Who has time for a journal?

Crossposting is broken

2022-03-18T19:41:12Z

I turned off crossposting, since it no longer works. New stuff:

https://zipperbear.dreamwidth.org/

https://www.facebook.com/zipperbear

https://mewe.com/i/stewartkramer

Vaccination

2021-03-11T22:33:28Z

Woo-Hoo! Today I got my first Covid vaccination (Moderna), with follow-up appointment in 4 weeks, April 8th. My best guess for why I got an email inviting me to sign up is having Kaiser medical coverage via Stanford University (as an early retiree, but I won't question it). California is currently limited to age 65+ or essential workers including all education jobs. I'd looked for appointments with pharmacies (Rite-Aid, CVS, Walgreens), but the web checklists only seemed to include staff at grades K-12, not colleges.

Meanwhile, Jonathan (age 65+) got his first shot via the county health department, and was due for his second shot today. Yesterday, they sent email to cancel his appointment (lack of vaccine supplies), saying he should use Kaiser. Kaiser's web forms only show an option for a first vaccine dose. I asked about that while waiting the 15 minutes afterward (no side effects at all yet), and they said just sign up as a 1st dose, then bring the previous vaccination card and let them know it's really a 2nd dose. That's about what I guessed last night when we booked his appointment for tomorrow.

We're using the Fremont/Pacific Commons Kaiser clinic in Alameda County even though we live in Santa Clara County (but we're near the border -- the houses across the street have their back yards in Alameda County). It's less than 15 minutes away by car, and seemed very streamlined for vaccinating, as opposed to the Gilroy Valley Health Center at the far end of the county, 45 minutes away (plus Friday evening rush hour traffic), where they seemed slow and disorganized, and his follow-up appointment had already been moved to Gilroy High School.

Harry Potter and the Pangolin of Doom

2020-04-12T17:18:23Z

In the Harry Potter books, there are several scenes in divination class where Harry tries to use the crystal ball to see the future, and he just makes up something vague, writing down whatever pops into his head at the last minute. And yet, several of those predictions come true (for example, a hippogriff flies away).

Maybe the same thing happens when Donald Trump falls asleep while tweeting:
2017, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covfefe
2019-2020, SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19

The similarity is spooky. How can you accidentally get "fe" twice? Are the first SARS virus and MERS so different that the numbering should skip MERS, or was it the fe-and-fe of fate?

C-1 Singing Call figures

2018-12-10T18:49:25Z

Disclaimer: I haven't done proofreading. It is possible
that these may include a typo or two, and it is possible that some
calls that were once on the C-1 list have since been dropped
(although I've included substitutions for Curlique/Curlicross where
not already included). You may want to call these figures to a
strong C-1 group to verify their correctness and/or list-accuracy.

General Disclaimer: These are not intended to be "Easy" or
"Vanilla" C-1. Most of these figures go beyond the standard
applications of the calls. The first few times through each figure,
the choreography is unlikely to seem smooth and flowing, because the
dancers will need to stop and think, or stop and see the formation.
Once familiar, it should be possible to dance each figure in about
48 beats of music, leaving 16 beats (2 musical tag lines) for the
Swing and Promenade. Only the easiest and least-interesting figures
would be appropriate "cold" in a singing call.
---
Stewart Kramer
zbear@stanford.edu
***
Monday, March 10, 1986, v1:
Heads (facing) Recycle
Split Square Chain the Top
Left Chase Your Neighbor
Scatter Scoot Chain Thru
Stretch Single Wheel
Centers Pass Thru
Swing & Promenade (1/8)

Monday, March 10, 1986+, v3:
Heads Recycle
Split Square Chain the Top
Belles Run
Scatter Scoot
Motivate
1/2 Spread
Swing and Promenade (3/8)

Monday, March 17, 1986+:
Heads Touch 1/4
Triple Cross
Split Recycle
Step and Fold
Transfer the Column
Motivate
Relay the Top
Swing and Promenade (3/8)

Monday, March 31, 1986:
Heads start, Split Dixie Diamond, Chain Thru
Stretch Turn and Deal
Centers (=girls) Reverse Cross and Turn
Recycle, Once and 2/3
Follow Your Neighbor, and Spread
Scoot and Weave
Swing and Promenade (3/8)

revised Monday, April 13, 1987
(v1 Monday, April 14, 1986):
Heads Split Square Chain the Top
Twist And, (boys) Slide Thru
Centers Box Recycle
Scoot and Little
2/3 Recycle
Explode the Wave
Beaus Fold
Swing and Promenade (3/8)

Monday, April 28, 1986:
Heads Circle By 1/2 and 1/4,
while the Other Girls Run
Magic Column Circulate
Centers (=boys) 3/4 Thru,
while the Outsides (=girls) Trade
Outside Triangles Circulate 2 spots,
while the Center Boys Single Wheel and Roll
Center 4: Cut the Diamond, Bend the Line, and Roll
(adjust and) Alamo, All 8 Left 3/4 Thru
Roll Promenade (*OR* Left Curlique and Promenade) (full)

