Steve's Soapbox

Running a little behind

2013-05-17T12:10:00.001-05:00

Looking back, it seems I kick this thing back up every three years or so. Started in 2003, resumed in 2006 with apprehension of impending fatherhood, then again in 2009 as fatherhood 2.0 & big career move approached. I guess it speaks to my relative happiness and contentment that 2012 passed without a return of Steve the blogger.

Well, maybe I'm a year off schedule but I again have the urge to self publish. No, no job change or 3 rd kid on the way. I just want to put down in words some things. Most will probably be connected to my current hobby/obsession of triathlons, so I guess the "soapbox" of this blog's title can represent the closest thing to a podium I'll be seeing.

Copper mining and sulfuric acid plant, Copperhill], Tenn. (LOC)

2009-05-01T08:47:00.001-05:00

Copper mining and sulfuric acid plant, Copperhill], Tenn. (LOC)
Originally uploaded by The Library of Congress.

Sites like this are why I have a job.

Vacation

2007-08-04T14:54:00.001-05:00

So, we took our son to the beach. Here he is checking out the water for the first time!

You have new Picture Mail!

2007-02-24T18:09:00.001-06:00

You have new Picture Mail!
Originally uploaded by simonsen77.

Wow

2006-12-15T03:09:00.000-06:00

How often do you find yourself at an imminent life-changing event? I mean, I know right now, Friday, December 15, 2006, 3:12 AM, that there is a very very high likelihood that I could be a father before the day ends today.

My wife, who is 39 weeks pregnant, also happens to be an obstetrician herself. She is on this day working a 24-hour call. She called me at about 2:30 am, worried that her blood pressure was high. Apparently this is a strong indicator that she/they might need to induce her into labor tomorrow morning. Basically, it was a heads up call.

Now, my pituitary gland is working overdrive, I'm amped on adrenaline, and sleepy-groggy-confused has completely vanished. I've double checked our packed bags. I checked batteries on everything (camera, video camera, radio) and freed up the memory space on all the devices. The bags are lined up by the door, and I'm contemplating showering (at 3:15 am) and could probably be talked into sleeping with my clothes on.

Wow.

How to name a baby

2006-09-26T08:44:00.000-05:00

I'd wager that your own name is a word you'll hear more often than any other in your life. It's one of the first things you learn to write, to read, to say; it's one of the first things you share with someone. I could go on indefinitely, but I think I've made my point.

So, I've got a son on the way. My wife and I are currently trying to decide on a name, and it's a maddening exercise. Hopefully, the name we choose will get a good 75-100 years of use, and be the object of all those verbs I mentioned earlier. Yet for all the consequences of this decision, there is no right or wrong answer. I can't analyze things, research names, and decide one name is "best." It's simply a matter of taste - and this is killing me! It's one thing to choose dinner, or a shirt, or even a car, relying on intuition - these'll last, what, a few hours to a few years? But a name?

I don't want a common name - who wants to share a name with so many that you perpetually have to add an initial to distinguish yourself? But a rare name is equally challenging - you're spelling or pronouncing it repeatedly, and you can never find the little souvenier license plates with your name. I'd like to use a family name, but that raises more questions. Is it OK to change spelling? And with every name, you've got to avoid having stupid initials or sharing a name with a particularly notorious historical figure. It goes without saying that we won't be putting Adolf Stephen on a birth certificate this December. I want a name that has some meaning, but I don't want it to be transparent.

So, I've tried to set up a framework for this, and of course have researched. We haven't bought any books, but the interweb has more than enough information. Google "baby names meaning" and I'm sure you'll find plenty of lists explaining what the names mean in Old Norse or Greek. The Social Security administration will give you rankings of how popular names have been and what the most popular are now. I've got one bookmark that even combines the two, and gives you fancy graphs. To top it off, there are scholarly/economic articles discussing the relationships between baby names and parental education, and so forth. It's overwhelming - maybe once I have a more-developed list of potential names, it would help, but it's useless while I'm in the brainstorming pahse.

So, if I cop out and name the kid after me, do I get to choose whether he's a junior or a II?

Time for a reinvention

2006-09-23T03:31:00.000-05:00

Well, it's been nearly four months since I've posted anything, let alone anything of significance. What's happened... most of the first and all of the second trimester of my wife's pregnancy have passed, I've started a new [old] job. I'm sure y'all can see why I haven't found much in which to write.

However, I'm newly motivated to write. An evening scouring Myspace revealed a much greater number of old friends online, at least compared to my last survey of that scene. Maybe it's the pregnancy hormones, but I've been feeling more nostalgic lately, more interested in cultivating old friendships. Therefore, I resolve to make a greater effort to this blog (I haven't exactly set the bar high, though.) So, if anyone comes looking, there may be something worth finding.

