Project, cont'd

Still working...

Project

Feeling ambitious, my current project is underway...

Before


During


After
???

Basketball

I saw this on CNN at work yesterday and then saw this CBS coverage online... amazing. Beth insisted that I post the link so that all of her friends are sure to see it: http://www.youtube.com/?v=UBYPaNc57Ik

Athlete's Foot

Does any disease have better PR than athlete's foot? "Fungus between your toes? Hmm... must mean that you are a physically fit and active person!" Whoever came up with such a great name deserves the thanks of an entire industry of makers of sprays and creams. You may think twice about admitting to being afflicted with tinea pedis, but "athlete's foot"? It's practically a compliment!

What's next? "Take two Tylenol for your genius pain"

Viva Mexico!

Some pictures from our trip to Mexico

Beth in the courtyard of our hotel in Tepotzotlan

Tepotzotlan street leading to the cathedral and city plaza

Where to find great quesadillas in Tepotzotlan

Beth and her favorite flowers in one of the cathedral gardens

Lunch in Tepotzotlan

Alisa's wedding chapel

Alisa and Patricio going back down the aisle

Weepy Beth and Alisa after the wedding

Part of the fireworks during the reception ("ALICIA Y PATRICIO")

Beth and others protecting Alisa during the Snake Dance

Brandon and Beth with the beautiful bride at the reception

Brandon and Beth on top of the Temple of the Moon pyramid at Teotihuacan

The Temple of the Sun pyramid at Teotihuacan

Beth on top of the Temple of the Sun pyramid at Teotihuacan

Looking up from the bottom of the Temple of the Sun pyramid at Teotihuacan

Building with tile exterior in Mexico City

A street fair in Mexico City

Old and New architecture in Mexico City

Beautiful interior of the Palacio de Belle Artes (museum in Mexico City)

Mexico City skyline

Brandon and Beth on New Year's Eve

Huge plaza in the middle of Mexico City as viewed from our New Year's Eve party

40 Thoughts From My Morning Commute

I tried to let this sad blog die. I deprived it and ignored it. But still, people read it? Still, they post comments and complain? What's it going to take for people to leave me to my blog-o-silence? Maybe a little stream-of-consciousness will do the trick...

40 Thoughts From My Morning Commute

1. 2/3 or B/C?
2. Uhhh... it's a little cold, but the walk would be nice: 2/3.
3. Probably the only fresh air I'll enjoy until 8 tonight.
4. iPod? headphones?
5. No, seriously, just enjoy the walk. Listen to the city, the park. Allow someone to start a conversation with you.
6. Well, enjoy the park, anyway. Wait a little bit before entering the audible cocoon.
7. It's really not very cold. This is 40?
8. Either that, or this is a really good coat.
9. No, I think it's just not very cold.
10. Strange for December 1st... this is supposed to be winter?
11. Oh wait, winter is December thru February. No, March. So winter's really just starting.
12. Why do I always think that winter is over by January?
13. Probably because in Texas we started our soccer season on January 2nd every year. Yikes!
14. I'm glad I live where there are seasons.
15. Train's coming, hurry up.
16. Oh crap I totally forgot my - no, I got it.
17. Okay, good swipe, but fast. Make sure you see the 'Go' before running through this time.
18. Shoot, it's uptown.
19. Lots of people waiting for the downtown. That's good, I didn't just miss it.
20. Wait, it's too many people. There must be a problem.
21. Not what I need today.
22. Why did I move so slowly this morning? I had plenty of time. I could ha-
23. Oh good, headlights.
24. Hurry with the headphones before the train moves.
25. Let's see, what should I listen to? How about This American Life?
26. Geez, how can it be so hot in here?
27. Is anyone else sweating? Doesn't look like it.
28. This is a good coat.
29. OK, just relax and think cool thoughts.
30. Like what?
31. I need a seat.
32. Ok, that woman has her bag in her lap like she's ready to go. Stand in front of her.
33. Good, sitting now. Successful commute.
34. I wonder what the This American Life people look like. I don't even really have an image in my head when I listen.
35. Get a good hold on the briefcase and rest your eyes. That's g...
36. ...
37. ...
38. ...
39. ... Hehe, I wonder if anyone was watching me sl-
40. Wall Street, oh crap!

