Christmas Preview

We opened gifts at our house this Saturday because we're going out of town this week. Bryan and I were up until 1:30 a.m. assembling the new train table. As we were finishing, Bryan said, "Now I know why my parents were always so tired on Christmas." Yes, we are just now figuring this out. I anticipate many sleep-deprived Christmas days for years to come, until the kids are old enough to request gifts that do not need complicated assembly. Of course, by then we will probably be waiting up for them to come home...

The late night effort was SO worth it though! I held the kids at bay until Bryan had the video camera ready. They walked in, saw the train table and raced straight for it without a word. Alex soon discovered stockings, candy, and presents, though Sam remained happily in Train Heaven for most of the morning.

Alex and I had been talking a lot about the song, "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" which she has requested as her bedtime song for the past few weeks. I also explained to her that good kids get presents, toys, and candy - while "bad" kids get coal, which is like rocks and isn't much fun. When she saw the presents she said, "I was GOOD!" and "I did not pout!" and "I did not get rocks!"

Sam's fun was interrupted by a much needed bath, to his dismay. He did get to keep his Tootsie Pop in the bathtub though, which was a good receptacle for the copious amounts of green drool.

I am loving Christmas with a 1- and 3-year old! It is so easy to make them happy. And fun to see the innocent, surprised happy expressions. I'm glad we get to do it again in another week or so.

Grúas

Haced clic en la imagen.

"Just" adopt

I really enjoyed this article by Sarah Kelly. It's about the well-intended phrase tossed out by so many people who don't know what else to say when confronted with infertility - "You can always just adopt."

https://www.adoptivefamilies.com/articles.php?aid=1380

Not sure if the link above will work - and don't want to violate any copyright laws but here are some excerpts -

"Which is why you cannot tell someone to “just adopt.” As if there were anything “just” about it. It’s not like, “Hmm, what should I do today? Oh, I know! I’d love to fill out 500 government forms! I’ll just do that today! And then I’ll just schedule multiple visits with social workers, request letters of reference, declarations of good health, a complete financial inventory—I’ll lay bare every aspect of my life that can be summarized on paper. And then I’ll just have everything notarized. In triplicate.”

The complicated process aside, before making a new map for your life and choosing to adopt, you need to go as far as you feel comfortable going with treatment, mourn not being pregnant, and say goodbye to the future you assumed you’d have.

I liked the last paragraph too:

After everything my husband and I went through in our quest for the “miracle of life,” I know now what the real miracle is. Through everything—through miles and oceans and air and time and loss and grief and healing and acceptance and love—we found a way to our son and he found his way to us.

Kudos to you, Sarah Kelly - lots of heads are nodding in agreement and appreciation for what you put into words.

bizarre, and sad

So, I'm in my office working away and the sound of a helicopter circling barely registers, but keeps intruding on my consciousness. Eventually a co-worker sends out an e-mail: there's a news helicopter and the Credit Union (across the street, visible from my office window) is surrounded by fire trucks and security. What's up?

Turns out a construction worker was buried in 8 feet of dirt when a trench collapsed on him. Heavy equipment was brought in to rescue him but they were unable to reach him. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=2311443

I can hear the news helicopter again, sitting here at my desk on a sunny cold December day. A day just like any other day - for us - but for one man, his last day. May he rest in peace.

little faces haunting me

In the midst of the Christmas season, with all the shopping and the lights and the cheery music, I am haunted today by two images which have reached around the world to me. It would be easy to forget them, and in prior years I probably would have been able to, at least with more ease than I can now. The needs of the world are overwhelming, and it becomes too hard to think about them all the time. But this year, these two images are lingering in my mind.

The first is a picture of several children at an orphanage in South Korea. The picture was taken recently by an adult Korean adoptee who writes for the NY Times Relative Choices blog (http://relativechoices.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/27/south-korea-and-its-children/). She was adopted at age 3 and grew up in the US. Seeing these kids, she wrote, "Looking at those children I could not help but think: I got out."

As great as it is that we were able to adopt Alex and Sam, in slightly different circumstances they could easily have ended up exactly where these children are. They could be the kids in that picture.

The second image is a black and white photo of a baby in a North Korean orphanage, sent to us by Holt International. They have been supporting orphans in North Korea for about 5 years, but this year, due to flooding on top of famine, hundreds of children are starving - and dying in terrible numbers. There is no heat in the orphanages; children are huddling together for warmth. Milk is so scarce that staff workers are grinding rice and grain into powder for "formula." After recently reading about the conditions in post-war South Korea in the 1950s, it strikes me that after all this time things are just as bad in the North--even worse, because they are cut off from many sources of aid that were available in the South. Once again - if Sam or Alex had been born just a little north of where they were - they could be the ones in these photos. The thought brings tears to my eyes.

