/var/log/nolandda

13:44:37 Thursday January 12 2012

13:44:37 Thursday January 12 2012

You may have noticed the lack of transmissions recently. The current server setup has degenerated to the point that it is no longer even remotely usable.

Alternatives are being investigated, but it may take some time. I appreciate your patience.

21:52:03 Sunday September 11 2011

21:52:03 Sunday September 11 2011

In March we celebrated Ittie's birthday with a Mexican themed party at Alice's place. The theme was particularly appropriate on account of the vacation to Puerto Vallarta we took over the Christmas break in celebration of her impending birthday.

19:32:48 Sunday June 26 2011

19:32:48 Sunday June 26 2011

On March 14th 2011 Sara's grandfather Homer P. Hargrave Jr. passed away. He was a kind man who lived a very interesting life.

After his mother died at a young age he was adopted by Colleen Moore. Yes, that Colleen Moore. He grew up in Chicago and served in the 11th Airborne Division in the Pacific during World War II. After the war he was a member of the Chicago Board of Trade and the Chicago Board Options Exchange.

He served on the Junior Chamber of Commerce's Atoms for Peace campaign earning their Distinguished Service Award. He ran for congress in 1958. His campaign to unseat Sidney Yates from Illinois's 9th congressional district was unsuccessful. His family in Hollywood and his political life allowed him to meet a number of interesting people. He shows up in the congressional record as an associate of both Ronald Reagan and Hugh Hefner.

He loved history, backgammon, martinis, ice cream, and most especially his family. He will be missed.

01:13:10 Wednesday June 22 2011

01:13:10 Wednesday June 22 2011

Trying to catch up on log entries with some happenings from February. You already know that my nephew was born.

Sara and I also attended the Winter Warmer at the Lafayette Brewing Company (their annual Barleywine & Strong Ale tasting). We had never gone before since the tickets sell out in a matter of hours. But some very kind folks from the Tippecanoe Homebrewers' Circle had some spare tickets that we could buy. It was a nice event and I will try to attend again. Photos here.

Of course there was also Saint Valentine's Day. The recipe was mostly good, but the frosting turned out too hard to apply to the cupcakes, so it was kind of a mess. The flaming strawberry part worked out well.

16:30:23 Sunday February 27 2011

16:30:23 Sunday February 27 2011

On Sunday February 6th (Superbowl Sunday) my sister gave birth to my first nephew. The next generation has begun. Photos here.

16:39:23 Saturday February 19 2011

16:39:23 Saturday February 19 2011

Sara and I have had some nice evenings with friends recently. On January 29th Jeff and Katie joined us for a night of sushi (at Maru) and beer (at Jake's). It was good to catch up with them and have the "college bar" experience again.

The next weekend we (February 5th) we finally got to hang out with Joe and Kristen again. They were very kind to host us at their home and provide dinner. It is amazing how their children have grown.

00:43:03 Monday February 14 2011

00:43:03 Monday February 14 2011

Christmas was a little different this year. Early in the season we attended a holiday / birthday / terrible sweater party with Sara's grad-school friends hosted by Jared and Mary Ann.

On the 17th we had an early gift exchange with my family.

For Christmas itself Sara and I were given the amazing opportunity to travel to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico with her family. This was an opportunity made possible by the astounding generosity of her grandmother.

