The Da Vinci Code

The Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown, is a fine book with interesting ideas, if not wholly unoriginal (it seems to be based on another book, Holy Blood, Holy Grail). It has been on a lot of best-seller lists since its publication, and there are plenty of reasons why: It is a page-turner with an Indiana Jones quality and a gripping plot.

The book starts quickly: A murder of a prominent French citizen begins to unravel a secret that has been protected by a clandestine society since the days of Christ.

Brown does a great job of introducing this clandestine society, as the book is based almost entirely on this foundation. Without this first declaration, this book might not work:

FACT: The Priory of Sion—a European secret society founded in 1099—is a real organization.

In 1975, Paris's Bibliothèque Nationale discovered parchments known as Les Dossiers Secrets, identifying numerous members of the Priory of Sion, including Sir Isaac Newton, Botticelli, Victor Hugo, and Leonardo da Vinci.

The Vatican prelature known as Opus Dei is a deeply devout Catholic group that has been the topic of recent controversy due to reports of brain-washing, coercion, and a practice known as "corporal mortification."

Opus Dei has just completed construction of a $47 million National Headquarters at 243 Lexington Avenue in New York City.

All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate.

This was enough to get me intrigued. Secret societies, in general, are not something I think about often. I guess, if I know about them, they aren't too secret. Finding out more about Opus Dei is easy; good luck finding out any consistent information on the Priory of Sion... But the idea of these secret societies was powerful enough to bring me through the entire book; in fact the book is really all about those ideas. If you are looking for strong characters, you've come to the wrong place.

The book has virtually no character development and is devoid of psychological intrigue (nobody in this book is having any moral dilemas, save perhaps one). Despite the great start of the book, and the powerful device implemented in the form of the secret societies, the story is left with a few cardboard-cutout characters running through (at time ridiculous) events, with a couple of puzzles thrown in for good measure. Unless you are familiar with the topic, solving the puzzles is hard, but not impossible (I was easily able to figure out several of them; others completely baffled me). One could argue that the puzzles have more depth than the characters, and that almost seems to be the point. It's the the "whole" and not the "individual" that's being explored here. Or, at least, that's the excuse that I'll give to Brown because the book is good, so there must be some reason that the characters weren't more fleshed out.

But don't try to solve the one major twist in the book; Brown just doesn't provide you with enough information to figure it out, which was a bit frustrating for me. That bit of frustration, combined with the lack of well-rounded characters was starting to wear on me. By the end of the book, the energy and momentum, which had been generated with a great beginning, had evaporated and ultimately detracted a bit from the overall experience. But still, it is a good, easy read.

Grade: B

Dragon Lore

Are dragons real? This might make you look twice. But your suspicions will be confirmed. It is fake.

According to the story that accompanied this image, there was a metal tin found near the dragon, which contained documents written in an old-fashioned German style of the 1890s. The documents suggest that Britain's Natural History Museum turned the dragon away and sent it to be destroyed.

Real or not, it is quite intriguing.

More Mars Coolness

Astronomy has always been in my blood. Star Wars is probably to blame, but that whole idea of exploration, thinking about what's "out there," and all that has been reinforced throughout my life. In college, I even took astronomy classes as electives, even though they required some physics (math that an Anthropology major wouldn't need to take)....

All of that marvel made this discovery (thanks to In The Park for the link) all the more fascinating for me. If you are looking for some way to comprehend all that is going on and all that was (and is) involved in getting the Spirit rover to another planet, you really need to check out this digital animation. It's quite dramatic. [QuickTime is required to view the animation, and I would also highly recommend speakers or headphones.]

Way Too Cool

Wow. If you are at all interested in what is going on with the Mars rover "Spirit," then you have to check this out. Have to. Not an option. Although, it is rather CPU intensive, and you do have to accomplish some technical steps to get things to work. But once it's working.... Wow. Very, very cool.

What's so cool? The program that you are downloading with the above link essentially allows you to use the same program that NASA is using to control Spirit. Download the images, and BAM! You are on Mars. Now, of course, you are not actually controlling Spirit, but you are able to see the images that Spirit has sent to Earth in much the same way that NASA can.

But that's only part of it. They do some story narration, to let you know what your looking at, as well as some orientation of how to use the program....

And, by the way, a note to the cell phone companies. How come NASA can send and receive messages 115 million miles away, yet I have difficulties getting a good signal on my cell phone in my house? You might want to think about upgrading the system....

The Pre-Industrial Diet

I heard a fairly interesting story this morning on NPR about a group of people who eat virtually anything they want, yet have an obesiety rate that is far below that of the United States. How do they do it and who are they?

"They," in this case, are the Amish. And they eat a caloric diet that is at least on par with the average american diet, and perhaps has even more calories. But they work it off, and then some. Of this particular Amish population, only 4% are considered obese; one-third of Americans are overweight, and an additional one-third are considered obese.

