205 pieces of candy in 59 minutes...what a night!
Friday, October 31, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Not to Worry Bengal Fans
It looks like one of your star players has high hopes for the 2nd half of the season. From today's Enquirer: "T.J.: We'll win at least 2".
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
October Visit to Canfield
Over this past weekend we visited family in Canfield. Edwin got some quality time with his Grandma Ross, Cousins Madeline & Meredith, Aunt Melinda, and Uncle Matt.
Madeline is getting so big (she'll be 4 in January) - she was such a great helper all weekend. She was able to feed Edwin a bottle all by herself and helped me change numerous diapers...so cute! Meredith (will be 2 in December) is growing up too. She LOVES Dave and Baby Edwin...
On Saturday we carved pumpkins...My fingers are still sore from the carving knife!
It was a great weekend...so glad we made the trip. Our next trip north will be for Thanksgiving...feels like it is a long time from now - but I'm sure the time will fly!
Friday, October 24, 2008
Question for the Weekend
A few thoughts of mine have converged recently to form a question I'd like to pose to you, Ross Experience readers. It'll take a minute for me to get there, so please be patient...
Okay, for the last few years, when Mindy and I had on occasion caught a Seinfeld rerun on syndication during the dinner hour (by the way, this doesn't happen anymore since we purged our living room of a TV...how's that going you ask? swimmingly, we couldn't be happier...daily TV time has gone from 6+ hrs/day to <1 hr/day), I would marvel at her reactions to episodes she hadn't seen before. You see Mindy, apparently living in a cave during the'90s, didn't see every Seinfeld episode during its first run.
Next, every year around this time, I get those nostalgic feelings for that fall when I moved into the dorms at UC and first met Mindy. We're talking 11 years now. (Man, I'm getting old!) I can't help but think that right now, some 18-yr. old kid is putting off studying by watching Seinfeld reruns in his dorm. The scary thing is that Seinfeld went off the air when this hypothetical student was 8-yrs. old. So it's pretty much guaranteed that he's seeing the episode for the first time.
So the question to ponder over the weekend is this: if you could, would you rather 1) have your memory wiped clean of all Seinfeld episodes so you could experience every rerun as if you were watching it for the very 1st time or 2) retain those Seinfeld memories so you understood all the Seinfeld references made in day-to-day American life.
At first it seems tempting to choose option 1, how great would it be to commit to an entire episode then be floored when 3 seemingly unrelated story arcs converge in their utter Seinfeldian hilarity in the final 3 minutes? It's just not the same when you know it's coming.
However, you have to realize what you're giving up. Especially trying to exist in the corporate world, I'd miss countless jokes...essentially everyone between the age of 25 and 65 makes at least 1 Seinfeld reference per week in my day-to-day life. Just this week my boss had me put together a "Festivus List" to air all the grievances of this project we've been working on so we can assess where to head going forward.
It seems like a coin toss at that point. But what breaks the tie for me is the personal aspect. Losing my father in 1997, honestly some of the happiest memories I have are of the family together on Thursday evenings in the mid-'90s--my dad, my mom, my brother home from college on co-op, and me in high school. I still have vivid images in my mind of 9:28pm on some random Thursday even in the fall of '96, the 4 of us rolling on the floor laughing when Newman informs Jerry that "nobody's every cracked the 50% barrier".
So for me, it's option 2. I'm keeping the memories. But what do all of you think?
Okay, for the last few years, when Mindy and I had on occasion caught a Seinfeld rerun on syndication during the dinner hour (by the way, this doesn't happen anymore since we purged our living room of a TV...how's that going you ask? swimmingly, we couldn't be happier...daily TV time has gone from 6+ hrs/day to <1 hr/day), I would marvel at her reactions to episodes she hadn't seen before. You see Mindy, apparently living in a cave during the'90s, didn't see every Seinfeld episode during its first run.
Next, every year around this time, I get those nostalgic feelings for that fall when I moved into the dorms at UC and first met Mindy. We're talking 11 years now. (Man, I'm getting old!) I can't help but think that right now, some 18-yr. old kid is putting off studying by watching Seinfeld reruns in his dorm. The scary thing is that Seinfeld went off the air when this hypothetical student was 8-yrs. old. So it's pretty much guaranteed that he's seeing the episode for the first time.
So the question to ponder over the weekend is this: if you could, would you rather 1) have your memory wiped clean of all Seinfeld episodes so you could experience every rerun as if you were watching it for the very 1st time or 2) retain those Seinfeld memories so you understood all the Seinfeld references made in day-to-day American life.
