I love this dude:
VIDEO: NYTimes Mark Bittman, "The Minimalist"
The guy is dry and funny but he gets the job done. It's food channel for a practical and down to earth person. He has very simple (ie minimalist) recipes and explain things perfectly for a guy like me. :)
I have used his other recipe for pancakes and LOVED them.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Monday, January 14, 2008
Missing You...
Dad,
I am missing You a lot today. Thinking about you and conversations that I would have with you if I could only pick up the phone and call you.
There is not a day that goes by where I don't think about you and miss you.
I know that there are a lot of things that I have accomplished in the past two years that you would be proud of. How I have worked hard with Aidan, AVID, Teacher of the Year, ... but probably none as impressive as winning $300 in a fantasy football league. I know you would have bragged at work about that one! :) I just wish you could have been in the league... oh wait, you probably would have figured out a way to beat ME.
Someday I hope to see you again, look in your eyes and give you a huge hug. But, I see you every day. When I look in the mirror... when I look into Aidan's eyes and see him doing something totally ridiculous. I realize... I am your son and Aidan is mine. And I am VERY lucky.
Missing You Today,
Your Son
Also see: Dad One Year Later and RIP TED
Sunday, January 13, 2008
AVID Saturday
I stressed about Saturday's AVID tutor training for weeks. We were hosting at our school and about 10 other schools around Houston were sending their tutors to our school for a training. Although I didn't actually do the training, getting setup was a chore. Reserving rooms, getting ice and drinks, laptop, food, creating signs... it was all a lot of work.
The hope is that if we can impress the AVID trainers that they will come back again and again to do trainings from our school. After how much work it was to pull this off, I wonder why I want that to happen. But, the reality is that we can get two things out of this... one is that we can make some money by having our kids sell things during the trainings and raise some money for the program. With that money we can take trips to colleges, setup scholarships, and also pay for our AVID kids to take classes over the summer that will help set them up for graduation.
Personally I would love to actually do the trainings and get involved that way. Teaching is not a lucrative profession. So if I can make a few dollars on the side it is very important for my family. I make some money teaching nights and weekends for an accelerated teaching certification program. But, AVID offers a bunch of opportunities for me to train other AVID teachers and tutors. Summer Institute happens every year and in about 8 different cities across America. We will be going to Dallas this year.
I will need to be at least a 2nd year AVID teacher to become a trainer. So I have time yet before any of this would happen. But, it is a goal. First and foremost I hope to take the passion that I have for the program and help others with it. That is one of the reasons I have been shooting so much video and taking so many pictures of my classes. It would be great to 'show' people what AVID looks like. That is a luxury I did not have last year when I learned about AVID and was trained.
Maybe I am a visual learner? Regardless I like to 'show' people so they have a way of relating the information they are learning.
Hosting was a LOT of work. But, it was all worth it when one of the trainers said this, "I wish ALL of our trainings were held at this school!" That made me feel great. All the work and stress was worth it.
The hope is that if we can impress the AVID trainers that they will come back again and again to do trainings from our school. After how much work it was to pull this off, I wonder why I want that to happen. But, the reality is that we can get two things out of this... one is that we can make some money by having our kids sell things during the trainings and raise some money for the program. With that money we can take trips to colleges, setup scholarships, and also pay for our AVID kids to take classes over the summer that will help set them up for graduation.
Personally I would love to actually do the trainings and get involved that way. Teaching is not a lucrative profession. So if I can make a few dollars on the side it is very important for my family. I make some money teaching nights and weekends for an accelerated teaching certification program. But, AVID offers a bunch of opportunities for me to train other AVID teachers and tutors. Summer Institute happens every year and in about 8 different cities across America. We will be going to Dallas this year.
I will need to be at least a 2nd year AVID teacher to become a trainer. So I have time yet before any of this would happen. But, it is a goal. First and foremost I hope to take the passion that I have for the program and help others with it. That is one of the reasons I have been shooting so much video and taking so many pictures of my classes. It would be great to 'show' people what AVID looks like. That is a luxury I did not have last year when I learned about AVID and was trained.
Maybe I am a visual learner? Regardless I like to 'show' people so they have a way of relating the information they are learning.
Hosting was a LOT of work. But, it was all worth it when one of the trainers said this, "I wish ALL of our trainings were held at this school!" That made me feel great. All the work and stress was worth it.
One Day Weekend
I watched 4 football games very quickly this weekend. On Saturday I was at school from 7am to 5pm for an AVID training. So when I got home I had the Packer win and the Pats win to watch, but little time to do it in. I zipped through the beautiful Labeau snow game in quick fashion. It is amazing how many commercials air during these games! When they are TiVo'd it's a snap to fast forward between plays and commercials.
