And su-dork-u too. . .

Ok, I used to think that I was fairly intelligent. Not a genius mind you, but smart to some extent.

Until I tried Sudoku.

Each time I need a nice slice of humble pie all I have to do is whip out one of those cursed little boxes of numbers and it kicks my behind. I’ve tried to finish these puzzles so many times. My 8th graders used to laugh because they knew I’d get stuck and not have the patience to try to figure it out.

Then I found this great little website. Free, online sudoku puzzles and they’ll tell you if you’re doing ok, and if you want, they’ll tell you which number is wrong. I still haven’t figured out exactly why a few of my numbers were wrong, other than I’m not clairvoyant, but it’s nice to get rid of that little red square.

So tonight is historic. I’ve finally conquered a puzzle, in 15 minutes flat no less. Sure, some of the 3rd graders at the daycare could do it in 5 minutes or less, but I’m still growing. Give me another 2 weeks or so, and I’ll be beating their time.

Adventures in New York City

The last time Jaime, Ava and I went into New York City was last June when we went to see Jaime’s class graduate from the 8th Grade. That happened to be the last day of a week’s worth of rain that caused the Susquehanna River to flood! Jaime and I wrote a few posts with pictures about that flooding. That day was a hard day for us, because we left early in the morning to make it into the city in time. The graduation went well and without incident. But then our car decided not to work (foreshadowing here), and we were stuck in New York a little longer than we had planned (I wanted to leave the city about 2pm to avoid the evening traffic—this was a Tuesday).

So excited!

After much discussion and waffling, we are heading to the City today. Ahhhh! I’m so excited.

Lost Season Three Episode Twelve

Just finished watching Lost III episode 12. Wow, that was an awesome episode. Ben was his usual manipulative self, getting both Locke and Jack real good! I wonder what Jack is going to do now that he’s lost his only chance at getting off the island. This episode was John Locke-centric, and I figured out the ending early on. I could see it leading just to that. So, is Locke’s dad really there on the island? Or is that the island offering up a gift (or curse?) to Locke? We finally get to see just why Locke was wheelchair bound. He confronted his father about his con man ways, and his father threw him out the 8th story window. I also liked the fact that Danielle got to see her daughter, Alex. That seems to be an interesting wild card. I wonder just what fun twists that will bring.

The show is certainly doing a much better job now at writing good gripping episodes. Keep it up guys!

Micro-homes in the Big City – Tokyo

Heh, we thought our apartment in New York City was small, well over in Tokyo where space is at a high premium, how about building a home big enough for 344 sq ft!

Small has always been beautiful in Japan, whether you think of the mini-component audio systems the country pioneered in the 1970s, its cultural love affair with miniaturized potted plants known as bonsai, or the current rage for small-engine mini-cars. Now you can add to the list the current home-design craze: ultra-compact micro-homes on plots so small they could fit into the garage space of your typical, sprawling McMansion in the U.S.

Living small is in, especially among younger Japanese with modest budgets who no longer want to cope with the grueling commutes by train from far-off suburbs outside Tokyo as their parents did. Demand for ultra-compact homes, known as kyo-sho-jutaku in Japanese, is likely a small portion right now of the $1.2 billion Japanese currently spend on homes designed by architects.

I can totally understand the desire to stay close to the center of it all. It’s one thing I love about Manhattan.

To be in the middle of it all, close to all the great and wonderful things that we humans create and do. Would I want to live in a home smaller than a normal garage? Nope. But I understand their reasoning.

Hats off in support of Bono

This is phenomenal. If you haven’t seen this speech yet, you must do so now. I know this post may not win me friends, as it seems some are extremely anti-Red and anti-Bono, but don’t worry– he speaks directly to you too. It’s the last minute of the clip.

Hat tip to Owlhaven.

Lost Season Three Episode Twelve

Last night was the 12th episode of Lost Season 3. It was a good episode, focusing on Claire and her relation to Charlie. She attempted to capture a migratory bird, sure to be tagged by scientists for observation, with which they could send a message for help. I’m not sure why the episode is called Par Avion (French for “by airplane”) when the message itself wasn’t the main focus, nor the flashback. The flashback revealed what many were assuming, that Claire’s father was Jack’s father. Another inconsistency in the show, Desmond is attempting to still save Charlie’s life, which is fine and all. He reveals that this time Charlie would die while getting a bird from a dangerous area (which he himself gets with Claire following). But….Desmond thwarts Claire’s attempt to capture a bird in a fairly safe area. Maybe I’m assuming too much, but if Claire would have caught that bird, why would she need Charlie to go after the other one in the dangerous area? It seems Desmond himself was creating the self-fulfilling prophecy that would lead to Charlie’s death.

The episode also focused on Sayid, John, Kate, and Rousseau traveling to the Others’ camp. Locke again does something one would think is stupid, though some think Locke has an ulterior motive:

Locke is purging the island. He received the revelation to do so from the Black Cloud a long time ago, and is using Eko’s stick to do it. He deliberately destroyed the Swan station, deliberately destroyed the Flame station last week and now will take on the Others with the C-4. His allegiance has always been to the Island, which healed him (twice) on condition that he serve it.

Sounds like a pretty sensible theory. We’ll see how right it is. The only problem I see with it is that when Locke does destroy the Hatch, he sure looks on his mess with guilty shock. Besides, the destruction of the Hatch was done basically at the instigation of Ben, and not the Black Cloud.

The episode ended on a great note. Jack and Tom (the fake-bearded Other) were throwing a football to each other. Awesome!

Photo Caption Contest

So I was scrummaging through old family photos when I came across this photo, and I chuckled. I don’t know who these people are, but they’re related to me in some way. They are from Romania, and it looks from the picture that they are from the small village where my grandparents on my mom’s side lived. So, a photo caption contest. What do you think they are thinking?

Lost Season Three Episode Eleven

I haven’t reviewed Lost since Episode III back in October. I started getting frustrated with those first six episodes. Too much going wrong, such as the addition of Paulo and Nicki, and the lack of attention to many very important characters, all so we could get to a climax that, well, wasn’t all that climactic.

In any case, we took twelve weeks off and started up again in February with some excellent episodes. And last night, in Episode 11, we learn more, or so we think, about the Dharma Initiative and the Others. We meet the eyepatch guy we saw in the ? Station. We thought at first he was the last surviving member of the Dharma Initiative (that is what he told us) but he ended up being just another one of the Others, (the Hostiles, as Mikhail Bakunin called them—but is anything that he said true???) And this is where I am somewhat disappointed in the writers of the show. They promised lots of answers by episode 11, but the answers here seem to be given by a liar, and as such, can any word he said be trusted? Was any word Ben said when he was held prisoner true?

These small issues aside, the show is excellent, and a joy to watch.

Red Moon Over Manhattan

wow, the image is striking….from the New York Times:

Ah, I miss Manhattan….