At first it seems tempting to choose option 1, how great would it be to commit to an entire episode then be floored when 3 seemingly unrelated story arcs converge in their utter Seinfeldian hilarity in the final 3 minutes? It's just not the same when you know it's coming.
However, you have to realize what you're giving up. Especially trying to exist in the corporate world, I'd miss countless jokes...essentially everyone between the age of 25 and 65 makes at least 1 Seinfeld reference per week in my day-to-day life. Just this week my boss had me put together a "Festivus List" to air all the grievances of this project we've been working on so we can assess where to head going forward.
It seems like a coin toss at that point. But what breaks the tie for me is the personal aspect. Losing my father in 1997, honestly some of the happiest memories I have are of the family together on Thursday evenings in the mid-'90s--my dad, my mom, my brother home from college on co-op, and me in high school. I still have vivid images in my mind of 9:28pm on some random Thursday even in the fall of '96, the 4 of us rolling on the floor laughing when Newman informs Jerry that "nobody's every cracked the 50% barrier".
So for me, it's option 2. I'm keeping the memories. But what do all of you think?
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Renaissance Festival
After 11 years of begging, I finally broke down and took Dave (and Edwin) to the Renaissance Festival. I haven't been since high school...and nothing has changed. It was a fun afternoon...and Dave is already making plans to attend next year during Pirate Weekend...we are starting the search for a baby pirate costume now!
Monday, October 20, 2008
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Saturday Morning Thoughts
Joe Queenan has a funny column in the WSJ this morning about the state of sports in today's economy: "What We Really Need Is a Skybox Bailout".
Included is a mild dis of the Pittsburgh Pirates, but that's OK, there's been much harsher comments out there. Pretty soon Pirates fans will have to become a protected class of citizens in this country. Until then, here's a pic from the good ol' days when we were in the N.L. East, Three Rivers was the ball park, and Bonds looked like this:
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Steelers vs. Bengals
Being a Steeler fan & resident of the Cincinnati area comes with built-in tension at least a twice a year: Steelers vs. Bengals football games. This year's first meeting occurs this Sunday at 1pm, a mile and a half from my house at Paul Brown Stadium.
I've lived in this area for 11 years now and have noticed a common misconception among Bengal fans: most think the Steelers/Bengals rivalry is fairly evenly split with each getting the better of the other about half the time. Allow me to provide some details of recent history to clear up these errant thoughts. Against the Bengals the Steelers have won:
- 3 in a row
- 4 of the last 5
- 7 of the last 9
- 10 of the last 13
- 13 of the last 17, netting the Steelers a .765 winning percentage vs. the Bengals this century (note: for the sake of perspective, a .765 winning % applied to a 16-game season equates to just over 12 wins per year).
Taking this analysis even further, the Steelers are 26-9 (.743 winning percentage) vs. the Bengals going back to the start of the 1991 season. Why did I choose the start of the '91 season? That was the season after the last time the Bengals won a playoff game. During those 17 seasons without a Bengal playoff win, the Steelers have produced:
- a 166-105-1 record (.610 winning percentage, just under 10 wins per season)
- 12 winning seasons
- 11 playoff appearances
- 9 division titles
- 2 conference titles
- 1 Super Bowl victory
That last Bengal playoff win at the end of the 1990 season was a 41-14 rout (way to go, Bengals!) of the Houston Oilers on January 5, 1991, at Riverfront Stadium. The Bengals lost in the next round of the playoffs to the Los Angeles Raiders. Raider running back, Bo Jackson (my childhood hero), suffered a football career-ended injury during the game. So is this 17-year Bengal debacle some sort of Bo Jackson jinx? Anyway, you know you're going back a ways to find a playoff win when things like Riverfront Stadium, the Oilers, pro football in Los Angeles, and Bo Jackson come up.
On that note, let's take a look at what was going on in the world on January 5, 1991:
- #1 Song in USA: "Love Will Never Do (Without You)" by Janet Jackson
- #1 Movie in USA: Home Alone
- Operation Desert Storm would begin 11 days later
Enjoy the game!
P.S.: Appropriate comeback to use against me would probably be: "see Pittsburgh Pirates, 1993-present".
I've lived in this area for 11 years now and have noticed a common misconception among Bengal fans: most think the Steelers/Bengals rivalry is fairly evenly split with each getting the better of the other about half the time. Allow me to provide some details of recent history to clear up these errant thoughts. Against the Bengals the Steelers have won:
- 3 in a row
- 4 of the last 5
- 7 of the last 9
- 10 of the last 13
- 13 of the last 17, netting the Steelers a .765 winning percentage vs. the Bengals this century (note: for the sake of perspective, a .765 winning % applied to a 16-game season equates to just over 12 wins per year).
