tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54805932012-01-26T23:01:14.679-05:0020-20 Hindsight"If you want sense, you'll have to make it yourself." The Dodecahedronjustfranknoreply@blogger.comBlogger9211100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-53910254041862086382012-01-26T22:55:00.000-05:002012-01-26T23:01:14.690-05:00The Train Experience, Part 2- ConclusionalOr maybe delusional. It's hard to tell, at least on the train because I was by myself and had no way to know if anything I was seeing or doing was real. That isn't unique to train travel; anytime you're alone for an extended period you start to lose context for your life and you can become doubtful or confused. That's also part of the pleasure, for me at least. You have a lot of "wait, what?" justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-15410136047259636712012-01-25T19:17:00.001-05:002012-01-25T19:17:39.742-05:00The state of my lifeIf you want to know about my family dynamic, my wife got an iPhone and is doing custom ringtones for all of us. For my HS Junior, it's "I'm sexy and I know it;" for my 20 year-old classic rock fan it's "Baba O'Reilly." For me? "Sir Robin's Song" from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-22966928763845192712012-01-20T23:48:00.002-05:002012-01-21T10:20:47.219-05:00The Train Experience-Part 1, AnecdotalI continue to be inspired by my National Archives Experience brochure and will for the time being try to describe everything I do as an Experience. I think I will start with the random recollections and observations that didn't make it into the travelogue. And then I'll try to pull it all together in another post if that ends up being possible.
Although I mentioned communal seating earlier, I justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-56353669877121821842012-01-20T20:13:00.002-05:002012-01-20T20:13:57.215-05:00End of the (rail)Road<!--[if gte mso 9]>
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justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-40696128723175087642012-01-12T19:53:00.002-05:002012-01-12T19:53:46.210-05:00Intersections and diversionsYesterday was the school ski trip. I've been chaperoning this trip for the past 6 or 7 years because I like to ski and it's a fun day, and in this case had the added benefit of allowing me to miss a day of meetings. This trip proceeded through the usual routine for most of the day. We loaded up the bus, left 15 minutes late, and had an easy trip up.
By the time everyone was checked in and ready justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-16664325033507889912012-01-01T18:15:00.002-05:002012-01-01T18:15:19.809-05:00Happy New Yearjustfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-50337376128943509502011-12-31T11:54:00.001-05:002011-12-31T11:54:47.345-05:00The Washington ExperienceIt's one thing to report on what one does on a vacation-type trip, it's another to really think about what happened, what the trip was about. The reporting is usually kind of shallow, but it serves a purpose in helping me remember things I might have lost over the course of time, but I'm not sure how interesting it is.
What spurred me to think about this was a brochure that I seem to have justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-33680268677732109772011-12-27T23:10:00.001-05:002011-12-28T23:05:52.145-05:00Washington, Day TwoGot kind of a late start on day two. First stop was the Newseum. This is a new museum, about the news media, and it is a gem. We started off at the lower level, where we saw an exhibition of photographs by Neil Leifer, who has about 200 covers of Time and Sports Illustrated to this credit (most famous one- Ali standing over Sonny Liston after knocking him out). You then take an elevator up to thejustfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-61069922791488464622011-12-26T19:31:00.000-05:002011-12-26T22:37:57.028-05:00Day One in WashingtonI've not spent much time in Washington. I guess I have the same lack of interest as my parents, as I think we came here exactly once when I was growing up, around 1964. All I remember was the Wright Brothers plane because I was obsessed with the Wright Brothers at the time and seeing JFK's grave at Arlington Cemetery, though I also remember my father giving me hard time for being whiny while justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-25574394153996130252011-12-26T18:47:00.000-05:002011-12-26T22:33:06.736-05:00Stumbling into luxuryOnce again, I'm on the road. This time I'm in Washington, DC with my older daughter, who recently finished finals.
The train trip here was easy enough and we caught a cab to the hotel. The hotel. Let me tell you about the hotel. As I usually do, I went on Tripadvisor to scout. Tripadvisor is a good site, but like any other review site you need to learn to read it properly to get the information justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-47952235521170584062011-12-19T16:04:00.001-05:002011-12-25T16:27:16.632-05:00Small sample size theaterWhen you're evaluating a baseball player, you always approach with caution even the best statistics compiled for only 50 at bats or so. Why? Because everybody knows that baseball is the game where you have 600 or 700 at-bats in a year and 50 at bats is not enough to make a judgment of how a batter will perform over an entire season.
The technical term for this is sample size error. What it meansjustfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-74862634083813686942011-12-18T23:40:00.001-05:002011-12-19T16:14:30.944-05:00Some impressions of TucsonI'm in Tucson, Arizona doing an errand of sorts. I've never been here before. It is about as different-looking from Philadelphia as you could possibly get. Thanks to Siri, I'm writing this as I'm driving along the road called Miracle Mile. I've been down this road several times in the last couple of days and I still have no idea what the miracle part of it is. The only miraculous thing I can justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-30098325699521169702011-12-18T00:07:00.003-05:002011-12-18T00:07:38.094-05:00EnrootCurrently sitting at the airport bar in Sky Harbor airport, the self-proclaimed "friendliest airport in America," located somewhere in the vicinity of Phoenix, Arizona. I am on my way for a short, not particularly pleasant, but necessary trip to Tucson for a couple of days. I'll add some pictures tomorrow but there's nothing to see right now. It's around 10 PM and a lot of stuff in the airport isjustfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-78828402021357430212011-12-16T09:07:00.001-05:002011-12-19T09:23:25.116-05:00Near my house, they opened one of those trails that used to be railroad tracks. I went for a walk on the trail the other morning and I liked it.
