My son was recently named a finalist in a recent photo competition - voting ends Thursday with the winners to be announced during the Duvall Days parade next week which he will be participating in.  So I'm asking for your votes.

Voting closes this 4pm PST Thursday. Each person is allowed to vote once a day, but there is no restriction on getting family and friends to vote from all over the country. That is where you come in. Please copy/paste #14 below and email to laurie@serendipitypics.com once a day thru Thursday. Ryan appreciates your votes!

All entries can be viewed at http://www.serendipitypics.com/portraits.

Please copy/paste this list into your email vote:

3-4 years = #14

As for the pic - my son had his first "big boy bike crash" the day before.  My wife and the photog thought the band-aids would work well in the pic.  I agree.

If he wins, I'll post a picture of me in the same pose after crashing my bike.  Sorry, won't shave my head this time :)

Image Copyright (C)Serendipity Pictures

This is the funniest video I've seen in ages.  And for the record, yes that's actually the conference calling system we use.  And admittedly yes, I've done the same groove out. 

Probably more inside joke than anything but my 4 yo keeps asking "Play it again Dad, play it again!"

Kudos to the guys from Nashville.  Glad to see the fun is still alive.

Sorry I haven't written much here in the past week or so.  Last week my wife became very ill with what started as a viral infection two weeks ago and was compounded by an unusual strain of pneumonia.  Her pain level was about a 8 or 9 on a 10-point scale after multiple Dr's appts (where they missed the pneumonia), I took her to the ER where an X-ray confirmed it.  This was the same woman who took bare minimum painkillers in 2 C-Section deliveries and was off painkillers a day after each birth.  At 4am on Saturday, a combo of painkillers, anti-histamine, and antibiotics were administered, and we went home. 

The next day, the painkillers caused a severe histamine response which yes, you guessed it - attacked her joints and caused her to break out in hives all over.  So two days ago, we were back to the ER when she started having trouble breathing.  The Dr's narrowed down the offending class of painkillers, prescribed an anti-inflammatory and inhaler and she's doing better now.

This has been one of the scariest experiences of my life.  We're young- in our early 30s and I haven't set foot in an ER more than twice in the last 15 years.  Our sons thankfully are healthy and outside the occasional cold or flu, we've never had to deal with the medical industry in our adult lives outside a short visit or checkup.

A few things I learned throughout all of this:

• Have Family Emergency Information Organized in one Place - My wife had changed primary care physicians and mentioned in passing in a conversation but I missed which made it harder to get a clear picture to give the Drs.  Have all pertinent Dr's info (including past Dr's) written up with phone #'s, medical group, dates the Dr. was seeing you etc.  Even more important is any known allergens and have a good family history. 
• Know who you can call to watch the kids/pet in an emergency - Do you know who you would call at 1am? Our very good friends came over at 1am to watch the boys while we went to the ER before family arrived.  For extended care, fortunately, a family member flew in to help with the kids so I could focus on Nickie. 
• Take Control of the Situation if the one who is sick cannot - After seeing five Dr's over this, my Type-A wife wasn't making sound decisions while on painkillers which meant I had to take control of the situation.  I called in a family member who is a Harvard-educated Family Dr on the east coast. When he offered to speak to the attending Dr., I politely asked the ER doc to speak to him as he had been the only consistent Dr. monitoring.  Taking ego into account so you don't appear to be questioning his/her diagnosis and he gladly obliged.  Talking to my Uncle later put me at great ease.
• If you aren't getting the Medical Service you need, go elsewhere - If you don't trust your Dr. or believe that he/she is working in your best interest, find another Dr.  Dr's offices where you're regularly shuttled to a "partner Dr." to be seen in emergencies in my opinion should be a warning sign.  Good Dr's manage their schedule to allow time for last-minute/emergency patients.
• If you do have respiratory illness - wear a mask! Yes, you look goofy but it's good protocol and courteous to others- it' other patients were administering masks to people who were coughing with dirty looks.   In today's hyper-connected world, you never know what people might have.
• Ask questions and document - I am not a Dr. no matter how many episodes of ER I may have seen.  I will have questions - if I don't, that's a problem too. Also take notes - I found it difficult to memorize all the new terms and lab counts on the fly.

My wife is doing much better now - for those who have been aware, thanks for your well wishes and I'm looking forward to returning to work tomorrow.   If you have other suggestions for above- post them in comments- the top 4 will get invites to xobni (see last post).

