Matt and Sunny's First Church of Cat

Scooper Bowl Ice Cream Festival

2010-06-14T17:06:00.000-07:00

We went to Boston's Scooper Bowl tonight, an ice cream festival masquerading as a kid's charity event. It occupies Boston's Government City plaza (front side of city hall) and runs 3 days, June 8 to 10. Matthew wrote up a review of all 36 flavors at his personal blog.

Snarky opinions of ice cream: 2010 Scooper Bowl Flavor Review

Latin lunch in Brooklyn!

2010-05-09T09:25:00.000-07:00

Sunny and I just spent two days at her long-time friend Chelsea's place in Brooklyn. We walked across the Manhattan Bridge, enjoyed the fine weather, and saw a concert in Times Square. Just before leaving on Saturday, we grabbed some lunch in their neighborhood at the very popular (and colorful!) Habana Outpost. I shot this video with our impressions and some details on their ecological thinking.

<a href="http://www.linkedtube.com/DVO1c4oZsms40f5a51a84d3f7806d863e20b2ef7772.htm">LinkedTube</a>

See also the Habana Outpost menu! The catfish burrito cost $8+, but I liked it quite a bit.

On Friday, we walked from Brooklyn to Times Square, crossing to the island on the Manhattan Bridge. Sunny noticed these excellent bicycle on-ramps and dedicated lanes for those using pedal power, something Boston could take a cue from!

Early May Fashion Photos

2010-05-02T20:52:00.000-07:00

This is one of two blue polka dot dresses Sunny owns, the other being a classic polyester number with somewhat bigger polka dots. She added a pair of pearl earrings today, as plucked from a table at the "Top Shelf Flea Market" in Davis Square (Somerville, MA) for $5. Reflections from a windowed building opposite this wall added quite a bit of fill lighting!

22 Pieces of Family Fridge Flair

2010-03-01T18:04:00.000-08:00

Like many people, we keep lots of special things from friends and family on our fridge. Here's what it looks like, as of March 1, 2010!

Check the numbers and key below.

Magnet showing seashells from Tybee Beach, souvenir of Sunny and Terry's 2008 trip to Savannah, Georgia
Matthew and Sunny at the Bon Air restaurant, picture taken by Sunny's mom Katy in 2009
Stacey and Gus Schettler, picture from their home in Raleigh, NC
Gus and Aaron Schettler, ibid
Magnetic pocket for storage of coupons and such
Card from Mick Schettler's memorial service, picture of dove
Magnetic grocery list
Engagement announcement (Jake Schettler, Noah Schettler, and their fiances)
Magnet stating that "Housework is evil. It must be stopped." HA!
Matthew's grandparents, Clark and Dorothy, who celebrate their 70th anniversary in 2010
"Love Wanga" magnet, showing the cover of a 50s pulp book
Amos Prudhon, from his trip to India (and currently living in Tazmania)
Sunny posing as an angel from a conference booth in Seattle
Sunny's mom Katy with Joanne, and baby Iris
Matthew's cousin Phil at age 6, wife Wendy in the center, and daughter Zoey at right
Postcard sent by our friend Sam during his time living in Japan
Dean, Parker, and Karen Bliske, children of Matthew's cousins Eric and Ellen
"Night Life in Appleton, WI" postcard (the joke: it's totally black)
Route 66 postcard, from Sunny's childhood town of Tulsa, OK
Hand-drawn poster by Zoey Buchanan
Picture of Christmas cookies made by Matthew's mom, Judy
"Rodman's Ride for Kids" fundraiser thank-you letter sent to Sunny

Reflections on the Ocean

2010-02-06T15:35:00.000-08:00

Our friends went to Cotuit, MA, to stay at the Chessman Family house for a little weekend get-away. Since most of us could only stay for Saturday night, it was just a short holiday on Cape Cod, which is quiet and serene in the wintertime. Year round residents on the cape manage to keep a few restaurants and businesses open, but many of the homes are dark without their summer visitors and the beaches tend to be empty.

I couldn't keep myself from the ocean for long though, knowing it was close by. Late on Saturday afternoon I said to Terry, "Let's go down to the beach."

"Sure, Sunny -- let's go", she replied.

Unlike the summertime when you could easily walk or bike the mile between the house and the beach, we quickly decided to bundle up and drive down to the empty Beach Parking lot. The beach was covered in bootprints rather than footprints. A few gulls and shore ducks milled around but no one else was there. It was so quiet and serene.

I started to think of my Dad as I often do when at the ocean. He always loved sailing and stories of the sea, and I imagined the coastline at Cotuit probably had a long history of settlers and natives mingling on the shores...maybe even a pirate ship or two making a stop at this quiet bay. Arrr, pirates! Dad always loved stories of pirates.

But instead of pirates this beach was only frequented by gulls and geese, occasional mallards and other shoreline ducks, most of whom had gone south for the winter. A few remained and as Terry and I watched the birds, I told her how my Dad (7-15-49 /12-11-09) would have loved this place. He wouldn't get to see it in person. although I felt his presence strongly from time to time while walking there. But someday, she reassured me, we would have a little reunion on these shores.

So I collected a few shells, packed up my talk of memories with him in the fading sun, and drove us back to the quiet little house. A warm fireplace and game of Apple-to-Apples let us wile away the evening, drinking and laughing among friends, much like any good pirate would.

Thanksgiving approaches!

2009-11-23T21:13:00.000-08:00

A new camera arrived just in time for the holiday season, so we snapped a couple of test photos.

This new piece of hardware takes pictures, captures HD video, and would probably mow the lawn, if we had one.

Did you know digital cameras can wear out? While Sunny's HP PhotoSmart still takes pictures, they sometimes fail to transfer onto a computer successfully, so we're forced to just delete them instead. :-P

In order to comply with all Internet regulations, here's a picture of our cat.

Looking forward to this thursday, when we make bread and cranberry sauce for a friend's Thanksgiving dinner!

PAX 2009 - A weekend away

2009-09-06T14:17:00.001-07:00

We came, we met friends, geeks, and cos-players (costumed characters from other worlds). We also saw a great Saturday night concert of synth pop musicians, Freezepop. A good time was had by all !

Falmouth, Cape Cod Weekend

2009-08-15T07:20:00.000-07:00

Food tables overflowed with savory and sweets alike to compliment the turkey chili that Courtney makes weeks and months in advance for the Falmouth Road Race post-race party. The scene was boisterous and loud at Courtney and Carolyn’s annual party, a tradition since 1972. Dozens of families and friends had come from all around the Cape, but especially from the Falmouth and Woods Hole towns. Each guest brought another pie, cheese, or plate of cookies, adding to the already full tables. In addition to food, two kegs of beer were tapped and many bottles of wine were opened. The pours were generous but more kept coming along with sodas and Capri Sun pouches for the kids. The crowds at Courtney's rivaled those at the race earlier...