I think a big reason people like these trails is that they're flat. Trains are not good at climbing hills, that's why the transcontinental railroad took so long to complete (okay, that one's long too). I remember reading somewhere that a train can only justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-59326997989245466142011-12-12T12:43:00.001-05:002011-12-12T12:43:15.522-05:00TebowmaniaThere's been a lot of chatter recently about Tim Tebow, the quarterback of some NFL team that I don't care about. He's put together an impressive string of comeback victories, confounding those who doubted his football ability. Of course, we'll know he's actually good when he doesn't have to keep coming back in order to win, but that's another story.
Talk about Tebow is only partially about justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-11025983217157744392011-12-09T07:52:00.001-05:002011-12-09T08:12:40.716-05:00Intermissient musingsI can't think of a better opportunity to meditate on entropy than at a school band concert. Entropy is a complex topic, which is perhaps best understood as a lack of order. Everything in the universe tends toward disorder and it requires energy to keep things organized in some fashion. As an example, it requires energy for the atoms that make up your computer (or you, for that matter) require justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-12840201416255166122011-12-07T20:40:00.001-05:002011-12-07T22:23:41.448-05:00ScienceWhat is it about holiday shopping that makes people insane? Is it just that the words Christmas and Crazy come from the same Latin root? By the middle of December I want to be a shut-in, because I can't go anywhere or do anything without somebody driving crazily or walking too quickly and not noticing that they're pushing. It seems like the speed:attention ratio is just off. My current operating justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-51859957753938322182011-12-02T09:46:00.001-05:002011-12-04T15:37:00.697-05:00One of the challenges of growing up is to progress from the me me me-ness of two and three-year-olds to something more nuanced as an adult. This can manifest itself in a number of ways, depending on your intelligence, your neediness, and the degree to which you are a shades-of-gray person or a black-and-white person.
You can dig into this as much as you want, but I think when it really comes justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-80380386858154932012011-12-01T19:15:00.001-05:002011-12-01T23:28:24.701-05:00Getting the BootLong before Punk'd, there was a show called Candid Camera that was on TV for close to 20 years. The would lure people into odd situations and capture how they'd react (one of my favorites, they removed the engine from a car and rolled it down a hill where there was a repair shop at the bottom. The young female driver gets out and tells the mechanic that her car stalled and now won't start. He justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-442761342093804822011-11-30T15:58:00.001-05:002011-11-30T20:07:06.764-05:00Meetings make me think weird stuffOne of the things we talked about in a meeting today was about people being guided by their relationship with the divine. Not that there's anything wrong with that, this being a religious school, but given the history of civilization, it seems like the type of issue that is unlikely to be workable when you are talking about about a group of more than, well, one.
A big question in this debate is,justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-84717714148806131592011-11-19T10:51:00.001-05:002011-11-19T14:07:41.585-05:00Choir attireWe're a pretty musical family. My kids especially like to sing, and one has been bugging us for years to allow her to join a local group. And this year, now that she can drive herself to rehearsals, we've allowed her to join. She's very happy doing this and the choir is really good, and we knew there would be some level of parent involvement, but we were completely unprepared for the cultlike justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-15095086698831165362011-11-17T21:48:00.001-05:002011-11-17T21:57:39.519-05:00ShmollegeI wrote this a couple of years ago for a class I was taking and think I posted it here at the time, but it seems apropos at the moment.
All over my neighborhood, city, state, country, and as far as I know, the world, there are soon-to-be-graduating high school students in a state of high anxiety, agonizing over a monumental decision. Where do I go to college next year? And of course, it's not justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-54692193411958912152011-11-14T20:09:00.001-05:002011-11-17T21:20:23.929-05:00Testing, 1 2 3People around here hate and fear tests. I never hated tests when I was in school. I mean, I didn't like them or anything, but tests have the wonderful characteristic of finality. They're done when they are over, completely out of your control. This distinguishes them from papers, which are never done until you actually write them, and so I constructed my college course load around courses that justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-90926509605433067952011-11-14T19:28:00.001-05:002011-11-14T19:28:34.625-05:00Check this outThis amazing video was shot from the International Space Station.
Earth | Time Lapse View from Space, Fly Over | NASA, ISS from Michael König on Vimeo.
Here’s a list of the shooting locations, in order of appearance:
1. Aurora Borealis Pass over the United States at Night2. Aurora Borealis and eastern United States at Night3. Aurora Australis from Madagascar to southwest of Australia4. justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-4356235768038804902011-11-11T22:42:00.001-05:002011-11-11T23:07:37.468-05:00PhoneynessHow much to you think a new iPhone costs? Let's say 32 gb, the middle level. $299, right? Wrong! A 32gb iPhone 4S costs $749. You can get one for $299 from your cell phone provider, but only in exchange for your signing a 2 year contract, obligating you to a monthly service fee which ranges, depending on your service level, from $70 to around $250 per month.