A lot of you will be traveling over the holidays and may find yourself in a similar situation; I hope you'll take a moment to say thank you.  It isn't about politics, it's about people.

Kudos to the Seattle Seahawks, The Storm, Trailblazers and others for participating.

The Gratitude Campaign

Every year, I pore over my Christmas music looking to create the ultimate mix for that cocktail get-together with the neighborhood friends, the perfect in-car mix for shopping, the Christmas Eve Classical mellow-out of young children, and the anthem to which tiny feet run down the stairs Christmas morning.  Yes, I'm a sucker for the holidays.

I also use my free time over the holidays to try and put digital media to some unnatural uses around the home.  This year, sharing photos of holidays past with family and friends takes center stage.

Step 1: Assemble your "Best of the Holidays" Picture Collection into a Single Folder
To simplify transfer to my phone/PDA/Xbox/Media Center and call-up, I use the recently released Windows Live Photo Gallery to organize all of my holiday best pictures into a folder at the top. These are pictures I want to share during the party.

This is easy to do and can be done with any one of your favorite photo apps, though I strongly recommend WL Photo Gallery - not because I work at MSFT but because it has some really great features like ability to upload directly to Flickr.

Step 2: Sprinkle in some Holiday Trivia

I've created a set of 15 questions in the below pack and included the master images from the- all you have to do is unzip it, put the pictures in the same folder as your "Best of" collection.  You'll probably want to rename the files so as to mix them in sets with your own photos.  The pictures are from the old Winter Fun Pack I did as a side project so many years ago for XP.

Step 3: Assemble the Ultimate Christmas Mix

This year we went a little upscale with a swank set of songs for the adults and a few favorites.  Pretty much anyone can build a playlist these days.

Here are some of my favorites:

Cocktail Party Swanky Christmas (Most off "Christmas Classics" on Zune)

• Christmas Time is Here - Vince Guaraldi Trio
• White Christmas - Bing Crosby
• Baby, It's Cold Outside - Dean Martin
• Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - Lou Rawls
• Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let it Snow! - Lena Horne
• (Everybody's Waiting' For) The Man with the Bag - Kay Starr
• Happy Holiday - Peggy Lee
• Sleigh Ride - Ferrane & Teicher
• I'd Like You for Christmas - Julie London
• It Came Upon a Midnight Clear - Ella Fitzgerald
• Grown-Up Christmas List - Michael Buble
  

Step 4: Share it on the Big Screen with Xbox 360, PC, Media Center, Digital Picture Frame etc.
There are a number of ways to get your photo playlist onto your PC or picture frame.  I use my Xbox 360 as an extender, and a CompactFlash card inserted into a digital picture frame to share them in two rooms.  Here are a few examples (click images for larger sizes):

Play it on Xbox 360 from your Zune - from the Zune device or home network

Play it from Windows Vista Media Center

Play it on a digital picture frame

Hope you enjoy- Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from our family to yours.

I don't normally post this kind of thing, but these shots were just too good not to.  Show with a Nikon D50 w/ Nikkor 70-300mm lens.  Additional details included.  I have to get to Fleet Week in San Francisco sometime.

http://home.comcast.net/~bzee1a/

Unfortunately the photographer is unknown, but kudos to him/her. 

I am humbled just looking at these shots.  Be sure to look through to the end.

Update: Photographer is Bernard Zee - thanks to Aaron for finding the credits.

Learn to Fly--Foo Fighters

Things Have Changed--Dylan

This Is How a Heart Breaks--Rob Thomas

Runnin' Down a Dream--Petty

Someday Baby--Dylan

LA Woman--Doors

Locomotive Breath--Jethro Tull

Won't Get Fooled Again--The Who

You Can't Catch Me--Stones

Freebird--Skynard

China Grove--Doobie Bros.

Don't Fear the Reaper--Blue Oyster Cult

We're an American Band--Grand Funk Railroad

A few of our friends at Jackson Fish Market just launched their first web app- a virtual florist service called, "They're Beautiful".  My wife and I both worked with founders of the company and were elated to receive virtual flowers from multiple friends this weekend from the service.  While I'd love to see a Silverlight version (we're still in beta), the Flash DHTML UI is very nicely done. Each flower was created from paper and was artfully scanned. There's also a tamagotchi-style feature where you can plant he flowers in your greenhouse and have to water them regularly. Thanks to everyone for the flowers and congratulations to Hillel, Jenny and the team at JFM and their sponsor Vosges Chocolatier. 