There is normally little opportunity to send aid from the US to North Korea, due to government policies and other factors. I hope Holt will collect a lot of donations for its North Korea program (see https://www.holtintl.org/gifts/). As for us - how could we say no?

Led Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven

Si alguien tiene una canción más bonita que esta que me lo diga. Seguro se puede encontrar alguna, pero no muchas...

Cambio de vida. Palma de Mallorca. Tragnarion games

Lo sé. Llevo un montón sin postear. Lo que pasa es que mi vida ha dado un giro en las últimas semanas.
Os cuento:

Un día recibí un mail de una empresa inglesa encargada de poner en contacto a empresas de videojuegos con empleados potenciales. Me hablaron de una compañía en Palma de Mallorca, Tragnarion Studios, que se dedicaba a desarrollar videojuegos y que necesitaban a alguien para encargarse de su departamento de QA (Quality Assurance), que significa control de calidad.



El caso es que, tras mucho dilucidar, decidí darle una oportunidad para ver como era el asunto. El caso es que me organizaron una entrevista telefónica con el director del estudio y a los pocos días estaba volando a Palma para entrevistarnos. Yo no estaba muy seguro de nada, pero para mí suponía una oportunidad de ver a mis amigos de Palma por un día y de ver el estudio por dentro ya que el vuelo corría a cuenta de la empresa.



El estudio me gustó, muy al estilo americano, oficinas grandes y soleadas, llenas de muñecajos, armas de juguete para los diseñadores, espacioso, con área de ocio, estudio de sonido, de efectos especiales...
El caso es que después de ver el estudio y a la gente, me encariñé algo con él, pero las condiciones seguían sin convencerme.
Me volví a Madrid sin dar una respuesta asegurando que me decidiría antes del final de la siguiente semana.



La siguiente semana recibí un montón de llamadas de la empresa inglesa, intentando convencerme y diciendo que el estudio estaba dispuesto a negociar. El caso es que tras unas 6 llamadas y de ofrecerme algunas cosillas que pedía, decidí dar el sí.
El caso es que estoy en Palma, viviendo en casa de unos amigos que se han ido a Japón 2 semanas y me han dejado con 4 gatos que me alegran el día.

Los juegos en los que estamos trabajando son, The Scourge, un FPS (First Person Shooter), juegos de disparar enemigos estilo Doom, en primera persona,



y Doodle Hex. Un curioso juego de magia para DS en el que para luchar contra tu contrincante tienes que dibujar unas runas en la pantalla de tu DS.



Ahora un vídeo de cuando llevaron el juego al Salón del Manga de Barcelona:



Pues eso, que ahora soy el QAM (Quality Assurance Manager) y que estoy bastante a gusto.
Un par de cotilleos: el dueños de la empresa es un sueco hijo del dueño del Ikea de Palma y al parecer estuvo casado con Juncal Rivero. Le deben gustar mucho los videojuegos...
De hecho nosotros comemos en el Ikea, ya que el estudio está situado en uno de los edificios de Ikea.

Thanksgiving, the Good Earth, friends

Wow, I haven't blogged in a month now, since Halloween.

Thanksgiving was great fun this year. We were all reasonably healthy (the kids had runny noses). Cameo and I split up the cooking for Thanksgiving dinner again and it was a true feast. Thank goodness the turkey turned out well - I always feel I don't know what I'm doing when I try to make big meat dishes. I have a new favorite dessert - Bryan's mom's recipe for "Captain Scott H's Key Lime Pie." Yum. The stores here don't carry key lime kool aid, so I used lemon lime and it was OK, but if I ever do find key lime kool aid I'll buy a lot. :-) Cameo's pumpkin gooey cake was very delicious too. We had our friend Jill and Buzz's friend Alison and family and we all played Catch Phrase after dinner. A good game you can play anywhere with any number of people. The kids were playing semi-independently, though at one point I wondered where Sam had gone so I checked. I found Ava pressing down on him in a corner with one of the chair pillows in the toy room. He wasn't complaining, just trying to sit up despite having a pillow and Ava on top of him, and Ava explained something about how she was trying to play with something (translation: trying to keep Sam out of her toys).

