As my anthropology friends know, I went on many a rant on the "I am not going to vaccinate my kid because that will give him autism" crowd. These are usually the same folks who believe that hospital birthings are bad and you should only have "natural" home child birth, though anyone who has taken any human physiology will tell you, the fact that the human head is so large that the baby has to be manually rotated out of the birth canal, unlike any other mammal, makes our birthing process incredibly difficult.
Anyway, I was reading the Tribune this morning and I read this: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-autism-doctor-eisenstein-may22,0,3826791.story
Junk science makes bad medicine. All the "alternative therapies" in the world don't save and extend the millions and millions of lives of scientific "Western" medicine. Maybe it's because Arianna was born a blue baby and would have been a dead baby with a home birth that I take this so personally, but to all of you brainwashed by the far-too-many quacks and charlatans out there, just pause and think about what agenda are those people pushing.
- Mike
Friday, May 22, 2009
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Arianna firsts
Enough with the cultural anthropology rants, time to go back to what is really important in my life: Arianna.
Arianna has had some amazing developments, both physical and mental over the past two months. Fist, the mental: She can now recite the alphabet from A to Z. Some of the letters are hard for her to say, like 'L' and 'W', which comes out "dooblaboo" but she can say them all in order. If you hold up her magnetic letters and ask her what letter, she can tell you what they are. It's very exciting for her to know the alphabet so well before she is even two! She can also now count from one to ten, and if you hold up her magnetic numbers, she will tell you what they are, too. Her color identification has improved, too. She says red, blue, and purple well, and can sy the other colors, even if the pronunciation is a little toddler-ish. if you hold up a number or letter and ask her what number / letter, she'll tell you that, and if you sk her the color of the letter / number, she'll tell you that.
She has new phrases like, "It went way" (It went away), "Where's Joe?" (she loves Joe-era Blue's Clues. "It back on." (When a show she likes comes on TV). Here favorite phrases right now are "Where is", "Where'd it go?" and "What happened?" She asks for juice specifically as opposed to teta, her Spanish word for a bottle of milk. She also asks for cheese, choc-wet, huevos, cheese, and cookies specifically.
Over on the physical side, she LOVES to play outside in our yard and running in the grass. She's learned to slide down stairs on her but and yesterday afternoon while we were playing in the backyard, she held on to the railing of the deck and walked down the stairs for the first time unassisted! It was very exciting when we realized that on our next trip to Tennessee (my sanctuary) in late September, that she will be going up and down the stairs on her own. Our little girl keeps growing and I am so happy even with my horrendous schedule, that I have not missed many of her "firsts".
I have to go back to writing papers, and I know what a hard job Erika has with me gone for 15 hours a day for so many days for school and work, but I am looking forward to completing school so much more than ever before, and no longer for my own personal satisfaction, but because I want to be there always for Erika and Arianna. Te amo muy mucho to both of you.
Arianna has had some amazing developments, both physical and mental over the past two months. Fist, the mental: She can now recite the alphabet from A to Z. Some of the letters are hard for her to say, like 'L' and 'W', which comes out "dooblaboo" but she can say them all in order. If you hold up her magnetic letters and ask her what letter, she can tell you what they are. It's very exciting for her to know the alphabet so well before she is even two! She can also now count from one to ten, and if you hold up her magnetic numbers, she will tell you what they are, too. Her color identification has improved, too. She says red, blue, and purple well, and can sy the other colors, even if the pronunciation is a little toddler-ish. if you hold up a number or letter and ask her what number / letter, she'll tell you that, and if you sk her the color of the letter / number, she'll tell you that.
She has new phrases like, "It went way" (It went away), "Where's Joe?" (she loves Joe-era Blue's Clues. "It back on." (When a show she likes comes on TV). Here favorite phrases right now are "Where is
Over on the physical side, she LOVES to play outside in our yard and running in the grass. She's learned to slide down stairs on her but and yesterday afternoon while we were playing in the backyard, she held on to the railing of the deck and walked down the stairs for the first time unassisted! It was very exciting when we realized that on our next trip to Tennessee (my sanctuary) in late September, that she will be going up and down the stairs on her own. Our little girl keeps growing and I am so happy even with my horrendous schedule, that I have not missed many of her "firsts".
