"I think this world is perfect..."

By In A Blink

2010-02-28T13:50:00.002-05:00

There's a great line in a not great movie called "Meet Joe Black," spoken by Anthony Hopkins, who plays an an aging media mogul/family patriarch.

At the end of an elaborate birthday party that will cap an elaborate life, he says to those gathered around him, "Sixty-five years... don't they go by in a blink?"

The line was so perfect it almost saved the movie, and while I'm (thankfully) not yet into my seventh decade of perspective, I can say without question that the years do, in fact, go by in a blink.

When I started this little writing project Madison had just turned 5 and Ava was 3. Next month they will be 9 and 7. The growth, development and changes we have experienced are hard to put into words, even after a few hundred blog posts trying. They've become people, fully-fledged little people, and as has been the case since the first of two times we left a hospital carrying a recently-arrived passenger in a bucket seat, they basically define our lives.

I've been focused lately on the blink, and particularly on not having my eyes closed for too long while it's happening. There's a difference between showing up and being present, and in an age of cell phones, e-mails, information overload and increasingly round-the-clock work and life demands it can be easy to lose track of that.

Taking Madison to lacrosse practice and spending most of the hour staring down at my iPhone is not the same as sharing her experience. It's not really watching TV with Ava if the show is a background track to go along with an open laptop. And even if we're sitting right next to each other and her eyes are glued to the screen 95 percent of the time, the other 5 percent - when she turns around to see if I saw the thing that just made her laugh - matters. I'm trying to remind myself to lock into those moments, to see them as opportunities instead of just incremental or incidental interludes, because one way or another, one thing is certain. Soon enough, they'll be gone.

The other side of the coin sometimes feels interminable, hearing the word "Dad?" uttered pleadingly from some distant corner of the house for the 42nd time in the hour since I got home from the office. Hitting the couch after a long day and an extensive reading/bedtime process only to be confronted with a "Can I have some water?" request rattling down the staircase just as I become one with the cushion.

Those moments don't feel like a blink, but they quickly become part of it, hours that turn into days that turn into years and, ultimately, a life. And there is one thing that's for sure and that should not be allowed to fade into the background, a central truth that can be applied in a thousand ways whether you are an aging media mogul/family patriarch or not.

It really does go by in a blink.

Snow Set

2010-02-26T09:43:00.005-05:00

Got some shots of one of my favorite "blizzard" subjects this morning, the swing set in our backyard.

And I do understand a couple of photos don't really make up for a six-week blog abandonment. Let me just say that this little corner of the Internet has been on my mind and, for those who still care to look, I'll be back with something more substantive soon.

Foregoing The Sand

2010-01-10T09:40:00.004-05:00

Well, we held firm to last year's prediction and elected not to participate in the annual family pilgrimage to Aruba. Ultimately it came down to trying to live one year (or at least most of one year) within the confines of the school vacation calendar, but the decision turned out to be prescient because 2010 began with an explosion of activity at work, and had we booked the trip I'm not sure the girls wouldn't have been going alone.

Talked to my parents yesterday morning about 7 a.m. while they were waiting at the gate to board their outbound flight. Other relatives are already down there, including my 90-year-old grandmother, who swore up and down that last year was going to be it for her, too. The lure of the beach and open-air bingo ultimately won out, I guess. Other family members will join early this week.

I'll confess to a few visits to the Playa Linda Webcam over the last couple of days, just to get a real-time sense of what we're missing. For a more nostalgic sense I only have to click through some previous posts.

Ava is about to turn seven and this would have been our seventh year in a row, she - alone among us - actually broke down in tears over the fact that we weren't going. Gwen looked into flights as recently as a couple a weeks ago in response to that blast of emotion and a general sense of aspirational curiosity, but it never got beyond the land of "wouldn't it be nice?"

It would have been nice. Maybe next year.

Wonderland

2009-12-20T15:10:00.003-05:00

The Weight

2009-11-20T06:42:00.011-05:00

For most of my life, I've carried around extra weight. I'm not talking about the kind of poundage that would, say, require a rented motorized three-wheeler to navigate around Disney or anything, but over the years I've generally been overweight. Plump. Husky. You can pick your word.

I've gone through thinner phases and heavier phases, lost some pounds - sometimes for years at a time - and then put them back on. When I say I have suits and other clothes in various weights I'm not talking about fabric thickness or the seasons. I haven't done a wide variety of exotic diets, mostly when I've trimmed down it's been a result of getting disgusted with myself, resolving to "watch it" in some relatively formal way, and committing to regular exercise.

I remember one particular health class in high school, the teacher stood at the front of the room and said he had a diet that was guaranteed to work. He played with us for a while, solicited guesses around what it might be, and then wrote these words on the blackboard in big bold letters, I can still see it in my head - YOU MUST RUN.

He was right, of course. I ran through college and beyond and they were some of my leanest years, but the dedication to getting out and pounding the pavement did not last. I experimented with the Atkins diet years ago, at the height of its popularity, and it worked, but for most of my life I have steered clear of red meat (a challenge on that plan) and generally could never get past how inherently unhealthy the mix of foods and fats that were "allowed" seemed. The amount of plaque a dental hygienist scraped off my teeth after eating like that for just a few months told me everything I needed to know about the bad things that had to have been happening on the inside, regardless of what the good doctor wanted to tell Larry King on TV. Ketosis and pork rinds were not going to be my yellow brick road to health and happiness.