Hoards of grandparents and kids swarmed the yard, deck, and house at the feet of the able-bodied adults, most of whom were current/former runners. Guests swapped stories of the day’s run, running club gossip, and tales of old/new running injuries. (For more on my run and fitness-oriented weekend at Falmouth, please see my SunnyDayFitness blog here). Ulandt must have introduced me to a dozen people, but eventually we all lost track of each other’s names, gave up on conversation, and just enjoyed the party. In the backyard, an old-time Dixieland jazz band entertained with horns, a banjo, a trombone and drums. Dancing started on the lawn as the sun was setting over the marsh at the backyard’s edge. Lights came on over the bandstand illuminating smiling faces like fireflies in the night. It was so loud at times that I sometimes found myself at the fringe edge of the party, seeking solace in the quiet side garden out of sight of the guests and hosts. Contrast this exuberant scene with the calm disappointment found in my failed attempt at bioluminescent critter-finding later that same evening.

After the party had reached its zenith, my friend Ulandt and I ventured down to the water’s edge at Woods Hole with hopes of seeing funny little jellyfish that glow in the dark. Ulandt said that he had seen the bioluminescence many times before on summer nights like these. To get to the best viewing area we drove a long, winding dark road that is part of the Cape Cod Marathon course: Sippiwessett Road. The air was dark and cool and smelled like summer. Arriving at the harbor we decided to stay near the harbor docks and peered into the rippled water’s edge. Nothing. No glowing baubles or fishes could be seen in the depth or at the shores. Only dark and quiet gently moving water. Ulandt decided that a little disturbance could help our efforts, so he dipped a foot into the water’s surface and kicked it around a little. We waited and looked. Still nothing. He had seen the bioluminescent “ctenophores” before, but I never had, and this was not to be the night for me to see them. Here's what we were looking for, the ctenophore:

So we went home, and took advantage of the extra time to sleep on that calm summer night. By 11pm Ulandt had retired to the back cabin while I stayed awake in the main house. I plotted out the route on the map for the “return to Plymouth and catch the train” ride: 30-35 miles. I would just need to cross the Bourne Bridge and make my way to Plymouth for the Commuter Rail. Eagerly anticipating the journey ahead, I drifted off to dream about the glowing sea creatures still to be seen on a future visit to the Cape. P.S. I did just barely make it to the Commuter Rail the next day; on board the departing train at 12:10pm.

Gus-tastic!

2009-07-30T19:19:00.001-07:00

Here is my nephew, Gus, age 12 months.

At 1 year old he can sit, squeal, give people "the stink eye" and make friends with other babies and toddlers at restaurants. He's a pretty social little guy.

Some great baby-like things that I love about him are:

Still bathes in the kitchen sink, but is eating real food now even if fully pureed.
Enjoys naps in his car sets and doesn't mind the stiff breeze from the Jeep with the doors off -- though I do wonder if baby-seats were really designed for Jeeps!?
Loves to be upside down and spun around, too!

He's my kind of nephew. Check him out...

I think he'll be a wedding singer someday.

Now for the videos -- prepare yourself for the Cute!

Isn't it cute how he rearranges the magazines and catalogs;

so here's my attempt at 12 seconds of maximal Gus cuteness.

Gus gets distracted by magazines

2009-07-30T19:02:00.001-07:00

I have several great Gus photos from the recent trip, but this one is among the best. I tell ya, the kid was *obsessed* with magazines!

He would spread them out all over and flip through the smaller, kid-sized (or probably purse-sized) ones as if he wanted to read or order something. Maybe he'll convince mommy and daddy to buy something nice for themselves? He's such a cutie.

Gus gets distracted by magazines

Family visit to Aaron and Stacey + Nephew GUS in Raleigh

2009-07-25T19:05:00.000-07:00

These photos and many more were uploaded to flickr for matthewsunessa today. Feel free to browse the whole photos set "Raleigh Visit 2009" for more photos, witty titles, and so on.

It was really nice to meet Gus -- more photos of him in the next posting -- and to reconnect with Aaron and Stacey. They are wonderful hosts, easy to be around as friends, and a joy to call "family". I enjoy how much they laugh together and how clearly they enjoy their son, home, and garden that they've grown there in Raleigh.

We saddle up to the ice cream bar

Aaron gives the Meredith College campus tour

Matthew and Stacey with their gelatos

Sunny and the weeping redwood

We look forward to seeing the campus in full bloom next spring, and to seeing another birthday (many more actually!) for our little Gus-ster. I know he'll be a toddler soon, but what a little chunk he is now!

Housing project complete: wall speakers!

2009-05-11T13:53:00.000-07:00

No photos to accompany this until it's prettier, but one of the rooms now includes in-wall speakers. Woo! All the better to rock out with.

Sticking speakers into the wall means audio hardware, tools to cut a hole, and wiring to tie them together. I used three things.

$50 Muro Concept 6 Indoor-Outdoor speakers from Buy.com
$6 two-speaker wall plate from Amazon.com
$0 speaker wire (~20') culled from every guy's Big Box o' Cables

The Muros don't use a special speaker case, so only need 4" of in-wall clearance. Preparing the space meant cutting into the strange wall that separates the main bedroom and office. I call it "strange" because of the secrets and bits of history thus revealed.

Top layer: tag board
Next layer: sheetrock
Third layer: lathed plaster
Fourth layer (on one side): plywood

That last one covered a door-sized opened now filled with insulation, so the two rooms probably joined up the past. One thing's for sure: the house's previous owners would much rather layer over a problem than fix it properly. We saved a (future) step by removing the tag board entirely and plan to repaint the sheetrock later on. (This will also look 10 times better than crappy 70s particle board.)

Putting something inside a wall takes an act of faith and willingness to fail. After all, who knows what's behind it until there's a really big hole? Did that stud finder miss something? (Four layers of stuff definitely confused the readings.)

Fortunately, most of my cutting went into open space and we created no disaster cleanup scenarios. The toughest part proved the plywood and sheetrock, which had very little space between. We solved the problem by wedging some space at the top and bottom of the wall, taping the wire to a couple of 9-volt batteries, and dropping the whole mess between them.

Once the wire got through, it proved relatively simple to hook up the wall plate. We stuck the resulting contraption over an unused telephone box and hid the loose wiring behind the baseboard. Success! The speakers sound sharp and we gain further knowledge of what is actually behind the painted facade of our 100+ year-old house. Whether we tell the next owners what's going on in the walls remains to be seen.

Apologies for the delay...

2009-04-11T20:38:00.000-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,

We have no excuse for not updating this blog more often. We have not disappeared from the face of the earth. In February, Sunny went to Savannah while Matthew stayed home to infuse vodkas, but a lot of other things have been happening, too.

It's been a busy spring season with Matthew's finishing his last class for his Master's degree and Sunny's starting of her personal training business. March feels like a blur and frenzy of activity, and now it's almost Easter. Where has the month gone?