I have to go back to writing papers, and I know what a hard job Erika has with me gone for 15 hours a day for so many days for school and work, but I am looking forward to completing school so much more than ever before, and no longer for my own personal satisfaction, but because I want to be there always for Erika and Arianna. Te amo muy mucho to both of you.
Broadening my Critique of Cultural Anthropology
Cultural Anthropology as it stands today, does not provide answers to me, and its self-reflexive obsession threatens to drive the discipline into further irrelevance.
Sociology, psychology, psychiatry -- these are all other disciples that study the human mind and culture, for their own perspectives, but they also all base their studies of the biochemistry that runs our brains. My point is, human beings are big brained apes. The brain is an amazing biomechanical computer, but that is what it is -- a big wet sponge that's great for conducting tiny electrical impulses that are thought.
I wasn't arguing that hard science can find laws for culture -- because I don't believe laws of culture exist. Cultural anthropology has created vast structures of culture (like habitus) that cannot be quantified, studied, proven, or disproven. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but that is the realm of philosophy and religion, not science. Again, I have nothing at all against those ways of thinking, but they are not scientific ways of approaching the world. Science is a set of processes and a way to organize data, experiments, observations, etc, that are wholly different from the world of religion and philosophy. If you want to call yourself a social science, you have to perform like one, just as sociology does. This is why I call their theories “just-so” stories. Nothing I read convinced me that they had discovered and proven or disproven their structures of thought and culture. They struck me as smart folks who have formed a model and had their observations fit into it. They are at the hypothesis, but never got to the theory.
As to the negativity of the discipline as it stands now, I do find their ideas extremely negative, especially in regards to free-will and striking back against oppression. Anyone who knows me also knows that I am a major believer in self-motivation and self-reliance. This is not to say that there are not horrible, repressive governments and people who deny others basic human rights – but think about that – basic human rights. In my world view that lacks uber-relativism, some things are simply wrong – murder, rape, torture, oppression of women and minorities, religious persecution, and religious prosecution of those with opposing beliefs, and I believe that all good people share this core set of values, and those that don’t are in it for power and control – and there are reasons why some people are sociopaths and other aren’t. Cultural Anthropology in its current form would say that there are just the opinions I’ve formed as part of my culture, and it is unfair to judge others by my standards. I disagree with that stance, and believe because we are a single biological species with common genetics and brain chemistry, that there is a baseline of human thought. Now, yes, culture makes things very very very different between (and amongst) groups, but this does not deny people their individuality. You’ll not find a person who is more of an individualist than me. Just like you can have two computers running very different software, they still perform the computations in the same way. I feel the same about the brain.
Cultural Anthropology talks a good game about power and agency, but with the expectation of a few activists, does nothing about it. It’s hard to rock the apple cart when you know if you do, you will never reach the Holy Grail of University tenure. Simply put, it’s far easier to complain from the grandstands than to play the game. You think something is wrong – fix it. Don’t sit in your corner being so self-reflexive that you may only think something is wrong because your cultural values make you think it is wrong. Even if that is the case (which I don’t think it is), who cares? If it is wrong, then damn it -- do something.
So, what do I do about Cultural Anthropology? How do I help fix what I see wrong in the discipline? Will I put my money where my mouth is? Sadly, I will walk away. There are times to fight and times not to fight, and if there is anything I’ve learned in school is that I am not cut out for academia. Not because I don’t do well in school – I do, and not because I don’t like to learn new things – I love that; but I find academia too confining in its approach, too parochial in its thinking, and too vindictive against those who do not share their core ideas. I continue to be fascinated by the mind, by culture, by people, but I will take a path independent of academia to further my interests.
Sociology, psychology, psychiatry -- these are all other disciples that study the human mind and culture, for their own perspectives, but they also all base their studies of the biochemistry that runs our brains. My point is, human beings are big brained apes. The brain is an amazing biomechanical computer, but that is what it is -- a big wet sponge that's great for conducting tiny electrical impulses that are thought.