In other words, the cell phone justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-40138779505362191302011-11-08T23:05:00.000-05:002011-11-08T23:27:23.850-05:00I'm guessing you can drive yourself crazyAfter taking a peek at the election results so far, I have only one question. Can anyone explain to me why, in Montgomery County, is the Republican candidate for Recorder of Deeds is leading by 2000 votes while the Democratic candidate for Register of Wills is leading by an almost identical margin? Who is splitting their votes like that?
Oh, and what it a prothonotary? Bad enough I'm voting for justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-81912100830979811702011-11-08T22:22:00.000-05:002011-11-08T23:37:23.726-05:00Football gameI went to my first Eagles game yesterday. It has been many years since I've been to a pro football game (to give you an idea, it was an LA Rams game) and I was pretty excited about it. As most of you know, I attend many baseball games, so my impressions will be refracted through the lens of my baseball experiences.
My daughter and I arrived at Lincoln Financial Field around half an hour before justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-26652921244592146862011-11-03T20:16:00.001-04:002011-11-03T20:16:11.145-04:00Going nowhere fastI got a bike trainer. No, my bike doesn't need training and a bike trainer is not a person. It's a thing you attach to a bike that allows you to simulate a riding experience, or to put it differently, that allows you to pretend to ride your bike inside.
In truth, this is profoundly silly. As a general rule I hate to exercise by pretending to do stuff. Treadmills, rowers, and especially climbingjustfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-56064216073341583312011-11-01T19:35:00.000-04:002011-11-01T19:35:22.580-04:00Passing thoughtsI'm tired of driving. Not that I been drive all that much, but I've been doing it for like 40 years and I'm just tired of it. Maybe it's because too many people I encounter on the roads, while nice people I'm sure, are just not cut out to be drivers. Driving properly requires a combination of complete attention and strategic planning that is clearly beyond the ability of many people whom the justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-49253354448232504602011-10-29T10:44:00.001-04:002011-10-29T10:44:29.288-04:00Happy Birthday Frank!
Comcast-SpectacorHaving trouble viewing this email? Click here to see it online.
Barney Live in Concert - Birthday Bash!Nov. 6th, 1:00pm & 4:30pmLiacouras Center (Philadelphia, Pa.)More InfoFrank,Our records show that you celebrated your birthday in October!In honor of the occasion, you are eligible for an EXCLUSIVE discount to celebrate your special day at “Barney Live justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-13786673745974717952011-10-23T10:52:00.002-04:002011-10-23T10:52:40.382-04:00So what is this thing called again?I got an iPhone this week. I hadn't intended to; I was just waiting for something that I thought would be a noticeable upgrade over my prior phone, which was a 3 year-old original Droid. That phone worked very well. It was just very slow on the data end. So I got the iPhone because it had a fast processor. Plus everything else in my house is Apple, so why not my phone.
So far, with my new phone,justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-32784525685196860812011-10-18T20:31:00.001-04:002011-10-18T20:31:56.795-04:00No boo hooI find it strange to hear people upset about the fatal auto race crash this past weekend. Of course, I don't wish sudden untimely death on anyone, but more than mourning the poor guy who perished, there's a lot of hand-wringing about how the conditions weren't safe.
Well, DUH. In what universe is it ever safe to drive in heavy traffic on a curvy road at 200 miles per hour? Anyone who's ever justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-7680816829165966412011-10-16T21:11:00.000-04:002011-10-16T21:54:24.416-04:00Something's fishyBeing a male in his 50's, I have to worry about all kinds of things. Many of these things are health-related. I have to worry about health related things because, I gather, otherwise I will DIE. I don't particularly want to die, though I don't really know anything about what it would be like to do so. But since it's inevitable I'll eventually find out what it's like anyway, I might as well do thejustfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-84724550175509442952011-10-13T19:33:00.000-04:002011-10-13T19:33:07.456-04:00HallowverkillI went to Target to try to buy some halloween candy. I've been aware that Halloween is now the closest thing to Christmas as far as consumer spending is concerned (estimated to be close to $7 billion this year- in the middle of a recession), but that doesn't even begin to cover its takeover of every store in neighborhood. Acme has 3 separate candy displays, the entire front of any Rite Aid can justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-68962622751753290952011-10-13T08:52:00.000-04:002011-10-13T08:52:25.746-04:00Early morning metaphysicsI was driving back from dropping my daughter off at school at 7AM and I saw there was traffic on the main thoroughfare, City Avenue. There is seldom any traffic at 7AM, so I was surprised. I then saw a car with its flashers on in the right lane blocking the road, so the traffic made sense. I don't normally go on City Avenue anyway, but rather use a parallel road closer to my house.
As I head up justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-49974936716708650972011-10-11T20:53:00.000-04:002011-10-11T20:53:03.192-04:00Friends, not foodI'm not one to criticize Community Supported Agriculture, which supports small farms by having members pay upfront for fruit and vegetables to be delivered later. And I love getting a crate of whatever they happen to be harvesting this year. But every once in a while, they try to pawn something off as a crop that just isn't.