Keep Off the Grass

Well we're fourteen months into the Frederick Douglass Circle project and from what I understand -- although the project was supposed to be done this November -- there are still fourteen months to go! Meanwhile, the entire sidewalk in front of our building has been dug up -- steps, trees, and yes... grass. 

Fibromyalgia

I was sick this weekend. I don't want to get into the details, but let's just say that there was a period of intermittent "fireworks" followed by a day and a half of low-grade misery. I was dead tired, my head ached, my body ached, I couldn't eat. At the end of the second day I managed to drag myself out of the apartment and take the dog to the bathroom, but that was only because it was dark and I didn't want Beth to go into the park alone. I threw the tennis ball a couple times for Mia, which in my weakened state caused my shoulder to be sore!

My sickness lasted only a few days beginning to end, and during that time there was not really anything that I felt like doing. I didn't think about work, I didn't read or write email, I didn't work on homework, … I probably could have gone through the motions of doing those things, but the pain I was in would have been way too big of a distraction. For me this was only temporary, but imagine if one day you got sick and the pain never went away.

It was six years ago this month that my wife Beth got sick. She contracted a virus that made her ill and gave her a very high fever for two weeks. The trauma of this illness screwed with her central nervous system and gave her the condition of fibromyalgia (more info). Her fibromyalgia will never go away, although it may possibly get better with time. It makes Beth's bones sore, her joints stiff, her muscles throb, sometimes to the point of being bedridden. It causes her to become fatigued much sooner than she normally would and requires her recovery from activity to be much longer than it normally would, usually a day or more. It causes sleeplessness which can sometimes be treated with medication, which can sometimes cause nightmares. Beth has endured these pains every day during the last part of 1999, all of 2000, all of 2001, all of 2002, all of 2003, all of 2004, and so far all of 2005… six years.

I thought about Beth all weekend. Every time that I whined about my headache or my backache. Every time that I struggled to walk across the room. Every time that I thought, 'I should be…' helping with the dishes, gathering the laundry, reading for class, feeding/walking the dog, paying the bills… and then pardoned myself with '…but I'm too sick.' When I'm feeling bad, I can't imagine having the strength and determination to get off my butt and do any of those things, but Beth does so much more.

I can't begin to say what a tragedy it is that Beth is sick. She is a brilliant social worker, one of the few people I know who really distinguished themselves in graduate school... and in her case it was a prestigious, competitive, top-two-schools-for-social-work-in-the-country graduate school, the Columbia University School of Social Work. The fact that she is unable to share her gift with the world – to live her calling – is heartbreaking. It’s heartbreaking every single day. But she chooses not to dwell on it. She works as much as she can and makes a difference to the people she works with. She volunteers her time at every opportunity, often with full awareness that doing so will put her “out of commission” for a day or more.

Getting a sore shoulder from throwing a tennis ball allowed me to temporarily get a very small taste of fibromyalgia. As much as I hate being sick, I'm grateful for an occasional taste. The fact that Beth’s attitude can sometimes cause me to forget about fibromyalgia tells you everything you need to know about her character.

I Take Responsibility

Bush says that he takes responsibility for failures in dealing with Katrina. I didn't think that he had it in him -- he didn't acknowledge his tax cuts had anything to do with the deficit, didn't hold anyone of significance accountable for killing and abusing prisoners in Iraq, and didn't hold anyone (period) accountable for the WMD intelligence failures which led to the war. Now for once he's acted like the "MBA President" we were all told to expect: he's fired and replaced his worthless friend to whom he gave the FEMA job, he's said "I am responsible," and he seems to be committed to giving the situation the attention that it deserves. Good.

Unfortunately, his acceptance of responsibility wasn't unqualified; His statement was actually "to the extent the federal government didn't fully do its job right, I take responsibility." This leaves room for the possibility that the federal government did do its job right, which I think is generally agreed to be ridiculous.

Still, you can't ask someone to change five years of bad habits overnight... it's a step in the right direction.

On the scene in NO