I wasn't arguing that hard science can find laws for culture -- because I don't believe laws of culture exist. Cultural anthropology has created vast structures of culture (like habitus) that cannot be quantified, studied, proven, or disproven. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but that is the realm of philosophy and religion, not science. Again, I have nothing at all against those ways of thinking, but they are not scientific ways of approaching the world. Science is a set of processes and a way to organize data, experiments, observations, etc, that are wholly different from the world of religion and philosophy. If you want to call yourself a social science, you have to perform like one, just as sociology does. This is why I call their theories “just-so” stories. Nothing I read convinced me that they had discovered and proven or disproven their structures of thought and culture. They struck me as smart folks who have formed a model and had their observations fit into it. They are at the hypothesis, but never got to the theory.
As to the negativity of the discipline as it stands now, I do find their ideas extremely negative, especially in regards to free-will and striking back against oppression. Anyone who knows me also knows that I am a major believer in self-motivation and self-reliance. This is not to say that there are not horrible, repressive governments and people who deny others basic human rights – but think about that – basic human rights. In my world view that lacks uber-relativism, some things are simply wrong – murder, rape, torture, oppression of women and minorities, religious persecution, and religious prosecution of those with opposing beliefs, and I believe that all good people share this core set of values, and those that don’t are in it for power and control – and there are reasons why some people are sociopaths and other aren’t. Cultural Anthropology in its current form would say that there are just the opinions I’ve formed as part of my culture, and it is unfair to judge others by my standards. I disagree with that stance, and believe because we are a single biological species with common genetics and brain chemistry, that there is a baseline of human thought. Now, yes, culture makes things very very very different between (and amongst) groups, but this does not deny people their individuality. You’ll not find a person who is more of an individualist than me. Just like you can have two computers running very different software, they still perform the computations in the same way. I feel the same about the brain.
Cultural Anthropology talks a good game about power and agency, but with the expectation of a few activists, does nothing about it. It’s hard to rock the apple cart when you know if you do, you will never reach the Holy Grail of University tenure. Simply put, it’s far easier to complain from the grandstands than to play the game. You think something is wrong – fix it. Don’t sit in your corner being so self-reflexive that you may only think something is wrong because your cultural values make you think it is wrong. Even if that is the case (which I don’t think it is), who cares? If it is wrong, then damn it -- do something.
So, what do I do about Cultural Anthropology? How do I help fix what I see wrong in the discipline? Will I put my money where my mouth is? Sadly, I will walk away. There are times to fight and times not to fight, and if there is anything I’ve learned in school is that I am not cut out for academia. Not because I don’t do well in school – I do, and not because I don’t like to learn new things – I love that; but I find academia too confining in its approach, too parochial in its thinking, and too vindictive against those who do not share their core ideas. I continue to be fascinated by the mind, by culture, by people, but I will take a path independent of academia to further my interests.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
(Cultural) Anthropology and its Obessesion With Post-Modernism
One of the things I find so frustrating about Cultural Anthropology is its obsession with post-modernism's belief that there is no absolute truth, and it is only a construct of the observer. This is hogwash, in my opinion, and why I am on the Biological Anthropology side of the Four Fields. Talk to many and read many practicing cultural anthropologists today and the amount of hyper-relativism is downright annoying and depressing. There is such a degree of negativity in their work that it reaches levels of complete despair, and the abandonment of hard scientific principles makes their use of the word "theory" pointless. It is not theory; they are just-so stories.
So, I was happy to read this quote from an Archaeology Blog that I follow:
"As often mentioned here, I am no fan of post-modernist hyper-relativism. This is the idea that scientific truth is impossible and that all our ideas about the world are "socially constructed", that is, that people negotiate agreements about what the world is like and thus determine what is real. Being a realist, I am convinced that there is a single real world out there and that though not infallible, science is finding out a lot of true information about it. (Just as I am able to find out in a non-socially-constructed way whether there is any milk in the fridge.)"