If you click over to the Flickr photos, you can see some our other recent distractions and enjoyments. To name a few recent Flickr sets:

3/5 "date night" to celebrate our new Domestic Partnership status
3/6-3/7 Sunny's Mt. Cardigan snowshoe/hut stay/X-C ski trip
3/17-3/22 Matt visits his dad, Moses, in Arizona for family time with Sunny, Dinah, and the kids -- they even had llamas for us to see at the zoo and waterfalls to hike.
4/3 - Matthew's birthday had to be celebrated with friends coming over
4/4-4/11 Matt visit's his brother Amos in Park City, Utah, with Sunny, Mom, dad, and Nate all joining in for some killer scrabble games and spring skiing

So yeah, we've been a bit off-line and bit busier than usual. We hope you'll enjoy the photos, call or e-mail for more about what we've been up to, and keep in touch through the rest of spring.

Happy Easter all...Love, -Sunessa

A weekend of infused vodkas (and the recipes thereof)

2009-02-08T09:40:00.000-08:00

Sunny's visiting Savannah, GA, this weekend to get away from snowy, snowy Boston. I'm using this quality time to try out various homebrew concoctions, including two different kinds of infused vodkas. Over the last ten years, many bars and distilleries realized the truth: vodka doesn't really taste like anything. Many people already used it for cocktails, something I do myself, but you can add real zest to the drink itself by going the extra mile and giving it an innate flavor.

"Infusing" typically means soaking something in the vodka for a long time, even a month or two, and adding some sugar or simple syrup for sweetness. You then strain out whatever you flavored it with and transfer the final product to a bottle for later consumption.

I've been sitting on the infused vodka idea for quite a while, but it really doesn't take long to make a reality. You only need six things for the task.

1. 750ml of vodka

2. Thing to infuse

3. Cup of sugar (if creating a syrup)

4. Pan

5. Airtight container, such as a pitcher, a to store the vodka in for the "soak" stage

6. A good strainer, such as cheesecloth.

I made two flavoring syrups, one with cranberries and one with blueberries. Fresh berries would be ideal, but I used bags from the store freezer case. Simply cook them in the pan with sugar over medium heat until both combine and get gooey. (The cranberries looked like the picture above.) You might be tempted to make pancakes and pour the contents of your pan on it. Resist this temptation! Your vodka is all about patience, a virtue even nobler than quality breakfast foods.

Once complete, pour the sticky mess into the container and add the vodka. Seal the top and store it somewhere that'll stay warm, at least at room temperature. (I've been told sunlight is good for the process, so perhaps a window sill?) Wait anywhere from a week to a month for everything to settle and combine. Once you can't wait anymore, open the container and check the flavor. If it's too sharp or sour, add simple syrup to taste. I go for something pleasant that could stand alone in a glass. Otherwise, why do all the work? Finally, pour the sweet ensemble through the strainer back into the bottle so you have nothing but the re-purposed vodka. (This might take several filterings.) Some people switch to a decorative jar and give away the end result. I would totally accept that kind of gift.

Our Flickr account includes a slideshow of the cooking process with some commentary.

More January time to ski!

2009-01-28T11:39:00.001-08:00

HPIM2829
Originally uploaded by matthewsunessa

Many local schools and businesses closed today. They anticipated a wintry mix with possibly 4-8" new snow starting this morning. This made for nearly clear roads and many snowy sidewalks as everyone stayed home...well everyone except Sunny.

Both Terry and Matthew worked remotely today, but I couldn't teach a group training class from my living room, so I skied down Mass Ave to the gym. I was easy-going about my pace and got there in about 15 minutes. Naturally, no one showed up for the group training, so I did a little computer work for next month's classes/groups and then skied home. This time in the sleet! Yucky, but slippery and still good conditions for skiing.

On both the "aller et retour" I enjoyed the ski wear given to me by Matthew's Mom, Judy, who somehow knew that the blue-greens would match my skis and my eyes! Is she psychic or what?

Taking on the Ben and Jerry's "Vermonster"

2009-01-25T20:47:00.001-08:00

Friday night, one of our friends ran an "ice cream crawl" for his birthday. We started at a specialty dessert restaurant called Finale in Harvard Square, moved on to local chain J.P. Lick's, and finished with the massive Ben & Jerry's "Vermonster," a mega-sundae that you need lots of help to consume. (This also spreads the obligation around a little, given the dish's amazing $35 cost!)

We got five different flavors in the big plastic tub, more than a dozen scoops of ice cream, and heaped on five toppings above and beyond the automatic hot fudge, nuts, and whipped cream. Our best topping choice was bananas (tastes great with vanilla or chocolate) and our worst was gummy bears, which freeze up and become crunchy gum, a poor texture match for the ice cream.

The picture shows me contributing my stomach to the task. It took about 40 minutes to reach the final step, a cup of syrupy soup. Fortunately, the birthday boy knocked it back without a second thought, saving us the less-than-appetizing task. The store keeper took our picture for the wall of those who'd consumed the whole thing, which always took a handful of folks, and sometimes several. (One amusing photo does show a team that failed, sad faces on display.)

Tales from the Bread Machine: Hearty Flaxseed

2009-01-04T06:40:00.001-08:00

Matthew turned out this loaf last night between two pleasurable tasks. First, this Christmas yielded a new Nintendo DS cartridge called "Personal Trainer: Cooking." It guides you through a large number of recipes from a dozen cuisines. Last night, he made blueberry / cranberry / raisin coulis, which the program classified as a German dessert. (Sunny thinks of it more as a topping.) We then re-watched the documentary "Bigger, Stronger, Faster," a highly recommended and wide-ranging examination of the social impact of performance-enhancing drugs. Totally worth the two hours of your time.

Anyway, this bread resembles a flaxseed loaf we did in the past, but allows for raisins as a mid-point addition. (Bread machines with "fruit & nut" cycle allow you to mix in more stuff just before baking.) I kept waiting for it to beep and alert me to the "add stuff now" moment. Turns out you put the fruit in a side compartment and it does the work automatically. Oh well, next time.

We used the FRUIT & NUT setting with MEDIUM crust.

Look: Bubbly top that looks a little underdone, but inside definitely baked
Cut: Crispy crust, dense interior
Taste: Not as flavorful as expected, probably from lack of raisins (the recipe says to adds cinnamon when you leave out fruit, which we did accidentally)

Brrr...live from Boston, it's New Year's Eve!

2009-01-02T14:05:00.001-08:00

HPIM2679.JPG
Originally uploaded by matthewsunessa

We met up, went out, and then promptly went back in. Inside is where the warmth and love was on the last night of 2008. The ice sculptures and howling winds were only made better by the warm, free T ride back to Cambridge.

Once there, Patti made hot chocolate (Gharadelli's with Hood whipped cream, yum!) and Matthew made a few good/evil cocktails. We played boggle (woohoo?) and then watched Dick Clark and Ryan Seacrest do the "Live from New York's Times Square" thing on the TV. Boo hoo to NBC because Mr. Clark is so old now and Mr. Seacrest seems to be already washed up, too.

At least we had champagne to drink, which I popped and poured just seconds before the Final Countdown (and check out Freezepop's cover of the pop masterpiece). Anyway, Cheers!

Ramp up to Christmas

2008-12-20T06:36:00.000-08:00

We managed several Christmas milestones in the last seven days, including at least these.