Taking this analysis even further, the Steelers are 26-9 (.743 winning percentage) vs. the Bengals going back to the start of the 1991 season. Why did I choose the start of the '91 season? That was the season after the last time the Bengals won a playoff game. During those 17 seasons without a Bengal playoff win, the Steelers have produced:
- a 166-105-1 record (.610 winning percentage, just under 10 wins per season)
- 12 winning seasons
- 11 playoff appearances
- 9 division titles
- 2 conference titles
- 1 Super Bowl victory
That last Bengal playoff win at the end of the 1990 season was a 41-14 rout (way to go, Bengals!) of the Houston Oilers on January 5, 1991, at Riverfront Stadium. The Bengals lost in the next round of the playoffs to the Los Angeles Raiders. Raider running back, Bo Jackson (my childhood hero), suffered a football career-ended injury during the game. So is this 17-year Bengal debacle some sort of Bo Jackson jinx? Anyway, you know you're going back a ways to find a playoff win when things like Riverfront Stadium, the Oilers, pro football in Los Angeles, and Bo Jackson come up.
On that note, let's take a look at what was going on in the world on January 5, 1991:
- #1 Song in USA: "Love Will Never Do (Without You)" by Janet Jackson
- #1 Movie in USA: Home Alone
- Operation Desert Storm would begin 11 days later
Enjoy the game!
P.S.: Appropriate comeback to use against me would probably be: "see Pittsburgh Pirates, 1993-present".
Monday, October 13, 2008
More on Chicago
By now you've read Mindy's post about our weekend in Chicago. Here's another family photo taken in front of Wrigley Field:
P.S.: What's the deal with Central Time? I spent the weekend saying things like, "OK, we need to leave by 12, 11 Central". Is this even necessary? Take it away, you get 1 less hour of daylight in the AM, 1 more in the PM. I'd sign up for that. At least can't New York and Chicago compromise on a half hour in each direction to end this nonsense?
Remember, this is October, and it is the Cubs we're talking about. Here's a shot of inside the stadium to illustrate how much use it's getting these days (hint: think Paul Brown Stadium in January):
Since Chicago has no use for its ball parks come mid-October, we decided to have Edwin experience a Chicago institution that keeps running no matter what Manny Ramirez or Steve Bartman have to say about it: the El. Here's Edwin (with his dad) on his 1st crack at mass transit:
P.S.: What's the deal with Central Time? I spent the weekend saying things like, "OK, we need to leave by 12, 11 Central". Is this even necessary? Take it away, you get 1 less hour of daylight in the AM, 1 more in the PM. I'd sign up for that. At least can't New York and Chicago compromise on a half hour in each direction to end this nonsense?
P.P.S.: Don't even get me started on you, Mountain Time. Although I'm not fully convinced the continental U.S. requires multiple timezones, I'm going to give Pacific Time a pass for now. But Mountain Time, are you serious? A whole timezone for what...Denver? I say we gave them John Elway, and they should be happy at that. You might say, so Dave, you think this country should revolve around the East Coast? Yes, if you don't like it, move to Detroit. I hear they're giving houses away for whatever change you have in your pocket and an Elias Big Boy gift card. Look at Indiana, they have the right idea.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Edwin invades Chicagoland!
On Friday we drove to Chicago for the weekend to visit Hadley. We picked a perfect weekend for this adventure...the weather was beautiful! Edwin was quite the showoff - flirting with Hadley and rolling over at every chance. He is a great traveler...Hadley's place is in Wrigleyville - so he got to see Wrigley Field, take his first train into the loop, he saw the beach, he went to Navy Pier...and so much more. Needless to say we all had so much fun! Thanks to Hadley for hosting us and showing us a great weekend in Chicago!
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Sketch Comedy Shows
The past couple of Saturdays I watched the network sketch comedy shows (SNL, MADtv) for some assistance with my election decisions. (Because who has a better idea regarding what it takes to run an enterprise with a $3.1 trillion budget than 20- and 30-something improv comics?)
Anyway, my point is this: these shows bill themselves as "edgy" and full of "surprises". If so, why can't they come up an edgier or more surprising order for their opening credits than alphabetical?
Anyway, my point is this: these shows bill themselves as "edgy" and full of "surprises". If so, why can't they come up an edgier or more surprising order for their opening credits than alphabetical?
Monday, October 6, 2008
October
October is a month of celebration for me.
10/9: Wedding Anniversary (Thursday will be 4 years)
10/16: Anniversary of My Positive Home Pregnancy Test(s)
10/18: Anniversary of the Official "YES" from the Doctor
I can't believe how much has changed in my life in just one year. Last year at this time I was hoping to one day be a mom and this year I'm loving every minute of it!