Original post here: http://scienceblogs.com/aardvarchaeology/2009/04/ursula_leguin_and_the_post-mod.php
To quote his bio, "Dr. Martin Rundkvist is a Swedish archaeologist, journal editor, public speaker, skeptic, atheist, lefty liberal, bookworm, and father of two."
Now, I am an American anthropology student, IT Engineering Director, skeptic, non-practicing Christian, fiscal and governmental conservative / social liberal, bookworm, and father of one. Our politics are not the same, but to see a professional who believes in the worth of hard science in the discipline, and calls out the fallacy of post-modernism is very refreshing, and gives me both hope for the discipline, and the feeling that I did not waste the last 10 years of my life studying this field.
So, I was happy to read this quote from an Archaeology Blog that I follow:
"As often mentioned here, I am no fan of post-modernist hyper-relativism. This is the idea that scientific truth is impossible and that all our ideas about the world are "socially constructed", that is, that people negotiate agreements about what the world is like and thus determine what is real. Being a realist, I am convinced that there is a single real world out there and that though not infallible, science is finding out a lot of true information about it. (Just as I am able to find out in a non-socially-constructed way whether there is any milk in the fridge.)"
Original post here: http://scienceblogs.com/aardvarchaeology/2009/04/ursula_leguin_and_the_post-mod.php
To quote his bio, "Dr. Martin Rundkvist is a Swedish archaeologist, journal editor, public speaker, skeptic, atheist, lefty liberal, bookworm, and father of two."
Now, I am an American anthropology student, IT Engineering Director, skeptic, non-practicing Christian, fiscal and governmental conservative / social liberal, bookworm, and father of one. Our politics are not the same, but to see a professional who believes in the worth of hard science in the discipline, and calls out the fallacy of post-modernism is very refreshing, and gives me both hope for the discipline, and the feeling that I did not waste the last 10 years of my life studying this field.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Alma Gave Us a Scare
Alma gave us a scare today with a trip to the ER with bad troubles with her stomach and pain in her spine. After hours of blood tests, scans, and sitting around being sick while racking up the insurance charges, they sent her home with the stomach flu / food poisoning. After going through appendicitis with Erika when Arianna was a just month old and Ann's pancreatitis scare last year, I'm happy that it was just her being "regular" sick, even though that still stinks. Drink plenty of fluids and get better soon, Alma. We'll take you shopping to make you feel better. :)
Friday, February 20, 2009
Farwell Zig and Thanks
I don't talk about my past much with others, especially that time after high school and before I met Erika (18-22). Life after high school was a bit rough for me in all departments from leaving Beloit College when I probably should have stayed to not knowing what to major in at UIC, to what I'll only call relationship confusion, let's just say that there isn't enough money in the world to make me want to relive those 4 years.
There was a good thing that happened then, though. Fresh out of high school with my newly minted Empehi diploma, I got a job through the City of Chicago's work study program as an intern at Navistar. It was $5.75 / hour for office work back when minimum wage was $4.25 / hour. It lasted the summer and I was an office clerk. When I left Beloit during orientation week (a long story that I doubt I'll ever tell), I called Navistar upon my return to see if there was any work. The International Operations Department needed a new accounting clerk and I needed a job. I interviewed and was hired that same day. On top on that, I got a raise to $8 / hour, which was a princely sum for me 15 years ago.
I worked with a great group of guys over there. They were all older (in their 50's and 60's) and had been in Corporate America for a long time. They were my practical business education as an 18 year old. There was my first boss, Chuck Goeken, head of the I.O. Accounting Team. There was Bud Cates, the chief export accountant. Ramona Chavolla, the secretary (they were still called secretaries then), who I sat next to, and there was Zig Balodis.
Zig came back as a contractor, too. He was the retired VP of finance for International Harvester’s Agricultural division before it was sold to Case (and became Case IH). He held other high level jobs at manufacturing firms, and was looking for a more laid back job while he waited for his wife, Lois, to retire. Zig was an immigrant from Latvia, whose family stayed ahead of the Nazis and immigrated to the U.S. after the War. He went to school in Iowa and got his Masters from the University of Chicago. He was well to do. I remember his impeccable monogrammed shirts and his love of wine more than anything.