1. First big snow (a foot last night, which doesn't stop runners or bikers)
2. First Yankee swap (aka White elephant) party with friends last night
3. First Christmas card received (grandma and grandpa Prudhon from Janesville, WI)
4. First desserts made (bread pudding using homemade corn bread)
5. First church party (a charity donation gathering on Wednesday with our fellow First Church Cambridge youth)
6. First seasonal decorations (Advent calendar and Menorah party last weekend)
7. Finished shopping, save stuff for local friends
8. Watched a movie planned for Christmas release (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, shh, sneak preview)

The snow's still coming down and we're ready to enjoy breakfast while the dulcet tones of snowblowers rumble from the street. We hope everything's equally festive where you are and that all your stockings get filled with fresh fruit!

Thanksgiving day 4-mile road race

2008-12-01T07:26:00.000-08:00

We do a local run each Thanksgiving that starts from Davis Square, a lively nexus of college students close to our North Cambridge abode. Sunny's old running club, the Somerville Road Runners, puts on the event and the course (all city streets) measures about 4 miles (4.2, according to the MyMapRun tracker below).

2008 Gobble x3 Route
Find more Runs in Somerville, Massachusetts

No problems with the weather this year, as the high-30s chill didn't include wind or rain. Our friend Rosanna joined us with her dog Luna, who exuberantly dragged her up and down the course without minding the throngs a-clogging the roadways.

The clock read about 35:30 at the finish line, a healthy 8:24 mile time! Not bad for a race we didn't really train for.

Tales from the Bread Machine: Corn Bread

2008-11-26T18:26:00.000-08:00

Hillbilly Housewife Corn Bread! Who on earth could be more credible for corn bread excellence?

This recipe closely followed the Challah as we prepared for Thanksgiving. The kitchen felt hot and in full swing, as we also turned out mesquite chicken, shepherd's pie, three dozen fig cookies, cranberry relish, apple compote, mashed potatoes, candied sweet potato pie, baked spiced pears, and apple & cherry jelly. Some of it went into our own bellies, but the cookies went out to a larger audience at a friend's dinner.

This loaf used the recipe as written and turned out fairly firm. Pan-made corn bread often fluffs up or feels spongy, but this came out much denser. On the up side, that makes it suitable for sandwiches or other weight-bearing tasks.

We used the bread machine's WHITE flour and MEDIUM crust cooking settings this time. Honoring a personal tradition, I ate one heel of the bread right out of the oven (NOM NOM NOM). The crust crunched more than expected, which calls for a LIGHT exterior next time around.

Look: Nice corn-color top with slight dark edges from the medium crust setting

Cut: Dense, no problems with a bread knife

Taste: Wholesome, not too buttery. Better with butter than fruit jelly.

Tales from the Bread Machine: Challah (Egg Bread)

2008-11-26T06:17:00.001-08:00

A friend-of-a-friend moved recently and we ended up with a free bread machine. (They never used it, it looks better on our wall anyway, etc.) This machine included a couple of recipe books, about twenty different breads total. The machine's capabilities go beyond bread, a surprise to me. Its other settings include jams and jellies, cake, and pizza dough, a pretty good profile of modern carb cravings.

I understand that some people really like their roombas. We're not going to make a little hutch for our bread machine anytime soon, but the whole process goes quite smoothly and produces some nice loaves.

Thanksgiving comes TOMORROW (zounds!) and our plans include seeing three different groups of friends. Giving some bread to each of them would be an appropriate gift, so the work started early today with this Challah recipe. It takes but a few minutes to pile the ingredients into the pan (always in the proper order!) and get the process underway. The 1.5lb ball of dough's kneading away as I type.

We learned a few things about baking with our machine over the last two months. First, bread quality follows the water balance closely. Too much means a soggy interior, an under-baked result, and trouble with slicing. Too little means a stiff and crumbly exterior. The difference between those two seems very small, perhaps a tablespoon or so on either side. It's possible to correct (somewhat) by checking the dough a few times during kneading and sprinkling more water, a very small amount at a time. It would really help for recipes to describe things look at different stages in the process. A few do, but most let you learn what small touches to make on your own.

OK, the bread's done now and smells excellent. (Never ignore the nostril impact of baking in your kitchen!) Today's loaf settings were WHITE flour and MEDIUM crust. The recipe called for two eggs; we used one real and one "fake" (non-fat). Everything else went in as listed. To the ratings!

Look: Nice even color, no burned areas
Cut: Crust crunchy but yields easily to bread knife
Taste: Eggs! I'd like a little more depth to the flavor. Add an extra tsp of honey next time?

Boston half-marathon wrap-up!

2008-10-20T08:31:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, Sunny and I took on another half-marathon, the second tandem run of the year after January's trip to Miami. Boston's version nicely tracks the Emerald Necklace, a shouldn't-miss part of any trip to the area.

Over 5000 people took part this year, a mighty motley crew of people waiting for registration, port-a-lets, and the starting line. We lucked (?) into excellent weather, with a couple hours' worth of low-wind, high-sun running. The route heads south down the Riverway, a road that twists through Boston's suburb of Jamaica Plain. You reach the Franklin Park Zoo at mile 6, do a couple of small loops, and then return on roughly the same route (but using a parallel road).

The winners break tape in just over an hour and keep a 13 MPH pace, almost all-out effort for many people. Sunny and I set personal records at about 2:01, largely because we didn't stop and walk anywhere. Miami included a few of those and led to a 2:15 time.

Our friend Rosanna joined in for the last few miles, which includes a final loop around the Fens prior to the finish. You can hear the announcer between 11 and 12 before losing him for most of 13, which feels a little discouraging. Sounds of the other runners wrapping up make for good motivation, so you want that crescendo-and-celebrate feeling.

I have to be honest and say that Sunny's enthusiasm gets me onto the course for 13.1 miles. That's a lot of leg work! At least it feels really good when you stop...

Review add-on

2008-10-10T11:12:00.000-07:00

To Matthew's review I replied: "Precisely. I felt let-down by the flimsy introduction of characters that never seemed genuinely motivated to accomplish their supposed goals. They were mired in frustration and entirely unclear on their best, or even easiest, course of action:

Tilda Swinton's character seemed to want someone to dominate, so why would she listen to a buffoon lawyer and file for divorce to take on training Clooney when she already had Malkovich right where she wanted him. If it was money she was after, then why wasn't that made clear. She was a powerful woman putting on the show of power with the divorce, but without any real aim to it.

Brad Pitt's character seemed to want to money, but got more adventure than he bargained for along the way, becoming the sacrificed dope. But his motivations for money were as thin and flimsy as McDormand's interest in cosmetic surgery. Had she been an aspiring bodybuilder it'd make sense -- but her low self-esteem wasn't keeping her from dating or getting laid by Clooney! Then suddenly, and oddly, her attention seemed to shift to the self-help "lose the negativity within/project a positive person on the outside". Where did that came from when she'd been so hell bent on her body issues earlier? Was she trying to channel Pitt's blithe silliness in his memory? (And did she ever even learn that he'd been killed, not just gone missing? I wanted that resolution but never got it.)