Police: Mom asks son to sell pot for bail - Yahoo! News

2006-06-13T15:55:00.000-05:00

It makes you wonder... was she dumb enough to simply tell her son "sell the stash in the fridge," or did she at least try a bit of subterfuge? Probably a weak attempt at the latter... "ask your Aunt Mary Jane to help with the bail, and there should be a little something in the freezer to help you get by while I'm away..."

Police: Mom asks son to sell pot for bail - Yahoo! News

CNN.com - Dobbs:�Gay marriage amendment sheer nonsense - Jun 7, 2006

2006-06-07T10:25:00.000-05:00

Amen!

CNN.com - Dobbs:�Gay marriage amendment sheer nonsense - Jun 7, 2006

ESPN.com: Page 2 : San Francisco's Bonds

2006-05-25T13:09:00.000-05:00

But he forgot to mention who eliminated the Giants... the Dodgers. :-)

ESPN.com: Page 2 : San Francisco's Bonds: "See, 1993 figures large in the relationship between Barry and Giants fans. The Giants were magic that year. They won 103 games. They were eliminated on the season's final day by the Atlanta Braves, those thieving bastards who traded for Fred McGriff before the deadline and won their 104th game on their 162nd try."

More CNN absurdity...

2006-05-25T10:14:00.000-05:00

Look, they're inviting the general public to critique the... general public. Ugh.

CNN.com ... 'IDOL' CHATTER
E-mail us: You be the judge
You be the judgeDid 'American Idol' voters make the right call?

CNN.com - Study: Video games can help cut surgical errors - May 24, 2006

2006-05-24T12:07:00.000-05:00

So, if I buy an Xbox 360 for my wife, would it be a work-related expense, since she's a surgeon?

CNN.com - Study: Video games can help cut surgical errors - May 24, 2006: "Study: Video games can help cut surgical errors"

CNN.com - Dobbs: Bush, Congress tell working folk to go to hell - May 24, 2006

2006-05-24T12:06:00.000-05:00

Bah, what a waste of breath. He could use his forum to take a stance and provide some detail on an issue. It is an op-ed, isn't it? Instead, we get a collection of vague proclamations - immigration is a problem (why?), fix it (how?).

Frustrating to see such a wasted opportunity.

CNN.com - Dobbs: Bush, Congress tell working folk to go to hell - May 24, 2006

BBC NEWS | Europe | West's 'terror deceptions' rapped

2006-05-23T14:05:00.000-05:00

So, I guess our government isn't alone in its missteps.

BBC NEWS | Europe | West's 'terror deceptions' rapped: "the report's foreword, written by Amnesty International's Secretary-General Irene Khan, reserves much criticism for Western governments, which she says have 'paralysed international institutions and squandered public resources in pursuit of narrow security interests'.

'Governments profess to champion the cause of human rights but show repressive reflexes when it comes to their own policies and performance,' says the report."

Bonds: 616? And, I feel like a newb

2006-05-22T12:14:00.000-05:00

So, Pat Hruby at ESPN Page 2 wrote a nice piece discounting Bonds' home runs, using a half-assed scientific approach. It's pretty amusing, though I was immediately struck by a glaring omission - if Bonds weren't such a tremendous threat, his walk rate would have suffered, leaving more official at-bats and therefore a few more homeruns (since the calculations are all based on HR-per-AB ratios). I noticed the feedback button, and fired off a quick message pointing this out.

Of course, I failed to notice a little sidebar entitled "FAQ"... had I paid attention, I would have seen my question, as well as its answer (which is, BTW, give Bonds an extra 17 taters). Doh! I so rarely reply or email writers, it figures this rare occasion would be one in which I display such a lack of sense. :-)

So, if we give him [Bonds] the extra 17, he's at 633, or 81 behind his actual total. 755 (Hank) + 1 (to beat Hank) + 81 (cushion to 'clear the asterisk') = 833.

So, if Barry can get to 833, we celebrate? At his 2006 rate of 1 HR per 20.33 PA (after subtracting out intentional walks and HBP), then assuming Barry continues to play 84% of his team's games (as he's done this year), and assuming 3.37 PA per game (as he has done for the past 3 years), he should reach our new target of 833 near the All-Star break, 2011! (stats from The Hardball Times)

The Chicago Sports Review | CHISPORT.COM

2006-05-18T21:37:00.000-05:00

The Chicago Sports Review | CHISPORT.COM: "30 Sports Things To Do Before You Turn 30"

What have I done?
1, 2 (well, a batting practice ball), 3 (if you consider the apron fairway), 7 (state science olympiads, trivia), 8 (saw the Braves win the NL pennant one year), 11, 13 (UGA over GT a few years ago), 16 (saw a no-hitter in the early 90s), 25 (seen Cards-Cubbies), 27 (does Olympic soccer count?), 28 (baseball and bowling), and of course 29 (just go to college in the South).

whoa... backlog

2006-05-17T19:53:00.000-05:00

I didn't realize I had 2 weeks worth of draft posts queued up. So, brace for a flurry of posts. Those of you on RSS (heh) be sure to click through and read them!