At the time, I was poor and thought that anyone with money was a bad person. Even I went through a socialist phase, which my friends at Northeastern would find amusing, I am sure. I remember the first time I met Zig with his monogrammed shirt and talk of wine and thinking, oh boy, this doesn’t fit with a Marxist leaning teenaged me. But, Chuck, Bud, and I always went to lunch together, so when Zig came on board, he joined our lunch crew.
I quickly realized that I was wrong about Zig. HE became a great friend and mentor to me, and explained how things operated in business. He was also a self-made man. Life did not hand him an easy start, but he did not let that stop him from making a better life for him. He exuded calmness and unflappability that as a manger now myself, I realize is vital in surviving in business without sending yourself to an early grave. More than that, though, he encouraged me. When he saw I was down and had no hope for something better in life, encouraged me to go back to school, which I did at UIC, even though I meandered from major to major. When he saw my personal interest in computers and technology, he encouraged that as well. He invited me over to his home, where I got to help him with his computers and see that magnificent wine cellar that he was so proud of. He was always encouraging me. When Chuck retired and the new manager they brought in was destroying the department, he told me to get out. I was too young and my new boss would be gone soon.
I took that advice and left Navistar for a small pharmaceutical company where I did accounting and some IT work. Six months and one destroyed car later, Zig was right -- my new boss was fired and they called me and asked me to come back. I rejoined the accounting team, and when an opening popped up in the corporate Help Desk for a Help Desk Tech, he told me to apply. I did, and got the job. Taking that leap started me down the path, and here I am a decade later leading up my own motley crew of engineers at SAVO as Director of IT.
Zig retired not soon after I moved to Heidrick & Struggles in 2001. Navistar was moving from the NBC Tower to an office park in Warrenville and I needed to stay downtown and Zig didn't want to reverse commute to Warrenville. Before he left, I joined he and Bud for one last lunch together. It was one of those bittersweet times where I realized that these guys who had been my first coworkers and mentors for the past four years, that I would probably never see them again. And that is how it turned out to be.
Zig retired to a pair of houses in Arizona with his wife Lois. He and I remained pen-pals via the Internet, but as it happens, we lost touch of each other for awhile as email accounts and internet providers changed. We caught up again on Classmates, and he sent me an email. I responded back to him on January 26th filling him in on my life with Erika and Arianna, and how I had taken his advice to heart not to be afraid and it helped me advance my career and get my degree (well in 10 weeks that is).
I was surprised when I did not get a response from him. Then, in the mail, I got a letter from Lois. Zig had a hernia that ruptured on January 29th that sent him into a coma and killed him later on in the evening. It was crushing to get that letter. Lois also sent me a note that Zig had read my email and was so pleased at what had become of my life and he was going to write me back on the day that he died. My eyes tear up now thinking of him, and realizing that his death at the age of 69 makes me realize that 69 isn’t that old at old. Here is a man who had escaped the Nazis as a boy, and spent 45 years with his wife, made a great success of his life, and had touched many people I am sure.
My heart goes out to Lois, his wife and companion for all these many years. I wanted to thank Zig, wherever the universe takes us next, for being such a friend and mentor to me when I was a young man starting off in the world. Much of who I am today, an independent "Lincolnian" are due to his influence.
Thank you Zig. I bought a case of wine from Michigan this weekend, and in honor of your favorite passion, I shall raise a glass to you. Farewell my friend.
There was a good thing that happened then, though. Fresh out of high school with my newly minted Empehi diploma, I got a job through the City of Chicago's work study program as an intern at Navistar. It was $5.75 / hour for office work back when minimum wage was $4.25 / hour. It lasted the summer and I was an office clerk. When I left Beloit during orientation week (a long story that I doubt I'll ever tell), I called Navistar upon my return to see if there was any work. The International Operations Department needed a new accounting clerk and I needed a job. I interviewed and was hired that same day. On top on that, I got a raise to $8 / hour, which was a princely sum for me 15 years ago.