Introducing a new addition to the ADM family - Tristan Alexander, born July 6th 2007, a whopping 10lb 3oz.  He arrived a day early as mom went into labor instead of waiting for the planned 7.7.07 c-section. He's already asserting his independence. Both mom and baby are doing fine as is little brother.

Ready for my Closeup

Big Feet

A big brother moment

All pictures were taken with a Nikon D200. The surgery was filmed on a Canon HV20 1080i HD camera (ok, there's the gadget part).   Thanks to all for their well wishes via facebook and email (sean_alexander on that hotmail site) - I'm sharing with Mom.  We're likely to leave the hospital today -

After a marathon memorial day weekend of edging, hauling, de-weeding, flower planting, and laying out nearly 8 cubic yards of mulch (thanks Larry), we're almost ready for summer.  I must have dumped nearly 500 lbs of 3in deep grass & refuse in the back half of yard (hidden from picture), away to compost.  The french drain that runs through our back yard was so overrun that we had to dig out all the old mulch down to the black matting.  I really should have done a before and after picture. 

Then, our 5 year-old Samsung HLN-507W starts screaming like a banshee.  The darn color wheel has burned out multiple bearings.  After doing some research, I learn that the replacement is no small feat - a simple $100 part, much more in labor.  For that price, I might as well get a new TV then attempt to fix the Samsung myself, moving it upstairs or reselling.

So I've gone throug the obligatory RPTV vs. Plasma vs. LCD debate.  The Samsung was bought for our old house and I discovered for our viewing distance, I need a larger TV (darn). With the budget I had, a Sony Wega 60" 1080p SXRD was the way to go. I had a coupon for BBY that brought the price down to $2000.  After setting up the TV, I have to say it's phenomenal.  I hooked up my TiVo Series3 and a Toshiba HD-A1 HD-DVD player via HDMI and even at 1080i, once calibrated (through my meager efforts) it looks vibrant, much brighter than my 5 yo set before, and no more rainbow effect when playing Halo 3.  My only complaint is video garbage when the TiVo is switching between menu and native mode TV playback (I could set the TiVo to manage but want a pure signal). 

As for gaming, even over component, there's so much more detail in Halo 3 than I saw before, part of it due to better color reproduction, upsampling and contrast.  (Any ISF-certified techs who want to be showcased in a video on your calibration services, please let me know. )

Now I just have to find a way to try out an Xbox 360 Elite to see 1080p in its glory.

Speaking of calibration, my father is really getting into digital photography and needs a good calibration solution for his monitor/printer.  I've heard good things about the ColorVision Spyder2express - any thoughts out there?

As an early adopter of NetFlix, I've written many times here about how good the service is was.  Over the holidays however, that all went horribly, horribly wrong.  My wife and I use NetFlix in spurts- some months we're busy doing something else and don't watch any, then when the TV season goes into hiatus, we catch up on movies.

I've done my part to help their ratings system- my wife and I have collectively rated nearly 400 movies over the years. 

So what did NetFlix do to cause me to switch to Blockbuster's Total Access? 

It started with two out of five discs rented in the last month being cracked.  We're not talking a little crack, we're talking a full 1mm from the edge. I reported both, and noticed it took a longer time than usual to get a replacement of one (the other I didn't request a replacement).  It's embarassing when you have to explain to your in-laws why at a key point in the plot of a movie, you can't watch the rest, nor get another disc during the remainder of their trip because NetFlix is too slow.

Prior to sending the movies back, I moved three movies to the top of my queue.  All were available and I had always received movies listed at the top.  What did I get in return?  Movies from the bottom of my queue.  We're talking over a dozen movies down.  There's no possible way all of the  movies above it were checked out, and I checked!  Like the lint that congregates under your bed, these movies had collected at the bottom of our queue and we had forgotten about them.

David Pogue wrote about NetFlix's great customer service last year.  It's true, I've had nothing but good experiences when reporting a lost disc (and returned later to be credited).  Then Michael Arrington wrote about how NetFlix's complicated algorithms punish frequent users of the service.  I rented more movies during the holidays (vacation?) after literally multiple months of not renting any. 

