an ice-choked river,
warmed by the sun, flows at last--
the glacier melting

Posted by ksmoker at 8:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I have taken up squash. Last week I joined a local athletic club and with a borrowed racquet and eye protection, I'm picking up the game and it is loads of fun.

I played tennis for several years, but after the arrival of the boys and with our new time constraints, something had to give and it was tennis. Unfortunately, my belt buckle is also starting to give, so now that the kids are settling in and with Kari's encouragement, I've been looking for exercising opportunities. My friend Allen has been pestering me for a while to give squash a try, so I did. It's all still new, but I'm having fun and the people I've met at the club have all been very friendly and fun to play with, even given the disparity in skill level.

Some of the strategy and techniques seem to be comparable with those in tennis. One can volley, or hit a drop shot, or drive, or lob. But playing within a walled room adds a whole 'nother dimension, leading to play which includes “boasts,” hitting into the “nick,” controlling the “T,” and the problem of player interference. Anyhow, it's fun. I can see a separate blog being born, devoted to chronicling the travails of a squash n00b. Or maybe I'd rather spend that time playing.

Posted by ksmoker at 12:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've been listening to various podcasts for the past couple of years or so. Some of these have become permanent fixtures, others come and go, and a handful have gone on hiatus.

One podcast that I have only recently added to the rotation deserves special mention: it is the BBC produced In Our Time and it's unlike any other podcast out there, mainly because the host, Melvyn Bragg, is unlike any other radio moderator out there. As the BBC profile describes it, each week “he and his expert guests discuss the history of ideas, and explore subjects in culture and science.” And Bragg must be some kind of monster researcher, because the ambitious scope implied by that description is amply covered by the range of the show's topics. Here's a list of just the current season's episodes:

• The Fisher King
• The Charge of the Light Brigade
• Albert Camus
• The Nicene Creed
• The Four Humours
• The Sassanian Empire
• Genetic Mutation
• The Fibonacci Sequence
• The Prelude
• The Discovery of Oxygen
• Avicenna
• Guilt
• Taste
• The Arabian Nights
• Divine Right of Kings
• Antimatter
• Socrates

Sounds like exciting stuff, eh? Well, Bragg keeps his guests on their toes, not only moving the conversation along the moment it risks getting bogged down in academic minutae, but also occasionally slowing them down to provide the necessary context for the average listener. The result is a show that leaves the listener not only a little bit wiser, but also thouroughly entertained.

Posted by ksmoker at 9:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This was Christopher's first Christmas (in this country at least) and, well, let's just say he's on-board with the concept. Weeks of anticipation (“Christopher's turn for presents!”) culminated in a Christmas morning jubilee as Chris and Ben took turns tearing open presents and then spent the entire day reveling in their new-found toydom. Christopher spent most of the day playing with his new school bus (neither the first nor the last one he received for Christmas---apparently word had gotten out) while Ben watched his new Ratatoullie DVD twice in one afternoon.

They had gotten a little bit of a Christmas preview after our week-long visit to see Kari's parents in NC, where, of course, the boys were rightfully spoiled silly. We survived the long car trip (thankfully the weather was cooperative) and had a lovely time with Christopher meeting his grandparents for the first time. It was also the first time we got to meet our nephew Freddy, who is a cutie-pie-and-a-half. Fun with toys, long breakfasts, more fun with toys, the occasional trip to the store, delicious dinners, more fun with toys, and lots of grandparently love made for a perfect opening to the Christmas season.

As much fun as we had in the South, it was still nice to get home to relax and enjoy the holiday in our own house. After our brief interlude, we were back on the road again for a weekend trip to my parents house. More family introductions for Christopher and more toys and fun with cousins. Despite being the odd-man out in most of the group kid play, Cristopher didn't seem to mind (indeed, he asserted himself most effectively). Meanwhile, Ben played his first games of Go Fish and Boggle, while we learned how to play a fun new Scrabble-y game called Bananagrams.

It was a wild and crazy couple of weeks, but to our relief (and the kids' dismay) we have now gotten back to some semblance of the pre-holiday routine.

Posted by ksmoker at 8:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On Monday, December 17, we took another trip to Family Court and made official in the eyes of New York State our adoption of Christopher. Against all odds, Christopher sat still long enough for Judge O'Connor to sign the paperwork as we passed another milestone in our family expansion project. Thankfully, we were able to get into the judge's schedule before she hung up her robe for good. Special thanks to George for coming along to share in the event and take some pictures (and occasionally wrestle a squirming Christoper to the ground).

Posted by ksmoker at 8:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)