I'm in Utah now. I tried posting from the airport in Nashville, but apparently only the title actually published. So much for mobile technology.

Anyway, posting will be sporadic for the next couple weeks. I'll try to get some picture up at some point, its hard to know how much I'll be online.

I love bluegrass. There is a fine line between bluegrass and country music, and I loath country, but I love bluegrass. Especially the newer, twangy-but-not-whiney type of bluegrass. Here is an example by The Meat Purveyors.

I'm always looking for a music suggestion. Any favorite bluegrass bands I should know about?

I have this dream of walking through an airport with nothing but the clothes on my back and a small book or magazine. If I used my ID and a 20 for a bookmark, I wouldn't even need a wallet. Instead, I often get stuck lugging a giant backpack through security and between terminals every time I fly. But since Brooklynne and Halleigh are flying separate from me this Christmas, there is a possibility my dream could finally become reality.

So now you can understand my dilemma as I debate whether to take my laptop with me next week. What do you guys think? A gloriously unfettered stroll through the airport, or two weeks of feeding my digital appetite?

In a related development, I got to play with a MacBook Air today at work. It really is incredible how thin and light it is. I'm going through a stage where minimalism has great appeal to me, so the lack of extras seems totally worth the reduced weight. Still, this thing is not small--it is thin, but large in every other dimension, which makes it less portable than you would think, especially compared to the mini notebooks that are selling for 1/7 the price. The other bummer is the one USB port. I often use two USB devices, and the lone port must double as the eithernet port when wireless is unavailable. I think juggling a USB hub is a big downer. So I probably would not buy one of these, even if I had the cash, although it does make me excited about the future direction of pared-down and ultra-portable laptops.

Exam break at UNC (thanks for the link Elizabeth). Of course, for this to happen, you have to have this many students in the library. And to any of my Duke friends who may watch it to the end, when I was there, it was "go to hell STATE." (at least half the time....)

If you follow football recruiting, you may have seen that in the last month, there have been a number of highly recruited players who have de-committed from earlier choices and opted to play for UNC instead. Most of these were from Clemson, whose program seemed to be in the tank just a few weeks ago. However, one major recruit who had picked the University of South Carolina has recently made news because Steve Spurrier has made a special effort to win him back, even by claiming that USC is a better academic institution than UNC.

Sorry Steve, I'm sure there are many fine graduates of your school, and a college is only what you make of it, but I'll keep my UNC degree, thank you very much.

Here's a humorous take on the story that includes a few relevant numbers.

In other sports news, I learned today that many, many members of my family will be making the trip to Charlotte for the UNC's bowl game, but not us, who will still be in CO at the time. But I have big plans to drag Brooklynne and Ben out to some Colorado Springs watering hole to watch from afar, so I'll be there in spirit.

Halleigh's latest really fun developmental leap has been that she now carries on very elementary conversations. It is hard to blog these exchanges, because Halleigh uses sounds and gestures that we know and understand, but which are not easily translated into text. But I'm going to give it a try. Brooklynne, I'm trying to remember this one, so you can correct me if this isn't right.

HJ: Mommie, Mommie, Mommie... leaves aaaAAAaah? (with upraised hands, this is a sound that means "where did something go?")

B: They fell off. Leaves fall from the trees at this time of year.

HJ: Leaves go.

HJ: Mommie leaves. (with sad face and lamenting tone)

B: If they did not fall off, you couldn't pick them up and walk around with them.

HJ: (thinks for a minute) Mommie, leaves. (with sad face and lamenting tone again)

B: They will come back in the spring--leaves fall off in the fall and spring back in the spring.

HJ: Mommie leaves!

--------and another one---------

HJ: Daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy. Por! (pointing at Matt and Kate's dog, Porter who is chewing Kona's bone).

Me: That is Porter.

HJ: Por... Koca! Por, Koca! (strongly pointing to the bone)

Me: That's ok, Kona and share her bone.

HJ: NooOOOoo. Koca. Koca, aaaAAAaah? (again with upturned hands)

Me: Kona is in the other room.

