2009 Memorial Day Weekend Activities for Roseberry Family

Saturday
Eggs, vinegar, plaster and rocks. Two science projects.
Plaster and rocks was all about making a craterscape. This was for Hanna's astronomy class. We poured some plaster into a container, and just before it was setup, we dropped rocks and sand into it. I think we let the plaster set up just a little bit too much, but we still got some rocks.
Aimee's science experiment inspired more of a visceral reaction. The experiment was to see if soaking eggs in different kinds of vinegar would have a different effect on the breaking point of those eggs when dropped from various heights. The eggs had been soaking for many days (were supposed to go at three days, but that was last weekend and I was too tired for science). The three types of vinegar were red wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar and white vinegar. Aimee held the yardstick, Tanya took notes, and I did the dropping. The shortest dropping height was four inches (white vinegar) and the highest was 12 inchest (red wine vinegar). The site of the experiment smelled of eggs and vinegar - go figure.
Before all of this we went to Bainbridge Island. Really this was nothing more than the ferry trip, a little lunch, and then back. It was more about being on a boat on a sunny day than it was about doing something. In retrospect, though, we really need to learn more about Bainbridge Island so that next time we have a better itinerary.
Really need to do the San Juan Islands...

Sunday

I forcibly wake up the family and get them in the car by 9:00 am. This is an astounding feat in our house, made even more amazing by the fact that there was no screaming, yelling or bloodshed involved.

We then headed north on I-5 until we got to the Bow-Edison, Chuckanut Drive exit. I took them west until we got to Larrabee State Park. Low tide was at 11:15, with a -3.2. We spent about and hour and a half looking at the tide pools.



Monday
On Monday morning, we don't do very much at all. The kids sleep in. I wake up around 7:30, but don't do very much until Tanya wakes up. The two of us eat oatmeal until we decide to rouse the girls around 9:30.

Hanna and Aimee have planned to see Night at the Museum 2 with a friend from Hanna's school. Tanya is going with them. I cause a bit of disruption right before the trip by resetting the passwords on all the user accounts for the kids... that got me in big trouble with the kid who was in trouble in the first place, which is why I reset the password to begin with.

I give the angry child a few minutes to chill out, explain calmly to her the rationale behind the disciplinary action and convince her to cheer up before going to the move.

While the girls are at the movie, I take Ethan out on a bicycle ride. This is only his second time on the bike. I take him to the biking trail that runs along bear creek behind Redmond Town Center (really, starts behind World Imports). I think we probably went a half mile, total. I checked my watch at the end. We were on the trail for at least an hour and a half. I had to follow him with the same speed you follow old people when you are helping them down the hallway with their walker. He kept doing that thing where he pedals so slowly that the pedal won't move once it comes just short of top dead center - that point where you have to transition from a rising foot movement to forward, but sometimes you do a push down movement that immobilizes the bike. Add to this that he hates being nudged or pushed... even when it means getting him out of the middle of the trail so the other light speed bikers have room to ride around him.

Back at home, I am helping Aimee with charts for her report on the egg dropping.

Facebook detox-ing

I am in the middle of a Facebook detox experiment. About two weeks ago I stopped checking my facebook page. I stopped posting status. I stopped taking silly little quizzes.

I was addicted to it. I was neurotically checking the page several times a day to see if there were any updates, messages, comments or whatever. Even worse, two weeks after my cold turkey cleansing, I still want to check. I come to the computer and feel a compulsion to type in the URL... and when I don't, the experience feels so empty. Its like there is nothing to do on the computer. It felt as if I can't have my Facebook fix, then what the blazes is technology for in the first place?

Isn't that the stupid thing ever? I mean, here is a machine capable of so many things, and yet some wacked out obsessive addictive behavior of mine has reduced it to lobbing back and forth blibbets of information 1000 characters at a time.

I don't know if this is a stable experiment. Facebook has become a kind of communication central - supplanting emails and phone calls. People rely on its noteboard-like experience to casually drop off bits of information for their circle of friends, family and acquaintance. It it is a proxy for email - obscuring one's actual email address (kind of a nice feature, really)... but that basically necessitates visiting the site to reply (unless, of course, we all go back to email again).

I have filled more of my time with gardening, painting and writing. I managed to get out two full chapters on my sequel to Millicent Marbleroller tonight. I also started another book two days ago - this one a how-to, as supposedly those are easier to sell. Maybe that's the answer to the outcome of going dry on Facebook? Happy, fulfilling, Luddite pasttimes?

Painting of General Horatio Crackerhead

I finally finished my painting of General Horatio Crackerhead. As stated in previous posts, he looks a lot like Teddy Roosevelt, with Chester A. Arthur's sideburns and mustache. I went with oil paint for this one. Working in oil requires more patience, as it takes forever to dry. However, much like acrylic you can fix anything. Further, it stays wet longer, which makes blending new layers of color together far easier. I also like the way the colors pop out a bit more.

As a side note on the sequel, I feel like I am indulging a horrifically overused cliche', but I just wrote a scene with a ticking clock. The whole scene felt so flat and devoid of any tension without that tick-tock countdown going. At least there is no "red wire? green wire?" dilemma... at least, not yet.

Character inspiration from 19th century photographs

I have been trying to come up with drawings of the characters from Millicent Marbleroller. General Crackerhead and Nobbins have been the most difficult, although Mumbleskull has likewise been hard.

I decided that giving Teddy Roosevelt a mustache like Chester A. Arthur makes a pretty decent General.

Wagner - stern face, large face. I was wondering about Nobbins..

Schoepenhauer - if he looked a little happier and not as constipated I would say he is a good Mumbleskull. Needs coke-bottle glasses.