Of all the various regimens and plans I've come across in my life, the South Beach Diet was the one that made the most sense to me, on many levels. Most of all how it made me feel when I was on it, how it didn't seem like a "trick" or a way to game reality. I don't believe there will ever be a pill that doesn't come with serious side effects, or an effortless, no-cost approach to getting your body into shape. There's no free lunch in this world. I think people with my metabolism - which naturally defaults to "puffy" - will only really be able to preserve leaner and meaner for the long haul by making fundamental and sustainable changes in the way they eat and live.

This has been my experience, in a life filled with upswings and downswings that always seem to settle a good 25-30 pounds north of where I'd ideally like to be. I'm currently in a downswing, a slow and steady downswing and one I hope and believe will endure. Here are some of the things that have worked for me, five key pillars of a successful weight loss program. There is no rank order here, for success all five elements need to be in play.

1. Portion control. This is so obvious it seems barely worth mentioning, but it's fundamental, has been one of my key issues from the beginning, and clearly plagues many others as well. You could talk about the expanding amount of food offered in dining out environments, the pervasive "Supersize" mentality, but in the end it's really about how much you put in your mouth, how reasonable you are in what you consume. There's a difference between a handful of potato chips and a bag, a healthy helping of pasta and a pound. I've never been big on measuring and weighing servings, it always seemed like too much work, although I think at times - especially at the start of a new way of life - it can be helpful for illustrative purposes. Another natural enemy on this front is an inalterable adherence to the three-square-meal approach. "Sure, it's 10:45 a.m. and I'm a little hungry right now, but I'm going to hold off and wait for lunch and then I'm really going to EAT."

We still plan around three main meals a day, but there's nothing wrong with a handful of pistachio nuts an hour before lunch to tide you over, or an apple or cup of lowfat yogurt at 4 p.m. to make you less ravenous when the feed bag gets strapped on at the dinner table. In general, the deny-to-reward dynamic is does not seem to be a good or sustainable way to operate. It also breeds rationalization and excess.

2. Physical activity. My high school teacher was on the right track with the running. Being active in a dedicated way is an essential part of being healthy and losing weight. We have a Precor machine in our basement, and if I can find the discipline to run on the thing for 30-45 minutes 3-4 times a week it makes a tremendous difference in how I look and feel. At work I take the stairs instead of the elevator, eschew the intercom in favor of getting up and walking around when possible. I saw Frank Bruni, who eats for a living, on the Charlie Rose show recently and he talked about exercise as making a "down payment" on the food you were going to eat. That makes a lot of sense to me, and - in addition to helping maintain a healthy weight - working out or just being active will help mitigate the damage when you decide to indulge, because we all do, and should, at times. I have never in my life regretted a decision to exercise at the end of a workout. But that doesn't make it any easier to lace up the sneakers. You just have to find a way to get there.

3. Emphasize fresh foods (vegetables and fruits) and whole grains, the "good" carbohydrates, and avoid white flour, processed foods and refined sugars. This is the piece I got from South Beach and it works. It's also not absolute - we still eat pasta from time to time (although Barilla Plus carries the day much more often than our "old" favorite, De Cecco) and I still bring home pizza for the family on most Friday nights, I just have two slices instead of four, or five. The bread in our house that we use for toast in the morning is sprouted wheat from Alvarado Street Bakery or Ezekiel, when we make pizza dough we go heavy on the wheat flour and sparingly, if at all, on the white. It is easier than ever today to choose whole grains and fresh/minimally-processed foods, and I firmly believe that's helpful on multiple fronts. If it comes in a bag or a box with any kind of significant shelf life, it probably should not be eaten in volume. We eat potatoes rarely and sparingly. Same thing with white rice.

4. Plan ahead. This goes hand in hand with #3, because in a pinch it's easy to make bad choices, when you haven't taken the time to stock supplies that allow for smarter ones. A helping of raw almonds out of a bag you keep in your desk is a much better mid-afternoon snack than a trip to the vending machine. A pomegranate or some sliced strawberries a better antidote to a nighttime sweets craving than a chocolate bar or scoop of ice cream.

5. Focus on the big picture, changes and habits that can endure. Keep your perspective on living, instead of losing or maintaining. I think that's the problem with most diets - they force people into phases that determine how they act. You have a start weight, and a "goal" weight, you work to reach your goal and - if you are lucky enough and determined enough to get there - you shift into some new mode in order to "maintain" that weight. Ease up about it. This isn't a Band-Aid you put on and expect to take off at some point, it's the way you are going to live, the mix of foods you are going to eat and a level of physical activity you are going to expect and demand of yourself. Forever.

If these five guiding principles are followed to a reasonable degree, the pounds will come off and your general level of healthiness - I believe - will increase. At least that's been my experience. The other thing I think is really problematic about the "phases" approach is that it leads to a rigidity and an obsession with the scale that is very difficult to maintain. If you can't take a bite out of a brownie some co-worker made, or a slice of birthday cake at a family function without feeling like it's going to set you back a week in your weight-loss regimen you're ultimately going to have a problem. At home we choose sprouted wheat bread, buns and tortillas, but that doesn't mean if we stop off for a ball of fresh mozzarella on a Saturday afternoon we don't buy a loaf of crusty Ciabbata to go along with it, because everyone knows leaving a pool of olive oil and balsamic on the plate is a sin. If forced deprivation is an underpinning of your weight loss program, it's probably not going to last very long. Build reasonableness and healthy offsets up around your indulgences, and enjoy them when they happen.