Somehow, like Arrington, I got "NetFlixed":

Netflixed  /netflicksed/  –adjective

1. punished due to regular usage of services paid-for

2. twisted; awry, as in the condition of discs when received

3. Slang. extracting highest possible profit out of customer by artificially adjusting service offerings to penalize usage.

It looks like the algorithm uses a 30-60 day usage window to enable throttling and doesn't take into account months of pure profit they reaped from me when I wasn't using the service.  Perhaps I'm being punished for reporting two out of three shipped discs being cracked.  How is that my fault?

I tried contacting NetFlix  and have yet to get a response other than, "Sorry, we get a lot of mail".  No problem.  Unsubscribed.

So I've dropped NetFlix as of today, and moved to Blockbuster's Total Access where I also get a free movie on the spot when I return a DVD in-store instead of via mail (we have one by our gym).  They also have a great selection of HD-DVDs and Blu-Ray titles.  Now I just need a Media Center-enabled UI for Blockbuster's service (as I have for NetFlix via the community) and my world is complete.

Congratuations NetFlix- by mis-managing customer expectations you've replaced my prior disdain for Blockbuster's glassy-eyed checkout clerk and late fees with a new disdain for your business practices.

Let me start off by saying I'm a hard-core Xbox 360 fan and just finished Gears of War. I'm a little less addicted to achievements and points than Scoble discusses (more on that later).  What shocked me this holiday season was how we became a two-console household literally overnight.

Some friends of ours had a large tree hit their house the night of the windstorm and we decided to have them over for a pizza party.  We made fresh pizzas on the Big Green Egg, and they brought over their Nintendo Wii. My in-laws were here too, from the heartland, they had little interest in gaming.  I was concerned this was going to be too geeky for them.

I was wrong. Again.

In what started to look like a tupperware party for the new millennium, from the first time the Wiimote was "thrown", a crowd started gathering.  The kids at first, then... my wife, who on only two occasions with pleading has ventured beyond casual games in Xbox wanted to create a Mii caricature with the older kids of herself.

Then my father in law wanted to play bowling.

Then my mother in law tried tennis.

I then KO'ed my neighbor in boxing.

Which led to my father in law challenging my wife to a boxing match (she won).

Which led to my wife telling me she wanted a Wii for Christmas, and my father in law noting he wanted to get a Wii as well.

In my case, I didn't really mind the lower video quality- the gameplay made up for that.  This is what Nintendo does so well.  The Xbox 360 largely stays turned off during family events and parties unless used for showing home movies, pictures, music etc. via Media Center.  The party game aspect just isn't there and with a 3 year old in the house, there's precious little time when I can boot it up and play games around him.  Sure, arcade is fun, but Nintendo has a lock on the natural interaction model with the Wiimote and Nunchuk, the titles have less depth (so far) but fun and engaging.

So last week I did the unthinkable and stood in the cold at 6am in front of Fred Meyer with others to get a Nintendo Wii.  Since then, we've had one small party and again it was a huge hit.  My son is getting good at bowling too. 

Would I play Call of Duty 3 on the Wii? No.  That's the kind of game that for me requires the visual impact and cinematics the Xbox 360 does so well.  But there's space in my home for the Wii for all ages. We're trading Mii caricatures of famous people with friends.

Now my sister, a Doctor at the CDC called to rant that a second Wii I happened on was sold (at retail cost) to my Uncle and young cousins.  Apparently she wanted  it.  She doesn't play video games.

Kudos to Nintendo for bridging the generation and gender gap in this release.  Their commercials are spot-on. There are some things I don't like about the Wii, but more on those after I've had it a few more weeks.  (I'll post my Wii access code shortly).

Thanks to the intrepid work of my wife, we're back! She found a generator at 6am yesterday and we had it in-hand at 6:45am (tip: Home Depot expects to receive more Tuesday if you're looking). Like the famed Cabbage Patch craze, my wife called down lists of Lowes and HD stores (among others) from the hotel last night.  CraigsList failed us as we looked.  Thanks to everyone for their well wishes.

Our area was among the hardest hit in the storms.  Not directly thankfully (though I did awaken at midnight with other neighbors to help secure the home of a friend who had a maple tree hit their house and blow out all the windows on the backside.

It's amazing how scary and liberating it can be when you are forced to unplug from the grid. No net access, no power, no phone communication, only AM talk radio for 60 hours can get to you.  The lines at the gas station (and the civil yet

I'm on Cingular's EDGE network right now on my Sony VAIO laptop.  It has built-in EDGE so I just popped the SIM card in and away you go. 

