There and back again

... an actuary's tale.

Okay, so, not quite the same ring to it as Bilbo Baggins' story, and I didn't run into either dwarves nor dragons, but... there were a few things on which to report from my 5 day run to California and back.

First, I thought I was leaving the cold and snow for warmer climes.

Instead it turned out to be dark and foggy and cold and no JetWay!

Seeing as how it is winter and Sacramento is in the Central Valley, that means only one thing: Tule Fog. The impenetrable and interminable kind that socks in the tarmac. Since the Bay Area was also in full Winter drip, only on my two layovers in Denver was it at all pleasant (as in 60 and clear). And me locked in the terminal...

But at least the airport in Sacramento had interesting decor. This falls under the heading of installation art, I believe...

And Sacramento also had marvelous local cuisine! :) The local gentry seemed content with juicy burgers, as was I.

Over the weekend, I made a dash to Oakland to see the sights, including homeless ...

dogs!

But one particular ex-homeless animal has found shelter and contentment in the lap of one of my favorite people. :)

Nice seeing you again, Kitten. (and you, too, kitten...)

Spending the weekend at Frank's

... hotel in Mason City. Frank Lloyd Wright's hotel, I mean. In its fully restored glory. Just a stunning destination in a lovely little town barely 2 hours away. Mmmm.

Not only is it a famous place for its architecture, but it's notable for another reason (at least to me). Look who stayed there on December 9th!


(hint: I ran his campaign in my precinct...)





Style details abound both inside and out.

I think I'll just let the pictures speak for awhile...

Authentically restored to its 1910 glory as it was, the developers couldn't resist inserting a little 21st century technology in the 100 year old lobby washroom.

This quaint little burg happens to also be the boyhood home of Meredith Wilson, the writer of "The Music Man". And as small towns do, they capitalized on the tourism potential of that connection.

Guess they caught another couple of willing tourists willing to take advantage of the situation...

Is that legal?

... the way he plays that guitar?

We drove to Ames last night to catch Andy McKee live at DG's Tap House. For any of you who have seen him on YouTube, he is even more amazing in person. It's ridiculous the way he gets sounds from his guitar with that unorthodox style. It looks like a combination of hammering a dulcimer, playing the neck like a piano, and banging out beats flamenco-style on the body. Crazy, but so good.

The smallish room above the huge pool hall

was pretty packed out when we got there, so no decent place to sit. As a result we left after his first set, but that was enough of a "wow" experience to make the trip worthwhile. While there I grabbed a spot by the sound board

and leaned against the rail, sipping my pint of Crispin hard cider. Not only an acoustic evening, but an organic one, too...

As we left it was funny to hear the guys talk out on the street while clustering up for smokes. The guitar players among them (and there were many in the crowd) were rehashing his licks the way football fans at halftime rehash plays they just watched. His show was dumbfounding to some and awe-insipring to others.

To me, it's just really good study music. :)

Baptism by Caucus

I was gently reminded today that here it is 5 days after the Iowa Caucuses and not one word has yet appeared on this blog about the experience! My excuses are many, but none very convincing, so let's just dive right in and rectify the oversight, shall we?

Here's a truism about Iowa's impact on presidential races: Iowa is not about who wins. It's about who gets knocked out. True, that. The winner of the Iowa caucus is most often NOT the next president, nor even the party's nominee. But campaigns sure do DIE here. And I guess the cross-border rivalry is also a truism. Apparently Iowans truly do not like Minnesotans (even if they were born here). So far, it's given the left boot of fellowship to the posteriors of both Tim Pawlenty and Michelle Bachman; take that, gophers.

----- Courtesy Des Moines Register

Here's how the campaign chair for Ron Paul put it. He said there are "three tickets out of Iowa [and] Ron Paul earned one of them."

Santorum and Romney earned the other two. Who will earn them in NH and SC is another matter altogether. I doubt it will be the exact same three. Seems like for all the disrespect Ron Raul got in the media (shunned like a political Hester Prynne), he did a solid job to finish with over 21%, with neither Santorum or Romney making it up to 25%. Plus, he won more counties than Romney (as shown in the map above by the orange shading). Proof, I guess, that his ground organization was solid, and that as his message finally got out, his support base grew (from the 8% he was running early in the race).

As a newbie to the kind of "retail politics" that happens in Iowa, I feel like it's been a pretty successful effort so far for me. As precinct captain for the campaign, seeing my guy come in second in my precinct only 4 votes back of Romney, was gratifying. So was being named Caucus Secretary (even though that meant my camera didn't get to record a thing - I was too busy filling out forms!) Plus, I got voted in as one of the three delegates from our precinct to the county convention, and got voted to the county central committee. All this while not really even being a Republican (except for a temporary registration ... this year, anyway ... which you can do here.)