***

This is in no way complete, but here are some of the foods we focus on keeping in stock around the house as part of our healthy eating regimen, our staples.

Fresh vegetables and fruits, notably green and red peppers, celery, cucumbers, leafy greens (arugula, romaine, spinach), small cherry tomatoes, avocados, apples, strawberries, melon, blueberries, pomegranates, raspberries.

Beans - mainly black beans

Onions, garlic, shallots

Salsa, we like Herdez, also any kind of canned tomatoes, amazing flavor-to-calorie ratio here, on the good side

Olives, pickles - especially these

Olive oil

Low-fat cottage cheese, yogurt

Feta, Romano, sharp cheddar, fresh mozzarella

Lean proteins, especially chicken, also like soy-based products like Tempeh in a stir-fry

Eggs

Wasa - I like these fiber-rich crispbreads, (full disclosure) Madison and Ava call them "rabbit food."

Coffee

Water - drink a lot of it

But the key is not to constrict yourself to any limited set of foods, these are just the ones that work for us, and the list is ever changing. I do think the South Beach books are helpful reference guides, the Glycemic Index is something I believe in. A banana, for example, is not the same as an apple, it's closer to Wonder Bread than to an apple. Beer is a problem, in a way that wine is not - and I'm not talking about the alcohol. Anyone who has spent any time on this blog knows that we love food, and we love to cook, and this can all coexist with a healthy diet and lifestyle.

If you are like me, you inherently know when you are overdoing it, indulging yourself beyond the point you should, and there are times when you will want to make that decision - but do so sparingly, and recognize those moments for what they are. The easiest way to backslide, I've found, is to get sloppy and suddenly five extra pounds turns into 10, then 15 or 20. "It's OK," you'll tell yourself. "As soon as these holiday parties are over, or after all the summer BBQs, I'm going to 'start' again." That's the problem, the idea of having to start.

Never stop. Just live. The rest will take care of itself.

Air Up There

2009-11-18T09:23:00.000-05:00

Holdouts

2009-11-14T09:59:00.003-05:00

Backing-Up Disney

2009-11-12T07:42:00.007-05:00

A couple of developments I want to get on-the-record, so to speak, on this neglected little parenting blog. First is our recent trip to Disney.

Long-time readers may recall our trip with the girls a couple of years ago, this time around we had my parents to blame - they came up with the idea, secured housing, coordinated with my siblings and basically facilitated a large family pilgrimage to the place where dreams come true. They also paid for everything, so we had that going for us, which - in the immortal words of Carl Spackler - was nice. Rather than try to do another full-on review/trip report, here are a few key truths and takeaways from what will certainly be our last ~~grueling death march~~ magical trip to Orlando for at least a few years.

1. Don Draper would hate the Magic Kingdom. For one thing, there's more alcohol in his desk at Sterling Cooper than in this expansive (and entirely dry) pre-fab environment. I also think he'd have a problem with the expanding army of guests who are so obese they can only navigate the park on electric three-wheel scooters, which Walt's minions are only too happy to rent to facilitate drive-up service at the nearest fried carbohydrate or refined-to-within-an-inch-of-its-life sugar stand. Granted, there are staple rides and attractions here that are essentially required reading for parents, especially with small children. Height and terror considerations are less of an issue in this walled garden than anywhere else in the Disney complex. If a Disney vacation in general is taking one for the team, the Magic Kingdom raises that dynamic to mind-numbing extremes. Plan carefully and try to survive. In the end it's only a day or two out of your life. As I wrote a couple of years ago, there's really no way to get through a trip like this unless you decide early on to live it from behind the eyes of your children. The more quickly you embrace this perspective, the better off you'll be.

2. Epcot is still the best park experience for adults, with enough for the kids to strike a pleasant and satisfying balance, especially during the annual Food & Wine Festival, which we've been lucky enough to coincide with on both recent trips. Soarin' is my favorite ride across all of the parks, Test Track is terrific, and there's always the Nemo attraction and Turtle Talk with Crush for the really little ones. It's also worth noting that you are more likely to come across physical matter that resembles actual food walking through the various countries at Epcot than anywhere else in the Disney universe. Not to mention the beer and the wine, which is overpriced but readily available. And everyone knows you can't focus on the prices at Disney - it's about the experience, and you haven't really experienced the wonder of parenting in this curious land until you've saddled up to a glass of chardonnay in France, or a pint of Bass in England, or a flute of champagne at one of the little stands you pass, or all of the above. And if you plan ahead and book a dinner at the nearby Flying Fish Cafe to cap your Epcot visit (a short walk away on the Disney BoardWalk) you have basically elevated a theme park experience to an adult-friendly art form.

3. The Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, alone, makes a visit to Disney's Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM) worth it, and not just because it's the only place Aerosmith is playing together these days. The only reason we returned to this park was the fact that last time around Ava wasn't tall enough to ride this memorable attraction (unlike her big sister Madison) and for some reason we collectively decided it was worth forking over about $300 to undo memories of the extended crying fit that ensued as a result. It was, and the mock American Idol show, during which actual park guests sing against each other and are rated by the audience, was a great little discovery the girls loved that did justice to the "real" version on FOX. We sat through three shows, including the grand finale at 7 p.m., and it was a genuine highlight, featuring real drama, fake banter between a poor-man's Brian Dunkelman in the house and recorded commentary by Ryan Seacrest and other Idol luminaries, and some legitimately good live performances.