This week it was Sweet Potato Leaves. Really? Does anybody genuinely justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-16824538504817003002011-10-10T09:51:00.000-04:002011-10-10T13:52:20.848-04:00Decaf nightA lot of schools have things they call Coffee House, where kids come and perform mostly but not exclusively music. If this were talking place at an actual coffee house it probably wouldn't be called a coffee house, but that's another matter. This is a charming proposition, if fraught with risk from the perspective of the listener. It reminds me of the old Chris Rock line, "You know, they call it justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-26813393602750963602011-10-08T15:21:00.001-04:002011-10-08T15:21:25.074-04:00End of Phillies 2011Last night was pretty sad. The crowd was great. I hate it when people only get loud when the scoreboard and music urge them to do so. Last night, it got louder after that nonsense stopped.
The game itself was an absolute masterpiece. I don't think I've ever seen two pitchers pitch so well against each other. Take out the first two batters of the game and you have 17 consecutive scoreless inningsjustfranknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-79435113571385666112011-10-04T22:00:00.000-04:002011-10-04T22:00:03.922-04:00I love getting e-mailHere's one I got this evening:
I was really confused with the homework, will we be going over it in class? Also, the soccer team has a game tomorrow and our dismissal is at 2:30 so we will only have about 10 minutes of your classjustfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-20248352977474098262011-10-01T14:26:00.000-04:002011-10-01T14:26:29.954-04:00Thank you for not helpingI was in Acme today and every time I paused or hesitated somewhere, an Acme employee was right on the spot asking me if I needed help.
I found this extremely irritating. I've been shopping at Acme for 20 years and throughout that time, the one constant has been their awful customer service. The checkout lines were always long and slow, and it was clear that nobody there had any interest in justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-14297231845096790212011-09-25T19:44:00.002-04:002011-09-25T19:44:56.595-04:00MS City to Shore 2011
Every time I do this ride it's different. The first time is hard because unless you're one of those strange people who ride 80 miles a day on a regular basis, you're likely to have trouble pacing yourself. The second time I had myself incredibly well trained and it was very fast and almost easy. And so on.
This year, I did a just fair job of training. On the good side, I knew what I was in for.justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-6621237864510574182011-09-24T19:35:00.003-04:002011-09-24T19:35:55.516-04:00AdvertisingueseTo understand how advertising works, you need to pay attention to the way the words are put together. For instance, here's the exact wording of a poster at SuperFresh: You won't find better tasting beef at any other supermarket in the Northeast. Guaranteed. Woodson and James Angus Beef.
So what exactly does this mean? The key point to understand is that in advertising language, saying your justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-6524040710324106162011-09-23T19:42:00.001-04:002011-09-23T19:42:18.909-04:00Why, despite my charms, you might not want me for a father.Actual conversation:
"Hey dad, want to see something?"
"How would I know if I want to see it if I haven't seen it yet?"justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-5665037783868510242011-09-11T11:36:00.002-04:002011-09-11T11:36:42.773-04:00How to ruin a momentI was very unhappy today to pick up the newspaper and see WE REMEMBER and a huge picture of the World Trade Center buildings. Thanks, Inquirer for telling me that and how I'm supposed to remember.
Part of what makes this day powerful is the collective memory but I think what makes it significant is that everyone had their own memories and their own reactions. The media frenzy has unduly justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-16078285551950713522011-09-10T20:40:00.001-04:002011-09-10T20:40:49.146-04:00The main reason I got into advertising as a career was that I always liked products. I know that sounds silly, but I clearly remember being fascinated by commercials for cleaning products that miraculously removed stains. I also grew up in the dawn of the convenience food era. Frozen foods were pretty new because only recently had a large enough portion of households acquired freezers. justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-41817761061759112832011-09-08T23:17:00.000-04:002011-09-08T23:17:38.156-04:00You again?Today was this year's first day of school. I, of course, had been doing inservice for the past couple of days. which for me mostly consists of a few meetings and then a semi-successful search session of burrowing through my huge piles of accumulated paper to try to find the stuff I need for my classes. This is something I usually do over the summer but I didn't get to it this year.
The most justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-78491371937664862502011-09-01T11:25:00.000-04:002011-09-01T11:25:29.255-04:00News you can't useI know that everyone turns to this blog to catch up on the news of the day, so here goes.
I saw going through Google News and saw the following headline "A Bit of Urine Makes Mouse Embryos Transparent." Of course, my first reaction was, is that a good thing or a bad thing? My second reaction was "Cool, I wonder if that would work on anything else." Just because our floor does not turn justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-42930060933108909432011-08-29T14:36:00.000-04:002011-08-29T14:36:03.412-04:00Betting the over/underNow that Irene has passed, it's time for a week of second-guessing everyone from the forecasters to the public officials who designed the response, followed by a hearty round of recriminations.
Hurricane forecasting is right up there with snowfall forecasting as an inexact process. It's kind of miraculous (and what I mean by miraculous is the application of almost indescribably complex science) justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-31292513476608089552011-08-26T14:29:00.000-04:002011-08-26T14:29:36.175-04:00Chatting with the service guysMe: If I drain the pool too much I'm going to flood my neighbor's yard.
Rich the Pool Guy: Frank, we're all sharing water this weekend.