This entire experience though minor in comparison has made me think about the plight in Darfur and others war, famine, and poverty stricken areas.  This holiday season, it's reminded me to do what I can to reach out to others and help in their time of need.

Update: We got power this afternoon. Thanks again to everyone for their help and research- it means a lot!

Cutting to the chase:  If you have a credible source for generators in the 5000 watt range without price gouging in the Seattle area, please let us know here. Our area was among the hardest hit and we're still without power in sub-25deg weather at night.  We were VERY lucky (our neighbors had a 30ft maple tree come down on their house, we were boarding it up at 1am on Friday).  I don't trust PSE's estimates - website says updated every few hours, they updated at 6am and 5pm tonight with limited information, KIRO 770AM has conflicting info. 

A number of us are looking for generators in earnest. If you have a legitimate offer or contact, please let us know here.  Thanks and god bless to others in similar situations.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to James Kim's family and friends. I just went numb when I saw the news.

A few days late, but I wanted to share why I'm so thankful this year. For those who have read this blog for a while, you probably know that my wife and I have been having difficulty with secondary infertility.  Well, I have some very good news to report: my wife is pregnant!  Without IVF!  The team of infertility Dr's gave her about a 15% chance of success per attempt with IVF as early as two month ago. Then, two days before we were to go in for the appt, my wife found out she was pregnant.  This has been three years in the making.  The last # of weeks have been tense, with multiple blood tests to make sure her levels were going up as expected.  Then last Wednesday, we went in for an ultrasound and saw a very strong heartbeat well positioned.  The Dr's were ecstatic as were we.  The chances of an issue at this point drop to ~5%  We're naturally elated.  A lot to be thankful for this year.  Next year, our family is going to be a bit larger :)

A year ago, I extolled the virtues of Sirius Satellite radio. The Sirius S50 has been happily chugging out tunes in my Toyota Prius with minimal issues, getting updates "over the air", though the recording functionality is little more than a novelty at this point.  What's causing me to consider switching is the "Wife Acceptance Factor" again.  No, it's not Howard Stern that's the problem.  The issue is that my wife got XM free in her new Honda Pilot for 3 months.  This led to her subscribing on her own, a first for any service.   For both of us, it's the quality of the programming for our lifestyle.  But a few nice touches are about to put us over the edge. So here I'm going to break it down into sections:

• Music programming (Winner: XM) - Generally a tie between the two, except when you consider adult contemporary content.  Sirius is heavy on the rap/R&B end of Top 20 on Channel 1.  Good decades and rock (Rolling Stones, Who, Aerosmith). Flight 26 on XM plays contemporary hits suitable for my son to be in the car. I'm a soundtrack fanatic- my wife turns on Cinemagic and I'm hooked. She complains that the broadway station on Sirius has a limited selection and loves it on XM.  Now for the holidays, XM offers 5 radio stations vs. 0 (will be 1) for Sirius. 
• Talk programming (Winner: Sirius) - I grew up in the NY/NJ/Conn tri-state area.  Howard has been a guilty pleasure, but not enough to buy Sirius just for it.  Opie and Anthony can't compete and I like a diversion on the drive in the AM. Sirius has better comedy channels as well and CNBC/CNN/Fox troika of news simulcasts. Martha on Sirius, Oprah on XM if you're into that kind of thing.
• Sports programming (Winner: Tie) - Sirius has NFL and NBA; XM has MLB.  both have Nascar, NHL, and College sports. It all depends on what you're into.
• Kids Programming (Winner: Sirus) - Believe it or not, Sirius has 3 kids stations vs. 1 on XM.  Perhaps they're trying to make up for the bad boy image HS brings to the lineup.
• Music in the Home (Winner: XM) - My wife asked what it would take to get XM in the house.  I powered up the Xbox 360, went to Media Center and voila, XM Radio in Online Spotlight! I've patched it through a Sonos and now have whole-home music Now she has another reason for the Xbox beyond her Bejeweled games (keep that gamerscore going up honey <g>).  Sirius does offer an Internet-based player as well, but the Media Center integration on Xbox 360 for my wife is hands down the easiest.
• Listening in the Car (Winner: Tie) - In my experience, a factory-integrated satellite system just sounds better.  It's better grounded, better integrated.  Sirius has Volkswagen/Audi, Volvo, Kia, Rolls Royce? and Subaru.  XM has
• Music on the go (Winner: XM) - I just purchased a Samsung Blackjack cell phone (more on that later) from Cingular at an amazing deal and I love listening to XM built-in on the phone.  Anywhere in the US I have a data connection I can listen to XM.  I did some tests for delay in my wife's car- the internet-based version on the phone is about 10 seconds behind the satellite delivered version, and offers a wide range of channels. Yes, you can do Sirius on your Windows Mobile phone as well, but having an app built in is a nice touch.

