Today was a nice day. Strangely, I got less sleep than usual last night (6 hours). Nevertheless, I was well prepared for class and attentive. Our last lecturer of the morning was an older German fellow who screeched on and on about autonomic nervous system receptor agonists and antagonists. While I appreciate the effort one puts into such theatrics, a wild display is not necessary for me to enjoy or appreciate the lecturer. However, I demand that a lecturer stress material that s/he feels is important.

Benjamin has been pretty wild lately. He likes to grab his little mop and broom, one in each hand and run around waving them in the air. He hates sitting still. Even more than sitting still, he hates being quiet. Unless he is banging on something with something else, he is always yelling. Having said that, (and here I risk beshriving his good fortune) it's been a long time since he fell down and got a big bruise on his face.

I clipped May's fingernails tonight before she went to bed. She doesn't always like getting her nails clipped. I always like doing things to the kids that are good for them, but that they don't like. It helps me feel like I'm getting even with them for the terrific amount of work they make me do. May doesn't like getting her hair washed or getting her nails clipped, so, of course, I like helping her with those tasks of hygiene. May has lately turned the corner on getting her nails clipped. She still doesn't like it, but she acquiesces without much fuss now. She comes and sits on my lap and we discuss which finger is getting its nail clipped, that finger's unique job, and why each finger, even the little one, is important. Even though I don't get to feel like I'm taking revenge on her for being my daughter, I still enjoy the care taking involved in clipping her finger nails. It's funny how that's changed for me.

Yesterday, I lifted weights, and bumped up my bench press weight to 135 lbs. I did one set of eight and one set of nine. I thought I'd be really sore today, and my back is a little sore, but not that bad. I think this year I'm going to try to lift twice a week, run once a week, and do yoga once a week. We'll see....

I made BBQ burgers tonight with corn and string beans.

Yesterday, I visited my friend and organic chemistry lab partner, Chris, at his new place in west Philly. It's a really nice place. He's already started his first year of med school at a different school, but still in Philadelphia. He made me some very good pancakes from scratch for brunch. These pancakes were very fluffy and airy. A remarkable treat. Afterwards we took a long walk around his campus.

Then I drove to my school, took my inaugural first-shit-of-the-second-year-of-medschool and lifted weights. After that, I came home, cleaned up a little, straightened up the house, and watched a little bit of the eagles-steelers game.

Remarkably, I drove into Philly, parked twice, each time less than two blocks from my destination, and received no parking tickets. I was also able to avoid any fender benders. Yeah!

Today was my second year orientation. After the orientation, I am excited, but nervous. There is a ton of new material to learn, but the stuff we're learning this year is what we came to school to learn.

I've got to go pick up Jill and the kids at the airport tonight. My dad is coming too. I'm really looking forward to seeing them, but I'm nervous that Jill will be angry with my dad, after having spent the weekend with him, and will wreak her vengeance upon me. I don't think their visit went as well as she had hoped. We'll see....

What better way to prepare for 2nd year of medschool than binge drinking? Thus, I met friends last night and we went to a bar called McFadden's in Philadelphia. I did a lot of drinking and a lot of dancing. Hangover today: moderate. I think I have another round of binge drinking ahead of me tonight.

A few strange things bear commenting upon from last night.

When we first got to the bar, I was shocked. "We're not going here are we?" I asked. There were a lot of good looking skinny people waiting in line to get inside. I don't know why they made us wait in line, the place wasn't very crowded. Maybe they like to make people wait just because they can.

At one point a busty bartender lined men up, back against the bar, and after wrapping a towel around each man's neck, stood on the bar and walked its length pouring a long stream of red liquor into each victims throat. The red liquor splashed all over each man's face. The psychosexual connotation is, of course, a golden shower. I don't mind being treated like that, but try not to drink anything red. Later in the night, this same bartender lost a chugging contest and the DJ kept trying to get her to do a keg stand.

At another point, the DJ promised free shots to women who would dance on the bar. They didn't have to do anything lewd, only dance, but on top of the bar as a public spectacle. Finally, a handful of women did dance on the bar. They weren't great dancers, it wasn't like Coyote Ugly at all. The women were kind of shy and didn't know quite what to do with themselves. They danced for one song, some dancing together, some separate. Then they got down from the bar to walk among the rest of us.