Me: This dogwood tree is old and everyone tells us it's declining and we should take it out.
Dean the Tree Guy: Well, I'm declining too but nobody's taking me out.justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-27656772185985285112011-08-23T19:48:00.000-04:002011-08-23T19:48:36.298-04:00It's Lancastic!That's either really good or really lame.
I have a good friend who grew up around Lancaster and is mystified by the fact that people go there for vacations. I can kind of understand. There seemed to be lots and lots of people around, but I really have no idea what they were doing. There's a couple of outlet malls, but there are plenty of those elsewhere. It's fun seeing the Amish in their carts justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-52004442391183360482011-08-22T18:33:00.000-04:002011-08-22T18:33:47.698-04:00Lancaster, Part 2On Sunday I took what the cycling club calls the Witness Ride, as it takes you past the farm where they filmed the movie Witness. I started at the Strasburg Train Museum, which is kind of easy to spot as you drive by because of, well, because of the dozen or so trains right by the roadside, including a working steam engine that you can ride on.
This proved to be a much more difficult ride than justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-65757028932182343332011-08-22T00:09:00.002-04:002011-08-22T17:49:23.724-04:00Lancaster, Part 1I needed a quick solo getaway for a weekend to clear my head, and chose Lancaster because it was close and had what looked like a very nice selection of medium length (20-35 mile) bike rides with tip sheets (important if you're out in the middle of nowhere and don't know where you're going, both of which described me- here's what a tip sheet looks like).
I stupidly showed up without a hotel justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-57895854967860786782011-08-15T16:37:00.000-04:002011-08-15T16:37:20.105-04:00Circular LogicOne of the things I like about going to Martha's Vineyard is how little it changes from visit to visit. I haven't been here for a real visit in 6 years or so, but not only is the woman at the fish market the same woman I remember from last time, but she looks exactly the same too. The Saturday Farmer's market has the same vendors, the same preppy sweaters adorn the shops in town, and the weather justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-69236494875227698282011-08-12T22:24:00.001-04:002011-08-12T22:29:26.804-04:00Frank opts for the patdown
Today I had my first official airport patdown. We were on our way to Martha's Vineyard and had to change planes in Boston. The flight up was completely uneventful, just like you want flights to be. Smooth, on time, all that.
We walked to the neighboring terminal (Airport information agent: Easy walk. Others in my party: LONG walk) to take the little prop plane over to the Vineyard. We were justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-52398457016734559242011-08-10T15:09:00.000-04:002011-08-10T15:09:12.770-04:00TidbitsI was flipping through the New York Times (yes, an actual newspaper) and I found an article about a computer hacker's convention. I had always thought that, while bright and creative, hackers were, you know, criminals. So I was surprised that they even had not one, but two conventions, called Black Hat and Defcon, in Las Vegas. I was joking with my daughter, saying, I wonder what kinds of panels justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-82713360854981621052011-08-04T16:51:00.001-04:002011-08-05T02:01:02.862-04:00A little view into my former lifeHere's a video done by Advertising Age, the main trade magazine of the industry, where they visit interesting agency offices. Here they visit Red Tettemer, which is located in the PNB building in Center City. The whole thing is pretty cool, and there's a mention of me around 1:50.
http://adage.com/article/agency-digs/agency-digs-pops-red-tettemer-partners/228357/
I should note that calling me ajustfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-62995490425049176842011-08-04T15:18:00.000-04:002011-08-04T15:18:06.127-04:00Luxury Hotel Review, including stuff that won't be on TripAdvisorHaving gone to see the Royal Shakespeare Company production of The Winter's Tale on the upper east side of Manhattan, we decided to spend the night at a hotel in the area. This being a special occasion, I selected a hotel called The Mark, right off a lovely part of Madison Avenue and around the corner from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The Mark is a place to stay if you are fabulous. You can justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-44446408590345684022011-08-03T18:09:00.001-04:002011-08-04T16:58:11.644-04:00My home townWell, kind of. Though I'm from New York, I'm really from Brooklyn and Manhattan is what we called "The City." But I found myself awake early in a hotel on 77th and Madison and decided to go for a walk uptown.
Madison in the 60's and 70's is almost exclusively an upscale shopping street, with no aspect of real life intruding. You can shop or you can eat and if you are there you are most likely a justfranknoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-61343177234498382072011-07-31T21:39:00.000-04:002011-07-31T21:39:37.213-04:00Finally catching up on pop cultureJust by chance, as in when I walked back in from the ballgame, I had the opportunity to watch a part of one of the Twilight movies, something I had been studiously avoiding because I'm not a teenage girl. I'm not sure which one. It had vampires in it but they can go outside during the day and act pretty much like everyone else. And big dogs that appeared to be vaguely 2-dimensional. And dialogue justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-90884387024870929462011-07-28T12:46:00.001-04:002011-07-29T00:05:46.366-04:00FInal Day of AP Camp (Final update)So it's our last day here. Time for campfires and hugs and promises of a reunion.
No, not really. We've all gotten semi-friendly but it would take an accident of fate for any of us to see each other again. And I don't think Penn State would look kindly at our setting fires somewhere. though you never know. Last time I did one of these everyone exchanged e-mail addresses but I don't think anyone justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-4390492302128028082011-07-27T19:14:00.000-04:002011-07-27T19:14:07.777-04:00AP Camp Day 3Okay, I've about had it. I simply cannot sit for that long and be productive in any way. There's nothing wrong with the class, but as much as I like Calculus (really), I can't just sit in one place and work on it for days on end.