Monday, April 28, 1986:
Heads Pass the Sea
Centers Cross Roll to a Line
As Couples Extend
(2-faced) Switch to an Interlocked Diamond
Boys Crossfire
All work In Tandem, Boys start a Remake the Diamond
Boys (around the outside) Circulate 1 1/2
Galaxy Circulate 1 1/2
Swing and Promenade (3/8)

Monday, May 5, 1986:
Heads Wheel Fan Thru
Right and Left Thru
Grand Dixie Diamond ("center 6 hinging")
Center 6 Circulate
3x2 Acey Deucey
Center 6 Circulate
Boys Squeeze
Girls Diamond Circulate
Flip the Hourglass
Acey Deucey
Swing and Mix
Explode And, Slide Thru
Swing and Promenade (1/8)

Monday, May 5, 1986, v2:
Heads Wheel Fan Thru
Right and Left Thru
Grand Dixie Diamond ("center 6 hinging")
Center 6 Circulate
3x2 Acey Deucey
Ends of the Column of 6, Squeeze;
Others Diamond Circulate
6x2 Acey Deucey
Flip the Hourglass
Mix
Alter the Wave
Swing and Promenade (3/8)

Monday, May 12, 1986+:
Heads Swing Thru (and start a)
Split Square Chain the Top
Twist And, Pass Out
Percolate
Twist And, Centers Touch 1/4 & Cross
Pass and Roll Your Neighbor, and Roll
(if time permits, **Tally Ho)
Swing and Promenade (1/4, **3/8)

Monday, June 2, 1986:
Heads Pair Off and Step to a Wave
Centers (=girls) Box Recycle, & Opt for an "H"
Magic 6x2 Acey Deucey,
Go Once and 1/2 ("Boys take right hands")
(Point-to-point) Interlocked Diamond Circulate
3x2 Acey Deucey, Boys Go Once and 1/2
Girls Phantom Flip the Diamond,
Boys (in the middle) Cut your Diamond
Relay the Shadow
3/4 Thru
Swing and Promenade (5/8)

Monday, June 9, 1986:
Heads preferred for the Trade, All 4 Couples Tally Ho,
("Sides meet and Hinge, 1/2 Circ, Boys meet and Cast")
Step and Fold
Centers Box Recycle
Chain Reaction
Relay the Top
Cross Roll to a Line,
then Cross Roll to a Wave
Swing your corner and all Promenade (5/8)

Monday, June 16, 1986 v1
(January 20, 1989 v2):
Heads Left Wheel Fan Thru
Left Swing Thru
Girls Run
Crossfire
Coordinate
Bend the Line,
go Dixie Diamond
v1: Boys Switch to a Diamond,
v1: Boys Cut that Diamond
* OR *
v2: Boys Recycle and Veer Left
All Flip the Interlocked Diamond
to the corner, Swing and Promenade (1/8)

Monday, July 7, 1986 v1 w/Patter Alternate
(Monday, July 14, 1986 v2 w/Patter alternate):
v1: Heads Lead Left,
v1: Veer Right, & Bend the Line.
* OR *
v2: Heads Left Wheel Thru,
v2: then all Wheel Thru.
Vertical Tag, go 5/8 Now, the Rest Later
In Your Block: Zing
In Your Block: Wheel Fan Thru
In Your Block: Shakedown
In Your Block: Slide Thru
It's Later (=complete the tag)
singing: Reverse Wheel And, Right Roll to a Wave
singing: in the middle Reverse Explode
singing: all Swing and Promenade (5/8)
* OR *
patter: Wheel And, Phantom Twist the Line
patter: You're Home!

Monday, July 7, 1986+:
(at the time, Mini Busy was a QS)
Heads Wheel Fan Thru,
And Spread
Ah So (check a Magic Column)
Only the Centers work Magic,
all Coordinate
Mini Busy
Scoot and Plenty
Quarter In
Swing and Promenade (1/2)

Monday, July 14, 1986 (Fits well with song "After the Lovin'")
Heads Rollaway, and Roll
Sides move in, and Cross and Turn, and Roll
(each t-bone box) Follow Your Neighbor
Inside Triangle Chain Thru,
everybody Roll when you finish your part
Centers (=boys) Pass Thru
Pass And Roll
Swing and Promenade (1/8)

Monday, July 21, 1986, v1:
Heads Pass the Ocean, Other Boys Run
All 8 Recycle
Scoot Chain Thru
And Plenty, but
Scoot Back
Swing and Promenade (3/4)

Monday, July 21, 1986, v2:
Heads Partner Hinge and Swing Thru in the middle,
Sides Rollaway with a Half Sashay
all Ping Pong Circulate
Scoot and Plenty, but Interrupt the Star after 1/4,
with Extend and Little
("finish the star, finish the Plenty")
Extend
Swing and Promenade (5/8)

Monday, August 4, 1986, v2
(v1 Monday, May 12, 1986)
Heads Split Square Thru, but,
on the 3rd hand, Relay the Shadow
Centers Left Remake
all Explode And,
Square the Bases
Rotary Spin
Extend
Swing and Promenade (1/2)

** BREAK FIGURE **
Thursday, January 12, 1989, v2
(v1 Monday, July 21, 1986)
All 4 Couples Star Thru
4 Ladies Lead, Dixie Diamond
Boys Run Left
Slip the Clutch
All 8 Left Swing and Mix
Boys Run and Promenade (7/8)