4. SeaWorld is nothing to write home about - a smallish park littered with road-side carnival attractions and other money-making schemes and traps - with the exception of the Shamu show (which is incredible) and some epic roller coasters that (tantrum alert) young kids under 54" are not tall enough to ride. I tried to buy a popcorn at one point but was dissuaded by the sight of the woman on the other side of the counter meticulously picking skin off one of her hands. And, to quote Forrest Gump, that's all I have to say about that.

5. It may actually be easier to navigate your way out of Disney parks via trams and rental cars (driving to off-property housing) than staying on-site and dealing with their shuttle bus system. Last time around, we stayed on property at the Beach Club, and probably the single biggest frustration we experienced was waiting for the Disney buses to take us wherever we wanted to go, and back to the hotel from wherever we were. It was miserable. This time around we stayed at a Marriott timeshare my parents arranged, and while I have to confess I was resistant to being relegated to off-property steerage status, getting to and from the parks via rental cars and parking lot trams seemed easier than our memories of standing around waiting for branded conveyance. I've heard from others that our observations are not unique. Disney needs to fix the on-site bus situation.

6. We have had great experiences with limited crowds and virtually non-existent lines, even for the most popular rides, in early November. As anyone who has taken on a trip like this knows, especially with kids, managing waiting time is as big a consideration as eating, drinking or finding out whether your request for individual TARP funding was approved. Disney's Fast Pass system is absolutely phenomenal, they have developed something that really works, that gives everyone in the park the ability to feel like they are on a VIP list, within reason. But even better than Fast Pass is not needing it, and that was typically our experience on both this trip and the one a couple of years ago - both were in early November, and I'm not sure we'd consider going any other time of year.

***

The other thing that happened a couple of weeks ago was that the hard-drive on our two-year-old iMac died and we lost all of the data it contained. At some point we turned off the machine and it simply never came back - gave us a blank white screen for a long while, despite multiple on-off attempts, and then ultimately displayed a small file folder in the center of the screen with a question mark in it. Obviously not the most hopeful of signs.

I made a Genius Bar appointment, hauled the thing into the Apple store and it took them about five minutes to run a variety of diagnostics and arrive at one inescapable conclusion - the hard-drive was gone, no option other than replacing it. The repair was free, since the machine was under AppleCare, but as anyone who has been through something like this knows, cost is not really the issue - you just want your stuff back. I asked the Genius, while we were staring at my non-responsive screen, whether or not it was unusual for a desktop computer to fail like this after two years, and as the question left my mouth I actually felt like an idiot for having asked it. What is the chance this guy, who sells and supports Apple computers for a living, is going to tell me that this catastrophic failure isn't unusual?

"It's not that rare," he responded, which astounded me. "A little more unusual in desktops than notebooks, since they're basically stationary. But the drive is the only moving part in the machine, so they do fail, it definitely happens."

We have an external LaCie drive and I thought I had been regularly backing up our data, turns out I was doing it wrong, which is even more idiotic when you consider how easy Apple makes it with Time Machine - which we are now using, religiously, on all of our Macs. The service experience with Apple was about as good as it gets - surprise, surprise - every single person I talked to expressed (with credibility) how sorry they were to hear about our situation. More importantly, they took the time to help me rebuild everything it was possible to retrieve.

The iTunes store extended a one-time courtesy download of all of the songs, shows and movies we had purchased on iTunes since 2003 that were still available, and we'd long been in the practice of transferring priceless photos and videos to multiple machines, so the damage wasn't as bad as it could have been. Another benefit of having something like this happen in the Apple/Mac universe was that we had one (responsive and accessible) company to talk to and deal with. I can only imagine the hellish netherworld one would find themselves in while appealing to Dell, HP, Best Buy and Microsoft for assistance while each company took their own shot at "that doesn't sound like our issue" three-card monte.

Apple made it as painless as possible, but we definitely lost some data and the whole episode taught me one invaluable lesson, especially in the digital age we're now living in. BACK UP YOUR STUFF. It's all right there, until it's not, and then it's gone forever.

There are a ton of obvious advantages associated with the transitions and developments that have occurred in the way we take and manage photos, videos and other forms of content, the one downside is how easy it is for all of it to go away if your hardware fails. Don't let it happen to you, and the good news is it's easier than ever before to put critical safeguards in place, if you just take the time. It's worth it. Believe me when I say that the photo above, and all the other ones we took in Disney, are backed-up beyond all reasonable measure, and - with our recent experience as a potent reminder - we'll never have it any other way.

No Such Thing

2009-11-07T10:50:00.006-05:00

Wandered down to the basement this morning with Ava to get in a little coloring time, and discovered this line Madison had written on our blackboard at some point, probably when she was leading one of her spontaneous classes, usually with a student of one, namely her little sister.

I loved the message, whether applied to crayons on a blank sheet of paper or even more broadly. And of course the missed (and subsequently inserted) word, alone, made this worthy of a post.

Still Life In Play-Doh

2009-10-17T12:07:00.001-04:00

Little creation Ava and I worked out this morning.

Is Work Like School?

2009-10-15T08:48:00.002-04:00

That's what Ava wanted to know this morning.