It is recommended that the average American should walk at least 10,000 steps a day (about 5 miles), although the reality is that the average American walks far less than that. The Amish men in this study averaged 18,000 steps a day, the women took more than 14,000 steps. One overacheiver took 50,000 steps, the equivilant of 25 miles.

Here's to walking!

TrackBack Test

A friend of mine just implemented the Trackback feature in his Movable Type Web site, which I thought was a good idea... So I decided that I'm going to do this as well with Parentetx.com.

Basically, this allows anyone else who is running a Web site to be able to link to a particular entry and reference it specifically. Also, there's a thread that is formed, sort of like via a forum, that will link other sites that reference a particular entry, thus allowing readers to check out other sites that talk about the same topic (or at least reference it).

Giving Time

If you are selling something to benefit a school project or to save the rain forest or something like that, and you are doing this by going door-to-door, you better hope that I answer the door. I have a really hard time saying no.

But I think I may have an alternative to giving away all of my money: Volunteer.

It's not like I have a ton of free time (at least it doesn't feel like I do), and the volunteer stuff I did in college weren't exactly positive experiences (basically, the positions I held were "office" jobs — sitting behind a desk — with not much to do). I just didn't feel like I was doing the most I could (and felt that the organization tapping it's resources properly, at least when it came to how it deployed me).

But maybe I need to re-evaluate this. If I were to volunteer, I'm sure it would be good for my psyche, for developing some more skills, and putting to use the ones that I have. Perhaps I'll just start off with a one-time event. Then maybe join an organization or something. We'll see.

I still need to exercise more. And learn to play guitar, not to mention play the drums again. And read more. And hang out with Aidan. Lots of things to do. I'll just have to figure out how to do it all ... a lot of people can manage to do all of that and more....

Sabbatical

My sabbatical has been approved! That means I have eight consecutive weeks off this year in addition to my regular vacation. I will be taking my eight weeks off during April and May.

I chose to take the time off immediately following Aidan's birthday because Aidan will need to transfer up to the two-year-old classroom at school, which can be a difficult transition. Aidan will not be in daycare while I am out on sabbatical, so by timing the sabbatical with his transition at school, he will only have to make one transition; he'll just have a two-month pause between one classroom and the next (as opposed to transitioning to the new classroom and then another one (home to school) after being removed for two months during my time off).

So far the plans are to have Aidan's birthday party here in Austin on April 3rd for his little friends. Then a week later have a big family birthday celebration for Aidan's on April 10th in NJ. Details for both birthdays have yet to be finalized.

I plan on spending about two to three weeks in NJ visiting family and friends with Aidan. However, Matthew will not be joining us in NJ (his vacation time is limited), but we will be taking a family vacation in the middle of May.

Originally we were thinking about taking a cruise for the family vacation. But after some careful consideration we decided against that option. A cruise probably would make more sense for us once Aidan is a little bit older.

We are now looking into a beach vacation in Florida. We have discovered Siesta Key, which is near Sarasota, and are leaning towards this location for several reasons, including it's family-friendly reputation. We will be trying to firm up plans for the summer holiday shortly.

To that end, as we try to firm up our plans, if any family or friends are interested in joining us in Florida during the week of May 16 through May 22, you are more than welcome! Just notify us (call or e-mail) as soon as you can, and we can work out the details.

And Speaking of LotR

So I was just minding my own business, surfing the net, not hurting anyone, and suddenly, I come accross this image.

I know that there's got to be some marketing involved in a movie like this, but come on! How could the Tolkien estate approve a deal that would turn Barbie and Ken into Arwen and Aragorn? I think I want to cry....

No Smeagol

One of our favorite bed time rituals is to read bed-time stories. We'll read some books for Aidan (and aimed at his age group), and then we'll read something for the adults. Renee will usually lie down with Aidan in bed (to soothe him to sleep) while I sit in the rocker and read. Right now, and for the last year or so, we've been reading the whole Lord of the Rings; we are currently just beginning The Return of the King.

Aidan seems to enjoy the ritual; if I try to get in bed with them, he'll look at me, point at the rocker and say "read." I assume he likes the story, too, because there have been a few nights where he'd grab whichever LotR book we are currently reading and handed it to me. But I do know that he doesn't like one character in the book: Smeagol.

Whenever I read the name "Smeagol", Aidan will sit up in bed, look at me with some frustration and pain in his eyes, and he'll say, "no megol," while signing "no." I can read "Gollum" without this reaction....

Music Rebellion

If you like to download music (legally), I just found out about a new place to do so — for cheap.

www.musicrebellion.com has instituted a "floating price" for the music. All music starts out at $0.10, and as more people buy, the price goes up. As far as I can gather, your first purchase is $0.10.

The only downside is that a lot of the music I'm looking at is only available in Windows Media format, which is alright, but not ideal.