Monday, July 28, 1986:
HEADS Pass the Ocean
Ping Pong Circulate, go Once and 1/2,
check a T-boned Block with the HEADS facing.
In Your Block, HEADS start a Split Square Chain the Top
In Your Block, Left Shakedown
Boys in your Butterfly, Girls in your "O,"
all Circulate one spot.
All 8 Counter-Rotate
Swing and Promenade (1/8)

Monday, August 4, 1986, v1:
Heads facing Recycle
all Linear Action
Swing and Mix
Trade Circulate
all 8 Counter-Rotate
Cross By
All 8 Switch the Wave
Promenade Home (3/4)

Monday, August 4, 1986, v2:
Heads Swing Thru
all Linear Action
Relay the Top
Trade Circulate
Cross By
All 8 Cross Roll to a Line
Promenade Home (3/4)

Monday, August 4, 1986:
Heads Circle By 1/4 And,
Double Pass Thru
Center 4 Shakedown
all Tally Ho
Swing and Mix
Relay the Top
Cross By
Swing (OR: Curlique 1 1/2) and Promenade (1/2)

Monday, August 11, 1986: (works in song "Picking Up Strangers")
HEADS Lead Right, Circle to a Line,
Sides (=those who can) Roll ("to face") and start a
Split Dixie Diamond ("girls hinging, boys turning back")
3x2 Acey Deucey
Center 4 Hinge
Magic Transfer And, (boys) Quarter Out
Swing and Promenade (5/8)

Monday, August 18, 1986:
Heads Pass the Ocean, and Extend
all Crossfire ("to right hands, offset")
Hinge ("by the right")
Stretch Box the Gnat ("boys stretching back to blocks")
Those On The Diagonal, Double Pass Thru
Boys Start a Squeeze ("finish with the girls")
Peel and Trail
Cross By
Slip the Clutch
Swing (OR: Curlique 1 1/2) and Promenade (7/8)

Monday, August 25, 1986:
** = Asymmetric **
** Just Couple #1, Rollaway
** Heads Pass The Sea, and Those Boys Run
** Twist And, Centers Only, Split Square Thru, but
On the 3rd Hand, start a Split Square Chain the Top
Twist And, Pass In
Pass Thru
Swing and Promenade (5/8)

** BREAK FIGURE **
Monday, August 25, 1986:
Allemande Left, Alamo Style
Swing the Fractions
Cross By
Allemande Left
Weave the Ring
Swing and Promenade (3/8)

Monday, September 8, 1986: (works with song "Picking Up Strangers")
HEADS Wheel Thru,
And Spread
Switch to an "O" and those who can will Roll (=SIDES)
Reverse Wheel And, Swing and Circle 1/4
Center 4 Recycle
Zoom
centers Reverse Cross and Turn
Veer Left
Motivate but turn the (facing) Star 1/4
Promenade (1/8)

Monday, October 20, 1986: (works in song "Midnight Rodeo")
Heads Right and Left Thru,
Dixie Style to a Wave,
in the middle Crossfire ("take right hands")
The Triangle with an Outside Girl, Follow Your Neighbor
Wave of 3, Left Spin the Top ("boys meet with rights")
Boys Trade
Centers Trade
the Girls Trade ("take a little peek")
Slide Thru
Swing and Promenade (5/8)

Monday, November 10, 1986:
Heads Square Chain the Top, To a Wave,
Others Divide and Left Touch 1/4 and Roll
Centers Lockit,
and everyone Left Plenty
("outsides grab right hands for your counter-rotate")
("it's a column for the split circulates")
("when you finish the plenty,")
Center 4 Fan the Top, Outsides Pass Out and Trade,
Centers Left Turn Thru, Swing and all Promenade (1/8)

Monday, January 5, 1987+, v1(longer/harder) & v2:
HEADS Circle By 3/4 and Flip Back
while the SIDES Reverse Single Rotate 1/4
In Tandem, Flip the Diamond
v1: In Tandem, Ah So
* OR *
v2: In Tandem, Hinge
Grand 1/4 Thru
Single Hinge
Triple Cross
Horseshoe Turn
Swing and Promenade (v1: 5/8, v2: 3/8)

C-4 Singing call "Only You"

