avablog

I admit it: I’m a Webalizer junkie. One of the most interesting things about putting all of this information out on my site has been watching how people from all over the world interact with it. Even more than the number of page hits or KB transferred, I’m always curious to see which search terms […]

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This morning I was sitting on the couch with Ava out by the Christmas tree before the sun had come up. We were admiring the sparkles and the lights together, and Ava was pointing at different ornaments and saying, “Baby, baby?” over and over. She has a thing for babies. After a bit I began […]

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There’s a woman in my office who’s having a birthday today. Her cube is right down the hall from mine, so I’ve been dealing with all sorts of noise and general raucous behavior this morning. When I strolled back in from lunch, I took a peek into her cube and noticed her desk was cluttered […]

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A recipe Leah got from our friend Megan. 1 lb mild italian sausage (bulk or link) 1 c. onion (chopped) 2 cloves minced garlic Brown sausage, onion and garlic; drain well; combine in a soup kettle with the following ingredients: 5 c. beef broth 1/2 c. dry red wine 1/2 c. water 1 c. sliced […]

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The Webcam software I use lets me archive my captured images as a .mov time-lapse movie. Which is pretty cool. I hadn’t taken advantage of the feature…before today. Now, when you click on the nichecam link over there on the right, that page has a link to the movie footage from the previous day. WARNING: […]

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From the WildCam homepage: All good things must come to an end, and the recent onset of the annual rains at Mashatu herald the end of our live broadcast from Pete’s Pond. The WildCam Africa feed closes at 5:59 a.m. Botswana time on Thursday, December 15. Bleh. I saw a gnarly warthog on there once. […]

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I got an e-mail from an old friend today asking for my snail mail address so she could include me in her Christmas card mailing (don’t let the irony hit you in the arse on the way out). I dutifully replied with the address and a request that she not send me a Christmas card; […]

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Here’s the portion of the show where I’m branded an ingrate. And / or a curmudgeon. But first, some background. I quit writing by hand — that is, with a writing implement held in my hand — when I left high school. I can state without exaggeration that I have not handwritten anything more than […]

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So far this year I’ve cleaned snow off our walks and driveway more times than I did all last winter. The glass-is-half-empty person in me says that stinks. The glass-is-half-full person says it’s not so bad; shoveling is good exercise. I’ve had access to a new snowblower this year, but I haven’t used it. I’ve […]

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“Tannenbaum?” Whatever. We got our Christmas tree up and decorated last weekend. I have to admit, it turned out much nicer than I thought it would. We showed up to our usual tree lot a bit late this year, I guess, because pickings were pretty slim. Frankly, it took some real vision to select the […]

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Leah and I don’t entertain that often, so when we do it’s still quite a process. We’d been talking for months about having a couple of the neighbors over for brunch, and the date finally rolled around this past weekend. The menu included pear ginger muffins and feta tomato quiche. I’d never made either, but […]

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I don’t usually go in for celebrity deaths, but I like comedians. And Richard Pryor was one of the best. Some people just get it. They wake up in the morning and go to bed at night, or vice versa, and during their every waking hour they just know the score. Richard was one of […]

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The latest feature to hit my Gmail account is Web Clips. It’s an RSS feed aggregator that appears at the top of my inbox. I can enter in the addresses of whichever blogs or sites I want to track, and I’ll have access to those sites’ latest stories right from Gmail. Man, this is nice. […]

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I have very, very vague memories of going to see Santa when I was little. I don’t recall dreading the experience, but I know there are kids who do. The wailing child on St. Nick’s lap is as prevalent a Christmas meme as “It’s A Wonderful Life” reruns and mistletoe. I came across this image […]

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I was at Walgreens the other day and couldn’t resist their sales on extension cords and Christmas lights. You know how when you see one of those houses that’s been covered to the last square inch with Christmas lights and other holiday paraphernalia? Now I know how that happens. Walgreens was selling 80 ft. of […]

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This morning I got up early to shovel snow so the high school kids would have a safe walk to classes, and we’d be able to get out of our driveway. Our shoveling tradition includes intermittent knocks on our bedroom window while I’m in the driveway; I then stop for a minute to look up […]

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And “The Office,” too, for that matter. Thursday nights used to be killer for NBC. Friends, followed by Seinfeld. Or was it the other way around? In any case, that one-two small screen punch blew away everything else in their time slots for years. But those days are gone, and now the Peacock is looking […]

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My parents, and my mother, in particular, did a good job of instilling in my brother and me the importance of giving to those in need. The idea was never crammed down our throats, but it sunk in over the years as we watched them go about their various philanthropic pursuits. More than any time […]

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Leah and I have been doing a lot of talking lately about Christmas and tradition as we’ve ironed out the details of our holiday travel plans. My family really doesn’t have any well-established holiday plans right now, though I’m working to change that. My parents and brother and I used to travel down to Burlington, […]

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Got up late because little Ava was tossing and turning most of the night with what Leah thinks is croup. Looked out the window to discover three to four inches of snow on the ground, so I threw on some clothes and stumbled outside. I gave the electric starter on the snowblower a shot, but […]

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