We took Edwin to pick his first pumpkin yesterday - obviously, it was more of a photo opp for me, but it was still fun! Look how big he's getting...can't wait to dress him up for Halloween! Bet you can't guess what he's going to be...
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Sneeze Acknowledgement Protocol
It's getting to be that time of the year when everyone seems to be getting a cold. Among other annoying symptoms, these colds have us all sneezing. For some reason in our culture sneezes must be acknowledged with some form of "God bless you". According to straightdope.com this practice dates back to the plague.
Now I'm more of a "Gesundheit!" guy myself and would be fine without any sneeze acknowledgement in the first place, but I have accepted it as part of our society's collection of arbitrary mores (like handshake greetings, tipping servers, and pretending we're interested in hearing stories about our coworkers' kids).
My problem is this: I'm not what you would call a traditional sneezer. I rarely sneeze in twos. I usually sneeze in threes or sometimes fours. This creates problems dealing with those who I refer to as aggressive sneeze acknowledgers. You may know one of these people (or even be one yourself): halfway through the 2nd (and for traditional sneezers, final) sneeze, this person has already begun blessing you. This makes for an exchange like the following:
Me: Ah-ah-ah-achoo! [Pause] Achoo!
Aggressive Sneeze Acknowledger: Bless you!
Me: [Struggling to catch my breath] Thanks. Achoo!
ASA: Bless you again!
Me: [Again, struggling to catch my breath] Thanks. Achoo!
ASA: Wow, bless you!
Me: Thanks.
Not that I don't appreciate the blessings, I do. But those of us that sneeze in threes and fours have a difficult enough time getting through our extended sneezing fits without the pressure of expressing an appropriate amount of gratitude for each blessing.
So please, aggressive sneeze acknowledgers of the world, do us non-traditional sneezers a solid and try and wait for us to finish our sneezing session before your acknowledgement. We appreciate your concern and will gladly thank you when we are done.
Now I'm more of a "Gesundheit!" guy myself and would be fine without any sneeze acknowledgement in the first place, but I have accepted it as part of our society's collection of arbitrary mores (like handshake greetings, tipping servers, and pretending we're interested in hearing stories about our coworkers' kids).
My problem is this: I'm not what you would call a traditional sneezer. I rarely sneeze in twos. I usually sneeze in threes or sometimes fours. This creates problems dealing with those who I refer to as aggressive sneeze acknowledgers. You may know one of these people (or even be one yourself): halfway through the 2nd (and for traditional sneezers, final) sneeze, this person has already begun blessing you. This makes for an exchange like the following:
Me: Ah-ah-ah-achoo! [Pause] Achoo!
Aggressive Sneeze Acknowledger: Bless you!
Me: [Struggling to catch my breath] Thanks. Achoo!
ASA: Bless you again!
Me: [Again, struggling to catch my breath] Thanks. Achoo!
ASA: Wow, bless you!
Me: Thanks.
Not that I don't appreciate the blessings, I do. But those of us that sneeze in threes and fours have a difficult enough time getting through our extended sneezing fits without the pressure of expressing an appropriate amount of gratitude for each blessing.
So please, aggressive sneeze acknowledgers of the world, do us non-traditional sneezers a solid and try and wait for us to finish our sneezing session before your acknowledgement. We appreciate your concern and will gladly thank you when we are done.
Countdown to Summer
Here in Cincinnati the high temperature yesterday was 67 degrees. Summer begins in 261 days.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Pirates
Anyone else following the latest pirate happenings off the coast of Somalia? Much like Mindy with Facebook, I'm hooked on pirate news. So much so, I am considering starting another blog completely dedicated to pirates. (We'll see how far I get with that.)
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
FACEBOOK JUNKIE
Hello.
My name is Mindy.
And I'm a Facebook Junkie.
I am completely obsessed with Facebook - I've been busy making friends, inviting others to join, posting pictures, changing my status every 2 minutes (that is a slight exaggeration), and reading profiles. I can't get enough! I can't believe how many people are on Facebook - people I haven't talked to and some I haven't even thought about in YEARS...
Why is this worthy of a post? You might be getting an invitation to join from me soon - and I hope you'll accept...and support my habit!
My name is Mindy.
And I'm a Facebook Junkie.
I am completely obsessed with Facebook - I've been busy making friends, inviting others to join, posting pictures, changing my status every 2 minutes (that is a slight exaggeration), and reading profiles. I can't get enough! I can't believe how many people are on Facebook - people I haven't talked to and some I haven't even thought about in YEARS...
Why is this worthy of a post? You might be getting an invitation to join from me soon - and I hope you'll accept...and support my habit!
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