It was interesting preparing and eating such a decadent feast while in the midst of reading about the famine in The Good Earth. Several thoughts I've had while reading it...

- Women in this country are very, very lucky to live here and now.
- I thought I worked hard and for little reward in residency - reading about how the people worked themselves to the bone on the land (and still risked starvation) really puts things in perspective!
- Things happen "when the rich are too rich, and the poor are too poor." Reminds me of the line in Les Miserables, "Something's gotta happen now and something's gotta give."
- The protagonist of The Good Earth is a man, but I think Pearl Buck secretly makes the real hero of the story a woman. A plain, silent, selfless, sad woman who no one wanted.
- I cried when I read about Olan's death and Wang Lung's response. I'm pretty sure I liked this book well enough when I first read it in high school (20+ years ago now!?) but I think I appreciate it much more now. How many other books were half wasted on me in high school and college?

Anyway - not much more can be said about a long weekend of feasting and friends and time with my beloved family. I am deeply thankful.

WoW

World of Warcraft has officially taken over my life. The game was released in 2004 and I've fought buying it for so long because I knew this would happen. Some people think its geeky, but heck I don't care.. it still kicks ass. I'm at level 43 now, achieved in the span of 3 weeks which is quite intense. The fact that work don't come easy in this country means that I've got lots of spare time (yes, there is a shortage of doctors in Bahrain yet we still find it hard to get employed). All this spare time has been dedicated to leveling my character in pursuit of more power, better items and crazier adventures.

The missus is unfortunately away for a while, and I know that this will all end when she comes back. That doesn't make me sad. In fact, it might be a good thing for my general well being.

Short post, but I need to get back to questing. Level 44 awaits.

Blue Magic, Jay Z - American Gangster

Lo que se puede hacer con una producción millonaria y todo el peso de Roc-A-Fella Records detrás. Jay Z no deja de sorprenderme de vez en cuando con una joya de estas. 

¿Reconocéis a Pharrell Williams?

A veces lo comercial no es tan malo...

Ahó os dejo con Blue Magic, para la banda sonora de la película American Gangster.

Hace algunos años, 2003, me cautivó con un temazo llamado "Dirt Off your Shoulders" con una base impresionante. ¡Cómo nos divertíamos pinchando este tema en garitos de mala muerte de Brighton! Lo malo es que a alguien le gustó mucho el disco y me lo "sustrajo", una pena porque no me lo volví a comprar...

Unos añitos antes que todo esto, 1998, el amigo Jay, sacó el que se consideró su mejor album hasta entonces. Se decía que estaba en un momento artístico de lucidez en el que no había estado antes, "Hard Knock Life".



A disfrutar...

Ilusiones ópticas "sociales"

Dependiendo de dónde seas verás una cosa u otra en el dibujo de abajo.



Si eres del este de África casi seguro que ves a una mujer con una lata en la cabeza y una familia sentada debajo de un árbol
Si eres de Occidente es probable que veas una ventana y una familia sentada en una habitación.

El mejor camión del mundo

O al menos lo es para mí.
Me parece impresionante.
Soy fan acérrimo de la serie Mad Max y de todas las pelis postapocalípticas. Éste sería un vehículo ideal para vivir en el desierto junto luchando contra hordas de zombies y de monstruos mutantes del desierto.
Una maravilla.

Creo que es una agencia que lo alquila para viajes aventura, pero está en alemán y no me entero ni del Nodo.

Boli teléfono

Si el superagente 86 levantara la cabeza...
Que por cierto, Don Adams, conocido com el agente Maxwell Smart, murió en 2005 a los 82 años de edad. Imagino que la organización Kaos, archienemiga de nuestro querido agente tenía algo que ver con esto.

La EX-V7

Por fín han sacado algo parecido a la moto de Kaneda, de Akira, y además eléctrica.
Tardará un millón de años en llegar al resto del mundo, si es que lo hace...




En cuanto salga, y si tengo algo de dinero, me la compro.
Aunque no se como se cargará o si te tienes que comprar un alargador de 450 metros para enchufarla a un enchufe de tu casa desde el parking...




Una monada...

La estrella más grande conocida

Una serie de fotos que relacionan el Sol, nuestro lindo planeta y los de nuestra galaxia con las estrellas más grandes conocidas.
Bastante impresionante.


Haced clic en la foto para ver la secuencia, dejad que vayan cargando.


No somos nadie...

Cortesía de Techdo.com

Pura lealtad

La lealtad es algo muy importante en los tiempos que corren porque da esperanza. Creo...




Sacado de meneame.

