Making babies smarter?

I've never been a huge fan of pushing academic accomplishment with very young children. Here's an interesting article in this week's Boston Globe magazine addressing the subject. Seems that the research doesn't favor this aggressive approach either. I think I need to read more on the subject.

Impressions of Seattle

I'm now back from Seattle, and the jetlag is wearing off. It did have one nice benefit -- the ability to stay up and see the Sox complete their sweep of the Rockies last night en route to their second World Series win in the last 4 years. (You know, it's hard to even remember how those "1918" cheers got under my skin.)

Seattle is a neat town. Just a few impressions that were building up during my week there:

• Seattle's downtown -- labeled the Retail Core on tourist maps -- is what Boston's Downtown Crossing could be. It's clean and has a wide variety of shops -- big & small; pricy & less pricy; local and national; street-level and mall-based.
• The whole area just seems young & hip. Lots of people wore black, and their clothes were just so very trendy. :) I just knew I was't in Kansas anymore.
  
• Great, great food. I had perhaps the most amazing sashimi of my life at a restaurant called Red Fin, and a nice meal (with a truly killer coarsely chopped greek salad -- just cukes, cherry tomatoes, and olives with some terrific minty feta) at another restaurant called Lola.
• When it doesn't rain, Seattle really shines. (Pun intended? You decide.)
• The Pike Place Market is a very neat place -- lots of artisans selling their crafts, two terrific fish markets, and a great brewpub. I've got a great image from the market to post later on, but here's an image of the market's neon sign at night.

Latke crisps

Last night, after a great dinner in a very hip restaurant in Seattle (they all seem hip -- and pricy -- in the downtown area, for some reason), I stopped at a local gourmet market for some bottled water and a banana. While wandering the aisle, I found this unusual snack item. Check out this out!

Disconnected

On Monday morning, my laptop died just before the start of my presentation at the MISO Symposium in Seattle. I'm still awaiting a motherboard replacement -- probably tomorrow. I've read about how college students are so used to being connected all the time (email, web, IM, cell phones, etc.) that they feel edgy and depressed when their connection is severed for some reason. I don't think that I'd go quite that far in describing how I feel now, but the lack of connectivity for a few days at a time (in a work environment) has me feeling a bit odd. No email; no blog posts (this one is at a public computer at the conference); no web checks on current temps and weather; no opportunity to read the Sox coverage on Boston.com -- it all feels so strange. At least my cell phone still works. And it's been a great chance to read and nap more than I otherwise would have. What's next -- handwritten letters???

Sleepless in Seattle

I'm in Seattle now, having flown here yesterday. This week is the EDUCAUSE annual conference, a gathering of higher ed technology professionals that'll be held in Seattle this year. It's a great conference, and I really learned a ton when I attended last year.

Today, I'll be co-leading a daylong symposium focusing on the findings from the MISO Survey. I'm a member of the MISO Survey management team, and this is our big day -- we've been planning it since the spring. 30 people, mostly CIOs and directors, will be at the Symposium. I'll be presenting our findings in the morning, leading a breakout group discussion over lunch about what the data says about course management systems, and leading a discussion about how the data can inform efforts at training & skill development in the afternoon.

But before I head to an early breakfast and a date with my presentation notes, I wanted to post an image of Seattle in the early morning. I took this from my window before jumping in the shower. Check out the Space Needle in the middle.

A study of Elroy in profile

Hi everyone--

I haven't posted in a while, and this one's going to be brief too. We just had a 28 week appointment and all is well. We also had an ultrasound, and here's the latest picture of Elroy in profile:














He was moving around inside like a crazy man, and I only felt a fraction of the movements. Wonder how that bodes for when he gets out?

Also, as you saw from Josh's recent posts, we went to Camden, ME fairly recently. You can find our pictures here. We had an amazing time. Too bad work intruded the second we got back. I highly recommend Camden and surrounding towns for little vacations--very beautiful and relaxing.

All is well--Josh is off to a conference in Seattle, and hopefully he'll take some fun pics and let you know all about it. Herman, Zelda, Elroy and I will hang out here together.

I was quite enjoying the cool weather, but Global Warming has now intervened and its supposed to be 77 on Monday. Will it never end? I thought I lived in Boston....

Maine specialty foods

Seen in a roadside specialty foods shop in Maine:
1 can of "Road Kill Stew"
Tagline: "It's got to be good; It's from the hood"
Cooking instructions: Place in sealed bag. Affix to hood. Drive for 1 hour. Remove and serve.

An ex-library

Back in the mid-80s, I went for a weekend of bike touring with my dad. We rode in Maine from our home in Portland to Pownal (maybe 30 miles away), camped and did day-rides, then rode home. On the way home after a fun weekend, we stopped to rest on the lawn of the Freeport public library. Now, 20 years later, this gorgeous old brick library building (built in 1905) on the main drag of Freeport is an Abercrombie and Fitch outlet. Although the Freeport Public Library now has a bigger facility less than a mile away, this re-use of the previous building just seems slightly wrong to me.

Happy birthday to me

We've been off our game a bit, and we know it! Sorry for the long silence. A few quick updates:

1. Birthday: Yep, I'm 35 today. Got the gray hair to prove it, too. :)
2. Gefilte Fish postgame analysis: The fish turned out pretty well. However, I discovered that 50% haddock and 50% sea bass is not the optimal way to go. The flavor is just a bit off, compared to what most folks are used to. And cooking that combination really stunk up our kitchen in a way I'd never experienced before. Steph, with her current superpower of smell, has really been enjoying this part. For future, I think going with 66% haddock and 33% sea bass (if halibut isn't available to cut the sea bass) is the better way to go.
3. Playoffs, baby! So, the Sox managed to make that lead over the Yanks hold up. Not only are we in the playoffs, not only are we the AL East winners, but by virtue of winning the season series against the Indians we've got home field advantage throughout the playoffs. That'll be a big help. And, although I missed nearly all of Josh Beckett's ALDS Game 1 gem (I was at my kung fu class), I'm psyched that he was so dominant and that we're up 1-0 on the Halos. That's a big deal in such a short series. Game 2 tonight!
4. Work is nuts, news at 11. Last year, my CIO encouraged me to get myself out there a little. However, with 2 daylong events to lead in October and starting a yearlong leadership program, I've definitely challenged myself. In less than 2 weeks, some Brandeis colleagues and I are leading a NERCOMP SIG workshop called Clearing the Smog -- it'll be all about how to improve communication across an IT or merged library/IT organization. It should be a great program, and the planning is in the home stretch. The week after that, the survey management team I'm on is leading a daylong Symposium about applying the survey's findings and data to inform decision-making on our campuses. Also a great program, and also in the home stretches. Yikes!!