The music was loud, which I don't like, but at least Philly has banned smoking, so I didn't smell like smoke afterwards. I didn't know many of the songs, but when a song, or a remix of a song, I knew came on, I tried to dance with more enthusiasm. I even tried to dance like Axel Rose, but wasn't very good at it. Later in the night, Curtis danced just like Axel Rose. It was uncanny.

I met a few first years and told them things like, "Welcome to Hell" and "Enjoy Yourself!"

Though I really enjoyed myself, I was very glad not to be involved in the bar scene. What a drag it must be to squeeze into some tight jeans and go out to these places and try to attract someone. Going to the bar reminded me why I like going to bars and why I do not like going to bars.

The jury is still out on this new keyboard....

AAARRRRRGGGGHHHHH! I am trying to get my new laptop set up and am angry, angry, angry. I was unable to use my old copy of symantec antivirus, which means I have to switch to McAffee (wierd...) which was included on the new machine and is compatible with windows vista. I got some heartening advice that it was easy to install XP, so I tried it. It may be easy for some, but not for me.

Unfortunately, manufacturer drivers were only available for Windows Vista. I tried looking on OEM sites, and after a few hours, ran out of time. I will have to run an 'out-of-the-box' restore to return the laptop to factory condition. Then I will have to figure out a way to make sure that the McAfee virus protection stays up to date.

More depressingly, I will be unable to avoid the new headaches and heartaches that micro$oft has forced upon me by, once again, changing their fucking menus, buttons, and control panels.



On a brighter note, I put the last coat of polyurethane on the bedroom floor this morning. It looks great. When Jill arrives on Monday evening, she'll be pleased.

Later tonight, I'm going out for a 'post-exam party.' Second year students haven't had an exam, but we get to tag along with the first year student party. Some folks from my study group and I will go for a few hours.

I arrived in NJ at 12:30 AM today (that's technically today, though I would consider it last night because I slept after my arrival.) I woke up at 8:30 AM to go get some blood work done at the doctor's office. They drew their blood, then I went to the post office to priority mail Jill's driver's license back to her. After that, I went to the hardware store to look at wood stains. Then, home for lunch. While my lunch was cooking, I had a long phone chat with my dad. After lunch, I went to the library and signed Ben up for a music class for toddlers. I think he'll love it. Also, I checked out a book for myself, "The man who mistook his wife for a hat," by Oliver Sacks. It's a neurology case studies book, but is well written and interesting enough to be read by non-neurologists (or so I'm told - we'll see).

After the library, I went to the grocery store and got some stuff for dinner today, tomorrow, and Thursday. Today, tuna mac; tomorrow; salmon with green beans and potatoes; Thursday, turkey chili and grilled cheese sandwich. After the grocery store, I came back home and unloaded the groceries, then I moved all furniture and everything else out of my bedroom.

After moving everything out of the bedroom, I went to home depot and rented two large machines used for refinishing floors; a drum sander and an edger. I got home, unloaded the machines, made dinner, and started sanding at 7:15. I finished sanding at about 10:40, and my next door neighbor helped me load the drum sander back into the car.

It sounds like I did a lot today, and I guess I did, but I never felt panicked or rushed. I often thought to myself throughout the day, "Should I hurry and get this done so I can do the next thing on my list?"

"Nah..."

The kids are with Jill back in Wisconsin. They are eating her alive.

We watched the last episode of The Tudors on Jill's parent's On Demand digital cable. The show features King Henry the Eighth of England. He is, of course, a barbarian. Still, he has some qualities worth emulating. He is smooth with the ladies. He is well dressed. And, he has great abs. I've never had any of those qualities, but if I can dream of being the king of new jersey, I can also dream about having great abs.

I'm almost out of stories about my mom. One last story about her, though, and then onto the standard cute stories about my kids. When we were visiting my mom, I went for a run down by the lake. Naturally, I got quite sweaty. The sweaty shirt I wore for the run was in my sister's room (we always sleep in my sisters room when we visit my mom). The next day, my mom is parading around in my running shirt. It's flattering that she likes to wear my clothes, but when I realized she was wearing my running shirt, I asked her, "Isn't that shirt a little damp, mom?"