I worked with a great group of guys over there. They were all older (in their 50's and 60's) and had been in Corporate America for a long time. They were my practical business education as an 18 year old. There was my first boss, Chuck Goeken, head of the I.O. Accounting Team. There was Bud Cates, the chief export accountant. Ramona Chavolla, the secretary (they were still called secretaries then), who I sat next to, and there was Zig Balodis.
Zig came back as a contractor, too. He was the retired VP of finance for International Harvester’s Agricultural division before it was sold to Case (and became Case IH). He held other high level jobs at manufacturing firms, and was looking for a more laid back job while he waited for his wife, Lois, to retire. Zig was an immigrant from Latvia, whose family stayed ahead of the Nazis and immigrated to the U.S. after the War. He went to school in Iowa and got his Masters from the University of Chicago. He was well to do. I remember his impeccable monogrammed shirts and his love of wine more than anything.
At the time, I was poor and thought that anyone with money was a bad person. Even I went through a socialist phase, which my friends at Northeastern would find amusing, I am sure. I remember the first time I met Zig with his monogrammed shirt and talk of wine and thinking, oh boy, this doesn’t fit with a Marxist leaning teenaged me. But, Chuck, Bud, and I always went to lunch together, so when Zig came on board, he joined our lunch crew.
I quickly realized that I was wrong about Zig. HE became a great friend and mentor to me, and explained how things operated in business. He was also a self-made man. Life did not hand him an easy start, but he did not let that stop him from making a better life for him. He exuded calmness and unflappability that as a manger now myself, I realize is vital in surviving in business without sending yourself to an early grave. More than that, though, he encouraged me. When he saw I was down and had no hope for something better in life, encouraged me to go back to school, which I did at UIC, even though I meandered from major to major. When he saw my personal interest in computers and technology, he encouraged that as well. He invited me over to his home, where I got to help him with his computers and see that magnificent wine cellar that he was so proud of. He was always encouraging me. When Chuck retired and the new manager they brought in was destroying the department, he told me to get out. I was too young and my new boss would be gone soon.
I took that advice and left Navistar for a small pharmaceutical company where I did accounting and some IT work. Six months and one destroyed car later, Zig was right -- my new boss was fired and they called me and asked me to come back. I rejoined the accounting team, and when an opening popped up in the corporate Help Desk for a Help Desk Tech, he told me to apply. I did, and got the job. Taking that leap started me down the path, and here I am a decade later leading up my own motley crew of engineers at SAVO as Director of IT.
Zig retired not soon after I moved to Heidrick & Struggles in 2001. Navistar was moving from the NBC Tower to an office park in Warrenville and I needed to stay downtown and Zig didn't want to reverse commute to Warrenville. Before he left, I joined he and Bud for one last lunch together. It was one of those bittersweet times where I realized that these guys who had been my first coworkers and mentors for the past four years, that I would probably never see them again. And that is how it turned out to be.
Zig retired to a pair of houses in Arizona with his wife Lois. He and I remained pen-pals via the Internet, but as it happens, we lost touch of each other for awhile as email accounts and internet providers changed. We caught up again on Classmates, and he sent me an email. I responded back to him on January 26th filling him in on my life with Erika and Arianna, and how I had taken his advice to heart not to be afraid and it helped me advance my career and get my degree (well in 10 weeks that is).
I was surprised when I did not get a response from him. Then, in the mail, I got a letter from Lois. Zig had a hernia that ruptured on January 29th that sent him into a coma and killed him later on in the evening. It was crushing to get that letter. Lois also sent me a note that Zig had read my email and was so pleased at what had become of my life and he was going to write me back on the day that he died. My eyes tear up now thinking of him, and realizing that his death at the age of 69 makes me realize that 69 isn’t that old at old. Here is a man who had escaped the Nazis as a boy, and spent 45 years with his wife, made a great success of his life, and had touched many people I am sure.