El asalto del idiota

Otra perla de Youtube:

Darth Vader está graciosillo...

Pocos vídeos me han hecho tanta gracias como este que vais a ver a continuación.
Pobre comandante, si encima dice algo o se queja, Vader lo estrangula.

Emma Thomson contra la "trata de blancas"

Genial me parece el vídeo que ha protagonizado Emma Thomson como campaña contra la prostitución.



Un tema bastante escabroso sobre el que existen diferencias de opiniones. Yo estoy en contra ya que me parece que en muchos casos se trata de explotación. Antes pensaba que se tenía que legalizar y que cada uno hiciese lo que quisiera con su cuerpo, ahora opino que se debería prohibir.

¿Qué opináis?

Argh and Boo

Well, it's one step forward, one step back with the final bit of adoption paperwork. The application for Sam's certificate of citizenship was returned because I sent a personal check and they only take cashier's checks or money orders. I should have known better, having done this all before..."Doh!" Luckily this mistake "only" cost me the money it took to send the application by registered mail ($13 to cover several hundred dollars worth of original documents). What's another $13 at this point? Nothing really. It's just frustrating to make a dumb mistake on the last step!

The amazing thing was, they actually had the rejected application and all my forms back to me within 2 days of their receiving it. Not bad at all for a government office. :-)

On another note, we spent our Saturday morning with the largest mob of costumed people I have ever seen at the zoo's annual Halloween event, Boo at the Zoo. The animals must have wondered what was going on, but they took it in stride. It was great! Alex discovered blue taffy, Sam had his first big Tootsie Pop, and we all had a grand time.

Tetris humano en Japón

Un vídeo de un concurso japonés bastante simpático.

Nueva bandera de España

Últimamente se habla mucho de los símbolos nacionales y de la bandera en particular.
Un madrileño ha "diseñado" una nueva bandera que se cree será del gusto tanto de opositores como de seguidores de partidos de izquierdas y de derechas.

magia en la red, 0q.net

Navegando, navegando, me he encontrado esta web en la que mediante 20 preguntas pueden averiguar algo en lo que estés pensando.
Conmigo ha funcionado, la primera era música y la acertaron con menos de 20 preguntas (me quedé boquiabierto) y la segunda era uña y necesitó algo más.

Genial

http://www.20q.net/

no quiero dejar de ser un niño

Cuando era pequeño miraba a los mayores con cierta admiración y cierto respeto ya que pensaba que al ser mayores eran muy distintos de mí, que siempre tenían razón; me veía incapaz de reconocer que alguna vez habían sido niños también. Ahora me doy cuenta de que las cosas no han cambiado tanto y que somos lo que éramos pero nos esforzamos en que no se note.
Me preocupa que los niños, con quien siempre me he sentido muy identificado, no me vean como a alguien diferente a ellos y que no piensen que el tiempo les va a hacer cambiar, porque eso sería un gran error, pienso.
Me encanta la gente a la que me puedo imaginar cuando eran pequeños o pequeñas.

Medical Oddities: The Album

This one goes out to Beau Davidson in memory of some good times:


1. Kick the Cookie Under the Crash Cart

2. Focus to Walk

3. Don't Scratch Your Balls With Your Keys

4. Knock on Glass

5. Splint My Handjob

6. If You Break Your Leg, I Got Your Back

7. Kicked In the Calf By a Cow

8. Good Consistency of Chewiness

Pumpkin Patch

Took my little tiger and pumpkin to Engh Gardens' "Pumpkin Patch" today.
Alex took off through the hay bale maze, so I had to grab Sam and follow before I lost her. Luckily I was tall enough to see over the bales so I could sort of tell where she was. It was cute seeing her little tiger tail wagging along behind her. Sam liked playing with all the tiny pumpkins, and several people commented on what a cute pumpkin he was. Alex wore it 2 years ago, but she would never keep the hat on.

I've decided after all these years I should really just get a costume I like and wear it every year for Halloween. I tried looking around for some fun masks or hats, but all I can seem to find in the regular stores are very ugly, gory, or grotesque. Not to mention boring. There are a hundred variations on witches, vampires, beasts, ogres, etc. Where are all the cute, innocent, funny costumes? Nothing seemed to inspire me. Finally I bought a $2.50 headband with two spiders with "googly eyes" wobbling around on springs on top. If anyone knows where I can find a Lisa Simpson costume, let me know. I would dress up as Lisa and carry a sign with my favorite quote of hers: "The courage of the small embiggens us all!"