Gym Mgr's ability to put aside his logic and responsibility by jumping into the danger and drama with petty theft was the ultimate "weak character move" for no apparent reason. God only knows how Malkovich channelled all of his anger into that face-off and the axe-down scene, but it was brutal, and I don't think that the viewers really understood what could motivate either player on that scene to end up as they did. It was baffling and should have been revealing.

I guess all of that just supports your thesis: the characters we like and understand, or even loathe but understand, have to be played in a way that keeps consistent with their own logic and revealed character. Actors can be typecast and writers can be expected to write a certain kind of dark comedy, but it's only dark and funny when we really know why they're doing what they're doing -- because they can't stop. Then you can watch the train wreck and laugh at how silly and strange we all are. But at least we make sense, if only to ourselves.

Review of "Burn After Reading"

2008-10-10T06:42:00.001-07:00

We caught the Coen brothers' latest film last night, a star-laden farce of violent intentions called Burn After Reading. If you've already seen their Oscar-winners No Country for Old Men or Fargo, rejoice! This also contains odd characters who have just enough information about their situation to do real damage. If you've already seen their excellent comedies Raising Arizona and O Brother, Where Are Thou?, be unhappy! Most laughs in the movie come from the release of nervous tension, not actual hi-jinx or excellent physical humor. (Minor exception for Brad Pitt, who hams it up successfully as a low-brained physical trainer.)

The Coen brothers draw most viewers into their films with strength of character, a sense of constancy that explains and links seemingly unbelievable behavior across varied scenes. The stoic killer in No Country for Old Men held a strict code of conduct that made his otherwise repellant and psychotic actions somewhat sympathetic. Unfortunately, character's the primary failure in Burn After Reading. Most of the story takes small-scale mistakes and blows them out of proportion so quickly, we lose the power to judge. (Wait, is that believable? Could I get a time out to think about this?) By the end, all the characters with inner demons exorcise them by killing the people who seemed happy to start with.

The film's poster design hearkens back to Hitchcock films and the marquee design for Anatomy of a Murder, both excellent sources for life-or-death material frequently plumbed by the Coen brothers. (For example, this movie's MacGuffin is a single CD-ROM of memoirs and financial data whose contents become quickly irrelevant.)

In my opinion, they leaned too heavily on the story's comedic aspects. Fargo seemed rightly concerned with how poor choices lead to terrible outcomes--and was incidentally funny. They inject more humor here, but sacrifice how we regard the characters. Rather than communicating intelligence and an ability to cope with the world around them, everyone seems stubbornly stuck in a single-rail existence. Once it's over, did any of the characters actually learn anything? Do the viewers?

The month of football and dirty streets

2008-10-01T06:34:00.000-07:00

There's no avoiding it now, we're in football season. We threw a perfect spiral of a Patriots birthday party for our friend Josh last week to celebrate. One of the attendees chipped in with an amazing pigskin-shaped cake. (Our fine triathlon filly Sunessa enjoys one end of it in today's picture.) Unfortunately, the Patriots forgot to join the party festivities, losing at home to the Dolphins. @#($@#*@$(!

We've attended a fair amount of live music lately. Perhaps it's the spirit of Rock Band growing within us! Leading up to November's election, politicos focus on talking points. We use ROCKING POINTS.

Point 1: The Cult - "She Sells Sanctuary." We caught these guys at Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel in Providence, RI. The lead singer tossed four different tambourines into the audience during the show. (Less dangerous that it sounds, as he gave them some height and people caught them easily.)

Point 2: Lifestyle - "Everyone's in Love with You." They're connected to the Boston synthpop band Freezepop via the lead singer and drummer. Lifestyle headlined a night of 80s-style pop-rock music at the restaurant & club called Church. Their next show will be an all-New Order cover gig at local club TT the Bear's on November 1.

Point 3: Dear Leader - "Everyone Looks Better in the Dark." Another (sort of) derivative band, as the former lead singer of The Sheila Divine (Aaron Perrino) moved on to this new project a few years back. Their "shiny guitars and swooping vocals" sound is remarkably consistent--for lack of a better word. If you like it, no question that you'd really like it. We think of them as biggest in Boston, but they're also very popular in Belgium. No kidding.

Point 4: Freezepop - "Brainpower." The video gaming show Mega64 made this video for Freezepop's first Rock Band song. It's incredibly silly, as everyone raised on video games should be. We caught them most recently playing a huge (5000+ people) stage show at PAX in Seattle.

Oh, and don't forget about October's dirty streets. Tree leaves are everywhere right now, sidewalks get slick with a damp brown carpet, and we await the chance to see colors change away from town. (The ones in our neighborhood go right from green to blech.) We'll drive up to Ogunquit, Maine, in a few weeks--expect some nice photos from the drive!

Yellowstone 2008 Video add-ons

2008-09-06T21:33:00.000-07:00

We took some videos of the amazing geysers, goofing off moments, and our lake hike 'interviews' while at Yellowstone. I'm testing the video posting options by adding them here now. A photo from a geyser is below for comparison on clarity/content.

Some videos have loud/poor audio due to wind noise. There is no external microphone to use. Others are just shaky from my lack of steady-cam hands.

Each takes minutes to upload, so this video addition may be a rarity. More photos are in our Flickr sets as Matthew noted in his previous post.

Yellowstone wrap-up and headed to Seattle

2008-08-27T07:38:00.001-07:00

We spent almost a week in the Yellowstone area, taking in the natural sights and generally enjoying ourselves. This photo captures a sunset just before a full moon evening and is reflected off the top of the car for good measure.

As good the trip out to Yellowstone, so did the return go badly. A mechanical problem delayed the takeoff from Jackson, WY, and prevented us from making the connection flight. They rebooked us to another Boston flight, which promptly got canceled. The last flight of the evening was waaaaay overbooked, which meant staying a hotel night in Dallas. (Boooo!) Upon return, the extra day meant more lost time at work AND my car was towed to clear the way for street cleaning. I don't think there's a lesson in it all, unfortunately--just lameness.

Interested in seeing more Yellowstone photos? That's a service we happily provide.

-- Yellowstone Flickr Collection

Not content with merely getting out-of-state once this month, we're headed to Seattle tonight for PAX and games, games, games. It's also Labor Day weekend, so who knows what'll happen out there? At least the extra vacation day means some time to recover from the red-eye flight Sunday night.

Setting down in Yellowstone

2008-08-17T09:39:00.001-07:00

We swept into Jackson Hole, Wyoming yesterday to join Matt's family for several days of geysers and awesome outdoor views. Got up at 2:30 AM local time for a quick series of flights, crashed in the afternoon, and are about to leave for the Mammoth Hot Springs on this Sunday morning. Vacations move quicker than one expects! Pictures to come as available...

Summer Olympics...Live from Beijing

2008-08-14T10:29:00.000-07:00

We've seen a lot of great performances so far in this 29th (modern) Olympiad. Graceful and powerful gymnasts sailing through the air and landing without a bobble. Nice work, China! Long and sleek swimmers driving their bodies through the water to break world records, and their competition (sorry Team France). Go Team USA!!! But all of this insomnia from us late night spectators is a bit much...