2018-12-10T18:45:58Z


WORK SWING CHAIN: 4 LADIES CENTER, TEACUP LIKE A DAISY
only you, can make this change in me
for it's true - you are my destiny
when you hold my hand i understand
the magic that you do - you're my dream come true
my one and only you
only you can make the darkness bright
when you're thru, let's have those HEADS STEP RIGHT
MYSTIC TOUCH 1/4 and, EXPAND THE COLUMN
then TAG BACK AND DODGE -- you're the one that i, TAKE 2
a FUNNY GOOD SHOW TWICE and FLARE THE STAR
only you, can MIRROR HOT FOOT SPIN
only you, can TRADE YOUR NEIGHBOR IN
PICK AND CHOOSE: WITH FINESSE AND
CENTRAL STRUT RIGHT (INTO THAT SPACE) - with a CRAZY SWITCH
my one and only you.
only you, DIVIDE THE OCEAN RIGHT
then SPLASH IN, and CROSS FLIP -ER'S DELIGHT
you're the one that i sing lyrics to,
CROSS FLIP BACK AND DODGE - you're the one that i, TAKE 4
a STROLL DOWN THE LANE -- and then CHANGE LANES
only you, 1/4 CHAIN AND CIRCULATE IN
only you, 1/2 TAG AND TRIXIE SPIN
in this chaos, you're AN ANCHOR,
EVERYBODY ROLL, CENTERS 3 SQUARE 2 AND 1, THE 2'S
 RUN RIGHT AND ROLL, and LINES (DIXIE
SASHAY) THRU, INTERLOCKED FLIP THE DIAMOND AND ROLL,
SASHAY THRU, THE K and RUN AWAY
CENTERS CROSS SASHAY, THE PULLEY BUT
go 4 STEPS AT A TIME and you'll PASS THE TOP
and then, WORK ONCE-REMOVED: and CATCH TOP 2
only you, can 2-FACED HOT FOOT SPIN
only you, 1/4 CHAIN AND CIRCULATE IN
when you're there, you'll ACEY DEUCEY
and PROMENADE BACK HOME
you're my dream come true, my one and only you
LEFT ALLEMANDE and SWING,
you're my dream come true, my one and only you!
***
A few comments: Swing Chain Teacup Like a Daisy replaces 3/4 stars
with 1/4 stars, so each star is either 1/4 or 5/4.  The double arm
turns are not required, because it is being danced symmetrically so
no one is using up time waiting for the three stars in a row.  The
pattern, for those who don't want to figure it out on their own, is
Star R 1/4, L turn r-h man, R turn partner, L turn r-h man(="back"),
R turn partner, Star L 5/4, R turn corner, Star L 1/4(="back", but
star would have been 3/4 so it becomes 1/4), R turn opposite man,
Star L 5/4, R turn r-h man, L to partner for courtesy turn.

so: Star 1/4 to rh; pt, rh, pt; stars: 5, 1, 5; courtesy turn

Some of the timing is a little fast: Flare the Star; Pass the Top
and Once-Removed Catch Top 2 (certainly not enough time to work
twosome; stretch it at each end instead).

Central Strut Right may be bogus: you must use the definition "pass
thru, right loop zero (i.e., flip right), extend" with the "into
that space" modifier creating a normal tidal 3&1 line.

Heads Step Right (short for Heads Step Right to a Line of 4) is a
call used commonly by some callers, but some dancers may never have
heard of it.

Funny Good Show Twice is gratuitously hard to figure out on the fly,
and there is no "think time" allotted.  Crazy Switch has no "flub
time" allotted.

After the 3 Square 2 And 1, I believe the 2's who are running are
the sides, but I'm not sure; in any event, the others are of course
t-boned to them and probably can't see who is to run.

The proximity of similar calls like Sashay Thru and Cross Sashay is
purely intentional; any resemblance to real choreography or real
callers is coincidental.

Ask the Square Dance Guru

2018-07-14T21:06:22Z

Well, my personal Stanford website is gone, the copy at Dosado.com is gone, and Comcast no longer has personal web pages, so I guess this is the right place for the Square Dance Guru web page. It's too big for LJ, so (until I break it into separate and comment-friendly posts) here's the index, and the links should go to my Dreamwidth post:

Ask the Square Dance Guru

The Square Dance Guru (aka Stewart Kramer) will answer your most probing questions about square dancing. Permission is granted to freely distribute the wisdom of The Guru, but impersonators will be persecuted to the fullest extent of the low.

Unsure? Confused? Squarebroken? If the hissy fits, send email to: zipperbear@gmail.com, and all will be explained. (Note: The old address at forsythe.stanford.edu is scheduled to stop working at the end of 2003. Please use the new address instead!) [2018: All of my addresses at stanford.edu have stopped working.]

Ambiguous Calls - Split Phantom Wave Inroll Motivate - date unknown

Triple Box Pass In - 11/91

Invitation-Only Dances - 11/91

Tapes and Sequences - 11/91

Ladies Go Left, Gents Go Right - 11/91

Handedness on Scoot and Counter - 1/27/93

Linear Cycle vs. Recycle & Sweep 1/4 - 12/16/93

Right Call/Wrong Formation? - 3/94

Weak Dancers and High Levels - 5/4/94

Trade Circulate - 9/8/94

Split Phantom - 1/20/95

Chain Reaction and Pass Thru - 2/95

Crossfire from Inverted Lines - 2/9/95

Rims Trade Back - 3/16/95

Swing 1/2 and Hinge 1/4 - 3/22/95

Curlique - 4/14/95

Fractional Grand Square - 3/2/95

Deal and Wheel - 5/8/95

The Sashay Story - 5/19/95

Rolling and Peel Off - 5/19/95

Backing to a Wave - 6/5/95

Stimulate the Column - 8/28/95

Badges - 9/7/95

Linear Sigh called Hinge Fold Pat Feel - 10/16/95

Parallelograms and the Solomon Rule - 10/23/95

Hourglass Motivations - 10/23/95

Siamese Zs - 10/26/95

Dividing the Ocean Right or Wrong - 10/25/95

Deucey - 10/25/95

Slither Kissing - 11/21/95

Swing the Fractions - 2/21/96

Stretch - 4/16/96

Stretch II - 11/15/96

Even the clocks are strange

2016-10-24T01:58:27Z

At MSP, on our way to state capitol #42 for us:

As we continued down the concourse into normal spacetime, we found monitors that said 2:37pm. I'm not sure that 14:35pm is actually wrong (since it is in fact after midday), but I wonder what 14:35am would mean.