2010.12.25 : On Christmas morning we were picked up and delivered to the airport. The flight was pleasantly uneventful, but Sara did win a giant candy cane in a trivia contest by guessing the correct number of seats on the plane and the national origin of the flight attendant.
2010.12.26 : After getting settled into the resort the night before Sara and I took a cab into the city proper and explored a bit. We waled along the Malecón (pier) and discovered sand sculptures as well as more permanent sculptures. We walked the markets and the island situated in the Rio Cuale where we discovered leaf-cutter ants. After making our way back to the resort we were treated to a fantastic Asian meal at Gong
2010.12.27 : We awoke early on the 27th to make our way out into the jungle for our zip-line tour through the canopy. I wasn't supposed to bring my camera, but as you can see I don't always do as I am told. After spending all morning zipping through the jungle on a cable we spent the afternoon relaxing. In the evening we were treated to another excellent dinner at a beach party hosted by our resort. The most interesting treat at the beach party was the "coco loco", a rum drink served in a coconut.
2010.12.28 : On the 28th the whole family got together to explore the city in earnest. We had a fantastic lunch at Le Bistro Jazz Cafe. We were seated at a fantastic table overlooking the river. After lunch Sara and I took the opportunity to explore La Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe (the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe). After splitting off from the remainder of the family we explored downtown a bit more with Katie.
2010.12.29 : Sara and I rented a car and decided to head north. Our destination was the Alta Vista Archaeological Zone. It took us a couple hours to get to approximately the right place and then another hour to actually find it. The signage non-existent and the roads went from bad, to worse, to impassable. At one point we ended up in dense brush on a road intended for ATVs. We eventually abandoned our car near a Soursop (a.k.a. Guanábana, annona muricata) plantation and walked the last 1-2 miles. The archaeological site contains petroglyphs carved into the rocks by an Aztecan tribe called the Tecoxquines more than 2000 years ago. The site is laid out in a very climactic way. At first the stone carvings are sparse and difficult to find. As you progress up the stream they become more common and more elaborate. At the very end of the stream there is an amazing little waterfall flowing over rock shelves that have eroded into surprisingly regular cuboid blocks.

After our archaeological adventure we made our way to the local beach town of Chacala for a lunch on the beach. The difference between this little town and the giant beach resorts of Puerto Vallarta was striking. We saw tiny little hotels renting rooms for less than 20 USD per night. After lunch we headed back by way of Bucerías. That evening we were once again treated to an amazing meal at Tramonto.
2010.12.30 : We still had our rental car, so we packed up with Charlie Sr. and Charlie Jr. and headed south to Mismaloya. I wanted to see Los Arcos (a set of arch shaped islands in Banderas Bay). The rocky beach near the town was home to crabs, sea urchins, and all kinds of interesting sea life. At the end of the beach were the ruins of the set of the 1963 film The Night of the Iguana. For lunch I drove us inland and straight up some very steep hills. Despite some concern we made it to the El Eden Restaurant. It is a tourist trap located over a beautiful waterfall that was featured in the 1987 film Predator. The food was overpriced and mediocre as you might expect, but getting seated at a table overlooking the waterfall made up for it. We explored the site, but did not swim in the pools and flat rock slides. Afterward we descended into Puerto Vallarta proper and did a bit of shopping before returning to the resort for dinner at the Havana Moon restaurant.
2010.12.31 : After a relaxing morning Sara and I went into town for some Mexican food (which had been somewhat lacking up to this point in our trip). We were hoping to have some truly strange food (cricket tacos!) at El Arrayán, but unfortunately they were closed. Instead we wandered the art district a bit and found Si Señor which provided a very nice lunch out on the patio overlooking the city. After lunch we finished buying our trinkets and headed back for a lazy afternoon. I wandered the grounds of the resort and even found my way onto the roof where I snapped some nice photos. As evening fell we celebrated New Year's Eve and an early birthday party for Ittie in the hotel room. We watched fireworks displays all along the bay from the balcony of our rooms before retiring for the evening.
2011.01.01 : With a new year before us we packed up and made the return flight to Chicago.

19:05:57 Monday December 27 2010

19:05:57 Monday December 27 2010

Happy holidays from Puerto Vallarta.

12:44:10 Monday November 15 2010

12:44:10 Monday November 15 2010

For our paper anniversary I bought Sara and myself tickets to see Gogol Bordello with Forro in the Dark at The Vogue in Broad Ripple.

It was a truly great show. We ended up with great seats on the upper level which was something of an accomplishment since it was general admission. I didn't know anything about Forro in the Dark (the opener), but they were surprisingly good simple fun Brazilian music. By the time Gogol Bordello took the stage everyone had lots of energy. As an added bonus they played a heroically long encore. As Eugene said "It seems like we don't see each other very often. Let's get some more shit done."