I was behind the shower curtain in our one functional upstairs bathroom and she came in to brush her teeth, called through the screen - "Dad, is work like school, just no teachers?"

I agreed it probably was. Reading, writing, talking, all the bases covered.

She's been coming out with these questions lately, over the weekend we had this exchange after she sneezed and I said God bless you - "Dad, why do people say 'God bless you' after you sneeze?"

I was stumped, said something like it's tradition, people have been saying that for a very long time, etc.

And then she said, "maybe it's because God invented tissues."

Why Apple Wins

2009-10-03T13:17:00.004-04:00

Ava, who is 6 and playing Webkinz games on our iMac, declares out of nowhere, "I use the computer like it's my friend, like it's my BFF."

"What does that mean," I ask.

"It means you care for it, you really, really like it. It has music, videos and games. It's like something's alive in there."

She's not a PC.

Pancakes At Home

2009-09-28T06:52:00.001-04:00

Breakfast staples in our house include eggs, cereal, fruit, the occasional morning bagel run and, of course, pancakes. For most of my life, pancakes at home meant Bisquick, but about a year ago we started searching for something better, a recipe we could put together with our own ingredients and - hopefully - some whole grain component.

Saw Alton Brown on Good Eats at one point hawking his ultimate pancake recipe and dutifully wrote it down, but I can't really decide anymore whether or not he's trying to be helpful or intentionally difficult. In any event we could never get his version to come out the way they looked on TV, even after we went out and bought the Bunsen burners and electron microscope.

Another problem with Brown's approach was that it called for buttermilk, which we rarely have at home unless we've planned for a pancake fiesta, and in our house the meal is typically a spontaneous Saturday or Sunday morning consensus. So we kept looking for that rock solid recipe, and I think we finally found it.

Madison's recitation of the ingredients is listed above, this will get four people about 2-3 medium-sized pancakes each, feel free to double if you need more. We've customized this a little bit by experimenting with different kinds of flour, from the Bisquick-esque white to 100 percent wheat, or even a combination - maybe one cup white, 1/2 wheat or the other way around. This morning we made these with something new Gwen recently picked up, King Arthur Organic White Whole Wheat flour, and it was just about perfect. We also usually dial back the 3 tablespoons of melted butter specified in the original version to one or two, just because.

The execution couldn't be simpler (sorry Alton), combine the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Then add the wet ingredients and try to bring it all together without over-mixing, shoot for 10 to 15 stirs before introducing the resulting batter (in whatever sizes you want) to a hot, buttered pan. Cast iron skillet if you have one, if not get in touch with these people and take care of that right away.

And don't forget the maple syrup, the real stuff, preferably from Vermont, all due respect to Mrs. Butterworth and her high fructose corn syrup and cellulose gum goodness. We've been enjoying this kind for the last few months, in both the Fancy and Dark Amber grades. Also goes extremely well drizzled sparingly on a bowl of steaming hot farina, which is quickly emerging as another favorite breakfast option in our house being passed down from one generation to another, with care.

100k

2009-09-17T07:57:00.005-04:00

At some point over the last few hours, this blog registered its 100,000th visitor. Now I realize this is nothing in the world of blogs, and I acknowledge that this little project, this little parenting journal, has been severely neglected of late, going a few weeks or (gasp) a full month between posts.

But the idea of 100,000 people having found their way to this spot, to read the words and look at the pictures and hopefully share the sense of humor and optimism that have dominated the space is incredible to me. That's basically the Beatles at Shea, with a second night added.

Granted, if you discount for repeat business the figure would be reduced considerably, but for right now we're going to focus on a big round number.

And we're going to say thank you.

New Year

2009-09-10T21:40:00.005-04:00

And a new line-up of bags cleared for take-off every morning. The Rickshaw has been joined.

Ava had serious opening-night jitters on the way to first grade, stemming from the fact that she didn't know anyone else in her class. What if she didn't make any new friends? What if no one wanted to sit with her in the cafeteria? All the standard apprehensions, to which we applied standard (but heartfelt) parental responses. It's going to be great, you're going to make friends, we promise.

Luckily enough we were right, and the forced nervous smiles that marked the morning bus stop were quickly exchanged for much more genuine and self-assured versions in the afternoon, to go along with tales of a nice teacher and three new friends. Madison's already a pro at this, and sailed into third grade without a hitch.

We're full-on into it now, packing lunches, polishing homework, perfecting the art of a farina breakfast. Funny how just a few days of a new routine (and some crisper weather) can provide such a clear line of demarcation.

Summer is gone. A new year stretches out before us. To go along with the row of bags leaned up against the wall, right off the kitchen.

Summer

2009-08-16T12:53:00.003-04:00

Still a few weeks left. Make the most of them.

DC Take Two

2009-08-10T06:04:00.001-04:00

We stopped off in Washington, DC on the way back from Tennessee, had a phenomenal dinner we really needed at Brasserie Beck early Thursday - after several days of forgettable BBQ and Dollywood concession stands cranking out nutritious and satisfying fare on par with the food at Disney.

After the meal we got a cab to the Lincoln Memorial and wandered around checking out the monuments after dark. We went by the White House and noticed a television screen flickering in one of the windows of the residence, in the area of the living room, so it would seem at least one Obama was getting some down time in front of the tube as we walked by. Nice little illusion of proximity and access to take along with us, at a very nice price point - namely zero.

