Weekend, and links
Weekend wrapup: overall status = good. On Friday, Jen and I hopped a flight on Independence Air for Virginia to visit my parents. The update on Terminal B? (see last post) Still just as dead as ever. I couldnt even find a working soda machine, all the beverages were in locked fridges in front of the caged-off eateries. -sigh- The trip overall went well, but Jen still has problems dealing with my parents sometimes; I grew up in a much different household than she did. Still, we got to just relax, and went to see The Brothers Grimm, which in my opinion was a respectable movie that just fell short at the end. Recommended matinee if you don't have much else to do. I do really want to see The Constant Gardener though. I'm a sucker for Ralph Fiennes ever since I saw Strange Days, and from the trailers it looks like the movie has promise. Of course, what excited me the most when I checked out Ralphie-boy's IMDB profile was that he is slated to play Voldemort in the upcoming Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (HP4 to the initiated). Yes, I'm a Harry Potter geek, and damned if seeing Fiennes play Voldemort doesn't just excite the hell out of me.
This weekend was also the first time my parents have seen Jen since she began "showing", so that was pretty cool. Unfortunately though, my mother wanted to drag us around doing baby-related shopping and Jen and I really weren't feelin' it - we've been doing enough ourselves and we wanted to do other things while we were on a mini-vacation. Mom, of course, seemed to get her feelings hurt in the process but... que sera sera. Jen also scared the ever-living shit out of me as we were walking down the stairs of my parents' house and as I hit the bottom landing I heard an "Eep!" from behind me, only to turn around and see my pregnant wife coming headfirst down the stairs. Thank God I wasn't far away, and her reflexes are good - she missed the railing with her left hand but the right hand came across and found the rail, and as she spun around and down I had lunged back (I still have no idea how I made it there that fast) and caught her, easing her onto the step. She was fine, physically, despite a slightly sore shoulder muscle from catching herself, but she definitely rattled herself and me. She's never been much one for coordination, constantly banging her legs on open dresser drawers, filing cabinets, etc, but I think the combination of her sandals and her being a little more "forward heavy" than she normally is threw her off in this case. I'm just thankful it wound up being a scary situation and nothing worse. I'd be freaked even if it was just her, but especially when she's pregnant? Eeeeesh.
Beyond going to the movies, relaxing, and the above event, we also went to the National Zoo and checked things out there. I can't even say how long it's been since I've been to a zoo, so it was kind of neat to check out the experience again before doing it again with a child in tow. Altho I can't wait to do that, when the kid is wicked excited to see all the animals. It's neat to me, in that "hey look you don't see a cheetah every day" sort of way, but the fascination on a child's face at seeing all these exotic animals, and even the NON-exotic ones ("hey look dad, they have cows!"), is going to be awesome.
We also hit the satellite location of the Air & Space Museum on our way back to the airport Sunday evening, where we got to see a bunch of neat planes and other flying contraptions that had all been brought there. Seeing older planes always fills me with a sense of awe, since I couldn't imagine how people used to trust their lives to these rickety looking contraptions, especially in transcontinental flights, and the real treat was seeing the Enola Gay up close. Just being that close to the plane that dropped the bomb in one of history's most memorable (and terrible) events, made me quiet for a few minutes. It doesn't even look all that impressive, which just makes the reality all that more harsh. It sets things in perspective, being able to see pieces of history in person, when you realize that some things aren't just trapped in the pages of a book. These things happened, and they were done to and caused by real people. It's hard to grasp that concept sometimes. It's also why I can see how some people who may be more attached to that idea than I can be so enthralled with history when typically the subject just bores me. But perhaps that's from the rote memorization methods my teaches taught the topic like in school growing up.
On a lighter note... some links I wanted to share.
An excellent letter written to Hillary Clinton on the topic of violence in video games - link
Interesting article discussing the pros and cons of piracy and security in distributable media, arguing that piracy can HELP business economics - link
Sexy, sexy, sexy "digital paper" prototype revealed - link
This weekend was also the first time my parents have seen Jen since she began "showing", so that was pretty cool. Unfortunately though, my mother wanted to drag us around doing baby-related shopping and Jen and I really weren't feelin' it - we've been doing enough ourselves and we wanted to do other things while we were on a mini-vacation. Mom, of course, seemed to get her feelings hurt in the process but... que sera sera. Jen also scared the ever-living shit out of me as we were walking down the stairs of my parents' house and as I hit the bottom landing I heard an "Eep!" from behind me, only to turn around and see my pregnant wife coming headfirst down the stairs. Thank God I wasn't far away, and her reflexes are good - she missed the railing with her left hand but the right hand came across and found the rail, and as she spun around and down I had lunged back (I still have no idea how I made it there that fast) and caught her, easing her onto the step. She was fine, physically, despite a slightly sore shoulder muscle from catching herself, but she definitely rattled herself and me. She's never been much one for coordination, constantly banging her legs on open dresser drawers, filing cabinets, etc, but I think the combination of her sandals and her being a little more "forward heavy" than she normally is threw her off in this case. I'm just thankful it wound up being a scary situation and nothing worse. I'd be freaked even if it was just her, but especially when she's pregnant? Eeeeesh.
Beyond going to the movies, relaxing, and the above event, we also went to the National Zoo and checked things out there. I can't even say how long it's been since I've been to a zoo, so it was kind of neat to check out the experience again before doing it again with a child in tow. Altho I can't wait to do that, when the kid is wicked excited to see all the animals. It's neat to me, in that "hey look you don't see a cheetah every day" sort of way, but the fascination on a child's face at seeing all these exotic animals, and even the NON-exotic ones ("hey look dad, they have cows!"), is going to be awesome.
We also hit the satellite location of the Air & Space Museum on our way back to the airport Sunday evening, where we got to see a bunch of neat planes and other flying contraptions that had all been brought there. Seeing older planes always fills me with a sense of awe, since I couldn't imagine how people used to trust their lives to these rickety looking contraptions, especially in transcontinental flights, and the real treat was seeing the Enola Gay up close. Just being that close to the plane that dropped the bomb in one of history's most memorable (and terrible) events, made me quiet for a few minutes. It doesn't even look all that impressive, which just makes the reality all that more harsh. It sets things in perspective, being able to see pieces of history in person, when you realize that some things aren't just trapped in the pages of a book. These things happened, and they were done to and caused by real people. It's hard to grasp that concept sometimes. It's also why I can see how some people who may be more attached to that idea than I can be so enthralled with history when typically the subject just bores me. But perhaps that's from the rote memorization methods my teaches taught the topic like in school growing up.
On a lighter note... some links I wanted to share.
An excellent letter written to Hillary Clinton on the topic of violence in video games - link
Interesting article discussing the pros and cons of piracy and security in distributable media, arguing that piracy can HELP business economics - link
Sexy, sexy, sexy "digital paper" prototype revealed - link
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1:31 PM
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