Brett Favre was amazing as usual. That stumbling-flip play was just vintage Favre.
In the night game, I was rooting for the Jags. I watched that game this morning - also in record time. I thought it would be neat to see the Jags and Colts in the championship game because it would be an all AFC-South matchup. That didn't happen. The Pats were pretty strong.
Today both games surprised me. I was happy with both results because both games were so darn entertaining. The Chargers depth made all the difference. That team is very deep. Most people forget how talented Billy Volek is. He was very good for the Titans a few years ago. It's not like he took over for Rivers and "won" the game. But, he didn't do anything to lose it. Sproles, Turner, and Naanee were a combo that gave them everything LT would have given the Bolts alone. The real deal was the Charger D though. They came up big when they needed it.
And then there was Mr. Jessica Simpson! How sweet was it that the Cowboys were upset by the Giants. I am going to have a good deal of fun tomorrow with all my Cowboy-loving students that think the world revolves around Tony Romo. Maybe #9 shouldn't have been running around Mexico with Daisy Duke and instead might have spent some time watching film of the Giant secondary.
It will be cool to watch another game in Lambeau field next weekend! Thanks for choking Cowpokes.
Aren't the playoffs great?
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
New Hampshire: Hill Wins... the fight is on!
I am disappointed that Obama didn't win. But, I am actually more hopeful that this competition will really ignite the campaign and get more people involved. Is it really fair that the few, white, and rural people of Iowa and New Hampshire get to choose this nominee? Not really.
It will be exciting over the next month to watch the posturing for South Carolina and Nevada. Hillary's big comeback is a shocker because the polls had it wrong. People change their minds. And Hillary's emotional and almost tearful moment yesterday may have shown people in New Hampshire that she is actually a human being. Republicans paint her as some kind of machine-like force. But, it was obvious this week (whether some of it was stage or not) that her feelings were hurt and shaken. She felt things slipping away. Will she continue to show a 'human-side' in the weeks to come?
Obama is still my man. I love the message. He is much more of a uniting factor than Hillary would be. I would love to see a campaign that is less biting and critical than the one the Republicans have lined up for Hillary. We'll see what the American people have in mind.
It will be exciting over the next month to watch the posturing for South Carolina and Nevada. Hillary's big comeback is a shocker because the polls had it wrong. People change their minds. And Hillary's emotional and almost tearful moment yesterday may have shown people in New Hampshire that she is actually a human being. Republicans paint her as some kind of machine-like force. But, it was obvious this week (whether some of it was stage or not) that her feelings were hurt and shaken. She felt things slipping away. Will she continue to show a 'human-side' in the weeks to come?
Obama is still my man. I love the message. He is much more of a uniting factor than Hillary would be. I would love to see a campaign that is less biting and critical than the one the Republicans have lined up for Hillary. We'll see what the American people have in mind.
Friday, January 04, 2008
Christmas Morning 2007, Video 1
Santa must have come... there is EVIDENCE!
Christmas Morning 2007 from fordee on Vimeo.
What a great day it was.
Christmas Morning 2007 from fordee on Vimeo.
What a great day it was.
Tigers @ the Houston Zoo 12-31-07
This was really WILD. In every sense of the word. Turn up your speakers to hear what these guys really sounded like...
Tigers @ Houston Zoo 12-31-07 from fordee on Vimeo.
Aidan got a little scared... I guess we all did. It was ferocious. Definitely a highlight of the winter break for us. The Zoo was awesome and it was in the best shape we've seen it in yet. We had a perfect day to go. The weather was incredible. Aidan had a blast. And he keeps asking to "see the Tigers." But, when I play the video for him he runs! :)
Tigers @ Houston Zoo 12-31-07 from fordee on Vimeo.
Aidan got a little scared... I guess we all did. It was ferocious. Definitely a highlight of the winter break for us. The Zoo was awesome and it was in the best shape we've seen it in yet. We had a perfect day to go. The weather was incredible. Aidan had a blast. And he keeps asking to "see the Tigers." But, when I play the video for him he runs! :)
Inspiration Beats Experience
No doubt about it tonight. Barack wins!
His victory speech was emotional and one of the very best I have heard following a victory.
Hillary's speech seemed to say, "Hey, we didn't win tonight but I am still the best candidate." Barack's was all about what THEY did and about how he will make change actually happen. Hillary's words ring hollow because it is so much of the same old stuff. What Barack is saying and doing has a sparkle and sizzle that is going to be VERY hard to beat!