So in my usual way, I rebel around the edges. Today I came about 10 minutes late. I got up several times during each session to use the rest room and stretch my legs. Ijustfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-18215326883741367072011-07-26T09:37:00.003-04:002011-07-26T22:36:28.190-04:00AP Camp Day 2 (Final update)Back in Great Valley at 8AM. I find that about 4 hours of sleep is the perfect preparation for this kind of thing, because a certain amount of loopiness is necessary to endure a full day of it. I like taking classes, but this is simply too long. I can't sit still that long and I don't care how nice the chairs here are, it hurts to drive 45 minutes somewhere, sit in a chair for 8 hours, then back justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-87367834690992387432011-07-25T21:45:00.000-04:002011-07-25T21:45:27.260-04:00My First Day at AP CampMy butt hurts. Last time I took one of these 4-day things, by the end I was bringing stadium seat cushions to sit on the hard plastic classroom seats. This facility is much nicer. More like a conference center, so there are padded swivel chairs. Still, I really can't sit in a chair for 7 hours out of 8. I stood all the way through our two allotted 15-minute breaks and out 30-minute lunch.
I justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-23185988464090039912011-07-25T14:29:00.001-04:002011-07-26T22:39:37.229-04:00AP Summer Institute 3A lot of Calculus books have the phrase "Early Transcendentals." I know that this refers to a class of functions and I guess I always assumed it meant that it dealt with the first kinds of transcendentals, the easy ones. But today I learned that what it means is "Transcendentals Early," as in they are included in the book in the early chapters.
I haven't been fussed at yet but I've noticed that justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-89010829127599840122011-07-25T10:21:00.003-04:002011-07-25T10:21:35.783-04:00AP Summer Institute 2My favorite people in these classes are the people who found out like a week ago that they're teaching AP Calculus in the fall. In at least one case they'd never even taught pre-calc. Such is the world of budget .
We just had a break (we are allotted 15 minutes morning and afternoon as permitted by the College Board). I guess we're falling behind since now as we begin the post-break session the justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-86553973256406668012011-07-25T10:21:00.001-04:002011-07-25T10:21:34.798-04:00AP Summer Institute 2My favorite people in these classes are the people who found out like a week ago that they're teaching AP Calculus in the fall. In at least one case they'd never even taught pre-calc. Such is the world of budget .
We just had a break (we are allotted 15 minutes morning and afternoon as permitted by the College Board). I guess we're falling behind since now as we begin the post-break session the justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-39614892233200729512011-07-25T08:16:00.000-04:002011-07-25T08:16:46.780-04:00AP Summer InstituteI know that some of you like when I do "behind the scenes" teacher stuff. So today I'm on the first day of a four day intensive class in teaching AP Calculus. I'm now in the orientation session at Penn State in Great Valley where we are being told that we must do 8 hours a day, no exceptions, because they "take their partnership with the College Board very seriously." They said there would be a justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-31232815079087746372011-07-15T13:04:00.000-04:002011-07-15T13:04:00.084-04:00The endI was riding my bike today and as I was about to make a left turn, a spectacularly beautiful woman jogged by, wearing just a very small sports bra and very short shorts. And I thought, this is how I'm going to die. I'll be riding my bike one day, someone who looks like that will come by and distract me and I'll get pancaked by a car. Didn't happen today though.justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-63040753464092316832011-07-11T23:13:00.000-04:002011-07-11T23:13:55.889-04:00And let's not forget the place itselfIt's kind of arrogant to actually review a place. If I write what I think about Ithaca, NY, why would they care? Why would anyone care? But I've traveled enough and paid close enough attention that I can at least try to put things in perspective.
The first thing I ask myself about a place is, could I live here? This is probably not the most selective screening, since I can enjoy myself pretty justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-40787960319292865512011-07-10T09:33:00.001-04:002011-07-10T12:13:37.861-04:00SleepingOf course, no trip report would be complete without a review of the hotel. We're staying at a place called La Tourelle Resort and Spa on top of the hill near Ithaca College. It's a nice place in a beautiful spot. And although it's not quite what it aspires to be, I think it's a pretty nice place.
When you come up to a place with a Frenchy sounding name in a pretty spot, you're expecting justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-38302217609724090262011-07-09T22:08:00.003-04:002011-07-09T22:25:33.237-04:00WashingI'm sitting outside the Fall Creek Laundromat in Ithaca. It's nice out so I've dragged a chair outside and I've got my feet propped up on a railroad tie that I presume is there to stop cars. I'm using someone in the neighborhood's wifi. Thanks!
It's a nice, clean laundromat with classic rock playing not too loud from a radio somewhere. There are a number of top and front load washers and justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-72294734924458274822011-07-09T08:20:00.002-04:002011-07-09T20:45:47.184-04:00DiningAs I mentioned previously, we ate last night at Suzanne's Regional Cuisine. It's a very good restaurant up on a hill on the eastern shore of Seneca Lake.