This jetlag stuff can get serious.

50th Birthday

2015-09-13T00:34:05Z

My real birthday party will be at the Albuquerque A&C fly-in, but my folks volunteered to host a local get-together at their house in San Jose.

It'll be an open house 2-5pm (so people can stop by after the SCVSDA Jubilee). My real birthday (the following weekend) conflicts with the Quads Hoedown, Folsom Street Fair, SF Queer Longhair party, and Stanford's first week of fall classes.

It would be handy to know how many people might show up -- feel free to RSVP by joining the FB event or commenting here on LJ. Info with map and details:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1052943811407169/

Replacing the fence, and the sewer, too!

2015-06-12T01:00:54Z

After we scheduled the fence replacement, the plumber who snaked out the clogged sewer line showed us that there were roots growing in it. Orangeburg pipe's useful life is "about 50 years under ideal conditions" according to Wikipedia. Ours held out for 55 years so I guess we're lucky. The people up and down the block had to replace theirs throughout the 1990's so we were hoping that ours had already been replaced.

Passover Pesach 2015 Seder Rube Goldberg Machine from Technion in Israel

2015-04-06T03:30:09Z

Jonathan shared it on Facebook, and I thought it was cute. There's also a "making of" video, which was also interesting.

I hope their goal isn't hurting people.

2013-08-30T19:44:09Z

This flyer was on my door last night:

I'm not sure "bringing the love and power of God to hurting people" is as well-phrased as it could be.

Montana

2012-09-19T04:57:13Z

After the A&C fly-in in Denver, we flew to Montana. We did the self-guided tour of the state capitol in Helena. We didn't find any handbaskets in Helena.

We had lunch at the Many Glacier Hotel in Glacier National Park. We saw a few glaciers there, but they were small.

Also, due to the hydroelectric dams, the "Electric City" of Great Falls has no falls at all.

Bend that puppy?

2009-05-30T15:48:50Z

The day we returned the rental car (a Ford Focus), we noticed a strange button:

I assume it doesn't do this:

Paradox Store

2009-05-23T03:00:54Z

We went to the Paradox Store, but they had no paradoxes. I can't decide if that's paradoxical or not.

And the Ti Ferry runs on steel cables, not titanium. Really, you can't trust anything around here.

zipperbear @ 2008-12-14T13:14:00

2008-12-15T01:11:02Z

My mother was born in Illinois, so I can bad-mouth the place. The New York Times has "In Illinois, a Virtual Expectation of Corruption" as a headline. Even here in California, when I search Yahoo! News as of today, the Sponsor Results are still offering me my own chance at bribery:

http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news?p=Illinois+Senator&ei=UTF-8

Illinois Us Senators
Find and Compare prices on illinois us senators at Smarter.com.
www.smarter.com

Clicking on the link, I'm not sure why the category "Perfumes and Colognes" includes the Large 4x6 Illinois State Flag. Shouldn't flags smell more like napalm in the morning?

Cleanup on paragraph 1, please.

2008-10-23T17:20:31Z

Honey Wolfson said that "And" is the hardest call in square dancing. I guess it's not so easy in the English language, either:
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_10784011
OAKLAND — Southbound I-880 lanes remained closed today following a massive tanker truck crash and gasoline explosion near 16th Avenue in Oakland that snarled the morning commute for hours and was so hot it forced commuters to take cover behind buildings and melted speed limit signs.

I wouldn't expect speed limit signs to provide much cover, especially after they've melted. Ah, journalism -- where reporting the hottest news quickly is more important than reporting it correctly.

zipperbear @ 2008-09-12T11:42:00

2008-09-12T19:03:50Z

Last weekend, we visited Jonathan's parents in Arizona. In the Tucson airport, the recorded security announcement had a mild intrusive R accent. We were supposed to report any suspicious activity to the appropriate "lore enforcement" authorities. I imagined that those are the officials who protect us against myth-behavior.

We all got Jonathan's mom a GPS unit for her birthday, which I think is the same model my step-mom has. Taking us to the airport, they didn't like the route the GPS offered, so they turned it off, and only had to change routes 3 times when streets didn't go through, plus a wrong turn. This week, I just got the same GPS model (Garmin nüvi 350) for myself, so I'll know how to program it to get to an airport if you don't know the street address: Where to? Near a city - spell the city name - Transportation - Air....

Meanwhile, I'm changing planes at MDW on my way to Make Waves for Ducklings.

Bath Hat

2008-07-08T20:11:44Z

At the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel this weekend, the toiletries had pretentious names. The "hair wash" was shampoo, the "boot buffer" was the shoe-shine sponge, and the "bath hat" was the shower cap. That made me think of ass-hat, a term for someone with their head up their butt (i.e., wearing their ass as a hat).

