July 2005


Uncategorized31 Jul 2005 09:20 am
Uncategorized28 Jul 2005 09:19 am
Happenings27 Jul 2005 11:01 am

The first day of the Bar Exam is finished and in another 5 or 6 hours, the second day will be as well. Its been a long haul and to say mildly stressful would be an understatement.
(more…)

Uncategorized23 Jul 2005 09:18 am
Uncategorized21 Jul 2005 09:16 am
Happenings17 Jul 2005 06:34 pm

I recently purchased a Red Oxalis (aka Shamrock or Woodsorrel) to add to the collection of beautiful weeds I have around the house. Large deep purple shamrock leaves with delicate pink blooms – both of which close every evening and reopen fully in the morning.
(more…)

Technology17 Jul 2005 03:04 pm

I’ve been looking for a photo library alternative to .Mac (which is what I’ve been using until now). Export support from iPhoto is nearly a deal-breaker feature and although I know lots of folks that use Gallery and think its relatively slick, I didn’t consider it until I found this utility for exporting from iPhoto. And so I headed off to install Gallery at Dreamhost.

Thanks to this helpful post, I finally have the package working. I still have a fair amount of exploration and configuration to wrap up before I start using it as my primary photo library, but hopefully it will be ready for the next significant round of pics.

Uncategorized17 Jul 2005 11:28 am

At long last, after a couple of cancelled trips early in the season and a long string of social and family obligations (all of which were fun), I was able to get out on the water yesterday. A low-key Annsville Easy trip out of Peekskill was exactly what I needed to get back into the swing of things – a very slow pace with time to play around and lots of newbies anxious for low-impact instruction. There’s still half of the season left, but I’m a bit doubtful of achieving either of my goals for this season. I haven’t fully conceded that fact, but at this point 4 Star Sea is far more likely than Coach 2, provided I can build a little stamina quickly and can find a BCU certification program in early fall.

I demo-ed an Dennis Nigel Explorer LV for the day. Not nearly as playful as its little brother the Romany, but as fast and smooth as its near 18ft length would suggest it should be. Unlike the full volume Explorer which has tons of room and sits very high in the water for a paddler of my stature (unless seriously loaded), the cockpit of the LV is surprisingly snug for a boat of its length (3.5inch shorter and 1inch narrower than the regular Explorer) and I was able to re-enter and roll it easily (also not bad for the first try in months). All in all, not a boat I’d buy for my regular paddling (the Romany is hard to beat), but definitely would make the short list of candidates for a moderate to longer expedition.

Uncategorized16 Jul 2005 09:16 am
Happenings12 Jul 2005 08:28 am

I’ve been playing fantasy baseball in The Sporting News Basic Baseball league for a couple of years now – an obsessive, but not altogether unhealthy diversion. The league is a stock market model league with a fixed starting salary. Buy low, sell high and increase your buying power for better players. There is no limit to the number of managers that can own a given player and standing is based on total points earned. It’s mildly embarrassing due to the amount of time I spend pouring through baseball stats and results. Regardless, the first fantasy season just ended here at All Star Break and out of 355,000 competitors worldwide, I managed to finish in a tie for 20th. That topples my previous best of 41st (2003 Season 1), which I thought I’d probably never beat. Take that Team Tribeca, Kansas City Lowballers and M&M Boys of the Bronx!

Happenings11 Jul 2005 12:21 pm

A few more photos of the lovely event.

Happenings04 Jul 2005 02:39 pm

My Hoya plant is finally blooming. I’m pretty sure the exact plant I have is the Hoya carnosa latifolia.

The story of my plant starts in Kew Royal Botanical Gardens just outside of London many years ago. The grandfather of college roommate of mine, Nicholas de Monchaux, once clipped a cutting of this plant while visiting the gardens and snuck it out under his bowler hat. I’m not quite clear whether the plant followed Nick’s mother to Australia or not, but my understanding is that a contentious dispute over possession of the heirloom ensued after the grandfather’s passing. Regardless, after many years, the plant came to live at the de Monchaux house in Cambridge, MA. I never had the chance to visit the house, but I did see pictures, and the plant was an integral centerpiece of the soaring 20 ft ceiling. Well, with Nick and his twin, Thomas, safely in college the de Monchaux’s accepted a 2-year sabatical in Geneva, Switzerland and decided to sell the house in Cambridge. The Hoya stayed with the house, but Nick took a cutting as they moved out and brought it to our apartment in New Haven for me to root.

At graduation, I gave Nick the plant, but kept a cutting for myself. It never flourished and the single stalk spent many perilous years in the dark, harsh climate of Canal Street. After moving to our sun-drenched apartment last year, the Hoya has simply taken off and 11 years after starting with that first cutting, it’s now blooming constantly – for the last month it’s had at least one and as many as four open bloom pods at any given time.

(more…)