When will it end? How can I make sure I don't miss my favorite events before it does end?
Well, the NY Times has a new tool to help you!
Their 2008_OLYMPICS_TRACKER.html

In my tracker, I've moved the rows for Triathlon, Beach Volleyball, and Cycling to the top of my list. I clicked into each sport and chose the specific rounds and events I wanted to add to My Favorites. (No more boring pre-qualifying rounds to keep me up late at night!) Then I went back to a few events I'd already missed and read the news about what made them great.

For example, the story about women's cycling Time Trials Gold medal winner Kristin (not Lance!) Armstrong's unexpected win. She had been training roads in Idaho that mirrored the course elevation profile in Beijing according to her GPS, and clearly, it worked. Or cyclist George Hincapie's long and storied career of professional cycling which has lasted over 15 years, many of those in Lance's shadow earning him the nickname Grandpa.

These are the stories worth reading in the Olympics, not the faux-drama about cyclists wearing face masks (that were given to the athletes by the IOC organizers) and then apologizing for insulting the host city. The air quality is clearly an issue, but it's the athletes I care about, not the gossip. Save that stuff, keep showing the good, hard competition. May the best athletes win and a great Olympics be had by all!

Brooklyn and NYC with Chelsea

2008-08-03T12:00:00.000-07:00

More photos from our visit to Chelsea, Prospect Park, and the New Museum of art in NYC are in the Brooklyn, July 2008 photo set on flickr. Captions and stories behind each photo are in flickr -- run the slideshow or click through the set!

Mass State Triathlon

2008-08-03T08:23:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday, just after returning from Brooklyn on Saturday, Matthew and I went out to Winchendon, Mass, for a triathlon. It was the Olympic Distance Mass State Triathlon and I raced in the Athena Division against only 5 others. Turns out that in spite of early rain, cloudy skies, and blistered feet (from bad sandals walking 3-4 miles in Brooklyn), I had a great race! I passed lots of people on the bike and run, making up 8 minutes on the first Athena exiting the swim. Here are some photos -- the complete set is on flickr:

from before the race, checking out the lake

from mid-race taking off on the bike

and from after the race with my first place Athena goods -- a new tech t-shirt!

Lastly, our team's president and other teammates cheer the Wheelworks Multsport team as we won our fifth consecutive USA Triathlon team champions in Massachusetts.

Coney Island's Wonder Wheel and Thunder Bolt

2008-07-27T20:24:00.001-07:00

Coney Island's Wonder Wheel and Thunder Bolt
Originally uploaded by matthewsunessa

I'd never been to Coney Island until this weekend's trip to visit Chelsea in Brooklyn. For people who don't know, you get there by riding the Q train to the southern end of the borough. (Given my lack of knowledge outside Manhattan, you could've made me believe it was on Staten Island...or even New Jersey.)

Just up from the entrance, these two rides beckon like giant neon bugzappers. Chelsea doesn't like ferris wheels and I'm not crazy about electrical shocks, so we passed them both by. Just walking down the boardwalk proved entertaining enough, with all the people around killing a Friday night or playing midway games. I'm sure the history is there and it has the hot dogs, but give me a couple hours walking around Soho or Greenwich Village over Coney Island any day.

Summer time!

2008-07-21T08:40:00.001-07:00

HPIM0939
Originally uploaded by matthewsunessa

from the beach at Provincetown weekend, all smiles!

Ajuga in bloom

2008-07-14T21:07:00.001-07:00

DSCN6498.JPG
Originally uploaded by matthewsunessa

This picture from May shows the vibrant purple flowers ajuga kicks up when it gets good light and ample water. (The pipe in the background is a downspout, which the flowers are happy to live near.)

All of this ajuga came from an original group of plants that Katy sent from St. Louis. Less than two years later, we're moving offshoots to other spots in the yard. We didn't expect the excellent flowering, a very pleasant side effect of copious spring rain.

Garden progress!

2008-07-14T20:06:00.000-07:00

This year saw leap-and-bounding changes to the garden "space" (not much) that surrounds our house. Although the house reaches almost the boundary of the property, the trained eye can detect patches on non-house that I believe gardeners call "dirt." Naturally, the largest amount of this growth-enabling substance is right where the sun doesn't shine, along our house's eastern side and in shade of the neighbors and two trees. Here's how that area looked in April of 2006.

To improve the space in general, we added a gravel path to the side yard in 2007. This meant pulling up the bony bricks, lining the path with something practical, and adding an initial line of plants to the front sidewalk, which runs along the top edge of this photo. In went a pair of rhododendrons, some pachysandras, and a couple of other flowering plants. That helped, but looks even better this year after the new terracing and a half-dozen flora species.

Of all the flowers, I look forward to the lilies the most. They come in a beautiful orange-red, as seen below. If only they stuck around more than a couple of weeks! Maybe a complement of long-bloomers will add some balance to their burn-out-young mentality.

Our best shot of this year's lilies, which bloom a gorgeous deep red.

April came and went so fast

2008-04-30T19:37:00.000-07:00

We barely had time to blog...Birthday his (Apirl 3), Mom visit (both of ours in St. Louis April 9-14), Tax day (April 15, and predictably we mailed our taxes on April 13), Boston Marathon (April 21, and Sunny didn't run, but instead worked the LUNA bar booth for the Marathon Expo), and Birthday hers (April 28).

Oh, and our virtual garage band on RockBand has earned the adoration of over 700,000 "fans". We rock the songs on drum and guitar on the Hard level now. How's that for quality time spent, eh? Busy month!

But here are some of our favorite memory photos, in no particular order.

Everyone at Lewis & Clark's restaurant for the "Meeting of the Moms" (and Bill, and Barbara, and Steve, more of our extended family).

I spent a little time at Bradley's (Bill's son's place) while Matthew returned from a brief visit to his Grandma Thomas in Kentucky. While I waited with Brad, I noticed that he had some video games, which I knew Matthew would hone in on like a bee to honey when he finally arrived. So here's Mom grooving out to Matthew's skills on Guitar Hero, highly transferable from RockBand!

Matthew finding that safety triggers actually are a laughing matter while at the Gun Club with Bill. Everyone got in on the skeet shooting that day, including Mom and me who took turns firing shots and launching skeet from various points on the range.

click on the flickr animator on the left to see more!

They prefer the term "little filmstrips"

2008-03-22T22:08:00.000-07:00

We caught a great series of short films tonight at the Museum of Fine Arts. The Asbury Shorts of New York group tours films every so often and this was the first gig in Boston.

http://www.mfa.org/calendar/event.asp?eventkey=32394&date=3/22/2008

The time ranged from ninety seconds to 18 minutes and included three by Jason Reitman, recently Oscar-nominated for Juno (though I liked Thank You for Smoking better, perhaps thanks to its contrarian style). Mr. Reitman became known through his short films, a common "resume" for filmmakers. If the program comes to your town (or you head to NYC), they're definitely worth a look.