For those who are sufficiently circumflexible, "hat" also means symbols with diacritical marks (like "Â"), as used for normalized vectors:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_vector
A unit vector is often denoted by a lowercase letter with a superscribed caret or "hat", like this: (pronounced "i-hat").

I assume a bath hat is what you need if you've got your head up your tub:

As always, I enjoyed seeing everyone. There were only minor weather-related delays for us flying home. Other folks at the airport were delayed even longer, so we got a chance for a bit more chatting.

Oh, and I'm pleased to see a growing assortment of electrical outlets and USB charging stations in the airports.

Review of Beowulf (not the movie)

2008-06-06T23:57:06Z

Thursday night I saw Beowulf: A Thousand Years of Baggage. It was inventive and artsy in staging. In particular, there was quite a bit of microphone choreography, which was sometimes clever, but sometimes seemed forced.

The music was an interesting assortment of operatic and modern, including some poetic lyrics reminiscent of the traditional epic, and the story touched on existential philosophy, too. The eye candy was only OK, about on par with the Berkeley audience.

Overall, it was interesting, but not everyone would like it.

NSFW? What were they thinking?

2008-05-29T00:39:52Z

I went to a presentation about using FedEx in our purchasing system. They handed out containers of cute little paper clips, shaped like airplanes. How clever! How darling! And how phallic they look when they're actually being used!

Diet of Worms?

2008-04-15T21:12:48Z

I gave some weight-loss advice here: http://daved010.livejournal.com/208311.html?thread=927671#t927671
The whole comment-thread is here: http://daved010.livejournal.com/208311.html

It's mostly just a bunch of common sense, but we all know that common sense is never common, and rarely scented.

I was thin as long as I can remember, and I never seemed to gain weight until after I was 30 years old. I was 120 pounds, and 5ft8, just a bit thinner than the low end on the ideal weight charts. Then the pot-belly started forming. By 40, I hit 135 pounds, and I needed bigger pants and a bigger belt. So I started watching what I was eating, and I'm staying around 125. A few weeks ago, I finally got down to 120, so my diet goal has officially been reached, even though that one weighing was probably low due to dehydration.

I seem to be following the same pattern as my dad. He wasn't able to bulk up for playing football when he was young. After age 30, he started putting on weight, and now he has to watch what he eats.

The ideal weight charts are based on mortality rate. Small people tend to live longer (like the stereotypical "little old ladies"). But many illnesses cause sudden weight loss, which can be fatal in people who have no spare weight to lose. For me, 125 pounds seems to work.

zipperbear @ 2008-03-30T16:23:00

2008-03-31T02:44:05Z

After a pleasant and relaxing weekend of fun, dancing in the Poconos at the Independence Squares Fly-In, I'm stuck in Allentown because of weather conditions in Chicago:

http://www.fly.faa.gov/flyfaa/flyfaaindex.jsp?ARPT=ORD&p=0
Due to WEATHER / LOW CEILINGS, there is a Traffic Management Program in effect for traffic arriving Chicago OHare International Airport, Chicago, IL (ORD). This is causing some arriving flights to be delayed an average of 1 hour and 44 minutes

The flight was supposed to leave at 5:52pm (and United sent me a text message confirming that it was on time). By the time I got to the ticket counter, it was delayed until 8:30pm, since our plane was delayed in Dayton, scheduled to go to O'Hare first, then the round trip to ABE. The agent was very helpful, but not optimistic about getting me to SJC, SFO, or OAK until the next morning's flights. Even if I got to Chicago, my flight to San Jose was dicey, since it might not be delayed long enough, or it might be cancelled. ABE-to-SFO seemed workable in the morning.

(Eek! The text messages keep rolling in for my original reservation. The ORD-SJC flight was supposed to leave 8:25pm, and arrive 11:04pm, which is marginally past my bedtime. Departure was originally on-time 2 hours out, then delayed, first to 9:20pm, then to 10:15pm, then 10:39, which would arrive around 1:20am.)

It was a bit of an adventure. I didn't bother going through the security checkpoint for an unlikely flight. I found a seat near the ticket counters. Both my laptop and my cellphone were low on battery (since I didn't notice until too late that both halves of the outlet I used in the motel room were operated by the light switch near the door, and I kept turning off the light, killing power to the laptop and the attached USB phone-charging cable). After a long search for a vacant seat near an outlet (since lots of people looked like they were waiting to meet people on incoming flights), I found plenty of seats near baggage claim, but there didn't seem to be any Wi-Fi nearby. I spent some time fiddling with it, and charging both the phone and the laptop.

The airport has some nice displays of nearby major companies, including Just Born. I'm not a fan of Marshmallow Peeps, but their Peanut Chews looked worth trying. But I didn't see them in the gift shop. Somebody failed in the integrated marketing. It was just an annoying tease!

Eventually, wandering back to my original seat, I found an outlet there that's easier to see when you're on the other side of the room looking under the seats. By this time, the flight had been cancelled. I could also see the huge line at the ticket counter. I booked a free room at the Four Points by Sheraton with 4000 Starwood Preferred Guest points (almost the last of the several thousand points for getting their credit card - free for the first year, and well worth the 20 minutes on the phone listening to sales pitches to get them to cancel the card).