My heart goes out to Lois, his wife and companion for all these many years. I wanted to thank Zig, wherever the universe takes us next, for being such a friend and mentor to me when I was a young man starting off in the world. Much of who I am today, an independent "Lincolnian" are due to his influence.
Thank you Zig. I bought a case of wine from Michigan this weekend, and in honor of your favorite passion, I shall raise a glass to you. Farewell my friend.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Arianna's Better, Mommy not so much / Valentine's Day
Thanks to all the well-wishers who wished my little family a speedy recovery. Arianna's fever broke, and her temperature is back to normal. Her Mommy, Erika, not so much. She still has a bad cold (she always gets the worst colds), so keeping up with our little toddler is especially tough. Thank goodness for coffee and cold medicine. I seem to have missed catching whatever bug is going around. I think that since Erika is a stay-at-home mom right now and isn't exposed to germs as much, while I sit in a disease ridden office where the lady at the end of my row of cubes has been hacking a TB-like cough for 4 months, is the reason I've not caught it. My body is used to germs.
It makes me glad that we spent Valentine's Day Early. We went to see Clay Jenkins perform as Theodore Roosevelt last Friday evening with John Williams from WGN-AM as moderator over at Wabaunsee College in Sugar Grove. Yes, I am a history geek. It was great fun, even if Clay's voice gave out toward the end. For those of you who do not know, TR has close to a falsetto voice, and it is hard to duplicate. All in all, great fun for me and Erika liked it, too. She got her picture taken with John and Clay, and we both got autographs -- she of the playbill, and me of Clay's book of essays. Arianna stayed with her Tia Alma for the evening and when we went to pick her up afterwards she was sound asleep and had been a good girl.
The next day, with the weather absolutely gorgeous, I surprised Erika by taking her up to one of her favorite restaurants in New Buffalo, Michigan, El Rancho Grande. As you can tell by the name, it's Mexican. They have a taco called the Taco Duncan, which is made with carne asada, chorizo, bacon, jalapenos, onions, and a tortilla sautéed in red peppers. It is super tasty. Arianna contented herself on tortilla chips, rice, and refried beans.
Then, we drove over to the Lighthouse Outlets in Michigan City, Indiana, and Erika got a new Fossil purse and wallet for Valentines Day. She's a Fossil girl, and for someone e who doesn't buy a lot for herself, it was really nice to get her something she liked. Arianna wanted (and got) a toy camera at the soon-to-be shuttered K-B Toy Outlet store. There was nothing for me there, but that was OK, I knew what I wanted.
Yes -- I wanted more driving! We left Michigan City and drove back to Illinois and headed for Orland Park. We went to the Dick's Sporting Goods on LaGrange, and Erika got me what I wanted for Valentine's Day --- a new Leatherman knife. Nothing says "Love" like sharp stabbing instruments. My old Leatherman is ancient and was made before they had locking blades, and I hurt myself one time too many with it. Now I have a spiffy new Leatherman Wave with locking everything. As a Dad, a pocketknife with screwdrivers and scissors is invaluable. You never know when you have to put something together, fix something, or pull out a splinter. It's a great knife, thanks Kiki!
We rounded out the evening at Barnes & Noble, where we picked up a magazine for me, and headed on home. Arianna was pretty tired at this point, not sleeping much in the car since she was so excited. She collapsed on the drive back home from Orland, though. We got her home, changed her Pamper and put her to bed and then I read anthropology papers while Erika worked on her knitting. It was a great early Valentine's Day and the three of us had a great day.
I wish all of you a Happy Valentine's Day, too, with the ones you love.
p.s Happy 200th Birthday, Abraham and Charles!
It makes me glad that we spent Valentine's Day Early. We went to see Clay Jenkins perform as Theodore Roosevelt last Friday evening with John Williams from WGN-AM as moderator over at Wabaunsee College in Sugar Grove. Yes, I am a history geek. It was great fun, even if Clay's voice gave out toward the end. For those of you who do not know, TR has close to a falsetto voice, and it is hard to duplicate. All in all, great fun for me and Erika liked it, too. She got her picture taken with John and Clay, and we both got autographs -- she of the playbill, and me of Clay's book of essays. Arianna stayed with her Tia Alma for the evening and when we went to pick her up afterwards she was sound asleep and had been a good girl.