The next 48-hour film project looms and though the team situation is unsettled, the producers and I have hatched a few story and shooting ideas. I hope we don't steal anything too obviously from the ones shown tonight!

Lately we've been...

2008-03-14T17:26:00.000-07:00

Too busy to post notes to this blog, or so it seems. You may notice some recent photo updates in the flickr sidebar, but we haven't written anything about them. I won't make excuses; we have been busy and yet not too busy to post. In recent weeks we have been to:

One BU women's hockey game (they won!)
Church gatherings for brunch with our young adult friends, executive council meetings, various committee meetings, an all day leadership retreat (Sunessa took photos which will probably go on the First Church Cambridge UCC website fairly soon), and our own game night which ended up with guests in our loft space
And then of course there's work...and more work

But really, our number one diversions of late are Facebook.com and RockBand on Xbox. It seems that Facebook is no longer simply the crazy domain of 20-somethings that MySpace became. Now it's a popular networking website among our peers, and we have some pretty interesting peers! We play scrabulous (scrabble+fabulousness) with friends from near and far. We exchange comments on what our friends from high school have said about their recent trip to the grocery store. It's just so, you know, addictive...to reconnect easily and quickly with people you are (or at least once were) very fond of is a real treat in this rather disconnected world. For example,

Name:: Sunessa Schettler
Network:: Boston, MA

Here are some of Sunessa's friends on Facebook...

But enough about Facebook, our real, dirty little secret is that we are both pretty obsessed with RockBand. What is RockBand? Well, living room karaoke + drums + clicking plastic guitars + excellent animated characters that are "you" on your band's own "world tour" = RockBand, the game. It's a riot, seriously. I can't stop drumming to old Bon Jovi and new Freezepop tunes without wanting to perfect my score and get new gigs. Ever since Matthew bought it, we've spent at least an hour each night (three or more or weekends!) rockin' out together. He's mastering song on the Hard guitar level while I'm most comfortable on the Medium level drums. Seriously, it's teaching me valuable life skills...like how to drum drum drum until I want to run off and open that nightclub in Stockholm. Matthew really wants us to break through to that level, and with his mad guitar skillz, we just might get there

Should we keep our day jobs? Wait and see...

Sunny's Mid-week Training

2008-02-21T06:01:00.001-08:00

Mid-week means a fair amount of training for me (Sunessa). While Matthew takes mid-day breaks for soccer several times each week (Tu, Th, Fr?), I usually workout in the mornings or evenings. It gets predictable after a while, so I've changed up my routine lately. For example, instead of just cycling/spinning at 6am on Wednesday mornings, I've started going swimming for 45 min and then doing the 7am spin instead, so I get a swim-bike combo. Three other days I'm in the gym between 6:30-8am lifting or running or taking a personal training client. One evening I go for my own workout, usually following an Intro to PT session for a client.

Yesterday, however, was different. I slept in and skipped my Wednesday morning routine because I knew that I had a mid-day instruction session on how to instruct special cardio/strength combo classes called BURN. What I didn't know is that this would be a participatory class and I would get sweaty, big-time. The instructor was Tina DeMarco, a master trainer, and she almost let me "just watch" but then I saw that two other trainers, Tom and Lesley, would be taking the class AND participating. I couldn't just sit on the sidelines in my office clothes! So I got changed into workout duds and laced up my shoes...

First running interval: 10 mins total - 2 min warmup jogging, 1 min incline running followed by 1 min recovery for 4 repeats. The catch...a 3% incline raise on each run segment. Start with 3%, 6%, 9%, and finally 12% incline. "Slow your run speed if you need to" Tina said, but us trainers were too competitive for that.
Strength interval #1: Lunges, Bicep curls, Shoulder presses, and more Lunges. After the hill running, those Lunges got the quads tired quickly. Now I see why they call this BURN...
Second running interval: 10 mins total - speed over hills with a sprint at the end. This time Tina pushed the hills up to "only" 6% and told us about shin splints. Lots of her new clients in the BURN sessions had really sore shins from the hills. More stretching was needed, but she admitted that stretching is the first thing to get cut from these short, jam-packed 55 minute workouts. Go figure!
Strength interval #2: Wide squats with more curls and presses, plus Pushups. Using the back of the treadmill for our hands, we did these on a slight incline. But still, pushups are hard, really hard when the instructor says "Down and hold for 10 seconds hovering 2" from the ground". More BURNing going on, this time in the chest.
Third running interval: 10 mins total - speed, Speed and more SPEED. We cranked it up with each 30 second that passed, taking only one break to a jog in the middle of the set. This was not easy, but it was fun, and again we (the trainers) got a little competitive. I could see double digits on Lesley's 10+ mph pace, but I held back at 9mph while Tom probably hit 11 mph. I just did not want to get thrown off the back! Oh, and I'd have to go back to the office in less than 15 mins so I wanted to not sweat too much more. Ha.
Strength interval #3: Abs on the BoSu - I love ab/core work, so this was no problem. I got to ask questions about success and challenges with offering these BURN courses. Tina told me that she gets lots of "regular" clients for these, and that she has a reputation for being tough (I can see why!). She pushes her clients a lot, and it made me realize that I should push mine harder, too. I'm too nice sometimes. I should really toughen up. BURN will help.

So that was how I spent my mid-afternoon break yesterday. Although it made me work later in the evening, it was worth the chance to try something different and learn about another training technique. I really enjoy this kind of athletic challenge, and being able to share it with others (and get paid for it!) is really great. I guess that's why I keep up with my Personal Training certifications and keep working (and working out) at Healthworks. It's good fun.

Wintertime geocaches

2008-02-16T19:29:00.001-08:00

Sunny and I headed for natural surroundings today after a week of rain and varying temperatures played havoc with our attempts to get out and around. The blue skies meant easy times for geocaching and we picked out a likely suspect in the nearby Middlesex Fells, a large natural area north of Boston.

Friday's chilly weather preserved a snow cover and iced over most of the ponds. Much of the path featured frozen patches, some thin enough to see the water slowly circulating underneath.

It took an hour or so to reach the geocache site and poke around. It featured great views of the adjacent towns, as does about any hill in Boston. We watched the moon move across the afternoon sky and eventually found the cache, a Rubbermaid container secured under the edge of a boulder. (As with most places called "fells," rocks are plentiful.) After failing to find one in our neighborhood this morning, it was nice to succeed on a larger scale.

Sunny attended a social event hosted by the magazine Science tonight, while Matthew organized the new closet setup and watched Saturday Night at the Fights between our kitties. (They scrap a lot, with no actual harm to report.) Weather.com foretells similar weather tomorrow, so perhaps another geocache will turn up...

Urban turkey

2008-01-31T06:32:00.000-08:00

I (Matthew) work in Kendall Square, a nexus of MIT people, biopharm companies, and other big calculator types. My morning walk from the subway takes me through Cambridge Center, a set of commercial buildings that run along Broadway and Main St. Everything meets at the Kendall Square fountain, a golden sphere of spigots that's wisely off during the winter.