The ticketing line seemed as long as ever, but I joined it. Meanwhile, since the United web-site hadn't been helpful, I called one of the two different toll-free numbers suggested by the text-message alerts (800-UNITED-1 and 800-241-6522). The voice recognition seemed to work OK for my Mileage Plus number, etc., but the live agent apologized for needing the information again (although a weekend conversation had already given me inside knowledge of a software upgrade in progress). She had a slight accent, and might have been in India, but she soon booked me on the 6:15am (Ugh!) flight to IAD and thence to SFO, arriving shortly after noon. I can take Caltrain (with the silly SFO BART-to-BART connection) to Stanford, work half a day, then take the shuttle to Jonathan's office off-campus, and carpool home.

Nobody wants to fly at 6:15am, so the seats were still available. My outbound flight had been a more civilized 7:40am SJC to IAD. I was looking forward to a regional jet to Chicago (I think) instead of the little Saab on the Dulles flight, but I'll rack up a few hundred extra miles on the less-direct routing, almost enough to go over 50,000 (and a Standard free ticket, since none of my recent trips have had any Saver free seats available).

The ticket line had shuffled forward about 1 spot, but I think it was just people adjusting their spacing. I thought about suggesting to the cute-ish guy in front of me that the phone reservations people didn't seem to have a line, or even offering my cellphone if he didn't have one, but he wasn't making any eye contact, and my phone battery was still ominously low. I decided that I'd given the folks nearby a chance to overhear my conversation, demonstrating the correct way out of the situation, and they were free to follow my example or not.

I got a sandwich, then went down to the ground transportation area to figure out the Sheraton shuttle. They were in the chart of nearby hotels, claiming to be across the street, and they had a toll-free number, but they weren't in the auto-dial in the telephones below. Lesson: Always travel with a charged cellphone. I called, and they sent over their van. Yes, the hotel is across the street, but it's facing a runway, and not particularly near the passenger terminal. The driver had a wry wit, making light of how dead the place seemed (I was the only customer around, although the conference space was still being cleaned up after some kind of function).

The room is fine, with free internet (wired). I may go visit the hotel nightclub/bar, which supposedly has a DJ, unless the van driver was joking. The shuttle van service starts at 5am, so I won't stay up late.

Graphical song meme

2008-02-24T03:29:35Z

All the cool kids are posting these, so here's mine:

"Seven Interests" meme

2007-10-05T07:01:58Z

In a friends-only posting, allanh did a Seven Interests meme:
If you comment on this post, I will choose seven interests from your profile and you will explain what they mean and why you are interested in them. Post this along with your answers in your own journal so that others can play along.

Since I've got only 2 interests (gardening and square dancing) listed in my profile, I replied: "Oh dear. I think I'll be quite a challenge for you. You might have to resort to people instead of interests."

So here's the seven things he picked:

Bears

What's there to say? My first copy of Bear Magazine was sent to me by someone else. I've still never been to the Lone Star (and bars are out of my comfort zone, so I'm too shy to go by myself).

Clark Baker

Hey! I don't think he's on my Friends list. Is he even on LJ? He's an interesting person, an entertaining caller (if you like that sort of thing), and one of the nerdiest people I know.

He has a very clear technical approach to dancing. I don't always agree with his opinions (really, the word "Women" is avoided in square dancing, because it's hard to hear, and nobody uses it except Clark and his circle).

fyellin

One of the first square dancers I ever recognized outside of a dance. I think he was dropping off flyers at The Dance Store for the Quads Hoedown, as I was just starting my addiction to square dance dictionaries. Some people seem limp-wristed, but he always looked hipless, as if his spine were balanced alternately on one leg or the other, with no pelvis. That's not the same as being tragically un-hip. It was to be a couple more years before I ever danced at any Quads event, but I was often mistaken for a Stanford Quad, because I was college-age.

I like to say I've "slept" with him, technically, since we shared a room at Extrav. We share a liking for redheads. I somehow missed inviting him to my 21st birthday party, so he's the reason I had a 2nd annual 21st birthday party. I can't remember if he even attended (all those 21st birthdays run together), but I remember flirting with Bill, whom I soon started dating. Bill and Frank apparently had been housemates successfully before, so going in together to buy a house seemed like a good idea.

That's why Frank's house was the first place I ever lived other than with my parents, when I moved in with Bill. I've also never been single since. I should ask Bill what the copy of Bear Magazine meant; we weren't speaking at the time.

There's also a strange feeling, having formerly lived in a house, and visiting it again. I think of the way vampires can't enter a house without being invited in by a resident. When do I stop being able to invite vampires in? Could I ever? I never registered to vote there, but I wish I had a copy of San Mateo County's 1988 Measure A (which is too old to be readily web-available). In the news, embattled SF Supervisor Ed Jew might really be a resident of San Mateo County -- all he needs is a vampire, and he could prove his residency.

otterpop58

I'm not sure, but I think I'm responsible for the name. I'm the one who was bringing OtterPops to ECR. If you pack them in the styrofoam 6-packs that isopropanol is shipped in, and freeze the whole thing, along with cans of salt-water, then wrap everything in more insulation, it's possible to keep them frozen all day in the trunk of a car, along with an ice-chest of soft drinks, so they're nicely slushy by evening.