Some guy named Wattles Wallace - inventor of some sort. I was looking for thin faced men to help with the drawings for Admiral Crackerhead.
Pope Leon - another thinner faced man for the Admiral.
Thomas Huxley, an ardent supporter of the theory of evolution, who coined the term "agnostic" to refer to atheism because apparently at the time atheism was carrying a lot of socialist baggage. I thought his stern visage would make a good model for Nobbins.

Difficulties picking a title for the Millicent Marbleroller sequel

This has been a problem for me because the story itself doesn't change venue. The sequel to the book picks up the very next day, and most of the action happens in and around the same location and with the same characters. It is really just an extension of the conflicts that occurred in the first book.

I know I want to follow the same structural pattern for the title... "Millicent Marbleroller and..." - but the "and the WHAT?" is the part that throws me. The way the story is going, I could easily say "Millicent Marbleroller and More of the House of the Toymaker", but that just sounds stupid.

But now that I am into the story I have an idea for a title. I just am not so sure I want to use it. It would follow the same title structure pattern, but it introduces a concept for the book that I did not see coming until I was in the middle of it. The original idea was just a minor plot device, but it was something that was so funny to me that I have kept re-using it and growing it and making it bigger, and bigger and more important to the story. I have thought to use this thing (trying to avoid spoiling it just yet...) as the object in the title... "Millicent Marbleroller and the ". It actually SOUND really good - it is a really wacky title, and I think guaranteed to make people go "What the heck is this about?", so I am really tempted.

However, this particular development took me by surprise when it came about, and I want to share that surprise with the readers. I don't want them to see it coming, but rather have it grow for them in the same way it grew for me as I wrote about it. I am finding this to be a very difficult decision.

Saying "No" on Facebook feels rude... is it?

I just realized something about facebook comments. It was triggered by a rather typical status update/comment situation. A friend of mine set his status to "Should (person) buy the new Camaro?".

I wasn't going to say anything because, frankly, I have no opinion about what that person should do regarding car purchases. I myself don't have much interest in cars as anything other than a utility, and don't really know if the new Camaro is all that interesting or not. But then, I wondered what it would be like to say "No". I then suddenly realized that saying "No" felt inappropriate and wrong. My inner etiquette alarm went off.

So, naturally, I said "no".

Immediately after, two other people posted comments telling this person to buy the Camaro. Nobody chastised me on my negative response - but certainly they were all positive.

Which left me wondering - is it EVER appropriate to say "No" on facebook in response to this sort of question? I don't believe it is. I believe the actual interchange is not really about soliticiting a response geared toward assisting in the decision making. I believe the real purpose of the interchange is positive affirmation - morale boosting, cheering up, etc. The real thing the person was saying was "I want to enjoy something, and this is what it is. I am pretending to ask for opinions, but I am not really asking for you to say anything but 'yes' - thus affirming that I deserve to enjoy myself with an indulgence."

I don't believe we use Facebook status for real decision feedback - we use it for quick, chit chat style small talk. Decision making is for other venues - e.g. discussion forums, mailing lists. But status updates is where you seek quick cheering up, affirmation of your values, etc.

Sometimes, it seems like "No" is the right response, but I would suggest that in this case the question is actually applied sarcastically to be framed as a negative, but really seeking to affirm the opposite. For example "Sally is going to give up on her dreams of becoming a dancer and just join the blasted army!"... which is guaranteed to get "Nooo! Don't do it!" responses, but only because everyone knows Sally isn't serious, she is just frustrated, and wants everyone to know how difficult pursuing her dreams really is and is fishing for a bit of encouragement disguised as railing against a military career choice.

Like always, I state my case here with nothing more than ad hoc observations. I haven't the guts to test the principal to its limits (e.g. by replying "No" whenever someone obviously isn't REALLY looking for an opinion) for fear of losing the few enough friends I have accumulated. I leave such bravery to more spirited souls... say those studying psychology at Berkeley or something.

San Francisco Behavior Pattern? "Helpful" Shout Outs

I saw this happen twice today. We were on the public transit in San Francisco. The first time we were on the N streetcar, in the underground, and were just short of the Embarcadero station. The car had stopped, but the doors had not opened. While we were there, my wife asks me, and one of the people standing by the door, if we were at the stop and if the doors were going to open. The woman turned around and shrugged her shoulders.
Just then, there is this woman's voice nearby that says "We aren't at the stop yet."
I turn to see who spoke. Nobody is looking in any direction. Nobody is looking toward myself or my wife. Everybody is looking down at their newspapers, magazines, cell phones, etc.

Later, we were on the F line (different street car, picks up at the Embaracadero station) and someone starts to try to get off at the back door. He shouts to the driver "Back door!". A few seconds later, someone randomly says "Step on the step" (the doors open automatically when someone steps on the step). Again, nobody is looking at the guy. The guy doesn't turn to acknowledge anybody. Everyone is looking at their own business, books, phones, feet, whatever.

I have never observed this before. Every time I have seen anybody say something to anybody else there is always some sort of acknowledgement of the conversation. A nod. Eye contact. But this was almost like people talking to themselves, which was really weird, because they were technically offering help and instruction, but without directly looking at the person. It was hard to tell if this was "Hey, let me help you.." conversation, or if this was, "Oh geeze, you idiot, can you just get on with it...?" conversation - I try to avoid interpreting behavior, especially when it is so usuual to me.

So, is this a San Francisco thing? A big city thing? I don't know if ANYBODY reads these blog postings, but if anybody from the SF area, or from somewhere this behavior is common reads this, let me know.