Kendall Square has one resident turkey, dubbed "Mr. Gobbles." The real thing, strutting and clucking, not a guy who just takes too long at the supermarket checkout or occupies the whole sidewalk. For the second day running, I passed our turkey sunning itself next to the Biogen building next door to EMC. A couple of its features sat askew, possibly from scrapping with other local animals.

I've seen the turkey about a half-dozen times over the last few years and other bloggers saw him back in 2003 and probably earlier. They wonder enough about him to ask questions we'd rather not consider too deeply. He does seem to take care of himself, given the many opportunities around here to get hit by cars or even subway trams. Given the turnover typical of software and scientific businesses, perhaps Mr. Gobbles has even outlasted many companies.

Run to infinity--and beyond

2008-01-28T19:06:00.001-08:00

We just returned from a weekend in Miami that included Sunny's first successful marathon and my second successful run at the half-distance, both at the ING Miami Marathon Sunday morning. Woot!

A field of thousands of runners helped the organizers commandeer much of the downtown area. The starting line stood right in front of the American Airlines Arena, where the Miami Heat play basketball. (They just endured a 15-game losing streak, but it's for the love of the game, right?)

Speaking as a companion runner more than a serious runner, the outlandish elements of big events stick out to me. Wake up at 4am to catch the shuttle! Wait in a 10-deep line to use port-a-potties! Dawdle in stockyard "grouped time" pens and wait ten minutes after the gun to cross the starting line! Such are the eccentricities of running folk.

On the plus side, you get to run the bridge from Miami to South Beach, watch the sun come up over the beach, and see a variety of town areas. Finishing the 13.1 miles took right around 2:16, slightly more than the first time (but I also wasn't sick then). Sunny, benefiting from an actual training plan, finished the whole nine yards in 4:45, just what she'd targeted at race sign-up months earlier.

It was great to see the spectator turnout distributed across the city. Anytime I passed musicians, the music blew away thoughts of slowing down or quitting, easy temptations in the normal fugue of lactic acid and brain drain. Some spots had high school drum corps and others were proper guitar, bass, and drum combos. One stage featured three guys playing Rock Band on a Playstation 3. (They were blasting through Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't Fear the Reaper"--unfortunately, it lacked cowbell.)

Sunny will follow with her own report, a more satisfying blow-by-blow for fans of the racing forum. We were happy to make it through, start to finish! Now back to winter, cold and icy, Boston-style.

Marathon training updates

2008-01-06T14:33:00.000-08:00

Sunny just returned from her second 3+ hour training run in two weeks, the last runs over 20 miles before the ING Miami marathon at the end of the month. I'll be running the half-marathon and unfortunately sprained my ankle during soccer on Friday, so limited my weekend workouts. Fortunately, the foot still works OK in straight lines, which means more running later this week.

The cats are very entertained by a new fishing-pole type of toy and even the mom cat almost gets off the ground for the green heart-shaped mouse attached to it. Watching the kitten bound back-and-forth in crazy springing fashion entertains us to no end.

Today also marked the 12th day of Christmas, so the tree looks a little peaked, if still well-coiffed with lights and bangles. We're happy to report the kitties did very little damage to anything connected to the tree.

That is not our kitty.

New Year's Night

2008-01-01T10:13:00.000-08:00

We ended 2007 in the company of friends, Vlad and Vanessa, who hosted a small gathering at their place. Having arrived too late for the potluck because of our own little surf-n'-turf meal, we got only nibbles of the "meals that represented my 2007":

View matthewsunessa's map

Taken in (See more photos here)

Sharon-iO's, suitable for taking her into the wild on numerous roadtrips

and the Gingerbread House lacking a structural support wall
(like our friend Dave Shi's "This Old House" candidate)

View matthewsunessa's map

Taken in (See more photos here)

Having eating just a few nibbles of tasty, tasty cheese and other goodies, we proceed to play an odd little parlor game called "the oracle". Everyone takes paper and pen. The first thing each person writes is a question, starting with "Dear Oracle..." Everyone passes the paper to the right and then writes a response to the he/she received and then folds the paper to cover the original question, leaving only the answer visible. Everyone then receives an answer and must write a question that it could be answering, and folds the original answer. And so the papers get passed and marked up by a different person responding to each question with an answer and each answer with a question. It gets a little goofy and finally when the paper is filled the answers are read.

View matthewsunessa's map

Taken in (See more photos here)

Matthew got to read the results of the Dear Oracle series, aka Telephone Pictionary. Hillarity ensued. Sam demonstrated his bag pick-up skills by balancing on one foot, picking it up with his teeth and then getting the bag onto his head.

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Taken in (See more photos here)

Sam the bag man, victorious.

Drinks were re-filled and the New Year 2008 was welcomed warmly.

Christmas Day 2007

2007-12-27T17:51:00.000-08:00

Earlier on Christmas, as noted by Matthew on our Flickr.com Page:
Taken outside First Church in Cambridge (our UCC congregation), just after today's 11am service. The tree in the background is one of a pair of ancient yellowwoods on the front lawn. Both trees picked up some kind of disease, so won't last too much longer. The church planted a bunch of replacement sprigs last summer, keeping an eye on the future.

The Christmas carol-filled church service was the perfect antidote to that night's oddly violent encounter on the sidewalks of Cambridge. It was so nice to be among friends and families in the tiny church sanctuary. A few young girls participated in communion with their parents. One girl was particularly funny in that she grabbed the loaf-end of bread from the plate, not just a small piece as is our tradition. She must've been hungry! Anyway, her enthusiasm for the bread amused us all as we sang while she gnawed on the loaf during our time of reflection.

We returned home to a meal of tasty moussaka leftovers and gifts to be opened. Then we spent the rest of Christmas Day afternoon resting and relaxing at home. We played a few games with friends and then saw the Charlie Wilson's war movie he already described below.

A minor anti-Christmas experience

2007-12-26T07:32:00.001-08:00

Last night, we saw Charlie Wilson's War, a decent new film starring Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts. (I'll try to review that soon.) On the walk home, we ran afoul of a domestic dispute that had spilled out onto the street. After some serious shouting, we got tangled up in it and I got whacked on the neck.

Ultimately, we disentangled and the (loud and abusive) guy went home a few doors away. Police cars soon arrived and took over the situation. Turns out the guy was wanted for robbery and something else, which probably meant a night in jail and an upcoming date with a judge.

We learned a few things about loud encounters. A key one will be getting police involved as soon as practical. (In this case, that meant an emergency call box a half-block away.) Somewhere around getting punched, I don't remember anything for a minute or so. Best I can tell, I was close enough to hit, so the guy did so. That took me back to a security training class reminder--if someone is less than 15 feet from you, then can almost certainly get to you. It's best to stay alert and at significant distance.

Short story, Christmas isn't exempt from the same trouble as any other day!

Home for the Holidays

2007-12-22T18:40:00.000-08:00

Our First Christmas back in Dec' 02 and we were already dressing alike...yikes!

Now, 5 years later, we're wearing less gray but the same grins. Life is good at 34 Harvey Street and we're glad you dropped in to see us.

More to come...stay tuned. Happy Holidays!