Started off early Friday in hopes of taking in the tour at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, which I had always heard was very good, but unfortunately when we arrived around 10 a.m. all of the days' passes had already been distributed. Word to the wise, we learned that passes (which are given out same day in limited quantities during summer months) are typically gone by 8:30 a.m., and visitors have been known to start lining up outside by 6 or 6:30. We were able to wander through the "Visitor Center" and buy uncut sheets of currency and other money-related trinkets. The tour would have been better. Maybe next time.

Went through a few museums on the walk to the Rayburn House Office Building - which was my "office" for a few years in the mid-90s and looked exactly as I remembered it, right down to the private phone booths where I long ago plotted my escape from politics as usual. The House chambers and gallery were unfortunately closed for renovations, but I leveraged old connections to get the girls a ride on the underground subway running across the street to the Capitol, threw another $20 in my account at the Wright Patman Congressional Federal Credit Union - just to keep it active - and then we headed up to the National Zoo to check out the Giant Pandas and assorted other wildlife.

Back to the hotel for a little break that looked like it was actually going to wind down the day, until Madison said she was hungry around 9 p.m. and we succeeded in dragging a reluctant Gwen back out for a late-night meal at Pizzeria Paradiso in Georgetown, which was every bit as good as I remembered it, and even better with our game little gang, munching on pizza after 10 p.m. on a Friday night after a half hour wait for a table.

It was a perfect end to the second half of this summer's vacation, and a great way to introduce our girls to one of my favorite cities in the world.

Rotund

2009-08-02T08:56:00.005-04:00

Brief one-day stop in Washington, D.C. on the drive down to visit Gwen's Mom in Tennessee, we arranged for a Capitol tour and when the cab pulled up outside Ava lit up and said, "HEY, I know that building, they made it on Ace of Cakes!"

It was a good tour that rolled into a walk around the Mall, a brief stop at the Air and Space Museum and dinner at my favorite restaurant in the city, Lebanese Taverna. Girls are screaming at me to close this out right now so we can go down to breakfast before today's planned 7-hour drive drive, so I will.

Saw Green Day last night...

2009-07-28T21:04:00.003-04:00

Knocked another band off the "really want to see them live" bucket list last night - Green Day at Madison Square Garden. I'd been looking forward to the show for months, and thankfully Billie Joe and the gang did not disappoint. Pre-game meal at Zarela, which is turning into our default and might just be the perfect start to any live performance that doesn't feature an oboe.

If Oasis was "watch us stand here and play our songs," Green Day was a frenetic, in-your-face, insanely entertaining tour de force (first time I've ever used that tired phrase in a sentence in my life and, yes, I do feel bad about it, but it's late and I'm trying to publish something here).

Band went full steam for nearly three hours, through old favorites and a good amount of American Idiot and the new one, 21st Century Breakdown. Could contend for the title of best show I've ever seen, although - as I've already noted on here - Radiohead in Radio City Music Hall on the OK Computer tour occupies a moment in time for me and a concert-going experience that may never be touched.

But as far as last night goes, let me just say that Green Day took the stage about 24 hours ago, and my ears are still ringing. And I'm not complaining.

Backyard Bounty

2009-07-22T06:46:00.004-04:00

Growing up, the woods around my house were filled with wild raspberries, enough that you could actually take a decent-sized bowl and go on a little picking expedition, returning with more than enough for the whole family.

Nothing against Mr. and Mrs. Driscoll, but to me there is nothing that compares to fresh picked raspberries, a little sharper and more tangy than store-bought, with a great and pure underlying sweetness, and of course consumed just a few minutes - sometimes a few seconds - after being liberated from their orange star-shaped launching pads.

I noticed early this spring an explosion of wild raspberry bushes in the greenery lining our yard, and the first few of the season were ready to be picked last weekend. An abbreviated harvest, to be sure, nothing like the bounty I remember from childhood, but more than enough for everyone to get a little taste. And, based on the look of the plants and the bud volume, we'll be happily eating on these welcome little treats for at least the next couple of weeks.

Perfect Food

2009-07-20T06:24:00.010-04:00

I've been thinking about pizza lately. Don't know if it's our recent trips to Mario's on Arthur Avenue, our vacation in Vermont - with the requisite stop at Pepe's in New Haven - the time I've spent reading what has quickly become one of my favorite blogs, Adam Kuban's extraordinary Slice, part of the Ed Levine Serious Eats gastrointestinal juggernaut, or the fact that when friends visited a couple of weeks ago, all the way from California, we made them pizza. Maybe it's just because I'm fat again.

Whatever the reason, I've been focused on the texture and taste of a perfectly-charred crust, the tang of good sauce, the silky indulgence that is the cheese in a pie made at the highest level - and decided to put together an informal ranking of my favorite pizza places of all time, both world class/celebrated and local favorites, and some that have (fortunately) been both.

Is there anything, really, like pizza? The simplicity of the ingredients, the potential of the toppings to take the experience anywhere you want to go. The arrival of the finished product - right out of the oven - in a place where they know what they are doing. Here are some places, based on my own extensive field testing, where they really know what they are doing.