"Why, yes, it is a little damp."

"That's because I wore it while running yesterday. It was drenched with sweat and has dried out a little."

"Oh, I thought it was recently out of the wash."

Yuck.

May has recently been interested in watching "The Lorax." While we were camping up north, we even played a lorax-like game in which one stands on a tree stump and shouts. During the campout, she kept rolling onto me in the tent and finally I pinned her down with an arm so I could get some sleep. She eventually settled back to sleep, and quietly murmured, "I speak for the trees."

Ben took a bad tumble out of Jill's parents RV during the camping trip. Jill's dad was watching him, and went on watching him as he fell down the RV steps and bounced his head off of the metal landing in front of the steps. Ben had a small cut in the middle of a huge bump above his left eye. I was really angry and worried that he would have a concussion after a fall like that.

First I yelled, "Goddammit, Sandy!"

"He's so fast, I turned away for one second..."

I yelled at Jill's dad, "Sandy you were supposed to be watching him. 'Watching' means with your eyes! It's hard enough to go camping with a one year old! It's hard enough to have a family!"

A few seconds later I said, "I'm sorry. I was frightened."

Sandy is a good guy and didn't get sore about it. Ben was fine afterwards. Normal appetite, normal balance, normal sleep patters. I didn't bother taking him to the doctor.

On Saturday, we met our friends Jamie and Howard for a donut breakfast at Lane's Bakery. May ate three donuts and had a stomachache afterwards. Ben ate no doughnuts and cried and clung to his mom the entire breakfast. After breakfast, we went to the farmers market. I hate the central Madison farmers market.

My hate is a composite of multiple feelings.

1. I do not like expensive things (except for sushi)
2. I do not like crowds
3. I do not like tourist traps

Jill decided she would stroll May around while doing the shopping. My job at the farmers market was to stroll Ben around until he fell asleep. I made the strategic error of getting a balloon tied to his stroller. He was way too excited to sleep while he could wrangle with a helium balloon. So I went to the Jazzman, a men's clothing store in downtown Madison, to do some shopping of my own. Usually the Jazzman has clothes that are made for people who are thinner and more wealthy than me. However, a few days earlier, I had noticed a faux vintage shirt in the window that I wanted to purchase.

The shirt is a yellow Milwaukee Brewers shirt. It is faux faded with faux blotches of color on it from faux uneven washings. The faux damaged print is of three clearly German brewmeisters riding an enormous keg of beer. I really, really wanted to buy the shirt but now I have some reservations.

If you think about it, the whole faux vintage thing is ridiculous. Why throw out a perfectly good old t-shirt and buy one that looks old but isn't? Ridiculous.

Also, am I a poser by pretending to like the Brewers when I can barely name one player on the team? I prefer to think that I am displaying home-state pride rather than being a poser.

I just got a really large life insurance policy, so if you're planning to kill me, now would be a good time.

I haven't posted much since we've arrived here in Madison, WI. We've spent a lot of time visiting friends. Last night, we went to Sa Bai Thong, my favorite Thai restaurant. I had the Gaeng Phet Fach Tong. Delish!

Two nights ago my friend, Rakesh, had a party at his house and all of my friends (except Brian, Megan, and Jason) in Madison came. It was great to see them. There was an elaborate spread of food with cupcakes, lamb biryani, jambalaya, taziki, and chips/salsa. I ate too much and drank too much. The afternoon before the party, I did some racing with my friend Jamie and Howard. The wind was strong and steady; the sun was warm and shining. It was fantastic weather for sailing.

Visiting everyone reminded me that it is the people inhabiting a place which makes the place special and unique.

Tomorrow, I help my inlaws load a mountain of boxes into their RV for the first part of their move. Later this morning I'll do some yoga and watch TV.

One quick funny story about my mom before I go. Before my cousin's wedding, my wife and sister took my mom shopping for clothes. In the first store, the changing room (where one tries the fit of the clothes one is considering for purchase) was seperate from the public by a curtain which my mom either neglected to notice or decided not to use.

