enough to vote and I was devastated that the election didn't go my way.
Looking back, however, I am grateful to George and all the idiots who voted for him because I think without him change would not have been possible. Of course, Obama is not the change but his election signals a willingness to change and perhaps a belated recognition that the Republican party no longer stands for the fine conservative ideals it used to stand for back in Eisenhower's day. Also I think nothing will pep up the US economy right now like a charismatic president.
So, thank you, George. And thank you, idiots.
Just another day
Last Thursday all our stuff came from California: circa 157 boxes, 3 sofas, a queen bed, 2 kids’ beds, various kids’ furniture, chests of drawers, coffee tables and side tables, televisions, clothes, shoes, toys, kitchen stuff. . . which would have been great if we had been sitting her in an empty house. However, we left our old furniture in our German house when we moved to California and bought all ‘new’ stuff on Craig’s List so finding space for everything has been a challenge and our living room is as crowded as a Turkish opium den.
But let me back up a bit, because receiving a gimongous container of stuff isn’t that exciting and wouldn’t normally merit more than a passing mention. But there’s more: As I explained in my last posting, Ralf was in Dublin for a couple of days. He was supposed to come back Wednesday night but missed his flight, which also meant we missed our chance to schlep the furniture we know we’re getting rid of into the garage. It also meant that at 8AM Thursday morning I was facing 4 burly young Bavarian men and one scrappy one who kept saying ‘Hello’ and ‘Thank you’ to me in English but nothing else. German blue collar workers don’t generally like dealing with the lady of the house - I gather this is because 'she' tends to be indecisive and wants to try out all the heavy stuff in several different positions before committing - and these guys were no exception. Me being American wasn’t cutting any ice with them, either, except maybe the scrappy guy. They ignored me as much as possible until Ralf got home before lunch while I slunk around after them trying to make sure they didn’t break anything and feeling very much in the way.
Anyway, a lot of hard physical lifting and sorting was done by all and somehow the trucks were unloaded (but not unpacked) shortly after 2 PM. I had a call at 4 and was in a tizzy because I’ve been ‘applying’ for an international mommy group and didn’t want to miss their Halloween party. In the end I called in a few IOUs and sent Ralf, who was of course delighted to go and didn’t have anything else to work on. Unfortunately, my call got canceled so it ended up being a lot of logistical stress for nothing. This was not such a bad thing for me because I had plenty of work to catch up on but from Ralf’s point of view the afternoon was a wash. When he later asked me how my call went I considered lying but ended up blurting out the truth and watching various expressions cross his face, none of them good. Finally, after sharing a few pointed observations with me that I will not repeat here, he stalked out of the room only to have his dramatic exit blocked by piles of boxes.
I’ve been trying to create the impression of a fairly stressful day but amazingly, it got even worse. toward the end of the day. Once the kids got home, wired from the Halloween party, K’s friend Kaye came over to play and the first thing they did was climb up on the highest piles of boxes containing glassware and use them as a sort of high, dangerous path around the room with L standing underneath the most rickety pile of boxes and K rocking back and forth overhead. This activity was quickly forbidden and segued into the less dangerous but more annoying game of opening boxes at random and pulling everything out that looked interesting.
Still doesn't sound that bad? Well, then K gave one of her Halloween candies to Kaye, who immediately began choking and gasped something about a peanut allergy. Then, as I was frantically searching the Internet to find out if Twix actually has peanuts I heard a strange popping sound, which later turned out to be exploding potatoes that I forgot to poke with a fork before baking. Meanwhile in the background L was running around with no diaper screaming, ‘Caca! Wipe me! Wipe meeeeeeee!’ This would have been the right moment for the cat to drag in a dead mouse or throw up on the new carpet - a car crashing through the wall or a massive pipe bursting would also not have been out of place - but fortunately the exploding potatoes seemed to herald the end of the destruction.
Now for the good news: You’ll be happy to hear that in the meantime we have unpacked many of the boxes and the rooms where we do most of our living are inhabitable now. You will also be glad to know that Kaye lived and in fact never swallowed any peanut products at all. And that L’s caca scare was also a false alarm. And that I was able to get most the potato bits out of the oven. And finally, I am sure you will be relieved to hear that Ralf was a hit with the other mommies and we have been officially invited to join the group.
But let me back up a bit, because receiving a gimongous container of stuff isn’t that exciting and wouldn’t normally merit more than a passing mention. But there’s more: As I explained in my last posting, Ralf was in Dublin for a couple of days. He was supposed to come back Wednesday night but missed his flight, which also meant we missed our chance to schlep the furniture we know we’re getting rid of into the garage. It also meant that at 8AM Thursday morning I was facing 4 burly young Bavarian men and one scrappy one who kept saying ‘Hello’ and ‘Thank you’ to me in English but nothing else. German blue collar workers don’t generally like dealing with the lady of the house - I gather this is because 'she' tends to be indecisive and wants to try out all the heavy stuff in several different positions before committing - and these guys were no exception. Me being American wasn’t cutting any ice with them, either, except maybe the scrappy guy. They ignored me as much as possible until Ralf got home before lunch while I slunk around after them trying to make sure they didn’t break anything and feeling very much in the way.
Anyway, a lot of hard physical lifting and sorting was done by all and somehow the trucks were unloaded (but not unpacked) shortly after 2 PM. I had a call at 4 and was in a tizzy because I’ve been ‘applying’ for an international mommy group and didn’t want to miss their Halloween party. In the end I called in a few IOUs and sent Ralf, who was of course delighted to go and didn’t have anything else to work on. Unfortunately, my call got canceled so it ended up being a lot of logistical stress for nothing. This was not such a bad thing for me because I had plenty of work to catch up on but from Ralf’s point of view the afternoon was a wash. When he later asked me how my call went I considered lying but ended up blurting out the truth and watching various expressions cross his face, none of them good. Finally, after sharing a few pointed observations with me that I will not repeat here, he stalked out of the room only to have his dramatic exit blocked by piles of boxes.
I’ve been trying to create the impression of a fairly stressful day but amazingly, it got even worse. toward the end of the day. Once the kids got home, wired from the Halloween party, K’s friend Kaye came over to play and the first thing they did was climb up on the highest piles of boxes containing glassware and use them as a sort of high, dangerous path around the room with L standing underneath the most rickety pile of boxes and K rocking back and forth overhead. This activity was quickly forbidden and segued into the less dangerous but more annoying game of opening boxes at random and pulling everything out that looked interesting.
Still doesn't sound that bad? Well, then K gave one of her Halloween candies to Kaye, who immediately began choking and gasped something about a peanut allergy. Then, as I was frantically searching the Internet to find out if Twix actually has peanuts I heard a strange popping sound, which later turned out to be exploding potatoes that I forgot to poke with a fork before baking. Meanwhile in the background L was running around with no diaper screaming, ‘Caca! Wipe me! Wipe meeeeeeee!’ This would have been the right moment for the cat to drag in a dead mouse or throw up on the new carpet - a car crashing through the wall or a massive pipe bursting would also not have been out of place - but fortunately the exploding potatoes seemed to herald the end of the destruction.
Now for the good news: You’ll be happy to hear that in the meantime we have unpacked many of the boxes and the rooms where we do most of our living are inhabitable now. You will also be glad to know that Kaye lived and in fact never swallowed any peanut products at all. And that L’s caca scare was also a false alarm. And that I was able to get most the potato bits out of the oven. And finally, I am sure you will be relieved to hear that Ralf was a hit with the other mommies and we have been officially invited to join the group.
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