Anyway, I've been trying to find this one album forever, and haven't had any luck. Now, not only can I find it, but I can buy the entire album for $1.30. Pretty sweet.

Recycle Your Aluminum

[From Yahoo! News]

OLYMPIA, Wash. - What kind of friends coat your apartment — and nearly everything in it — with tinfoil while you're away? Here's a hint: One of the only objects that escaped the shiny treatment was a book titled "Cruel Tricks for Dear Friends."

Chris Kirk found his downtown Olympia apartment encased in aluminum foil when he returned home Monday night from a trip to Los Angeles.

The walls, ceiling, cabinets and everything in between shimmered, after the prank orchestrated by Kirk's longtime friend, Luke Trerice, 26, who was staying in the apartment while Kirk was away.

"He's known for large-scale strangeness," Kirk, 33, told The Olympian. "He warned me that he would be able to touch my stuff, but it didn't sound so bad."

Trerice, who lives in Las Vegas, and a small group of friends draped the apartment with about 4,000 square feet of aluminum foil, which cost about $100.

Not surprisingly, the idea was hatched on New Year's Eve.

"It was just a spur of the moment thing," Trerice said. "I really don't even consider it art. I consider it a psychology project. ... He seems to be upbeat, so I consider this a success. "

No detail was too small or too time-consuming. The toilet paper was unrolled, wrapped in foil, then rolled back up again. The friends covered Kirk's book and compact disc collections but made sure each CD case could open and shut normally. They even used foil on each coin in Kirk's spare change.

And to sweeten the theme, they left silver Hershey's kisses sprinkled throughout the apartment.

"The toilet was hard. The molding around the doorways took a very long time," Trerice said.

Aside from "Cruel Tricks for Dear Friends," which doesn't include this particular trick, only a portrait of his girlfriend, the bed and a bath mat were left unfoiled.

"He took special pains not to move anything," Kirk said.

A foil-encased picture hanging outside his apartment was Kirk's first clue that something inside was amiss.

"I heard him open the door and gasp and start laughing," said Beth Kelly, who lives in an apartment down the hall. "I love the quarters. It's almost more funny realizing the things that were left unwrapped."

Andras Jones, who lives on the same floor, became curious about what was transpiring in Kirk's apartment as he noticed "a parade of strange characters" going in and out.

Since Kirk's return the entire building has been buzzing about the transformation, Jones said.

"There's a party atmosphere down by the room," Jones said. "Of course, everyone has their favorite part. I think the kitchen is just amazing."

Kirk's awestruck neighbors and friends kept him up until late Monday night. He hasn't started unpacking his belongings and isn't sure when he will. "

"As I was trying to sleep last night, I realized that, actually, it's creepy," Kirk said.

And as for whether Trerice will ever be allowed to stay again at the apartment unsupervised, Kirk said: "I don't know. We'll see."

But Trerice hopes Kirk will find a way to get him back.

"I'm going to be insulted if he doesn't try," Trerice said. "It's kind of a challenge."

Salvaged pictures

A few December images were sucessfully created with our malfunctioning digital camera. We are most fortunate to be able to even have a wonderful image of Aidan and Me-ma from the end of Thanksgiving break. You can view them as part of the December picture gallery.

An Alright Entry

Aidan hasn't said the word "yes" yet, but "no" seems to be one of his favorites. The closest he comes to saying "yes" is "alright."

"Aidan," I'd say. "Are you hungry?"
"Alright," he'd answer.

"Is it cold outside?"
"Alright."

And so it goes. The other day, I was desperately trying to get out the door, to get him to school, and get to work on time. He didn't want to go. He wanted to watch TV. And I couldn't get him dressed because he was squirming so much.

"TV! TV!" he cried (actually, it's more like "T-T! T-T!").

I capitulated and turned on the TV, which did calm him down enough for me to dress him. But he didn't want to watch the show that was on at the time, Jo Jo's Circus, which is normally one of his favorites.

"No Jo Jo," he whimpered. "T-T?"
"Aidan, Jo Jo's the only thing on right now."
"No Jo Jo," he pouted.

This, I thought, was a good thing for me, because I needed to go, go go, and if he got too into the show, it might be difficult to leave. Not wanting to watch Jo Jo may be a benefit, in that he might be more willing to leave with me. So, I got him dressed, got my stuff together, put it in the car, came back for him, turned off the TV and tried to walk out.

"T-T! T-T!"
"Aidan, it's time to go. Don't you want to go to school to play with Kaylin and Alex?"
"No kool," Aidan cried back. "T-T?"
"No, baby. We need to go for a ride in daddy's car."
"T-T?"
"Jo Jo is all done. She has to go to school now."
"No Jo Jo!"
"Ok. Good. Let's go."

So, I picked up Aidan, set the alarm, walked out the door and tried to lock up.

Aidan held onto the door. "Alright," he said. "Alright, Jo Jo."