1. Pepe's (New Haven) The first "famous" pizza place I ever went to and still my favorite, going on 25 years later, a sentiment that is shared by the entire family. Ask Madison or Ava (8 and 6) who makes their favorite pizza and, after a moment of careful consideration - which, in and of itself, makes me swell with pride - they will both say Pepe's. I had this exact dialogue with Madison last week and probed a little further by asking her why. "The crust," she said without hesitation. Yeah, the line is a pain, and how long it takes to get in or complete your meal is virtually impossible to predict. But there's nothing like a Pepe's pie, and walking out of the place - stuffed to the gills - through a throng of famished and wild-eyed aspirants out there on Wooster Street is an experience everyone should have at least once in their lifetime. Madison's default is red sauce with mozzarella cheese, Ava is partial to the white pie, Gwen and I love red sauce, spinach and onion and just grated cheese. Word to the wise - they also do take-out, although based on when you call and the current state of the backlog your pick-up time can stretch to 60-90 minutes after you place your order.

2. Mario's (Arthur Avenue, Bronx) Wrote all about this welcome surprise in the Arthur Avenue post above. Here's another, with some photos, including one of owner Joseph Migliucci, making one of the pies that are so good they're not even on the menu.

3. Nick's (Forest Hills and Rockville Centre) Found the Forest Hills location in the mid-90s and more recently the Rockville Centre outpost, which is much larger and offers the same great pizza along with a full menu of salads, pasta dishes, fish, meat, etc. Phenomenal crust, almost delicate, with sauce and toppings to match. Also probably the best white pie we've ever had, with ample dollops of ricotta to go along with the mozzarella and fresh garlic. Try a pie with red sauce, onions (they use red onions) and olives, which at Nick's are tangy kalamata. Wonderful.

4. Una Pizza Napolentana (NYC) First exposure to this pizza purist was through the television, watching Ed Levine escort Todd English through the door and through a pie he described as "perfect food." It really is. OK, you want to poke fun at the "here's why what you're eating is so damned special, just in case you missed it" six-panel pamphlet available to diners as being maybe a little overwrought and self important, go right ahead. But proprietor/chef Anthony Mangieri knows what he's doing back there by that minimalist work station and wood-fired brick oven, and if he's going to turn out food of this quality I for one support his right to talk about it.

Earlier this month I saw this Slice post on the possible sale of Una Pizza Napoletana and knew the next time I was in the city I was going to have to get back there for another Anthony pie, just in case. So last week, after a late afternoon meeting way downtown, I took the subway up to 14th St. and walked across town in the direction of 1st Ave. Got there shortly before 6 p.m. and every table was filled, with the exception of the little two-spot by the door. I settled in, ordered my Margherita pie and glass of wine and weathered the "what's up with that socially-inept dude over there eating by himself?" glances from everyone else in the place. Could not have cared less - the experience was worth it.

Walked back after paying the check and congratulated Anthony on another fine effort, told him that when it comes to pizza it's his or Pepe's - both insane and totally different. He laughed and seemed to appreciate the reference. It's amazing to me that after the many, many thousands of pies he's made over the years, he still holds every one up in the oven, crouches down and peers up at the underside to get a good look at the char. Every single pie is a careful assessment, a meticulous creation. That's why this place is what it is. Tremendous. If he goes he will be missed, and followed. I left around 7 p.m. with a line of anxious and hungry customers standing out on the sidewalk. I could have been in New Haven.

5. Totonno's (NYC) When Gwen and I lived in Manhattan it was in an apartment at the corner of 79th Street and Second Avenue, and even more important than our second bathroom was the fact that Totonno's was right around the corner. And that they delivered. Never in my life do I expect to again have pizza this extraordinary literally a phone call away. When we were expecting Madison we basically lived on one thing: large round pie, with sauce, mozzarella and onions, well done. It always was.

6. Caioti (Los Angeles) Favorite place by far when I lived in California, back when Caioti was located in a small cavern-type room under the Canyon Country Store in Laurel Canyon. Wrote a little tribute in this space back when owner/chef Ed LaDou passed away, much too soon. I still remember him back in that little salt box of a kitchen, cranking out one masterpiece after another. Hopefully the legacy lives on.

7. Colosseo (Long Island) Growing up, pizza meant only one thing - Colosseo. Located in an unassuming little strip mall shopping center, there was nothing like it. Nowhere near Frank Pepe's league, Anthony Mangieri would probably have to go off somewhere and purge if he was forced to eat a slice of the stuff, but when I was in high school ordering pizza on a Friday night meant enduring a throng five deep at the counter, waiting for pies both round and square, adorned with fresh and honest toppings. No canned and sickly briny button mushrooms in play at Colosseo, we're talking fresh sauteed and smoky. General consensus and a central truth of my formative years was that a Colosseo Sicilian pie was a piece of art, an achievement that could not be touched. I used to believe this as gospel. And whenever I go back, ordering up a slice that brings me all the way back to sweating college applications and the SAT, I still do.

8. Pizzeria Paradiso (Washington, D.C.) One of the first places I ever saw people stand in line for pizza (along with Pepe's), and one of the first places I'd ever seen pizza makers drizzle olive oil on finished pies before they landed in front of appreciative diners. Quickly became one of the standbys when I lived down there in the early 1990s, when I could bear the wait and hassle of actually getting a table. It was always worth it. Saw George Stephanopoulos wander in alone one night - at the height of the Clinton Administration - grab a seat at the bar and enjoy his pizza unharassed while reading a copy of the New Yorker. DC gets plenty of visitors, Pizzeria Paradiso was a place for regulars, for locals who lived in the city and knew where to go, like a crust-and-toppings version of City Lights of China or Lebanese Taverna.