The next day, with the weather absolutely gorgeous, I surprised Erika by taking her up to one of her favorite restaurants in New Buffalo, Michigan, El Rancho Grande. As you can tell by the name, it's Mexican. They have a taco called the Taco Duncan, which is made with carne asada, chorizo, bacon, jalapenos, onions, and a tortilla sautéed in red peppers. It is super tasty. Arianna contented herself on tortilla chips, rice, and refried beans.
Then, we drove over to the Lighthouse Outlets in Michigan City, Indiana, and Erika got a new Fossil purse and wallet for Valentines Day. She's a Fossil girl, and for someone e who doesn't buy a lot for herself, it was really nice to get her something she liked. Arianna wanted (and got) a toy camera at the soon-to-be shuttered K-B Toy Outlet store. There was nothing for me there, but that was OK, I knew what I wanted.
Yes -- I wanted more driving! We left Michigan City and drove back to Illinois and headed for Orland Park. We went to the Dick's Sporting Goods on LaGrange, and Erika got me what I wanted for Valentine's Day --- a new Leatherman knife. Nothing says "Love" like sharp stabbing instruments. My old Leatherman is ancient and was made before they had locking blades, and I hurt myself one time too many with it. Now I have a spiffy new Leatherman Wave with locking everything. As a Dad, a pocketknife with screwdrivers and scissors is invaluable. You never know when you have to put something together, fix something, or pull out a splinter. It's a great knife, thanks Kiki!
We rounded out the evening at Barnes & Noble, where we picked up a magazine for me, and headed on home. Arianna was pretty tired at this point, not sleeping much in the car since she was so excited. She collapsed on the drive back home from Orland, though. We got her home, changed her Pamper and put her to bed and then I read anthropology papers while Erika worked on her knitting. It was a great early Valentine's Day and the three of us had a great day.
I wish all of you a Happy Valentine's Day, too, with the ones you love.
p.s Happy 200th Birthday, Abraham and Charles!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Sick Family
Arianna woke us up at 3:00AM crying. This is not unusual, since she's usually pretty wet at that hour, but went Erika went to get her, she was very hot. I was in a Benedryl-induced coma, but Erika got me awake enough to go get the thermometer. It was a fever of 102. I then stumbled around for baby Tylenol and a wet washcloth. Now, we are lucky, in that Arianna likes the taste of Tylenol, and after she took her medicine and got her head cooled off with the washcloth, we let her sleep between us. Around 5:00AM, we moved her back to her crib where she slept until 7:00.
At 7:00, she still had a fever, so it was more Tylenol. By this time, Erika's cold had gotten worse, so it was a call into work, and a day taking care of my two girls. Ari is not a lethargic patient; however, she was running around almost as much as she normally does. The only difference is that she wanted me to hold her for a nap, instead of napping in her crib.
Her temperature was down to 99.9 when we put her down in her crib tonight, so hopefully the fever has broken. I had to miss class tonight, but I know I can get notes from my friends (hint, hint). :) The nice thing with Lincoln's Birthday on Thursday, that means I have no more school for the week, and hopefully Arianna will sleep through the night and be better in the morning.
At 7:00, she still had a fever, so it was more Tylenol. By this time, Erika's cold had gotten worse, so it was a call into work, and a day taking care of my two girls. Ari is not a lethargic patient; however, she was running around almost as much as she normally does. The only difference is that she wanted me to hold her for a nap, instead of napping in her crib.
Her temperature was down to 99.9 when we put her down in her crib tonight, so hopefully the fever has broken. I had to miss class tonight, but I know I can get notes from my friends (hint, hint). :) The nice thing with Lincoln's Birthday on Thursday, that means I have no more school for the week, and hopefully Arianna will sleep through the night and be better in the morning.
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