We arrived at 6:30 after an afternoon of wine tasting. The restaurant is in an old farm house- there's a couple of barns on the property and a field, of which a small part is used to grow things for the restaurant. There's a wrap-around porch justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-42371652731492078442011-07-07T23:21:00.000-04:002011-07-07T23:21:48.107-04:00Enjoy!When we're on vacation, one thing is no different from when we're home. I get up way before everyone else. In this case, it's just the two of us, but the dynamic is the same, though the limitations of when you can get breakfast at a hotel limit how late things can go. So today we had breakfast at around 10. This unusually early wakeup led eventually to Ronnie going back to sleep while I went for justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-19351940935823198302011-07-07T09:10:00.000-04:002011-07-07T09:10:11.199-04:00AwayI've had this uncomfortable feeling that the summer hasn't yet started and somehow is already over. I know that neither is true, it's just a feeling.
So right now we are in Ithaca. One of my kids is doing a music program for two weeks here, and as long as we had to come up here to pick her up, we figured we could leave a few days early and hang out in the Finger Lakes region.
So let me talk justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-83196186572880121922011-07-03T20:25:00.000-04:002011-07-03T20:25:43.983-04:00I guess its just one of those ex-felon, pro-acid kind of non-smoking homesSaw "The Trip" last night. Not for everyone, but if you like that dry British insulty kind of humor it's really fun. Worth it just for the dueling Michael Caine and Sean Connery impressions.justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-81896739252339567702011-06-29T12:17:00.000-04:002011-06-29T12:17:39.185-04:00A few assorted thoughtsNothing random here.
Since my closest friend since college is named Steve Brown, my life has suddenly gotten less confusing.
Is it just me, or is Pinnacle a strange name for a flooring company?
One of the nice things about having an outspoken young adult daughter at home (and yes, there are nice things about that) is that she feels completely free to tell me if she thinks the way I am dressingjustfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-25354508405863943532011-06-27T12:33:00.000-04:002011-06-27T12:33:49.549-04:00School without studentsThis year is finally over. It somehow felt both endless and as if it was flying by.
Spent a couple of days in school doing so-called in-service. For anyone who's curious, and who wouldn't be, this involves a combination of planned activities like large group meetings, small group meetings, writing report cards, and cleaning up. Kind of like summer camp, just without the fun.
I don't really mindjustfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-1382504924689569202011-06-15T12:31:00.000-04:002011-06-15T12:31:52.874-04:00Not just another graduationI guess because I'm a class advisor I felt a special closeness with this bunch of seniors, and there are many of them that I know pretty well and am genuinely fond of. So watching everyone get ready was really fun.
I got asked to hold stuff- gowns, purses, umbrellas, "spit that out now" gum- whatever they needed. Getting them ready for their class picture had a herding cats-like feel to it, but justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-89424637125014374552011-06-09T15:35:00.000-04:002011-06-09T15:35:59.816-04:00Leonard SternMay he [verb] in peace.justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-24858581763001515232011-06-09T12:33:00.000-04:002011-06-09T12:33:10.544-04:00It's not the humidityThis morning I put the leash on my dog, opened the door, and as we took our first step outside she stopped and looked up at me and I could only imagine her thinking
"Really? Are you seriously taking me out into this? Don't you realize I'm completely covered with fur? What sort of sadist are you?" justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-84546304881927552972011-06-09T09:16:00.000-04:002011-06-09T09:16:13.277-04:00Best plagiarism excuse"I didn't copy, they anticipated me!"justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-79588602554248077042011-06-06T08:34:00.000-04:002011-06-06T08:34:47.997-04:00The parental perspectiveAs I was going through all the receipts from the senior trip, I suddenly remembered that several students had forgotten to bring in their permission slips, and in those cases I asked them to call their parents so I could get verbal approval. Unanimously, the parents both agreed that their kids could go and without prompting gave permission for us to keep them even longer if we wanted to.justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-69928683657083023112011-06-02T22:55:00.000-04:002011-06-02T22:55:05.931-04:00Lacks maturityIf there's one thing I learned this week is thata piece of me remains fundamentally uncomfortable being a grown-up. And I think I'm okay with that.justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-51084219367172985592011-06-02T16:30:00.000-04:002011-06-02T16:30:35.122-04:00On the way homeSo after the game the kids went to get balls and autographs, and a couple of the girls got one (or more) of the player's phone number and spent the bus ride home from the ballpark texting with him. And wouldn't you know it, when curfew hit, where are they? Out on the beach with a few of the ballplayers, of course, having driven the 30 miles over from Salisbury to Ocean City.
After a bit if a justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-74431663392482089052011-06-02T01:41:00.000-04:002011-06-02T01:41:26.083-04:00The JBHA Game (Pictures to follow)Oh. My. God.
We are on our way back from the Delmarva Shorebirds game. To say that we were enthusiastic spectators would dramatically understate the proceedings. We actually kind of dominated the non-baseball action.
Our group struck up conversation with the MC and the mascot (the mascot conversed by means of a kind of charades) early, then one of our guys was given a t-shirt, interviewed on justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-379416641167302612011-06-01T18:39:00.000-04:002011-06-01T18:39:56.068-04:00Day 2, Part 1Woke up at a reasonable hour and made coffee. The security guard, who had been plied with treats by some of the girls before bedtime, had gone. Had some breakfast and then went down to wrangle a group headed for paintball. Once they'd left, I asked who wanted to join me for the secondary activity of bike riding. As it turned out, only one girl and I were up for going.
