This Sure Doesn't Look Like Arlington, part 1

We made it to the King Mango Strut, one of my favorite
events around Miami. Look at this article with a bunch
of good photos you can access from the Miami Herald.
More personal takes on Miami later. . . .

Winter Came

It happens every year, but it's still impressive. It's also tiring if you need to shovel a driveway or a car out from under the snow. But, once that's done, it's one of the most beautiful and peaceful scenes you could ever imagine.

This is a view down my street in Arlington taken today in the afternoon. This morning, I walked down this street, took a left, and had a coffee and croissant at one of the best bakeries in the area--Quebrada Bakery. Chatted with a couple of neighbors and looked over Saturday's NYTimes. Heaven.

The day before, one house over going in the opposite direction, I
attended a great little Christmas party. There, I learned that my
neighbor is a very accomplished violinist. She may be the music
buddy I've been looking for around here. She suggested going to
see an opera put on by the MET and broadcast live on HD at a
local movie theater. That could be fun!

In a couple of days, I'll be in Miami and photos like these will
seem like a fantasy. But my sons and I can tell stories about
the snow and enjoying our quiet time inside. (They were happily
stuck at their grandmother's place over the weekend.) I hope
to have some contrasting pictures of our Miami trip later.

Coincidence -- maybe

So today I went to two Christmas parties. I was psyched to get out. The first one was the annual Christmas party held by my old boss at Harvard Business School, Tony.
Very friendly gathering at his house in Needham, as usual.
(Main drag in Needham pictured here.) One of the guys I talked to at the party had met my CEO at a conference. Not too unusual, because he works at MIT and my company is so tech-oriented. But still bit of a coincidence.


Then I go to this other party in the Back Bay on Beacon street
held by a new friend of mine named Jane. (See the facade on Beacon
Street close to her house.) So, one her many talkative and smart guests
(my kind of people) turns out to be a classmate of Tony's from Harvard
Business School. THEN, an old friend of mine--whom I knew years ago in
Lowell--named Kate Carpenter turns out to be an old friend of Jane's.
Kate was also one of my ex-wife's childhood friends. That
was really far out. And I live next door to Kate's brother-in-law, Cole.

Complicated? Yes. Coincidence. Who knows?

This very enjoyable evening seems to tell me that getting out and mingling
can do wonders. It was great fun. We're definitely going to get people
mingling at my place with a fondue party here next February.

Frog Pond, and other things I'm grateful for today

Today I took the kids to Frog Pond -- which is
frozen and great for skating. It's in the middle of
the city in Boston Common. Assets like this really
make urban life lovely.

I was also thankful for --

My son Davis's great athleticism. He was skating
all by himself today--it was the second time
he had ever skated.

My son Ben's tenacity. He was slipping and sliding
all the way around the rink. After the first time
around I assumed he would be tired and would
want to rest. "No, no, no. I want to go around
again." So we did. And he got better!

Feeling happy and exhausted after holding Ben
up while skating around the rink.

"The Upper Crust" -- cute pizza joint close
to the common on Beacon Hill.

The parking spot I found in between the pizza
joint and Frog Pond.

The chocolate we ate after the pizza.

The friends I talked to this morning while I was
feeling a bit down -- they helped me get off my
butt and make this day possible.

Generous neighbors and their kids -- we had dinner
with them tonight.

The spirited conversation my son Davis had with
his grandfather over the phone tonight.

A rainy night -- perfect for sleeping.

We Don't Always Have this Much Fun

So, it's almost Thanksgiving. Must be time to talk about
Halloween.

Had a GREAT night with the boys. My neighbors from across
the street, Bill and Allison (wearing fedora and orange jacket)
got the evening started off with a pizza party for adults and kids.
We started in this big group (there were actually a few more that
came right after the photo was taken) and actually stayed
together for about 45 minutes or so before splinter
groups started to break out.



Yes, I was the yellow Teletubby, La-La. Tinky Winky
(aka Alison Glastein) asked me to wear the yellow suit
when she felt a little awkward being the
only Teletubby of Grafton Street. Who could blame her?
Unfortunately, Tinky Winky called it a night early and
left La-La to himself (or herself? --I could never tell).
We made up the next day with a "Big Hug" -- and a big
glass of wine.

If you look behind, Davis is the menacing vampire; Ben
is next to him -- he could have been a snake, but he
felt that the costume was too hot.

What I saw in Canada -- if you don't have anything nice to say . . .

When I was in Canada, I saw a variation of this hairstyle --
a picture and description of which I got from a Canadian Web site called "ask men":

Here's a link:

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://images.askmen.com/specials/2007_top_49/men/ryan_gosling.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.askmen.com/specials/2007_top_49/ryan-gosling-45.html&h=414&w=318&sz=32&hl=en&start=9&sig2=gx6OShQjClSqrNKvg75-kw&um=1&usg=__5-VG5WNN3pynaMQXJkHgiNnOGwg=&tbnid=Scs5y20_E6YPmM:&tbnh=125&tbnw=96&ei=-JP6SKG4D4TmvQWmo_mPDw&prev=/images%3Fq%3DRyan%2BGosling%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1B3RNFA_enUS273US277%26sa%3DN

This is what "ask men" said about it:

"What it says about you: You know exactly what you want and you’re not afraid to go out and get it. You’re confident, cool and collected and you won’t crack under pressure."