So, diving in with both feet in order to fully experience the uniqueness of Iowa politics is working out just that way - a pretty full experience, including a trip to next month's Central Committee meeting and the following month's county convention. I'll report back, you can be sure of that.

Happy 2012?

.

another new year
confronts us with decisions
will we choose better?

.

Is there a doctor in the house?

Why, yes! Dr. Ron Paul is in the house.

Plus, just a few members of the press, and all their gear.

and a guy selling t-shirts and buttons.

It all made my literature table look a little puny.

But the crowd of my co-workers was good, especially considering it is the week between Christmas and New Years, and the parking lot was only half-full today (what with vacations and all...)

So, the CEO kicked things off with a glowing introduction

eventually yielding the floor to Dr. Paul

who apparently has qualified for a security detail now, given the looks of the two wide-bodies in suits on either side of him.

We set up the poor-man's version of jumbotrons so that guys like me in the cheap seats could see Dr. Paul's wrinkles a little better. ;)

Afterwards, the media horde descended on his intimate conversations with a voter, so that I had to stand on a chair to get a glimpse.

Good thing I've already shaken hands with him at another event. No need to introduce myself again, although I'm sure he wouldn't have minded, since we're so well acquainted.

I mean, look at the lovely Christmas card he and Carol sent us. Aww.. Guess we should add them to our Christmas letter list now, huh?

Happy Hanukkah!

"Jazz and Latkes" was how the event was billed. Hard to resist on the opening night of Hankkukah at Beth El Jacob only about a mile from the house. :)

The jazz combo was really young, but had an excellent grasp of the classic jazz repertoire. They play every Tuesday night at a club downtown, which I think I might just visit.

The latkes were accompanied by either sour cream or applesauce, plus several quiches and even jelly doughnuts for dessert. (Called "Sufganiyot", apparently.)

And of course, before dinner there was the menorah lighting and several blessings chanted, mostly unintelligible except for the part that went "Baruch attah adonai, Elohenu, Melech ha-olom..." etc.

That part I know from Passover. I even like my homemade cantor melody better than the Rabbi's, although I'm sure his was more authentic, if not quite as appealing.

A few weeks "off"

... from school. Yay! I can catch my breath..

Oh, I'm still working hard at my day job, trying to finish certain MBOs by year-end, but at least my last paper in TS794DE is turned in, for better or for worse (mostly better, I think, thanks to the comments of my lovely live-in editor.) I have my evenings and weekends back now for a little while, and have started in on my "recreational reading" pile. :) Soon I will also catch up on TV shows missed, and take in some of the new movies coming out. On the list: the new Mission Impossible flick, the Sherlock Holmes sequel, the feel-good Matt Damon zookeeper movie, and the feel-bad Dragon Tattoo movie.

Soon enough, I'll be back at it again with TWO classes in Winter, and one in Spring, but then in June comes graduation... and freedom! Right now, though, a little rest on the bench, and then... back out on the field for the final period, and hopefully a strong finish.

It's not plagiarism when you steal from yourself

... is it?

During my Seminary career I have occasionally written something in a research paper that I thought was really good - a particularly apt analogy, or a penetrating bit of insight, or some such writing. Now, 18 months later I am taking another class, and darned if it doesn't come back to memory, when the topics for the current coursework overlap with the original class for which I wrote the piece!

So what to do? Rack my brain for new & equally stunning arguments? Or take an already proven concept (per a prof's favorable grading) and simply re-apply it in a new setting?

Technology enables this kind of idea recycling. I can remember a key phrase from an old paper, search for it electronically in my Seminary documents folder, snag the pertinent text, rework the phrasing to fit the current topic, and drop it into the new paper. Voilà! Sparkling, clever, pertinent (and original!) text, with far less effort. :)

It was an original insight with me, so.. it still is original work, right? Just applied in a new setting! Kind of like learning a skill (say... home winemaking), winning some awards for it, giving it up for several years due to changing circumstances, and then getting back to it again using the old tricks you learned the first time by trial & error.

So, it's the 3 Rs simply applied to writing: reduce (effort), reuse (ideas), recycle (phrases). I mean, what's the point of a well-phrased, hard-thought insight if you can't reuse it? After all, versatility and persistence are proofs of an analogy's vigor.

(that last is original with me, btw..)