The very conservative NYTimes writer David Brooks said this,
"Barack Obama has won the Iowa caucuses. You’d have to have a heart of stone not to feel moved by this. An African-American man wins a closely fought campaign in a pivotal state. He beats two strong opponents, including the mighty Clinton machine. He does it in a system that favors rural voters. He does it by getting young voters to come out to the caucuses.This is truly a historic time for America. The primaries are just getting started and the battle between Clinton and Obama is going to be intense. But, by February 5th (super duper tuesday) we'll have an answer as to who will be running in November. Crazy fast! This thing is so loaded in the first two months. Wild stuff.
This is a huge moment. It’s one of those times when a movement that seemed ethereal and idealistic became a reality and took on political substance.
Iowa won’t settle the race, but the rest of the primary season is going to be colored by the glow of this result. Whatever their political affiliations, Americans are going to feel good about the Obama victory, which is a story of youth, possibility and unity through diversity — the primordial themes of the American experience.
And Americans are not going to want to see this stopped. When an African-American man is leading a juggernaut to the White House, do you want to be the one to stand up and say No?
Obama has achieved something remarkable. At first blush, his speeches are abstract, secular sermons of personal uplift — filled with disquisitions on the nature of hope and the contours of change.
He talks about erasing old categories like red and blue (and implicitly, black and white) and replacing them with new categories, of which the most important are new and old. He seems at first more preoccupied with changing thinking than changing legislation.
Yet over the course of his speeches and over the course of this campaign, he has persuaded many Iowans that there is substance here as well. He built a great organization and produced a tangible victory."
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Why I am rooting for Obama
Boy do I hope he wins in Iowa tonight. It is good for this country and good for Democrats to go in a new direction (against the Bushes and Clintons) and go with a candidate of 'hope.'
I think that is also the reason that Huckabee will win in Iowa for the Repubicans. He is much more positive and spirited than Romney and the rest of the sour suits in the Republican ballot.
Roll on Obama!
I think that is also the reason that Huckabee will win in Iowa for the Repubicans. He is much more positive and spirited than Romney and the rest of the sour suits in the Republican ballot.
Roll on Obama!
Bearded Letterman Returns
Letterman is back! Sitting here watching it on TiVo. Dave is just the best.
He's the only late night show with writers, because he negociated a separate deal with the Writer's guild to get it done. I refuse to watch the other shows because they have not taken care of their writers.
I hand it to Letterman. He paid his staff while the strike was going on and then took care of business to get everyone back. Awesome stuff.
Doesn't the bearded Letterman look like Phil Jackson?
Just the boys today
Norma is out getting her hair done across town. It's a long process. She enjoys it and the guys that work on her hair do a great job. So I don't worry about how long or how much it costs. She deserves it.
That gives Aidan and I a little bonding time together. So far today we have watched Sesame Street, ate breakfast, cleaned the living room and den, and now we are screaming things at Diego on TV. (tree frogs are singing, "we love our trees... we love our trees... it's a happy, happy place to be!")
In a few minutes we are going to get dressed and go out to lunch. Aidan's choice... which amounts to McDonalds for the happy meal. And not really for the meal, but for the toy. They are the smartest marketers on earth.
Then we will come back and probably watch a DVD and maybe take a nap. Norma should be home around 2 or 3. Maybe sooner.
Yesterday we had a great time at Crystal and Eric's new house. We were invited over for a house warming/New Year's party. It was great fun and Aidan was the center of attention as usual. He's such a ham. He also had a ball playing with their cat named: "Chuck Norris." He is named Chuck Norris for a reason... the cat is kamikazes crazy.
There is Aidan trying to avoid the claws of Crazy Chuck!
That gives Aidan and I a little bonding time together. So far today we have watched Sesame Street, ate breakfast, cleaned the living room and den, and now we are screaming things at Diego on TV. (tree frogs are singing, "we love our trees... we love our trees... it's a happy, happy place to be!")
In a few minutes we are going to get dressed and go out to lunch. Aidan's choice... which amounts to McDonalds for the happy meal. And not really for the meal, but for the toy. They are the smartest marketers on earth.
Then we will come back and probably watch a DVD and maybe take a nap. Norma should be home around 2 or 3. Maybe sooner.
Yesterday we had a great time at Crystal and Eric's new house. We were invited over for a house warming/New Year's party. It was great fun and Aidan was the center of attention as usual. He's such a ham. He also had a ball playing with their cat named: "Chuck Norris." He is named Chuck Norris for a reason... the cat is kamikazes crazy.
There is Aidan trying to avoid the claws of Crazy Chuck!
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