Now, this might be the wrong guy to pick to make a criticism about the hairstyle because he's pretty darn good looking. But, what's with the hair like that? It seems like a style that takes a lot of time to look like you did not take a lot of time to put your hair together like that. And the little pointy spike up in the middle of your head reminds me of the coneheads, frankly.

I think I'd say the same thing about American with this do, but I saw a lot of it in Canada.

Any thoughts?

Some of the most beautiful music I've ever heard

Anybody who knows me knows how passionate I am about music.
I grew up loving Brahms, and he is always great. But these pieces
by Strauss, now called "Four Last Songs" may be the most beautiful
orchestral pieces I can think of.

I'm going to try to describe these pieces, but I'd love some in-put from friends
and others who may know this music. I'll also come back to it
because it'll take more than one try to get to a satisfactory description.
Please listen to it if you haven't yet. This features Renee Fleming
singing one of those four songs, so you're in for a treat!





I've listened to these so often that it may take a while to recall how I felt when I first heard it. I was in grad school, and the piece was introduced to me by an acquaintance who was getting his degree in political science. It blew me away.

The thing that strikes me now is the ease and confidence that Strauss must have had about his musical abilities at this late stage in his life. There is this air of completeness, of letting each moment strike us with a full, languorous beauty. A fast-paced life often ignores or overlooks this kind of beauty. And for those who have never slowed down, this beauty remains invisible. (Henry James was eloquent about this.) But for those who look forward to savoring a relaxed moment in time in which small nuances--in the sky, in our outlook, in the people around us--can bring great satisfaction, this music brings us to the quiet spaces in our selves. This music might be called a healing. That's how I feel when I hear it. Strauss has gone beyond Brahms' lullaby here. This is a meditation for those with their eyes wide open--open to experience our natural (but often forgotten) harmony with the world around us.

Canada - Oh!

I'll be going to Ottawa tomorrow for a conference. The topic is
"Government 2.0" -- essentially, how do all the nifty new web 2.0
tools impact government functions, efficiency, openness, and creativity.

It's not that far from my house, actually.


View Larger Map

I'm dead tired, though. Had a huge amount of work to do in the weekend that will probably not let up anytime soon. Hopefully this change of scenery will be a plus.

A bien tot, eh,

Mark

First day of school in September

Here's another historical artifact. This is me and Davis walking on our way to school, the Thomspson Elementary School in Arlington. It's only three long blocks away from my apartment. I should have shaved! Davis looks psyched, and he was. The first week was a little tough for him, getting to know new school and new kids. He's doing well now.

There's a bunch of kids about Davis's age that go to that school. We usually get together at 8:00 and walk to school together as a caravan. When everybody goes at once, there is (in ascending age, more or less) -- Mosha, Noah, Mika (briefly, before she goes to pre-school), Ben, Sophie, Aviva, Ezra, Davis, and Ellen. It's a nice way to start the morning. It's also not too early.

We usually wait in a courtyard with a lot of other kids before the morning bell at 8:10ish. Davis always plays tag with about 4 to 6 of his classmates before class starts. If there's time after Davis starts school, Ben will play in the playground for a little. When Ben and I walk back, Ben is usually on my shoulders. Then it's off to Ben's pre-school at 9:00.

I love Arlington -- it's good to be here.

Davis the artist, part 2

It seems I ran out of cyberspace. Here's some more pictures of that day.


Here is Davis reading in the library. Isn't that a classic image?

Snacking at the library reception.




The three of us.


It was a good day to see Davis's art in the library and to hang out together. It was tough, too. We were really facing/trying to get used to doing things on our own. We're pros at that now.

More later!

Mark

Getting started -- Davis the artist

I have a friend, Hope Carlson, who started a blog so friends could follow her new journey into music school. What an idea.
My life has been a bit of a jumble in the last year and a half, so I figure, the one thing that stays constant is the web. I plan to leave pictures, thoughts, ideas for friends and family as a nice way to stay connected.
I also heard this author today talk about how writing helped her get through the death of her husband. The more I can write about my experiences, the better! Although I'm a historian, I don't have a lot of records of the past year. That'll stop now. I also like the idea of having a sort of public diary so friends and family can keep up with me. I promise I'll leave the really personal stuff to pen and paper!!

Here I am, going back to February of '08. This is the day Davis's drawing of a ladybug was displayed in the library. It was a little piece of art that he had made in kindergarten.

Here's Ben and Davis in the Chelmsford library parking lot.











Here is the ladybug


Here is Ben playing in the library