Always helpful, my wife told her, "Nancy, let me help you with this." Jill closed the curtain for her, mentally making an allowance for my mom by allocating the immodest behavior to my mom's meager techinical abilities - i.e. my mom was not able to master the privacy curtain technology, must have been frustrated, and decided not to use it.

However, the changing room at the next store had a more standard privacy technology, a door. Again, my mom gave everyone a peep show until my wife closed the door for her.

I feel as if I were Bilbo Baggins after he wrote his famous prequel, 'There and Back Again.' We've returned from Oregon and my cousin Michael's wedding and the kids, Jill, and I are exhausted. Our flight from LAX to OHR was delayed and we arrived in Chicago about 9:30. Our bags got screwed up and we weren't able to collect them until about 10:45 PM. Finally we took the shuttle over to the hotel for the hotel parking and got on the road around 11:30 PM. We arrived in Madison about 2:10 AM and I was asleep at 2:15 AM CST. We woke up at the hotel in Bend, OR at 4 AM PST, which is quite early, but I was able to take a nap on the plane for about 30 minutes.



My cousin's wedding was a lot of fun and a great cermony. It's nice to see him settled down with a real beautiful woman who is so kind and friendly. It's also nice to see him married into a large family. My daughter got to be a flower girl at the wedding, which I think she may remember, even now, a few days later. Apparently, my daughter did some last minute negotiating with the bride and only agreed to fulfill her flower girl duties on the condition that she get to carry the bouquet after the wedding. When I found May carrying around the bouquet after the wedding, I was mortified. Because of the confidential nature of the bride-flowergirl negotiations, I thought she had swiped the Bridal Bouquet. Only later did Kelly, the bride, tell me the tale of the aisle-side negotiations. In a few weeks, I'll post a picture of my daughter in the flowergirl dress.



Ben was too crabby to see the wedding.

A few unusual events at the wedding deserve comments.

A woman attending the wedding had very large ears. She was a normal, attractive, young woman. She was dressed well and attended by a handsome companion (I believe they were unmarried). She was a tall brunette and at the reception and wedding had her hair pulled back behind her enourmous ears. I, myself being of the large auricular appendages, am sympathetic to the cause of the large ear-ed. Still, I thought, "Why not wear your hair down?" Her ears were large, protruding, and highly circular and symmetric. An attractive young woman with very large ears.

Secondly, at the reception, I was waiting in line for the bathroom when a middle-age/retirement-age woman came out of the bathroom. She looked me right in the eye and cackled hideously. I kept my silence and thought to myself, "What's so funny?" Upon entering the bathroom I smelled a very foul odor. The older woman had clearly taken a shit and stunk up the bathroom at the wedding reception. I try never to shit at a party, so she must have really had to go. Anyway, old ladies stinking up the bathroom with their foul bowels is noteworthy.

Today we fly out of ohare airport in chicago for my cousin's wedding in Bend, OR. I am not looking forward to this grueling journey.

The kids are sick and we had to take them to the emergency room here in Kenosha (not an emergency, except that our insurance covers emergency room visits when we are out of new jersey, but not standard doctor visits). The kids both have pink eye and Ben has an ear infection. I thought the nursing care at the ER in Ktown was excellent. I usually don't completely evaluate the doctor until a few weeks have passed; if in hindsight, I feel like the problem has been adequately addressed, I'll be happy with the doctor. It was a fast trip too, probably only because the ER was not very busy, but we were in and out in two and a half hours. A record setting performance.

Benjamin has learned to enjoy chicken wings. He loves to screech around the house chewing on one for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. He also has learned to say, "Smit - tee."

Both kids have really enjoyed my mom's dog, despite the fact that he's terribly ill-suited for my mom's life style. One thing in smitty's favor is that he is also incredibly tolerant. You can pull on his ears and swat his nose all day long, he barely notices.

After Ben went to sleep the other night, Smitty was howling. My mom sent him to his room, and Smitty got a time out. May was very interested in Smitty's time-out. She asked, "How long will Smitty have his time out for?" Then she asked, "Does he have to go right to bed?" May really liked seeing someone else get a time out. Smitty did not cry a lot when he got his time out. He was rather stoic about receiving his punishment.