9. John's (of Bleecker Street, NYC) Of all the picks on the list, this one feels the most obligatory, but there was a period of time when I was working in an office at the corner of 44th and 6th that I did appreciate John's Times Square location, which I think may actually be closed now, and the ability to wander in for what could only be considered a quality lunchtime pie. They were also there at the beginning, or at least before thin crust, brick oven became a mass-market expectation (hello, Bertucci's), as opposed to a nice surprise. John's makes the list on history alone.

10. Ours. Not up to the high professional standards of the pizza palaces listed above, to be sure, but with one distinct advantage. It's served - right out of the oven - at home.

[Postscript - turns out Slice was right, and Una Pizza Napoletana has closed. I got one of Anthony Mangieri's last NYC pies, on my little Thursday night mission last week, and consider myself even more fortunate. So I'm down one slot on my list, and open to suggestions.]

Weekend Art

2009-07-18T10:35:00.006-04:00

Still getting the hang of the new camera, a recent birthday present. Went outside this morning and got a few shots I was happy enough with to post. Hope the sun we are getting here in the Northeast is playing everywhere else. Good weekend, all.

Green '09

2009-07-15T06:02:00.003-04:00

Promised a little more on our recent trip to Vermont and here it is, still fresh in my mind but once again out of reach (beyond the photos and memories), five hours and a million miles from our typical day-to-day.

Time up there still revolves around our core activities, most importantly the Bromley Mountain Adventure Park, which Ava still calls "the carnival." Alpine slide, rock climbing wall, water ride, huge swing, various other captivating elements including a new "ZipRider" we unfortunately weren't able to experience. I bought a ticket at one point, but the ride was shut down during my designated time slot and even though it reopened later on you don't really want to fly down a mountain on a thin metal cord at 50 mph shortly after the attraction had been closed for several hours due to some undisclosed technical issue, so I took a refund on the ticket.

There were ice cream cones at the little Ben & Jerry's window in Manchester, phenomenal hand-crafted ravioli from Fior D'Italia, the Turley we brought with us, all the old standbys.

But I think the thing that made this trip really good and special is the fact that we continued a trend of getting out and around and experiencing new and different attractions and elements that have only increased our love and enjoyment of this beautiful state. We drove about 90 minutes north and east of our home base one day to visit the King Arthur Flour Baker's Store in Norwich, which was a real highlight for the adults but not so great for the kids - basically a large, bright and incredibly well-stocked store featuring every kind of flour and baking supply/ingredient/tool imaginable, but not much to see in terms of live activity.

Luckily enough Norwich is very close to the Woodstock/Quechee area, which had plenty to offer in the way of family fun. We wandered down a long country road to arrive at Sugarbush Farm , where we fed the animals and tasted four different grades of maple syrup (including the rare "fancy" designation) and more than a dozen varieties of locally-produced cheeses. Also bought a bunch. We went to the Simon Pearce store and watched them blow some glass (noted in the previous post) and also stopped off at Taylor Farm in Londonderry, where we bought more cheese and talked to farmer/owner Jon Wright about raw milk, before he comped us on a $1 sample cup. It was good, if a little unsettling. Ava tried a sip, Madison declined.

We spent a few hours one day at the Emerald Lake State Park, the girls are pictured above in one of the pedal boats they rent there, along with canoes and kayaks. It's not the beach at Four Seasons Nevis, but it's not meant to be, and for a picnic lunch or a few hours floating or paddling around a mountain lake, it's pretty good.

We hit the Bromley Village pool several times, walked around quite a bit, had a terrific dinner at Bistro Henry, which has emerged as a consistently good and surprisingly kid-friendly option. Finally got around to taking Madison and Ava through Hildene, and the gorgeous mountain-lined gardens where their parents almost got married.

Most of all, we reconnected with each other and really dug in for a great vacation together. Before the trip I wondered how we were going to fill the time up there, before long I was wondering where it went. Our girls are 6 and 8 and full of opinions and insights and preferences and their own ideas. We're full on into the transition from kids to people, and luckily enough we've created a couple of people it is really a treat, privilege and pleasure (most of the time) to hang out with.

Last week was one of those times.

Flowers By Madison

2009-07-13T08:10:00.000-04:00

I need to write up a post on last week's visit to Vermont, probably the best family time we've ever had up there, and not for lack of competition. Many fun and interesting activities, old and new, I'll get something up on the site soon with links and details.

We drove around and explored more than usual, including a visit to the Woodstock area and a visit to the Simon Pearce store/restaurant in Quechee, where we watched some glass blowing and bought the small flower vase shown above.

On our first morning back "home," Madison came up with the idea of wandering around outside and cutting some of the flowers currently in bloom around our house, which she carefully arranged in our new purchase.

Two Bees

2009-07-05T09:57:00.004-04:00

As I quickly write these words, the house is alive with the sounds and movements of a family packing up and getting ready to head up to Vermont for the first installment of this year's summer vacation. I'll try to post some photos and observations from up there in the coming week.

In the meantime, here are two shots I got yesterday of bees on respective pollen-gathering missions, the top one right outside our house in the morning and the bottom at my parents' place, where we spent the day.

The bee photos offer a welcome opportunity to let people know, particularly as the mercury rises, that Haagen-Dazs is still making the best ice cream in the history of the planet, a limited-edition return engagement that was supposed to be discontinued at the end of last year but, happily, lives on. Maybe we all had something to do with that. I'd like to think so.