The Blotter

2006-05-15T16:11:00.000-05:00

More followup on the domestic spying of US citizens. So, let's see how this works: if a leak isn't authorized by the pres (say, to alert the public their rights are being trampled), the NSA will use phone records to slam the door on the whistleblowers. But if the pres initiates the leak (say, to out a CIA operative because her diplomat husband publicly criticizes you) then I guess they don't pursue it...

The Blotter

The Scientific Activist: Reporting from the Crossroads of Science and Politics: Is Science Overrated?

2006-05-15T10:07:00.000-05:00

I had to take maybe 12 courses in english, history, social sciences, etc - how many science and math classes does a typical liberal arts major take?

The Scientific Activist: Reporting from the Crossroads of Science and Politics: Is Science Overrated?

CNN.com - Inside Bush's secret spy net - May 14, 2006

2006-05-14T15:56:00.000-05:00

Yeah, I'm late now bitching about this. How F***** incredible is this? How can anyone not be completely furious at our administration?

CNN.com - Inside Bush's secret spy net - May 14, 2006: "The day after USA Today broke the story that the National Security Agency (NSA) aimed to 'create a database of every call ever made' within the U.S., as one of the paper's sources put it, a Washington Post-ABC News poll found that 63 percent of those who were asked said they found the NSA program to be an acceptable way to fight terrorism, and 44 percent said they strongly approved of it."

To add something new, this evening (Wed, 5/17) I caught on NPR an interview with a Rep. senator from Kansas [NPR.org]. As I understand him, we have to exchange some freedoms to battle terrorists. The president is doing everything he can to fight terrorists, and any opposition to the president undermines the fight. Therefore, let Dubya be. Incredible.

But... I thought the terrorists hated us because of our freedoms? Shouldn't preserving our liberties be priority #1 in demonstrating that they haven't changed us?

Baseball Connoisseurs: The Atlanta Braves as the Good Ship Argo

2006-05-12T17:32:00.000-05:00

Pretty funny post.
Baseball Connoisseurs: The Atlanta Braves as the Good Ship Argo

Generation X - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2006-05-12T16:38:00.000-05:00

I now forget the circumstances in which I started reading the generation entries on Wikipedia. I have always felt a little insecure, though - I apply the Gen-X label to myself, even though I'm at the young end of it. Seeing this blurb, though, was amusing, as it fits me to a T.

Generation X - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "Predominantly DNC-voters may call themselves progressive instead of liberal (which became an overloaded term with negative connotations in election. Predominantly GOP-voters may call themselves libertarian (in lieu of e.g. 'social liberal, fiscal conservative' and perhaps with the clarifier 'pro-defense libertarian' to distinguish them from anti-war peaceniks). Of note, some Gen Xers first reached voting age when Ross Perot ran for President from the Reform Party."

Negro League Legend - The Black Babe

2006-05-05T10:45:00.000-05:00

See my post a few weeks back about Babe Ruth.

NEGRO LEAGUE LEGEND / THE BLACK BABE / Josh Gibson may have been the greatest home-run hitter ever: "As Barry Bonds chases Babe Ruth's treasured spot in home run history, with only Hank Aaron on the horizon, it's worth wondering where Gibson might fit in this illustrious group. He was the preeminent home-run hitter in the Negro Leagues, a stout catcher whose displays of power rivaled Ruth's."

Mission: Avoid the damn movie

2006-05-05T09:08:00.000-05:00

So, this is a bit late. I hear the movie didn't do as well as was hoped. Score one for a savvy public immune to overwhelming media blitzes!

This whole post was prompted by seeing a contrived MI theme on Sportscenter, then another on ESPN's Daily Quickie. If it were a Disney movie, you could chalk it up to corporate synergy at it's worst. However, IMDB indicates it's a Paramount (aka Viacom, MTV, CBS, et al) movie, though, shooting a hole in my theories. I guess an eight-figure advertising budget gets you crap like that.

Rode Bodacious For Nine?

2006-05-02T06:59:00.000-05:00

Anecdotal evidence that Roger McDowell may not deserve to be drawn and quartered. Oh, and a couple paragraphs into it you'll see reference to the the next t-shirt you'll see on busted tees, etc.

Just one hit, that's it | Braves | ajc.com: "Hudson credits his recent improvement to pitching coach Roger McDowell, who noticed a flaw in his delivery two weeks ago after looking at side-by-side video of some of his best starts with Oakland and his first few starts this season."