All posts filed under: Random DJB Thoughts

This is where I put anything that is not easily categorized…

How Does One Dress for a Swim Meet?

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It is the time of year for the big end of swim season meets, where every swim team in the Mid-Atlantic states (or maybe it just seems that way) comes together for a giant swim team mash up.   This meet began at 8 a.m. and is being held at George Mason University – which I call commuter hell.  The entire campus is ringed by parking lots the size of Rhode Island. Because there are so many teams, the warm-ups began on Thursday afternoon…or at least it seemed that way.  Claire’s team bus left school at 6 a.m.; Andrew had to be in the pool at 6:30 a.m.  Lilly and I were up at 4:45 to take care of Lilly’s business and to get this show on the road. Well, it is cold at 4:45 in February so you have to bundle up and dress accordingly.  But at 9:34 with a “Natatorium” full of enthused parents and high schoolers, the place is heating up.  Now I wish I had my summer swim meet outfit of t-shirt, shorts, and …

Shuffling Off to…the Swim Meet

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Today I took some time off to serve as a timer at the swim meet for Andrew’s school.  I do this every now and then to make sure I connect with that part of Andrew’s life during the school year, and because every parent needs to volunteer to make these meets work.  It was great fun and Andrew dropped time in all his races.  I even got to time him in the 500, when he beat his personal best.  What fun. But this post isn’t about swim meets and getting your pants wet (which I did .  Those high school boys come in hard for the touch at the end.)  Nope, this post is about why I love the Shuffle feature on the iPod. I have about 3,500 songs or so on my iPod.  About 2,400 of them are in one playlist that I call “Americana.”  That’s where I dump in all my albums and iTunes purchases that have anything to do with bluegrass, acoustic music, country rock, Americana, blues, you name it.  I can go …

Beyond Crestfallen

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Norman Chad, an Arizona Cardinals fan writing in his regular Couch Slouch column in today’s Washington Post, has a funny time line on the interminable Super Bowl pre-game show.   But the humor turns LOL funny as he talks about his Team of Destiny and gets to the winning catch: 9:27:  Warner to Larry Fitzgerald makes it 20-14.  Destiny’s knocking at the door! 9:48:  Warner to Fitzgerald again gives Arizona its first lead, 23-20.  Guess who’s coming to dinner?  Destiny!  I can’t control my breathing. 10:00:  Did Santonio Holmes really catch that?  Yes.  I am beyond crestfallen, I am crestcomatose. Crestcomatose.  Now that’s a great description for a die-hard fan’s reaction to losing. More to come… DJB

Food Groups of the Apocalypse

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Sometimes you read a line that makes you laugh out loud AND hits you in the gut at the same time.  Writing in today’s New York Times, columnist Frank Rich had one for me.  After recounting the recent job losses and drop in new-home sales, he writes: What are Americans still buying?  Big Macs, Campbell’s soup, Hershey’s chocolate, and Spam – the four food groups of the apocalypse. Great line, unfortunately. More to come… DJB

President Obama Mocks DC Residents’ Response to Winter

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The blog DCist has a great post today with a video of President Obama mocking the people of Washington about their response to the weather.  His girls couldn’t believe that school was closed today (which was true for Andrew and Claire’s schools, which are just down the street from Sidwell).  One of the girl’s said that in Chicago they would have gone out for recess in this weather. The DCist response is perfect: President Barack Obama basically called District residents a bunch of wusses when it comes to dealing with snow and ice. We’d be offended if he wasn’t, you know, totally, absolutely correct. Sad but true.  Watch the video…it is funny. More to come… DJB

My New Favorite Off-Season Sport

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I just realized that I have a new favorite sport for the off-season (i.e., the non-baseball months of the year).  Hockey.  Yes, hockey.  I’m choosing to watch hockey games on television instead of basketball (especially given that interminable season that is pro basketball). And I’m hooked thanks to the Washington Capitals and their superstar Alex Ovechkin, the Great Eight.  (Ovechkin wears #8 on his jersey.)  He’s a terrific talent – fast and strong with a wicked shot – and he has the teammates to support him. A friend of mine from New Orleans once said Southerners had learned to like hockey because it was the closest legalized sport to cock fighting.  A good line, but the fighting is not what I find intriguing about the sport.   I just watched a game between the top two teams in the Eastern Division of the NHL:  the Capitals and the Boston Bruins.  Although this is just after the All-Star break in the middle of the NHL season, these two teams played at a speed and skill level that was breath-taking.  Incredible …

Live at McCabe’s

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I am in Santa Monica, California, for a set of meetings.  For most people, when they think of Santa Monica they think of the beautiful beach and the restored Santa Monica Pier, with its historic carousel and the great Ferris wheel that lights up the night sky.  Those things are all pretty wonderful, but when flatpickers come to Santa Monica they think of Live at McCabe’s. Back in the 1970s, Norman Blake was making his first west coast appearance and he recorded an album at McCabe’s Guitar Shop, which is located on Pico Boulevard here in Santa Monica.  It is a wonderful album for several reasons, but most of all because it showcases Blake’s incredible guitar flatpicking skills.  For those who’ve only heard Blake on O Brother Where Art Thou or on his later albums, there’s always a wonder – as others have noted – at how Blake came to be mentioned among the first guitar greats in the same breath with Doc Watson, Dan Crary, and Clarence White.  When you listen to Live at …

More on the Inauguration

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In searching the Internet this morning, I found a post on the Daily Kos’ Street Prophets section on faith that discussed the difference between the prayers of Rick Warren and Joseph Lowery at Tuesday’s inauguration ceremony.  I recommend the entire post, but I loved the ending enough to add it here.  Pastor Dan writes, As a Facebook friend says, “Rev. Lowrey is to Rick Warren as Mavis Staples is to Britney Spears.” Yep, pretty much. That’s a great line…and very true.  If you don’t know Mavis Staples, listen to the following video.  And the images are a poignant reminder of why so many people were quoted yesterday as saying, “I never thought I’d see this in my lifetime.”  More to come… DJB

Views of the Inauguration

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January 20, 2009 was a great day to be an American.  It was also a wonderful day to be in Washington.  And although I’m writing this from Santa Monica, California – I didn’t leave Washington until we had a new president. Claire was on the mall with friends and she took several pictures of the inauguration – including the one at the top of the post.  She reports that it was very festive, and this picture captures that spirit. Because I had to fly to California later in the day, and Candice was coming back from a long weekend in Florida, Andrew and I opted to go to Politics and Prose – the wonderfully independent and progressive neighborhood bookstore – to watch the inauguration with like-minded friends and patrons.  It was great.  The staff provided free popcorn, the coffee shop was hopping turning out the hot chocolate and lattes, and everyone was in a very good mood.  Andrew had on his Obama ’08 cap and we enjoyed the view and the company.  There were three different …

Random Moments from a Holiday Weekend

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Random moments of grace from the first half of a special holiday weekend here in Washington… Having the time to read the New York Times slowly.  Many Saturdays I’m so busy with errands I zip through the Times and the Washington Post.  I’m glad I didn’t yesterday.  Gail Collins has a sense of humor that I love, and the start to her Saturday column had me laughing out loud. Right now you may be asking yourself: How am I going to celebrate Barack Obama’s inauguration? You may, of course, have something else on your mind entirely. Like what the chances are that the next time you get on a plane, geese could fly into both engines. Or what the heck geese are doing in New York in the middle of winter when their relatives who worked hard and played by the rules had all gone south months ago. Or you may just be wondering how that rescue in the Hudson River would have gone if it had been led off by the Department of Homeland …