Men With Long Hair

What's there to say? It's the natural state of things (along with facial hair). Why waste time and money with razors and barbers?

Square Dancing Guru

Addiction to square dance dictionaries -- reading Burleson's Encyclopedia with the late movies until dawn -- dancing C-4 at the age of 22, when I was already getting gray hair!

The PACE newsletter needed articles, so I offered to write an "advice" column, with a bit of humor. Later, the Internet provided a new forum. Really, there are no new questions, just new dancers since 1996 who haven't Googled with the correct phrase.

The lucky tummy-rubs are just a convenient perk.

"Zipperbear"

Really, there are no new questions, just new zippers since 2002 who don't bear up to Googling.

I need to add links to zbear20 (who I finally met, at allanh's housewarming) and zzbear.

Without policital cynicism, would I still be a blogger?

2007-01-05T06:53:14Z

The tour of Costa Rica was fun, but the trip back on Friday was bad. Our flight to DFW was diverted by bad weather to Shreveport, Louisiana, where the plane sat on the ground for 5 hours, then back to DFW. By the time we made it through customs (including secondary inspection for carrying food), it was nearly midnight, and all connecting flights had either taken off or been cancelled. The AA rep announced that vouchers for available hotel rooms nearby had already been exhausted.

I called David Richey, thinking it was 10pm for him in California, so he could check Hotwire for someplace with available rooms (although it was 1am for him in Vermont). I called 3 places he found, and finally the 3rd one answered, and they had plenty of rooms, 30 minutes away. A rental car for $50 until Sunday morning sounded better and more flexible than a 30-minute taxi ride. When we arrived in the car-rental line, the agent announced that 1-way rentals to nearby states were not available, and people behind us asked about San Diego, to which the answer was "Maybe" -- I hope things worked our OK for them, because highway closures to Albuquerque were mentioned in the newspaper.

On our way to find the hotel in Dallas, we passed a big clump of other hotels, so we tried the Best Western, which had a fine room for $56, breakfast included. I hadn't brought a cell-phone charger, but my phone had been off most of the time, since I didn't have service in Costa Rica anyway; I didn't trust the battery when it claimed to be fully charged. After 20 minutes on hold (with the hotel room phone), American offered to fly us to Sacramento on Monday, January 1, but we could be wait-listed for San Francisco.

The next morning, we were confirmed on an evening flight to SFO, so we visited a public library, where we used our 1-hour limit on the internet to check email, then the art museum and the sculpture center in Dallas (but we didn't opt for the 45-minute wait to get into the Van Gogh exhibit). After lunch, we headed to the AmericanAirlines C.R. Smith Museum, but it was closed until January 3. Instead, we visited the historic Stockyards district in Fort Worth; I don't ever need to go back (although they did have quaint shops selling western wear, and later, when the rental car shuttle bus showed a promotional video of Ft. Worth, I recognized the signs for several nightclubs and steakhouses).

At the airport, everything was late by an hour or two, and we tried for stand-by on 2 flights to SJC. I think we were 17 and 18 out of 30-some on the stand-by list for the first SJC flight. On the next one, we started at 2 and 3 out of about 20, and the gate agent said it looked like 3 people had either already missed their incoming connecting flight or were on flights that wouldn't arrive before our boarding time. Unfortunately, our SFO flight was about 20 minutes before the SJC flight, so we had to choose a bird-in-the-hand vs. 2 stand-by. Then the agent told us that people with higher priority had joined the list, so we hurried to the SFO flight, which was otherwise unremarkable.

Our bags were checked to San Jose. At SFO baggage claim, we had to wait for bags to finish arriving before they'd take our information. Then, after midnight, we caught a shuttle van home to Milpitas, and were in bed by 2am. At 9:30 the next morning (Sunday), the baggage delivery service called to say the bags would arrive between 12 and 4 (but actual arrival time was 10:30am), so we started doing laundry.

On my way down the 2 steps into the garage, my knee started hurting. It didn't hurt to walk, but I couldn't bend it and bear weight. I tried to favor it, and I took ibuprofen to fight inflammation, but by Monday night it seemed to be getting worse, and I couldn't drive comfortably. I called Kaiser's advice nurse, then we visited the emergency room (since the urgent care was closed for the holiday). After a $50 co-pay, I got 2 x-rays (which don't show soft tissue, like a torn meniscus or an inflamed tendon) and an ace bandage, with instructions to take ibuprofen and come back if it's not better in 5 days. The bandage does seem to help (since I can't bend the knee accidentally). With any luck, these $50-ish things only come in threes, and we'll be safe for a while.

President Ford's death meant an extra day of delay in postal service, so we got 17 days worth of mail on Wednesday. When rfrench complains that the financial markets were closed for 4 days, I can't help wondering who it helps. I'm cynical; I think the banks and credit-card companies would love to have an unplanned day without mail delivery, because some payments will be late, and they can collect late-payment fees.

Similarly, I'm bothered by the huge bond measures that were passed by California voters in November. Bonds are a way to convert taxpayer money into interest payments for investors in the bond market. What better way to boost Big Business and wealthy investors at the expense of the average citizen?