We were going to ride on justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-82983239087629926062011-06-01T09:59:00.002-04:002011-06-01T18:17:38.619-04:00Day 1I can't really tell you what a senior trip is like from the perspective of a student. I went to a public high school of the sort that did not indulge in that sort of thing. I can only tell you from the perspective of the chaperone, and in this case the so-called lead chaperone.
Being a lead chaperone is kind of like getting promoted to a job with harder work and more responsibility but you justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-27166368589244613572011-05-31T11:24:00.000-04:002011-05-31T11:24:46.014-04:00Senior trippingSo it's time to blog the senior trip. We're currently on the bus on our way to Ocean City, MD. I've never been to this place and am very much looking forward to it.
Ocean City was not our original destination, and our path to that location twisted and turned through bedbug reports, careening between no options and too many options, and finally landing in the OC, thanks in part to an offpeak justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-38039051457354140072011-05-18T15:44:00.000-04:002011-05-18T15:44:02.900-04:00Life gets in the wayIsn't that a song lyric or something? Life gets in the way of living? If it's not it should be because it's catchy and it's true.
My case in particular has me dealing with a houseful of people who aren't feeling well. I've often lamented the pain of being the least sick person in a house full of sick people. You always have to do all the stuff because you're the least incapacitated. I'll tell justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-10025851918658794872011-05-16T10:14:00.000-04:002011-05-16T10:14:43.655-04:00I went to Hamilton College in upstate New York. Snows a lot there. Snows so much that there that the idea of a snow day was just silly. Every day was a snow day.
I had a Shakespeare professor who was, shockingly, a theatrical sort. He spoke with a pseudo continental accent (I have no idea where he was from, probably Nebraska or something). I am now going to use dramatic license and relate and justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-5614629265770712162011-05-04T11:25:00.000-04:002011-05-04T11:25:41.964-04:00Complete freak outI was about to go to the Phillies game last night and as I always do, I checked to see which of my tickets I had sold on Stubhub, because those tickets won't work. I saw that I'd sold seats 15 and 16 so I went to my file to get 13 and 14 and saw that those were the only 2 tickets there. 15 and 16 were gone. I suddenly thought, "Holy S--t!" I had accidentally sold two of the tickets that I'd givenjustfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-34650540907595650212011-05-01T11:39:00.000-04:002011-05-01T11:39:40.832-04:00Thank goodness for research!Otherwise we would not have conclusively known this:
Facebook photos
I could wax eloquent (or at least write lots and lots of words) about how societal trends have left us with a generation of exhibitionists, but I wouldn't want to call attention to myself.justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-49604220916655248102011-04-28T22:11:00.001-04:002011-04-28T22:14:05.414-04:00Just WIlliam and KateSo far, at least, the best thing about this whole royal wedding thing is that when I see"Kate" in a headline it no longer means that awful woman from the reality show with all the kids.
Oh, and when you see William singing "God Save The Queen," do you think he's thinking about his mother?justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-66804652726423535072011-04-27T11:36:00.000-04:002011-04-27T11:36:05.389-04:00On to the next controversyWas Donald Trump's "hair" manufactured in the US?justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-69234086006658823962011-04-26T22:17:00.000-04:002011-04-26T22:17:21.639-04:00Owning upI guess in my old age (I got my first ever Senior Discount today!) I am more secure in my abilities and therefore am less afraid to admit when I did something stupid. Fortunately, as I've gotten older I have gotten smarter and so don't make nearly as many mistakes as I used to. This fits together nicely and so, with the exception of the usual set of mea culpas that are an essential part of a justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-62526233782644242072011-04-25T10:25:00.000-04:002011-04-25T10:25:15.931-04:00Just one more reason why being an adult is way more awesome than being a kidYou get to have serious conversations about whether you prefer the new dishwasher to the old one and why. For example,
"I really like the arrangement of the new dishwasher racks.""I like the way the bottom rack works, but there's only room for 15 glasses on the top rack and that's not enough.""Yeah, but I like the silverware holder being along the side instead of being in the middle.""And it justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-88562529431128866992011-04-23T14:38:00.000-04:002011-04-23T14:38:51.143-04:00When a math teacher thinks about numbersOne of the real challenges in teaching math has nothing to do with teaching methods of calculation or analysis. I happen to feel an overwhelming responsibility to try to help students understand math in context. What do these numbers mean? What are they good for? Why would you need or want to solve a problem?
The problem is that while people have some intuitive understanding that numbers are an justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-2053532301902923742011-04-23T12:16:00.000-04:002011-04-23T12:16:00.867-04:00I am so going to hellBacon and eggs and matzo for breakfast.justfranknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5480593.post-52561101168373522122011-04-21T10:36:00.000-04:002011-04-21T10:39:12.134-04:00Deep ThoughtI just walked past a sign store. In the window was a sign that said SALE in big letters. So I was wondering if that meant there was a sale on signs or if they were just selling a SALE sign. justfranknoreply@blogger.com0