The final tally in my highly unscientific evaluation:

• Sirius: 2
• XM: 3
• Tied: 2

It really comes down to what you're looking for- if you really want Howard Stern, then get Sirius.  If you want better programmed music for adults (my perception) get XM.  In my case, music around the home and on the go is also important.  So it looks like I'm headed to XM once my Sirius subscription has expired.

  Ditch the tape, Furrygoat (Steve) points to the Sony HDR-SR1 camcorder that records in High-Definition, 1080i quality on a built-in 30GB hard drive (which loosely translates to around 2 hours of recording in highest quality).  This should work out of the box with Windows (Vista) Movie Maker which has support for HDV editing (yes, my Mac does that too thanks).  Though I understand the new camera uses the MPEG-4/AVC/H.264 codec so you may still have to do some conversion. It also takes adequate 4 megapixel stills, and has dolby digital 5.1 recording.  you can even snap 2.3 megapixel stills while you're recording video.  Sony still seems slave to their own proprietary Memory Stick format, but otherwise, this sounds like a winner.  As Furry says, "Must. Resist. Temptation."  At $1300, I'll be resisting unfortunately for a while.  I do wonder though- should I put it on my christmas list and hope that my wife reads my blog, amping up the whole "our son will never get any younger" argument for purchase? 

More details and a preliminary review can be found at camcorderinfo.com.

Wired mag has a good look at the technology that will make the new superscraper that will stand on the original spot of the Twin Towers.  Starting with a fortified steel and 3ft concrete core; the design's steel frame will interconnect to distribute load in the event of another terrorist attach or cataclysmic event.

The tower has a 200-foot-tall, bomb-resistant concrete base surrounded by a multi-layered glass-curtain wall designed to be impervious to any kind of explosion.

The scrapers are supposed to be done by 2011.  I've been avoiding Ground Zero for five years- the dense smell and light smoke that permeated the city when I was there one month later has never left me.  Once the memorial is open, I'll go there.

Like so many, I'll never forget where I was.  Brushing my teeth, getting ready for work, I turned on the Today show just after the first plane hit.  Images of the plane hit on the Empire State Building a generation before were conjured up. This must have been a freak accident. Then I saw the second plane hit. I yelled, called my wife into the room.  She gasped  when she realized what had happened.  Cultural innocence had been shattered in an instance.

I'm not going to write a long diatribe on how this event gave rise to blogging like some others are.  In my opinion that would be to lose sight of what today is really about and personally I think it does a disservice. There are other days in which to discuss it.  Remembering the innocent lives lost and the heroes who worked so valiantly to save them is what today is about.

Picture: I took this in December 1999 from Newark Airport.

 Since moving to the outer 'burbs a few years ago, my wife and I have been making a try at agricultural gardening.  Our home came apportioned with a peach tree, a large cherry tree, pear tree, 3 varieties of apples, and 4 plots.  Our goal has been to not kill everything off at once (we actually saved the cherry tree thanks to smart fertilizing and water management).  Still, our garden patch may runneth over with tomatos, green beans, potatoes, our corn is looking pretty lame.  Many of the seeds were duds because I put them too deep in the soil or were eaten by the &@(#$ crows.  Our attempts at flash tape to scare them away didn't work either.

From the "Why didn't they think of this earlier?" files, check out Matchstick Garden.  It's a matchbook that holds 10 cardboard matches loaded with seeds and ready for planting.  They're doing wildflower and herb assortments right now as well as custom versions. Throw in that the sticks are made of bio-degradable, recycled waste and you have a cool solution for Sean-proof gardening.

(via Cool Hunting)

While Senator Stevens is still trying to explain how the Internet is a series of tubes (must see: Jon Stewart clip), I'm thinking about a different kind of tube- the kind that you leisurely go down a river in.  The weather is going to be sweltering here today so I'm thinking about going tubing while I'm still on vacation.  A quick search on the 'Net yields few references to tubing in Western Washington so I may just go down the Snoqualmie or Tolt Rivers in Carnation/North Bend and hope for the best. 