An interesting bit of trivia: Eugene mentioned that he was nearly sent to Indiana when he originally came to the US as a a political refugee; he ended up in Vermont instead.

01:06:54 Thursday November 04 2010

01:06:54 Thursday November 04 2010

Once again this year Phil was gracious enough to host a truly excellent All Hallows Eve party. In addition to providing the space, making tasty treats, and setting up clever decorations he and Ashley also created great costumes complete with moving props powered by little electro-motors.

Brad and Liz came over from Cincinnati and everyone had a great time. Sara and I had surealism themed costumes this year. I was Son of Man by René Magritte and Sara did The Burning Giraffe by Salvador Dalí. My photos of the event are available to those who are interested.

Since the trick-or-treaters were not out until Sunday we were once again able to get a good count. It was 33 this year. Back to a high not seen since 2007.

20:40:16 Wednesday October 27 2010

20:40:16 Wednesday October 27 2010

This weekend we paid a visit to UIUC on the occasion of Jenny's 19th birthday.

Also we went downtown to watch the zombie horde shamble down main street. Zombaid Lafayette collected food for Food Finders Food Bank. We donated some food and got a t-shirt. My photos can be found in the usual place.

20:25:36 Sunday October 24 2010

20:25:36 Sunday October 24 2010

Declaring log bankruptcy and starting fresh. The list of things that should have been logged in the last year but weren't:

October 21st 2009 - The maternal side of my family has a tradition. At weddings involving descendants of my great grandmother, Frances King (nee Smith), the bride may carry her lace handkerchief as their "something old". She first carried it on January 22nd 1907 on the occasion of her marriage to Edgar King. A record is kept of each bride that has carried the handkerchief. Both Sara and Chrissy added their names to the roll.
November 26th 2009 - Thanksgiving
December 16th 2009 - I made a trip to Philadelphia and saw some sites.
December 25th 2009 - Christmas
February 18th 2010 - I returned to Philadelphia and saw some more sites.
April 10th 2010 - Sara and I explored the wind farm that has sprung up north of Lafayette.
April 17th 2010 - We visited Chicago: toured the Half Acre Brewery, took in the Transmissions exhibition which Katie both coordinated and participated in, and celebrated Castor's birthday a bit early. Photos here.
April 20th 2010 - I explored the National Cryptologic Museum.
April 24th 2010 - We celebrated the April birthdays.
May 2nd 2010 - Everyone got together to wish my grandparents a happy 62nd wedding anniversary.
May 3rd 2010 - Jenny Graduated from high school.
May 8th 2010 - Sara and Chrissy ran the Indianapolis Mini-Marathon.
May 10th 2010 - Sara hosted renowned neuroscientist Olaf Blanke for dinner at our home. She served Chiles en Nogada.
May 12th 2010 - I visited Charm City.
May 15th 2010 - Chelsea and Steve got married.
May 29th 2010 - We had the good fortune to attend game one of the Stanley Cup Final between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Philadelphia Flyers.
May 30th 2010 - Sara and I took another trip to the Chicago Botanic Garden.
June 7th 2010 - I returned to Charm City.
June 11th 2010 - By way of some extraordinary kindness and good luck Sara and I were able to ride in the Chicago Blackhawks Stanley Cup victory parade.
June 12th 2010 - Betsy and Bob got married.
July 3rd 2010 - Sara, Liz, Brad, and I examined the B-17 Flying Fortress that was parked at the Purdue Airport for a few days.
August 1st 2010 - Sara and Chrissy ran the Chicago Rock 'n Roll Half-Marathon.
August 8th 2010 - Mike and Julia got married.
September 4th 2010 - Alex and Dawn got married.
October 10th 2010 - Sara and I celebrated our First Anniversary in Las Vegas.
August 16th 2010 - We explored Mississinewa Reservoir.