HJ: (whistles) KOOOCAA. Daddy, Koca.

Me: KONA come.

(Kona enters the room)

HJ: Koca! (to Kona) Koca, Por! (again pointing at the bone)

(Kona sniffs Porter and leaves the room)

HJ: Koca! (snatches bone from Porter and follows Kona out of the room)

For those of you who aren't from around here, UNC has quite a dynasty in women's soccer. In 27 years of the NCAA championship tournament, Carolina has been to the final four 24 times, and has won it 18 times. Today they go up against UCLA, who has only allowed 5 goals in 24 games. If they win, I might try to talk Brooklynne into going to the finals ( in Cary).

I came home yesterday to find my laptop battery drained because Halleigh had openned the case, turned it on, and had somehow managed to open the XP control panel. I full expect to find a facebook friend request from Halleigh any day now.

Friday, December 5th, Full Steam Brewery will be holding a prospective investor event/party. They are looking for five more $50,000 investors (no investments below $12,500 will be considered) and they are discouraging "tire-kickers," whatever that means.

Full Steam looks like a great project. Their niche is defining a distinctive southern-style beer based on products grown regionally in the US south. If they get enough financing to open a tavern as well, they also plan to push a signature line of savory hand-held pies, called "bullies" after their hometown base of operations--the Bull City.

All in all, I thought the brewery looked like a winning idea with a great team behind it, and I'm a little jealous of the Fullsteam guys for taking on an adventure like this--creating something new and exciting, and making or breaking it on the virtues of their own talent, effort, and desire. Isn't that what work should be? There's something very visceral about that.

You can read about it (or request an invitation to the fundraiser if you're loaded) at the Fullsteam website. Meanwhile, I'll be in my cubical.

In the comments of the previous post, Elizabeth brought up the way we announced the sex of Halleigh when we found out, and that got me curious, so if you what to read that post, here is the link. Brooklynne has had a boy name picked out since I said "I do" (Beau Everett), and the ultrasound was quite conclusive, so there is no need to debate names this time around. Still, I'm always in the market for a good nickname so feel free to make your suggestions here. Just to help get your creative juices flowing, here are some sample names we've given our other two dependents:

Halleigh: Hal, HJ, the Halleigh-gator, Jane of the Jungle, tiny girl, my little shadow (Miles), mini-me (Brooklynne)

Kona Bean: Bean, the fluffy muppet, snuggle bunny, poop breath, food fidelis

(help me out Brooklynne--I know there are others)

 

In case you are looking for a good run-down of the bowl schedule and all of the conference tie-ins, here is a list. I've highlighted the bowls that are still possibilities for UNC. Perhaps the most interesting potential match-up from my perspective would be a UNC vs. Nebraska Gator Bowl. However, it is far more likely that we would end up playing in the Music City Bowl (versus Vanderbilt?) or the Meineke Car Care Bowl (versus Pitt or West Virgina). I can't wait to see.

Thanksgiving was great. Evan and Kelly were in town. We had more food than we could eat. I had at least one meal that consisted entirely of pie. We got to play two games of Settlers, squeezed in the new Bond flick (B), and even began our Christmas shopping. The Tarheels won on the court and on the field, and the Steelers beat up on the Pats. I can hardly think of anything that would have made the weekend more enjoyable.

In other news, we have an ultrasound scheduled for today, and provided the kid cooperates, we will know whether we are having a niño or a niña.

Also, since I gave Bond a grade above, here are some other recently-viewed film grades.

Persepolis (C): This was supposed to be smart and interesting, and it was mostly boring.

There Will Be Blood (C): In order to get a good grade from me, a movie has to score high in at least one of these qualities, or score at least moderately in several: funny, interesting, smart, exciting, uplifting, hopeful, thought-provoking. This movie was none of the above.

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (A): a classic that every American should watch.

Flatliners (D): blah.

Twelve Monkeys (B+): This one used to be in my top 5, but maybe I've just seen it too many times and the twist is wearing off on me.

Bring It On (A-): I'm a sucker for teen movies.