Q1: Any suggestions or resources on great tubing/canoeing areas in Western Washington or a short drive from the area?

Q2: Is it time for "Geek Tubing" ala Geek Dinners?

P.S. Apologies to those who were up for a Geek Dinner in NJ, things were just too hectic for me to peel away.  I'll definitely set something up next time I'm in town.

While still on vacation, the 'Net blackout period of my vacation is over - 1.5 weeks with almost no access to the internet, though little Ocean Grove, NJ had many unsecured freely accessible wifi access points available to siphon a little 'nettage off.  The family reunion's soundtrack during happy hour/dinners was powered by Urge's radio stations, and ironically we settled on "Reunion" (Classic rock) as our fave. 

Here's my "Top 10 Things I Learned on Vacation" list:

Top 10 Things I Learned on my Beach Vacation

10.  When getting a 3 year old up at 3:30am for a 6:30am flight, do not tell him the night before he will be going on an airplane in the morning.  He won't sleep.

9.   Learn to Surf.  Yes, at the Jersey Shore.  Go in the AM before the lifeguards arrive and at 5:30pm when they leave.

8.  When in a body surfing competition, tucking your head in so you can't see where you're going may result in injury to you and/or other people who can't see you torpedoing at their legs (but at least you'll win- sorry Jack). 

7.  The guy who does all the grilling and BBQing doesn't have to do too much cleaning.

6.  Always wear sunscreen. At least on your nose, ears, and tops of your feet.

5.  Do not wait in line going around the block for ice cream.  I don't care if it's a $1.50 single scoop that looks like the leaning tower of Piza, just go get some Friendly's at the store.

4.  When two adults volunteer to take two 8 year olds, a 12-year old, and a 3-year old to the Aquarium, Arcades, Boardwalk, Lunch, Games, and Ice Cream on said boardwalk, ask for a third parent to go; you'll still always have two kids in rotation.

3.  Meet the locals.  Even if said local is 12 yo boy called "The Mayor" by the locals for the fact he knows everyone (and can get a 3 year old a tour of the fire station on his birthday making Dad a hero).

2.  When going out to a nightclub at the Jersey Shore with old friends on "Pirate Night", a fake mustache and eye patch can start all sorts of interesting games and conversations.

1.  When it's 99 degrees at 89% humidity, close up the house and crank the window air conditioners up upstairs to the max.  You're not paying more for the power and cool air falls quickly.

I brought a few gadgets along (a Toshiba Gigabeat-S and an iRiver Clix) and both received responses I've never seen.  I had 7 and 12 year olds, 40+ year olds and 50+ year olds all asking me how they can get them saying things like "Cooler than iPod" and "Why don't people know about this?".  I can't speak for marketing budgets.  Rumor has it Apple spends 9 digits on advertising per year.  But what I can say is that the iPod has opened doors because all of that marketing spend is coming back to users now understanding the value, and wanting more features at a lower price. 

Overall this was one of the most enjoyable vacations we've had in years, we'll definitely be doing this again.  Thanks to our local hosts D and J, and to Grandpa for pulling this Reunion together. Grandma was there in spirit and smiling the whole time.

After nearly seven years of being in "launch mode" every summer, I'm going on a long vacation - a whopping two weeks! I'll be down at the Jersey Shore with family and friends.  I may try to do a geek dinner at the Jersey Shore- if anyone is interested, send me email at sean@youknowthissite.com

Admittedly I skipped out on Day 2 of Gnomedex knowing I would be able to catch up on what I missed later and opted for some family time.  Inspired by the beautiful weather, we spent some time bumming around Seattle, resulting in what was definitely a "Best Day Ever".  It's nice to get away from the tech side of life sometimes.

More pictures here.

9:30am - Walking down at Alki Beach.

11:00am - Shopping at Pike Place Market

12:30pm - Lunch at XXX Root Beer Stand (Last in America)

1:00pm - Chainsawing Limbs from the Sycamore in our Neighbors Yard from a Tall Ladder (Too Scary for Pictures)

4:30pm - Finished Cleaning Up after Chainsawing Limbs from the Sycamore.  Firewood is ready for winter.

5:30pm - 4th of July Big Bash at Jaron & Lauren's House